decoded_text
stringlengths 4.18k
47.6k
|
|---|
?”
UTSR: “your up here on your personal time?”
Jason: “I’m not going to argue with you I’m calling the Grand County Sheriff!”
He does I listen (LOL) we are not actually trespassing.
Jason “i’ve got pictures of you”
He drives to the county line 500 feet away and parks where he can watch us. A fully camo dressed man with a covered face drives by on a 4 wheeler pulls over and says “whats going on?” we say “we are protesting the strip mine” and he says “did we drive there?” “No we are on bikes!” he says but did you drive here?” we say “do you see a car?” There is none LOL!!! This makes him mad. He leaves and goes to hang out with Jason. I deem him a “Cop Sucker”
We gather up wood, make a big fire and enjoy an amazing sunset across the stripped land. Another unmarked police vehicle drives by from the Uintah county side and takes more pics with a long lens. He turns around after awhile and comes back towards us he swerves and covers his face to avoid being photographed by us.
No one ever shows up from Grand County. We make sure to stay up late and flash our lights on the mine pit so the Uintah co cops have something to do. They keep watch till well after dark.
On Sunday morning, a bike ride over to the Pig Pen ( a fenced in trailer for the cops to sleep in, Uintah county built onto the side of the US Oil Sands tar processing plant fence line), reveals that the Uintah Cops have gone home to Vernal. The new banner and protest camp can be seen from Seep Ridge Road and many folks drive by who are here hunting and recreating in this remote wilderness.
Many tears have been shed over the loss of Children’s Legacy Camp and its thriving ecosystem. We will continue to witness and grieve for every leaf of every tree, every single fly, spider, mouse and bear and everything in between we will speak of them, and think of them and honor them, as the precious beings that we know they are. Our banners and protest continue to exist.
Share this: Google
Reddit
Twitter
Facebook
Print
Email
More
LinkedIn
Pinterest
Pocket
TumblrFor some months now, controversy has been brewing over several homeless encampments under Lake Shore Drive viaducts. As the temperatures drop, advocates are even more concerned about the people living there.
Over the weekend, when we not only had temperatures below zero but also a few inches of snow, there were about 38 people living under the four viaducts on the north end of Lake Shore Drive.
That’s a relatively low number. A lot of people probably found places to stay indoors for the weekend. Homeless advocates say it’s normally closer to 75.
These tents are under Lake Shore Drive at Wilson, Lawrence and Foster avenues and Irving Park Road.
To keep warm, the folks there are layering up. Someone donated a tall industrial outdoor heater – like the ones you see at restaurants – and a few even have small propane heaters.
One resident who’s been living under the viaducts for nine months says a shelter isn’t an option for everyone, and the tents, while they provide little protection, are better than nothing.
“We’ve got to stay in ‘em because that’s the only shelter we have. We can’t sleep on the outside because wind chill factor drops to 30, the bone will freeze in 99 seconds,” said Louis Jones.
Shelters are typically at 95 percent full. Over the weekend when the weather has been atypically cold, that figure increased to about 99 percent.
When several dozen people are living in these spaces, without access to running water or restrooms, lots of trash and waste can accumulate. So the city plans cleanings every other week. This is a huge inconvenience for the folks living there because they have to pick up their tents and all of their belongings, including whatever donated food, shoes, water and blankets they have.
But when temperatures are this cold, advocates are more concerned than usual, because to do all of that in this cold can be dangerous.
The city does have to give the residents a week’s notice (see photo above), but advocates say the frequent cleanings have, in some cases, amounted to harassment.
“Treat people with dignity and respect,” said Doug Schenkelberg of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless. “It’s not to say that cleanings can never happen … but to really balance the needs of these individuals and the reality that they’re living in, with whether or not cleaning should be done.
“The items that they have here are portable … but they’re set up in this situation,” said Schenkelberg. “They have a tent up, they have their things in the tent. It’s not easy to break it all down; move it. And whenever they do that, it just makes things that much harder.”
The city says while they can’t stop the cleanings, they have agreed to not use power washers, so the area isn’t wet after the cleaning, when residents move back in with their tents and belongings.
In April, the city started a pilot program to house the chronically homeless living in this area. That program was able to get about 60 people off the street and into permanent housing. They’re still working on about 15 more folks from that original group of 75.
Department of Family and Support Services Commissioner Lisa Morrison Butler says her department has taken some lessons from a similar program to house homeless veterans, and they may be ready for the next step in finding housing for the chronically homeless.
“I think that we feel, as a department, that we have done enough pilots, and with the mayor’s support now we’re ready to take some of those lessons and expand them system wide,” said Butler.
“So, for example: One of the things we’re currently working to do is to get a by-name list of all of our chronically homeless people in the city of Chicago, so that, like with veterans, we would know who they are by name and could really then dig deep into what combination of housing and supports do they need to be successful.”
And the Northside Housing Shelter, located in the Preston Bradley Center on Lawrence Avenue, is slated to close at the end of this week.
Advocates are concerned some of those folks will end up joining the tent encampments when that happens.
A word about donations: Some of the folks under the Lawrence Avenue viaduct tell us they’ve received so many donations over the weekend, they now have more than they can use – some food and water freezes.
The city suggests donating to shelters and nonprofits, and allowing them to distribute goods. At the same time, advocates don’t oppose giving donations directly to the homeless, but recognizes the folks in the encampments may have received a lot of support lately because of the news coverage.
Related stories:
New Program Aims to Employ, Provide Services to Chicago’s Homeless
Oct. 10: A pilot program announced last week by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the Department of Family and Support Services aims to provide temporary employment opportunities and assistance to 100 homeless individuals.
Uptown Restaurant with Mission to Help Homeless Closes
Aug. 1: Inspiration Kitchens had been a fixture of the Uptown neighborhood for 11 years. But owners of the restaurant say a loss of federal funding and the state's historic budget impasse made it difficult to maintain a financial foothold.
Budget Impasse Leaves Homeless Programs Out in the Cold
Feb. 24: A coalition of homeless service providers who pleaded with Gov. Bruce Rauner on Friday to unlock $310 million worth of state funding say they will likely only get a small part of their wish.Freed prisoners leaving Abu Ghraib prison west of Baghdad in June 2006. File photo via AFP.
Ten years after the Abu Ghraib scandal, a rights group Tuesday called for the reopening of a case against a US private military contractor that conducted interrogations at the Iraqi prison.
US soldiers were implicated in the torture and sexual humiliation of Iraqi prisoners at Baghdad’s Abu Ghraib prison when the US military ran it in 2004, a scandal that first broke when photos showing soldiers abusing detainees were published in US media.
Civilian employees of CACI Premier Technology, Inc., working under government contract, were accused of encouraging soldiers to prepare detainees for interrogation with the controversial practices.
Between 2004 and 2006, 11 soldiers — including Lynndie England, who was seen smiling beside naked prisoners being subjected to sexual abuse — were convicted in court martials.
“CACI indisputably played a key role in those atrocities, and it is time for them to be held accountable,” Center for Constitutional Rights legal director Baher Azmy said Tuesday.
He called for federal authorities to re-open a case in a Virginia appeals court brought by four Iraqi former detainees.
A federal judge had dismissed the case in June 2013, citing the precedent of a recent Supreme Court decision “Kiobel vs Shell/Royal Dutch Petroleum.” In that case, the top US court found that British oil giant Shell couldn’t be held accountable in US courts for rights violations committed in Nigeria.
“The Kiobel case should not apply to a case like us,” Azmy told AFP.
CACI International “is a US corporation ” that was working “in a US-run prison at a time when Abu Ghraib and Iraq were occupied by the US, so it’s not really a foreign action.”
The Arlington, Virginia-based company, contacted by AFP, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
But on its website, company chairman Jack London noted that “no CACI employee or former employee has ever been indicted for any misconduct in connection with CACI’s work in Iraq.
“While three former employees have been cited in various reports in connection with disputed incidents in Iraq, no CACI employee took part or appears in any of the horrific photos released from Abu Ghraib,” he added.
The Richmond court decision is expected within the next several months.
In June 2011, the US Supreme Court refused to hear a complaint from 250 Iraqi prisoners against CACI and Titan Corporation, another private contractor that worked at Abu Ghraib.
[Image via Agence France-Presse]Magnificent Anemone – Facts and Photographs
The magnificent sea anemone, Heteractis magnifica is also known as the Ritteri anemone. Previously they were known as Radianthus ritteri but they have now been reclassified.
APPEARANCE
The magnificent sea anemone has an oral disc which generally is between 20 and 50 centimeters, but some have been seen personally that are slightly larger. The disk its self is fairly flexible. The oral disc and the tentacles are usually a light brown yellow color but can be whitish.
The tentacles are long and thin and can grow up to 12 to 14 centimeters in length with a slightly bulbous tip. The tip can be branched and in Tanzania, sometimes has a purple dot on the tip. The pedal column in Tanzania is most often brown or red-purple but bright blue has been seen before.
IN THE WILD
The magnificent sea anemone prefers hard flat substrates that are well exposed to light and with lots of current and is generally found from 1 meter to 20 meters in depth. Occasionally they are seen deeper around 27 meters. The larger anemones are generally seen in deeper water in Tanzania, often with one or two in a small area but they are more often seen singly. It is common to see large numbers of smaller individuals alongside each other in the shallows.
At the Yacht club in Dar es Salaam there is a small coral bommie which for years had no anemones on it but in 2014 a single anemone suddenly appeared on it and a few days later a pair of Skunk clowns (Amphiprion akallopisos) were resident. The nearest population of the anemones and the Skunk clowns is some 3.5 nautical miles away. While the anemone landing on the bommie and attaching probably has a large element of randomness in it, the Skunk clowns themselves possibly have a method of sensing anemones from a fair distance.
HABITAT
The magnificent sea anemone is widespread throughout the tropical and subtropical waters of the Indo Pacific, from the east coasts of Africa to the Red sea, to Polynesia and south from Japan to Australia and New Caledonia.
DIET
As with other anemones the magnificent anemone forms symbiotic relationships with single celled algae. The anemone benefits from the algae’s photosynthesis, namely oxygen and food in the form of glycerol, glucose and alanine. The algae in turn obtain protection against herbivores from the anemones stinging cells and good exposure to light.
They also use their venomous cells or nematocysts in the tentacles to sting and capture prey. Nutrients are absorbed from the water around them and they obtain some nutrition from a commensal relationship with clown fish which reside in the anemones tentacles.In Tanzanian waters this is almost exclusively the Skunk clown, Amphiprion akallopisos. It is extremely rare to see Amphiprion clarki or Amphiprion allardi in them.
REPRODUCTION
Magnificent anemones can reproduce asexually by budding or splitting and by sexual reproduction. In sexual reproduction males release sperm into the water, which stimulates females to release eggs into the water. Fertilization occurs when the two meet. Anemones eject eggs and sperm through the mouth. The fertilized eggs then develop into planula’s which settle and grow into a single polyp.
AQUARIUMS
Due to their habit of moving around an aquarium and getting themselves hooked up in the filter, these anemones can be troublesome in an aquarium. They can ambulate several feet per day and always head for the area of maximum water movement and light. If it is possible for them to become entangled in the filter, they will. Usually with potentially disastrous results for the tank and the anemone. A large tank is needed to keep them and it can be difficult to get them to settle in an aesthetically pleasing spot as they often settle on the glass.
MOVEMENT
Magnificent anemone are often found in large aggregations in Tanzania and in the Red Sea. In Tanzania groups of thirty to forty are not uncommon in a relatively small area. To date only noted in the shallows on reef tops, but they have been noted in aggregations of several hundred in the Red Sea. They move often along the shallow reefs in Tanzania by absorbing water and rolling up into a ball with the tentacles on the outside. This provides for protection against predators as can be seen in the images below.
They then drift with the current. Over the last sixteen years the movements on Bongoyo inside reef appear to be linked to seasonal changes between the North East Monsoon and the South East Monsoon and may relate to a drop off in current caused by the changes in prevailing winds. Interestingly large aggregations of the Bubble tip anemone (Entacmaea quadricolor) have also been noted but only on two occasions and the aggregations have disappeared never to be seen again.
At times the moving aggregations of the magnificent anemone become stranded in clearly unsuitable areas and have been noted hooked up in areas of stag horn coral before. The anemones seem to depart these areas together, presumably at night and must have some form of trigger that operates causing the group to collectively depart the area at the same time. They have been observed arriving in the same area at the same time. Interestingly when they arrive they are without clown fish but within a few days there are clown fish in them.
As the rolled up anemones have only been noted in the very early morning it is assumed that this behavior occurs at night but this is by no means a certainty.
BLEACHING
As with corals, magnificent anemone drop their algae when conditions are unfavorable. Usually in the wild they reabsorb them when the conditions become more favorable. These anemones in the images were seen in the shallows to the west of Mafia Island, Tanzania.
They were in two to four meters of water depending on the tide and the water temperature was 32 C. From the prevailing weather conditions we assume that the temperature had been in this range for two to three weeks. Interestingly none of the anemones had clownfish in them. Free swimming clownfish were seen for the first time ever by ourselves. When followed the clownfish swam around an anemone but never went into it. All the anemones in the area were bleached.
MAGNIFICENT ANEMONE CLASSIFICATION
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Cnidaria
Class: Anthozoa
Subclass: Hexacorallia
Order: Actiniaria
Family: Stichodactylidae
LITERATURE CITED
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heteractis_magnifica
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/231882958_An_assemblage_of_the_host_anemone_Heteractis_magnifica_in_the_northern_Red_Sea_and_distribution_of_the_resident_anemonefish
EQUIPMENT USED
Canon 7D
Ikelite 7D Housing
Twin Ikelite DS 161 Strobes
Flat Ikelite Lens Port
Ikelite Dual Synch Cord
Ikelite 5.1 inch Port bodyOne of the hardest problems in science is the symbol grounding problem, a question that has intrigued philosophers and linguists for more than a century.With the rise of artificial intelligence, the question has become very actual, especially within the field of robotics. The problem is that an agent, be it a robot or a human, perceives the world in analogue signals. Yet humans have the ability to categorise the world in symbols that they, for instance, may use for language.This book presents a series of experiments in which two robots try to solve the symbol grounding problem. The experiments are based on the language game paradigm, and involve real mobile robots that are able to develop a grounded lexicon about the objects that they can detect in their world. Crucially, neither the lexicon nor the ontology of the robots has been preprogrammed, so the experiments demonstrate how a population of embodied language users can develop their own vocabularies from scratch.Finds Republican restrictions on voting violate both the U.S. Constitution and Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act...
Brad Friedman Byon 4/29/2014, 6:43pm PT
[This article now cross-published by Salon...]
Very big news out of a federal court in Wisconsin today, where the state's polling place Photo ID law (Act 23) has now been struck down as both a violation of the federal Constitutional as well as under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
While similar laws, all enacted by Republicans, have been struck down by state courts before --- indeed, Wisconsin's, was already found in violation of the state constitution in state court --- and in federal courts under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, today's ruling is the first to strike down such a law under Section 2 of the VRA.
The landmark ruling will almost certainly have national implications for federal challenges in other states against similar restrictions recently enacted by Republicans.
Last summer, the U.S. Supreme Court gutted the heart of the VRA by making Section 5 unenforceable until Congress passes new legislation to determine which jurisdictions must pre-clear new elections laws with the U.S. Dept. of Justice before they are put into effect, due to a history of racial discrimination in elections in those jurisdictions. Section 2, however, bars discrimination in all 50 states, even though, unlike Section 5, it cannot be applied until after the new law in question goes into effect.
Judge Lynn Adelman's ruling [PDF] today, finding WI's version of the law discriminatory and in violation of both Section 2 and the 14th Amendment of the federal Constitution, is likely to have an impact on federal challenges to similar laws in states such as Texas and North Carolina, where federal cases are pending to block similarly discriminatory polling place restrictions.
Moreover, the judge placed the racial and class discrimination and disenfranchisement that would be caused by this law in stark terms, in regard to how many otherwise legal voters in Wisconsin might lose their right to vote, and how such a law might have directly affected the results of the state's 2010 election, had it been place at the time...
The Nation's Ari Berman explains:
Wisconsin federal district court Judge Lynn Adelman ruled today that the state's voter ID law, which was temporarily enjoined in 2012, violated the 14th amendment and Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Judge Adelman found that 300,000 registered voters in Wisconsin, roughly 9 percent of registered voters, lacked the government-issued ID required by the state to cast a ballot. "To put this number in context," Adelman wrote, "in 2010 the race for governor in Wisconsin was decided by 124,638 votes, and the race for United States Senator was decided by 105,041 votes. Thus, the number of registered voters who lack a qualifying ID is large enough to change the outcome of Wisconsin elections." The voter ID law had a clear discriminatory impact, the judge found. "The evidence adduced at trial demonstrates that this unique burden disproportionately impacts Black and Latino voters," Adelman wrote. Data from the 2012 election "showed that African American voters in Wisconsin were 1.7 times as likely as white voters to lack a matching driver's license or state ID and that Latino voters in Wisconsin were 2.6 times as likely as white voters to lack these forms of identification." The judge found that Wisconsin's ID law overwhelmingly impacted lower-income voters and that "Blacks and Latinos in Wisconsin are disproportionately likely to live in poverty.... The reason Blacks and Latinos are disproportionately likely to live in poverty, and therefore to lack a qualifying ID, is because they have suffered from, and continue to suffer from, the effects of discrimination." Reading his opinion, it seemed as if Judge Adelman were directly addressing the "colorblind" ideology of Chief Justice John Roberts, who has argued that voting discrimination is largely a thing of the past and that consideration of race to remedy past discrimination is, in and of itself, discriminatory.
Berman goes on to describe Adelman's ruling as "the most comprehensive opinion yet detailing the case against voter ID laws and the paucity of evidence to justify them.
Moreover, he writes, "Judge Adelman argued that the state of Wisconsin presented no evidence of voter fraud to justify the burdens of the ID law," stating in his ruling that "The defendants could not point to a single instance of known voter impersonation occurring in Wisconsin at any time in the recent past.... It is absolutely clear that Act 23 will prevent more legitimate votes from being cast than fraudulent votes."
The original plaintiff in the case was 84-year old Ruthelle Frank, who, as we described when her federal case was first filed by the ACLU in late 2011, found herself unable to vote under WI's new law, since she was unable to receive a supposedly "free" photo ID without paying $20 for a copy of her birth certificate.
Frank had voted in every election since 1948 and is an elected member of the Brokaw Village Board. But she was born at home, so never had a birth certificate. She finally discovered that she was listed in the state Register of Deeds, but her name had been misspelled there, an error which would have cost her $200 to correct...before she could get her $20 birth certificate...before she could get her "free" ID...all of which she would have been forced to accomplish without having a drivers license.
Frank was just one of some 17 plaintiffs named in the ACLU case.
Republican-enacted Photo ID Restrictions Failing in Courts
Last week, Arkansas' Photo ID law --- originally vetoed by the Democratic Governor there, but overridden by the Republican STATE legislature --- was found in violation of that state's Constitution. A federal case by the ACLU is also pending there.
In January, the draconian Photo ID law passed by Republicans and signed by a Republican Governor in Pennsylvania was found to violate that state's Constitution.
The Republican polling place Photo ID law signed by Gov. Scott Walker in Wisconsin has been repeatedly rejected by state courts as a violation of the state Constitution over the past year and is currently pending before the state Supreme Court. Walker has recently suggested that if the law is overturned there, it would be the only issue that he would find "pressing" enough to convene a special session of the legislature "before the next election"...when Walker will be on the ballot.
Today's ruling striking down the WI law in federal court would seem to make that possibility much more difficult, as a law would need to be drafted and passed that could withstand both state and federal muster, at this point, and all of it before this November's elections.
The ruling also does not bode well for Republican laws enacted in Texas or in North Carolina just after last year's Supreme Court ruling on the VRA. The U.S. Dept. of Justice is challenging the statutes in those states as violations of both the U.S. Constitution as well as under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Today's ruling in federal court in WI has set a precedent that may be difficult for supporters of such discriminatory laws to overcome. Indeed, The BRAD BLOG is on record as predicting that the TX Photo ID law is "almost certain to get nixed," based on findings by federal courts previously and for reasons not unlike those described in Judge Adelman's ruling today.
* * *
UPDATE 5/2/2014: In a detailed analysis, The BRAD BLOG's legal analyst Ernie Canning suggests that Adelman's "meticulously crafted" decision could signal "the beginning of the end" for GOP Photo ID restriction laws across the nation.
UPDATE 5/14/14: Republican Governor Scott Walker and the other named defendants have filed a formal Notice [PDF] that they intend to appeal Judge Adelman's decision to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.
* * *
Please help support The BRAD BLOG's fiercely independent, award-winning coverage of your electoral system --- now in our ELEVENTH YEAR! --- as available from no other media outlet in the nation...Even accounting for the accelerating pace of Arctic climate change, sea ice loss in the Far North is running well ahead of schedule. This may signal a near record or record low sea ice extent to come in September.
Fractures in the ice cover are evident north of Greenland, which Mark Serreze, the director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado, told Mashable are "quite unusual" for this time of year.
"To me, it suggests a thinner, weaker ice cover," Serreze said.
In general, the Arctic has warmed at about twice the rate of the rest of the world, due largely to feedbacks between melting sea ice and the ability of newly-open ocean waters to absorb more heat, and then melt more ice.
During this winter, and now continuing into spring, prevailing weather patterns have brought temperature anomalies as high — and occasionally higher than — 30 degrees Fahrenheit above average at times in the Arctic, with repeated waves of extreme warmth flooding into the Arctic Ocean from all directions.
"I think what we're seeing thus far is quite unusual in terms of warm winter and spring temperatures that have contributed to ice retreat and lack of ice growth during winter," said Julienne Stroeve, a senior research scientist at the NSIDC, in an email to Mashable.
The fracturing of sea ice is especially pronounced in the Beaufort Sea, north of Alaska, where satellite images show the ice rapidly breaking up during the past two weeks.
"....This is important because what it's doing is isolating the multiyear ice floes and having them surrounded by open water that can enhance melt of those thicker floes. So that is something to watch this summer, whether or not those floes survive will be important to the September minima," Stroeve said.
Computer models show such patterns continuing for the next 10 days, as shown in the animation below. (The orange colors indicate milder than average temperatures):
The latest provisional data from the NSIDC, which tracks Arctic and Antarctic sea ice, shows that the Arctic sea ice melt season is running as much as one month earlier than average.
This increases the odds that there will be a record low sea ice minimum in September, unless weather patterns change significantly.
So far, the ice is melting at a far faster pace compared to the record sea ice minimum that occurred in 2012.
Ted Scambos, a senior research scientist at NSIDC, said the fracturing is "a sign of much thinner ice in the region that is typically the thickest and most durable."
He said the early melt on the ice surface "is in my view the final nail in the coffin for this year — it will be a very low minimum almost certainly, and may or may not set a record," he told Mashable in an email.
Since the NSIDC is now getting sea ice data from a different Defense Department satellite (known as DMSP F-18) than it had been previously, due to an equipment malfunction, the organization cautions that the ice extent data may be somewhat off the mark.
"Initial evaluation of the uncalibrated F-18 data indicates reasonable agreement with F-17, but the data should be considered provisional and quantitative comparisons with other data should not be done at this time," the NSIDC cautions on its website.
Sea ice extent through mid-May, showing ice extent plunging well above average and below the 2012 extent at this time (dotted blue line). Image: NSIDC
However, the "reasonable agreement" so far between the two sensors makes general conclusions possible at this point, without going into specific numbers that may be revised in the near future.
Arctic sea ice set a record low seasonal maximum in March, and a relentless series of weather systems have pumped unusually mild air into the Arctic as well as milder than average ocean waters.
Forecasts for the next two weeks show that these mild infusions of air and water will continue to occur.
"The warmth of this past winter appears to have continued, and the sea ice is feeling it," Serreze said in an email. "The very warm conditions right now in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas appear to be related to a low pressure system just off the coast of the East Siberian Sea, acting in concert with high pressure to the east to bring very warm air into the region."
Stroeve said the fracturing of sea ice cover, even in areas that typically see thick ice at this time of year, is not unheard of, though it is unusual.
"...There have been other years with large events," she said.
Many studies have shown that the Arctic may be seasonally ice free within the next few decades, opening up the region to increased shipping and tourism traffic as well as oil and gas development.Venue: Outdoor practice fields
Format: Full pads
The most spirited practices of Oregon's preseason training camp usually were sparked by energy from the defensive coaching staff. A guy would make a play, Charles Clark or Joe Salave'a or Keith Heyward would raucously celebrate it, players would follow suit, the offense wouldn't like that and …
Well, at that point, it was on. The "juice" was loose for the Ducks.
In looking back on Oregon's loss Saturday, and the week leading up to it, Willie Taggart determined that a lack of energy on the sideline – in the game, and during the week in practice – was a factor. He's making sure that's not the case this week.
And as usual, the defensive staff is helping set the tone.
On Wednesday, for the second day in a row, Taggart opened practice with a "bulls in the ring" drill. Essentially, one offensive player and one defensive player sumo wrestle for positioning inside a ring of teammates. Today's first battle was between Alex Forsyth and Malik Young ; the junior college defensive end had the early advantage, but Forsyth set his feet in the ground, established momentum and ended up with a pancake. Then, Charles Sudduth made quick work of his matchup with Jack Vecchio.
The extended battle to open the drill got the whole team amped up a bit. Taggart's inclusion of the two walk-ons for the second rep – players deeply respected for the role they fill – really had the Ducks jumping around and shouting. And Sudduth's evening of the score for the defense had players at a fever pitch.
Once the standard practice periods began, the staff stoked the Ducks' fires to keep them burning. During the mid-practice hydration break, defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt circulated among the position groups telling them, "Here we go! Second half!" Later, "Jump Around" by House of Pain came over the speaker system, and Salave'a bounced to the beat, waving his arms for the defensive sideline to join him.
It ended up being a day highlighted by turnovers from the defense. The "juice" established by the defensive staff set the stage, something the Ducks will look to repeat against California on Saturday (7:35 p.m. PT, FS1).
Other highlights: Troy Dye forced the first turnover of the day by intercepting a rocket off the arm of Mike Irwin just past the line of scrimmage. The defense keeps a running tally of turnovers each day, and all the guys put one finger in the air after Dye's pick. It wouldn't be the last. … In a later team period, Dye leaped high in the air for another miraculous turnover. Thomas Graham Jr. also picked off a ball in that period, and a third turnover highlighted a cool back-and-forth sequence during the same period. …
The sequence began with Irwin seeing a receiver matched up with a safety and lofting a deep ball. Tyree Robinson was in coverage, sensed the ball coming his way, turned and coolly flicked it away. On the next play, Kyle Buckner got behind the secondary, and this time Irwin hit him in stride for the touchdown. That got the offense streaming off the sideline to celebrate in the end zone. The defense responded in kind moments later when Dexter Myers hauled in a tipped ball and took it to the house. It was great to see both sides celebrating with so much "juice," and great to see a couple scout-team guys get a moment in the sun, to boot.
Other observations: The Ducks wore their black game helmets, rather than the white practice helmets. … During sled drills, offensive line coach Mario Cristobal tried hard to mess with the snap count and entice his linemen to jump early. The Ducks were flagged for a couple false starts in the loss at ASU, but I only saw them jump early once during 5 minutes on the sled Wednesday. … Safety Khalil Oliver has left the Ducks and announced his intention to finish his degree and move on as a graduate transfer.... During some team situations, the backup D line featured Young, Scott Pagano and Austin Faoliu. That's quite the collection of talent on the No. 2 defense. Pagano seems to be emerging this week, perhaps finally feeling healthy on his surgically repaired foot.
Pre-practice interviews:
Head coach Willie TaggartMark Cuban is betting Donald Trump will lose the presidential election, but end up with his net worth increased tenfold.
In a series of tweets Thursday, Cuban said there's a more than 50%a chance that the presidential race will end in Trump's "dream scenario" -- winning the popular vote, but losing in the Electoral College.
"All the glory. None of the work," Cuban tweeted.
A Trump loss to Hillary Clinton would "increase his networth 10x," the billionaire Dallas Mavericks owner said.
In follow-up emails to CNNMoney, Cuban wrote that after the loss, "It's truly the gains he could see. He would immediately turn into a good guy since he would no longer be a threat to the safety of the free world.
"He would be a former candidate who has a winning and compelling story. He may even get sympathy from people. That would be Huuuge for him."
Trump's campaign has been controversial, drawing protests at campaign stops that have turned violent at times. But Cuban theorized that an electoral loss would help the Trump name regain value.
Related: Trump supporters feel worse off than Clinton fans
"His brand would lose the negativity. He could do anything he wanted in business," Cuban wrote.
He doubts that Trump's campaign is built to win a national election. Cuban speculated on Twitter Thursday that Trump doesn't have the necessary "analytics" and "ground game" to win key districts in swing states. He added that Trump doesn't have the insight or will to make "face to face contact in precincts [where] he needs votes to tip a state."
@piersmorgan @realDonaldTrump No. No bigger win than seeing your networth grow 10x and to be able to get all the glory with none of the work — Mark Cuban (@mcuban) July 21, 2016
Trump's campaign did not respond to requests for comment.
The "Shark Tank" host began his most recent lobs at Trump on Stephen Colbert's "The Late Show" Wednesday night. During a lightning round of one-liners criticizing the candidate, Cuban renewed his jab that Trump has exaggerated the size of his bank account.
"To be a billionaire, you have to have the billion part in your bank account, not just the air," Cuban said.
Cuban and Trump -- both businessmen turned reality show stars who claim to be worth more than $1 billion apiece -- have what Cuban has described as a "love-hate relationship."
Once a Trump supporter, Cuban became an outspoken opponent of the Republican nominee as his campaign began gaining traction.
Related: Networks covering GOP convention still waiting for the Trump ratings bump
Cuban told CNNMoney that he still favors Clinton "far more" than Trump.
"She is willing to build bridges between people rather than burn them. She understands the fragility of the global community and has the background to try to build coalitions to fight terrorism and build the global economy," he said.For the first time, the Sundance Institute is helping one of the festival's alumni with distribution and marketing to explore a new model for festival films.
Producer Danielle Renfrew Behrens was never under the illusion that her quiet indie “Columbus” would spark a bidding war after it premiered at Sundance. But when popular video-essayist-turned-filmmaker Kogonada’s directorial debut became one of the best reviewed films at the 2017 festival, she did assume there would be distribution offers that, at the very least, would make her investors happy.
Read MoreSundance 2017 IndieWire Critics Poll Results: Best Film
It didn’t quite work out that way. “We did get offers, but they didn’t make sense for us,” said Behrens in an interview with IndieWire. “The film would have had |
Flower Garden Banks national marine sanctuary in the northern Gulf of Mexico, Bermuda and Bonaire – all of which have restricted or banned fishing practices that harm parrotfish.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Coral overgrown with algae in Jamaica. Photograph: Bob Steneck/IUCN
The Caribbean is home to 9% of the world’s coral reefs, but only around one-sixth of the original coral cover remains. The reefs, which span 38 countries, are vital to the region’s economy and support the more than 43 million people, generating more than US$3bn annually from tourism and fisheries and much more in other goods and services.
According to the authors, restoring parrotfish populations and improving other management strategies could help the reefs recover. “The rate at which the Caribbean corals have been declining is truly alarming,” said Carl Gustaf Lundin, director of IUCN’s global marine and polar programme. “But this study brings some very encouraging news: the fate of Caribbean corals is not beyond our control and there are some very concrete steps that we can take to help them recover.”
Facebook Twitter Pinterest One of many fishnets on the reefs of St Vincent. Photograph: Catlin Seaview Survey/IUCN
Reefs that are protected from overfishing, as well as other threats such as excessive coastal pollution, tourism and coastal development, are more resilient to pressures from climate change, according to the authors.
“Even if we could somehow make climate change disappear tomorrow, these reefs would continue their decline,” said Jeremy Jackson, lead author of the report and IUCN’s senior adviser on coral reefs. “We must immediately address the grazing problem for the reefs to stand any chance of surviving future climate shifts.”I'm not going to lie. I am a fan of Leonardo DiCaprio. From "The Departed" to Inception to "Django Unchained," the man has earned his place at the top of the acting pantheon.
And let's face it; Calgaryism always welcomes every visitor to Calgary, the fifth most livable city in the world for five years in a row, with typical, genuine western hospitality. Mr. DiCaprio recently flew to Fort McMurray to carry out some research on Canada's oilsands while he prepares to shoot his new picture, "The Revenant," near Calgary and Vancouver this fall.
So, to Leo, I say: I love your films, I respect your truly remarkable career arc, and I have a lot of respect for your impressive acting abilities. I'm hoping your stay here will be nothing but a positive experience for you. I might add that I know a thing or two about Calgary restaurants and as such I'd love to show you around when you're in Calgary.
But, as you might have guessed, Leo, first I have some questions for you:
I noticed that you borrowed a $725-million super-yacht from your friend and United Arab Emirates (UAE) Deputy Prime Minister Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan so you and your entourage could watch the recent World Cup in style.
Is using Sheikh Mansour's super-yacht part of your research into the human rights of Middle Eastern oil regimes? For example, as a public advocate for gay rights, did you learn that homosexuality in the UAE is illegal? Were you able to establish, as any superficial Google search would have shown you, that flogging is used in the UAE as a punishment for criminal offences such as drug use, adultery and prostitution?
Did you read media reports that, in 2008, an Australian woman working in the UAE reported a rape to the authorities and was imprisoned for eight months for having sex outside of marriage?
Closer to home, Leo, are you aware that researchers for California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard found there are 13 oil fields in California plus crude oil blends originating in at least six other countries that generate a higher level of upstream greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) than that of our Canadian oilsands blends?
Did you know that same study found the "dirtiest oil in North America" is not produced in Canada, but just outside your own hometown of Los Angeles, where the Placerita oil field generates about twice the level of upstream emissions as Canada's oilsands? Actually, the title of "world's dirtiest oil" goes to Brass crude blend from Nigeria, where the uncontrolled release of methane during the oil extraction process generates upstream GHG emissions that is over four times higher than Canadian diluted bitumen.
If, as your latest documentary project "Carbon" suggests, you're a committed opponent of the use of fossil fuels, then why are you not conducting research in any of these other countries where human rights, environmental stewardship and continual improvement through science and technology are in real question?
Did you take note while you were visiting the Fort McMurray region last week that engineers at Devon's Jackfish operation have, for more than a decade, been tapping into a deep reservoir of saline, non-potable groundwater for its steaming process? Not only is this water unsuitable for drinking, it's also unsuitable for livestock or irrigation.
Did you notice that at Cold Lake, Imperial Oil is working on a technology that could remove bitumen from sand without the use of steam at all? Removing heat from the process would dramatically reduce the energetic cost of extraction -- as well as the corresponding greenhouse gas emissions.
Leo, a recent industry study compared Alberta to other oil and gas jurisdictions around the world on environmental laws, government processes and stringency (how comprehensive are the environmental laws?), transparency (how easily can the public get information?), and compliance (which country has rules to ensure compliance?)
Alberta was a consistent leader in comparison to all other study locations: North America (USA North Dakota and USA Gulf of Mexico), South America (Brazil), Australia (Queensland), Asia-Pacific (Malaysia), Middle East (Oman), Africa (Ghana) and Europe (United Kingdom and Norway).
That's right. Alberta was a leader in every category.
And finally, Leo, did you know Canada's oilsands generate economic benefits on a scale greater than Canada's fifth largest economy, the province of Saskatchewan? Estimates are that in 2012, oilsands contributed C$91 billion to the Canadian economy, or five per cent of GDP, and to 478,000 jobs, or three per cent of all jobs in Canada. This is no small matter to a country and an economy only one-10th the population of the U.S.
Leo, every person I talk to loves your movies and I'm really happy you're filming in our area. The motion-picture industry is a key to our economic health, and that in turn helps families and communities prosper.
But as I've already said, the oilsands are a crucial ethical and economic part of not just Alberta or the west, but of our country. So while I'm a fan of your acting, I have to say I'm kind of relieved you're not "king of the world."
Still, like they say in your hometown, "Let's do lunch."
ALSO ON HUFFPOST:The Ice Hotel, which is rebuilt every year in northern Sweden out of enormous chunks of ice from the Torne River in Jukkasjärvi, Kiruna, will this year come equipped with fire alarms - and the irony isn't lost on the staff.
"We were a little surprised when we found out," hotel spokeswoman Beatrice Karlsson told The Local.
"But we do understand. Safety is a primary concern for us. There are indeed things that can catch fire, like the reindeer skins, the mattresses, and the pillows."
While it might sound crazy that a building made of water needs to be equipped with fire alarms, the fact that the hotel is built from scratch every year means it needs to abide by the rules that apply to every new building, rules set by the National Housing Board (Boverket).
IN PICTURES: See the Ice Hotel up close
Karlsson at the hotel isn't concerned about the new changes, and admitted that it was just a matter of adaptation.
"Every hotel is brand new anyway, there is always something new to think about. And this year is no different, we actually have a few surprises in store," she told The Local.
While Karlsson refused to go into too much detail, she hinted that a range of new international artists would be on the scene, and that the company had a few big partnerships to reveal soon.
The Ice Hotel opened its (igloo) doors to guests for the first time back in 1990 and has been a staple tourist attraction of the ice-olated Kiruna ever since.
Oliver GeeLong have I writhed in doubt, regret, and anger over the heat emitted by the Nexus 6. What ought to be the perfect phone for me – for its design, its high-resolution display, its pure Android software, and its sheer size – has always stopped me just short of sheer contentment by getting simply too hot to be comfortable to hold for long periods of time. And I want to be able to hold it for long. Periods. Of time.
I know that this is not some endemic flaw with the Nexus 6. My anecdotal surveys of Nexus 6 owners tell me that the vast majority of users have no issues whatsoever with its heat. However, a small number of folks I’ve found on message boards have shared my frustrations, and some of them simply gave up and rid themselves of the device. This, added to my own experience of having gone through a few different units when I thought the heat was a mechanical flaw, at least indicated to me that 1) the Nexus 6 does generally have a propensity to get too warm even under light or casual use; and 2) it is a problem that can be (and is usually) mitigated to an acceptable level with some more or less trivial adjustments to use.
So I became determined to make it work, to give this beast one final shot. (It was also “one final shot” because my wife made me promise I’d stop switching phones for a while, for which I am half-grateful.)
I did some research. Whenever I found any official Google sources addressing the issue of heat, or really any advice on the subject, the common theme of “rogue app” was raised repeatedly. Some app or apps could be making the Nexus too hot by their misbehavior. Maybe I could find those apps, kick them out, and find replacements for their functionality.
I installed a couple of “cooling” apps, not so much because I thought they could cool down the phone, as I suspect they’re just shy of snake oil, but to get a look at which apps might be causing the heat to begin with.
I also found a study released earlier this year by AVG that looked at which Android apps consumed the most system resources and had the biggest impact on the battery. A phone heats up when its resources are being taxed and when the battery has greater demand placed on it, so I hoped this would give me a little guidance. And it did!
One of the biggest offenders, according to the installed utilities and the AVG report, won’t surprise you: the Facebook app. I’d eschewed installing it before, and I was happy to remove it this time as well. Its mobile website is almost identical to the app anyway, and includes messaging, so no big deal there.
AVG says Spotify is another big one, but I’m not a subscriber, so no problem ditching that. Of course games are major consumers of resources, but I take that as a given, and accept the consequences of playing a phone-taxing game. More to the point, a game will be less likely to use resources in the background when the app itself is not running. Not so for something like Facebook, which wants to know what’s up all the time. Instagram was similarly called out by AVG and my utilities, so for that time being, it also went.
One app the cooling utilities highlighted, that the AVG report did not, was Evernote. I have always disliked how bloated an app Evernote is, but continuing to use it for its ubiquity and connectivity to other services. But while I wasn’t surprised to see that it was taking up more of my phone’s resources than it ought to, I was surprised to see to just what degree. At one point, I found it using almost 200MB of memory just to do some kind of interaction with Google Play billing – and I don’t even use Evernote’s paid service. That was the last straw, and I decided I’d make do with Google Keep for my note taking. Out went Evernote.
I also uninstalled Pocket, an app that likes to refresh and download background content. I never look at Pocket, but only use it to store links for The Morning Heresy, and literally nothing else, so I am fine to send links by email to Pocket. I don’t miss it.
My favorite RSS reader, Press, also went, if only temporarily, to see if it was similarly doing too much in the background. In the meantime I’m using the more lightweight gReader.
Here’s something I think will surprise you. Two particularly greedy apps are Amazon’s main shopping app and Amazon’s Kindle app! Now, you already know that Amazon and I are not getting along as we once did, and this was like being kicked while I was down. Despite my exile, I still have full access to my Kindle content, so I frequently used the Kindle app. Well, not anymore! Using some, let’s say, means, I extricated my Kindle books and got them into my Google Play Books library, and gleefully uninstalled both of these Amazon apps.
So this was my setup for a few days. I’d removed Instagram, Pocket, Press, Facebook, Kindle, Evernote, and Amazon shopping. I’d installed a “cooling” app to monitor the CPU temperature and check what other apps might be getting troublesome, and let Qualcomm’s Snapdragon BatteryGuru do its own thing in the background, learning my usage habits and making its little adjustments.
And you know what? It was working! The phone could still get warm, but it never got so hot that, say, the screen was uncomfortable to touch. Most of the time, it was just fine.
Feeling pretty confident that I was getting somewhere, I decided it was time to bring some apps back. The funny thing was that there were so few I even wanted back! I could certainly try reinstalling Pocket, for example, but there’s almost no reason whatsoever to do so, as it’s trivially easy to send links I’m saving to Pocket over email. It was nice to know Facebook was not eating my phone alive from the inside, and saving the website as a bookmark on my home screen makes it almost as though it’s there anyway. gReader is fine. Google Keep is fine. And Amazon can, of course, get bent.
The only thing I missed was Instagram, just for the raw convenience of sharing photos to several networks at once. So a few days ago I experimented with allowing Instagram back on to the device.
At about the same time, I found out about a utility called Greenify that seems to be well regarded as a non-snake-oil way to “hibernate” apps that are asking too much of a device. Mitigated by Greenify (and perhaps also by BatteryGuru), Instagram didn’t seem to be causing me any problems.
So here I am, a week or so into my experiment. A handful of apps are gone from my device, and the Nexus 6 has been almost entirely perfectly comfortable. Again, it does sometimes get a little warmer than I think it ought to, but so has every phone I’ve ever used. But importantly, I no longer find myself being frustrated by the heat it emits, I no longer feel any regret for my purchase, even when it gets a little warm.
I think I have this under control, which is awesome. And not a moment too soon, since I’m not allowed to get anything else, and boy oh boy that new Moto X looks amazing.Are you ready to go trick or treating for yourself?! Myself, 365 Days Of Color, Set In Lacquer, Cosmetic Sanctuary & BeautyPopStop are bringing you a Pretty Wicked Halloween Giveaway with some fantastic prizes! Let’s get into the rules & most importantly.. Prizes!!
You must be located in the U.S. (or have a U.S. shipping address) and you must be 18+
There will be 5 winners
Each winner will ONLY receive 1 prize (meaning you will not receive something from EVERY blogger/shop involved; just 1)
The giveaway will run from Oct 1 – Oct 14th
The winners will be announced on the 15th or 16 of October via the email provided when you enter
Each winner will have 48 hours to respond. Failing to respond will mean you’ve forfeited your prize and a new winner will automatically be chosen in your place (sorry, we have to be strict about this)Ukraine’s media community has been left shellshocked after the killing of prominent journalist Pavel Sheremet in a car bomb attack last week.
Although no motive has been confirmed, his friends and colleagues say his death is linked to his reporting, offering further evidence of the increasingly dangerous conditions in which many of the country’s reporters work.
Ukrainians pay respects to journalist killed in car bombing Read more
Journalist deaths are rare and extreme events, harassment and intimidation are more common, but a silencing tactic that has quickly gained in popularity is the use of internet trolls.
I’ve experienced this type of abuse first hand. Earlier this month, the online TV company I run found itself the subject of a troll attack.
It started in early July when the press service of Ukraine’s joint staff, the country’s top military coordination body, released a statement on its Facebook page accusing my company, Hromadske, of smuggling a Russian journalist to the frontline in east Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists are battling the national army.
Hromadske is a young TV and multimedia organization created in 2013 as a prototype of a public broadcaster in Ukraine.
Our journalists have frequently travelled to the war zone in the past two years. First, to cover the annexation of Crimea in March 2014, and then to report on the heavy fighting in Donetsk and Luhansk that followed.
All this time Hromadske has been an important source of information about the war. But now the government has accused our journalists of exposing the position of Ukraine’s troops, making them vulnerable to enemy fire.
As soon as the statement on their Facebook page appeared, something strange started to happen. In the first five minutes, the statement was shared more than 360 times. Within an hour, it became the most popular post on the joint staff’s press page. And then, almost all the activity suddenly stopped.
The join staff page was created in July 2014 at the height of the conflict in east Ukraine to inform the public about daily events on the frontline. It is managed by the press service, and a typical post gets just a few dozen likes and shares.
But the post about Hromadske spread like a forest fire. Reposts trashed our journalists, attacking their reputations and slamming their work.
The commenters were particularly critical of a report we had commissioned from Avdiyivka, in the Donetsk region, where heavy artillery is used against Ukraine’s troops almost daily, in violation of the Minsk peace agreements.
Journalist Nastya Stanko was filmed applying a tourniquet to stop a Ukrainian soldier from bleeding to death. Cameraman Kostyantyn Reutskiy carried another soldier to the ambulance. He died minutes later. Both reporters were shaken and shocked when they arrived back home.
A day later, Hromadske’s reporters were accused of exposing the position of the troops. By that time, the report had not even released on Hromadske’s website (and still has not been).
At some point we realised it was an organised attack. A source told us it was the work of three groups of trolls and a bot farm. Though we don’t know who commissioned the attack, we do know that their position was strongly pro-government.
The technical team at the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, an independent investigative journalism NGO, also analysed the unusual traffic and confirmed that click-farming did indeed take place. Deeper analysis is currently under way.
It was a shocking revelation. Has the government unleashed a troll army against independent journalists? Is a country at war with Russia using Kremlin-style tactics of lies and manipulation? But why would they?
One answer is that Hromadske’s journalists see too much. They see trenches that are waist deep, not nearly deep enough to protect the fighters. They see understaffed units, the sloppy work of press officers and attempts to stop journalists from reporting the real problems on the ground.
By matching Moscow's paranoia, the west plays into Putin's hands Read more
These stories often contradict the government’s own assessment of the situation and the stories circulated by commercial TV channels.
We spent the whole of last week debunking government lies. But the damage has already been done – our journalists are getting angry phone calls from the troops on the front lines, who accuse them of betrayal and disloyalty and no longer want to help them report.
Hromadske is not the only independent news organisation that has to face trolls and paid-for bloggers. All investigative journalists in Ukraine are currently under attack, and have even agreed to hold a joint brainstorming session about how to resist the abuse and fight the problem in a more systemic way.
But it might be difficult in the country there the word “Porokhobot” has become common. It’s a neologism made up of two parts: bot and Poroshenko, referring to president Petro Poroshenko. This one is going to be hard to fight.Filipino security forces have reportedly killed more than 40 jihadists during a five-day battle in the southern Philippines. The jihadists “claimed links with” the Islamic State, according to Reuters:
Philippine security forces killed as many as 42 Muslim rebels claiming links with Islamic State and captured their stronghold during five days of fighting in the mountains of a southern island, an army spokesman said on Friday. Three soldiers were killed and 11 wounded when the forces seized the bastion of an affiliate of Jemaah Islamiah, a Southeast Asian network of Islamist militants, in the province of Lanao del Sur.
The “affiliate” of Jemaah Islamiyyah (JI), traditionally seen as al Qaeda’s branch in Southeast Asia, was likely a splinter of the group that emerged in 2014 and pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi and the Islamic State shortly after his announcement of the caliphate. Abu Bakar Bashir, the spiritual leader and co-founder of JI, left the group and formed his own Islamic State-loyal group, Jemaah Ansharut Tauhid.
However, Bashir’s two sons and several other leaders left and formed their own group, Jemaah Ansharusy Syariah. According to the Jakarta Post, more than 50 percent of Bashir’s followers abandoned him and joined Jemaah Ansharusy Syariah. According to its leader, it is directly part of al Qaeda’s global network now. (See LWJ report, Islamic State launches suicide assault in Indonesia’s capital.)
Other groups loyal to the Islamic State in the Philippines and the wider Southeast Asia region includes Katibat Ansar al Sharia, Katibat Marakah al Ansar, Ansar Khilafah in the Philippines, the Mujahidin Indonesian Timor, and a portion of or the entirety of the Abu Sayyaf Group, another group that was traditionally loyal to al Qaeda. (See LWJ report, Philippines-based jihadist groups pledge allegiance to the Islamic State.)
Caleb Weiss is a contributor to FDD's Long War Journal.
Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.Our first International Case Study report for the London-Stansted-Cambridge-Corridor-Growth-Commission is the Globally renowned “Triangle” area of North Carolina, which has experienced a collaboration between three universities, businesses and multiple local government jurisdictions to create one of the most competitive and dynamic R&D and technology based regions in the world.
Through these case studies we hope to learn what might drive further growth and prosperity in the London-Stansted-Cambridge Corridor and understand what kinds of priorities and actions might be sensible to consider as a basis for collaboration going forward. You can download the full report here.
Transformation into leading global tech region. Since the late 1950s, the economy of North Carolina’s Research Triangle has been transformed from one dependent on agriculture and textiles to one driven by knowledge-based jobs in technology, telecommunications, and pharmaceuticals.
Founded in collaboration to deliver the USA’s biggest technology research and science park. The Triangle is home to the Research Triangle Park (RTP). Founded in 1959, this cross-boundary 7,000-acre science park is the largest and leading high technology research and science park in North America.
High ranking for business friendly, high tech and as a place to live. Eighth of 125 global regions (World Knowledge Competitive Index); First place in the US to live and work (Employment Review); First place for business climate (Site Selection); First place for biotechnology (Milken Institute); First place for High-Tech Region (Silicon Valley Leadership Group); First place for Best Place for Business & Careers (Forbes); First place for Best Place to Live in the U.S. (Msnbc.com); First place for Pro-Business State (Pollina Corporate Real Estate Inc.)
Bold, ambitious strategy achieved and delivered through effective cross-boundary collaboration. A major collaborative venture was formed between the three universities, around the development of a major new asset – a science park. Initiatives of scale and scope were developed, such as the Council for Entrepreneurial Development – serving the Triangle ‘region’
Use of physical solutions to stimulate greater university-business interaction. The Centennial Campus created space and premises for co-location and co-production between researchers, students, universities and business. The key aim was to erode divisions between the university and business.
Collaborative regional delivery bodies including a regional partnership and public transport authority. The Research Triangle Regional Partnership (RTRP) is a business-driven, public-private partnership whose 2004 strategy delivered 110,000 new jobs. GoTriangle, the public transport authority delivers a range of flexible public transport solutions and is planning a 17.1-mile light rail route.
READ THE FULL REPORT HEREBreaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.
April 18, 2016, 9:00 PM GMT / Updated April 18, 2016, 9:00 PM GMT By Carrie Dann
Donald Trump has extended his support in the 2016 presidential race among Republican primary voters to a record 40 percent as the field has narrowed, but he is still locked in a tight battle with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz for dominance, a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll shows.
Trump gets the support of 40 percent of Republican primary voters, while Texas Sen. Ted Cruz gets 35 percent. Ohio Gov. John Kasich, in third place, has the support of 24 percent of GOP primary voters.
The margin of error for Republican primary voters in the poll is +/- 5.6 percent.
In March, Trump led Cruz by three points, 30 percent to 27 percent, with Kasich garnering 22 percent. In February – when Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush and Ben Carson were still in the presidential hunt -- Cruz held a slight advantage over Trump, 28 percent to 26 percent.
Trump outperforms Cruz most decisively among Republicans who do not have a college education (45 percent to 38 percent) and men (42 percent to 35 percent). Cruz thrives among very conservative voters (52 percent to Trump’s 40 percent), while Kasich leads among Republicans who describe themselves as moderate or liberal (44 percent to Trump’s 33 percent and Cruz’s 23 percent).
Among Republican primary voters, both Cruz and Kasich are viewed as more broadly acceptable than Trump.
Sixty-three percent say they can see themselves supporting Cruz, with 35 percent disagreeing. For Kasich, 61 percent can imagine backing the Ohio governor, while 33 percent cannot.
For Trump, the GOP frontrunner, 61 percent of Republican primary voters say they can see themselves backing him, while 38 percent disagree.
With more primary contests to come in the spring and early summer – but with persistent questions about whether Trump can reach the 1,237 delegates required to clinch the Republican nomination outright – a majority of Republicans say that he should still receive the nod if he’s the GOP candidate with the most votes after the primary season concludes.
According to the poll, 62 percent of Republican primary voters say that the winner of the Republican nomination should be the candidate who received the most votes in the primary, while 33 percent say the nominee should be the candidate whom the delegates at the convention believe would be the best party standard-bearer.Mage’s Fire. In the gathering twilight, I planned my brother’s graduation party, and this boom! spell caught my eye. Goldschlaeger, blue curacao, and vodka were the requisite spell components. The ratios were easy enough for a novice spell-slinger like myself. Then, a flash of battle-magic brilliance: “I’ll replace the crap vodka with Grey Goose, and rename it... Archmage’s Fire! Muahahahaha!” A raven gave a raucous scream outside, and the dark settled upon my kitchen-table laboratory like satin sheets...
Before I fell in love with Magic: The Gathering, before I was married, back when I thought I knew everything, I was a bartender. And my very first experience with creating a custom cocktail was the travesty you see above. Using your Magic-honed reasoning skills, consider why these recipe shenanigans and my thought process were (as I realized years later) embarrassingly flawed.
1. I thought dumping $90 worth of Grey Goose into the bowl made the drink better just because it now had a brand-name juggernaut in the ingredients list.
2. I didn’t analyze the context of the vodka, the role that it was playing in this recipe. Vodka, being a very mild spirit (in comparison to bourbon, scotch, rum, etc.) would be nearly indistinguishable after being mixed with such obnoxious flavor bombs like Goldschlaeger (cinnamon) and blue curacao (orange).
3. I didn’t test my recipe before I committed to it. It’s the equivalent of building a deck from your own untried brew idea, sleeving it up, and going straight to a Grand Prix. The result was a near-undrinkable blue-and-gold-flecked concoction that was a boom spell to your tongue as well as your brain, and not in a good way.
Pro tip: The gold flecks do not improve the taste.
Pro tip: the blue does not improve the taste.
What would I do differently, if I had the chance? Taste-test it myself, ask more experienced bartenders for advice, whip up samples and have friends give me feedback, read some of the many respected books on bartending that are out there—so many ways to come to a better solution, if I was goal-oriented at the time. I wasn’t. I was caught up in the moment, and hasty.
Flash-forward to the present day. I was looking at Sharuum (leader of one of our “jerk” Commander decks) and realized she has what appears to be some kind of champagne cocktail in front of her upon her royal dais. Suddenly I realized there must be other pieces of art in Magic’s long history that feature mixed drinks, and also that many of the skills valued and honed in Magic are applicable to professional bartending.
Sharuum relaxes with bubbly while reviewing supplicants.
4 oz champagne or sparkling white wine
1 oz crème de violette
Pour crème de violette into champagne flute. Add champagne. Stir gently if needed. Garnish with lemon twist or whatever you think is sexy.
As Magic players, we’re used to the dirty-secret fact that we sling cardboard spells at each other for entertainment, fame, and fortune. Bartenders do the same—the difference being they sling liquid spells instead of paper (this should particularly appeal to all you blue mages out there).
If you’re so inclined, there is a whole world of cocktail academia to explore, and in particular you might enjoy the cocktailian bartender discipline (also referred to as craft, classic, and mixologist), which is a combination of attention to craft, historical appreciation, and culinary influence. “Cocktailian” is as made up as it sounds and was coined by Gary Regan, author of The Joy of Mixology and maker of Regan’s Orange Bitters. Also read Imbibe by David Wondrich; it’s a historically driven, rollicking good time. This blog is world-famous for bar tips and snarkiness.
This is your spellbook, grasshopper.
My brother (big shout for helping with this article!) is a well-known cocktailian bartender in the Northwest. “The predecessor of the cocktail—some concoction of spirits, sugar, and other ingredients—dates back to the seventeenth century,” he says. Don’t believe slangin’ spirits can take you far? My bro gave up a plum job at a top accounting firm to apprentice at the best bar in town, and now he makes more cha-ching than he did crunching tax numbers. More important, he enjoys what he does... like flying to New Orleans, all expenses paid, to teach drink-crafting at Tales of the Cocktail.
Bar-tifacts basics: Pint glass, shaker tin, bar spoon, jigger, peeler. These aren’t needed for the recipes in this article, but would be for most cocktails.
Part of me is writing this because I wish I’d gotten more exposure to “alternative” careers when I was younger. There are so many more jobs out there than what they tell you about in school. The other part of me is writing this because it’s making me thirsty.
The Elvish version of punch.
Braidwood Cup has great art. We get to see an intimate and rare scene—that of elves losing control and carousing like... humans! It’s done in storybook style, by none other than the venerated Hildebrandt brothers, which just adds to the win factor. The mashup of classic-looking art and dive-bar vignette is brilliant. He is pouring booze into his waterskin. Plus, the flavor text:
“I think it no accident that every civilized people has discovered the art of distillation.” — Rofellos of Llanowar
This is a variation on a Mark Twain quote, but I almost like Rofellos’s version better. Feel like getting’ Llanowarish at your next house party? Try the recipe below.
Philadelphia Fishhouse Punch
1/3 pint lemon juice
3/4 lb white sugar
1 pint of mixture*
2 1/2 pints cold water
* To make this mixture, take 1/4 pint of peach brandy, 1/2 pint of Cognac, and 1/4 pint of Jamaica rum.
Stir ingredients together in a large pot, and when ready, pour over ice.
Peach brandy isn’t available anymore, so you’ll need to take some regular brandy and—to taste—do a peach infusion, or even puree some peaches and mix in, or use a peach-flavored liqueur as an addition. I won’t go into those details; I have utter faith that any of you mages would be able to master this research and execute it on your own.
Ready for Elvish delights. Hit me, Rofellos!
Given you have the wit, memorization capacity, and work ethic, and are able to develop social skills and likability (if you don’t happen to already possess ’em) you can take professional bartending as far as you want it to go. There’s another internationally known bartender holding court in Seattle, and he writes the blog Cask Strength. Check out what handsome science-geek Andrew has to say if you want to know how to make smoking (literally) cocktails in the spirit of:
Top female bartenders and industry icons are out there as well, they just don’t keep blogs. Audrey Saunders, owner of Pegu Club (voted one of Forbes’ 2009 Best Bartenders); Aeryn Reece at Mayahuel in New York (Mayahuel is the goddess of agave; agave fuels the tequila we know); and Misty Kalkofen, owner of Drink in Boston, are just a few.
As a woman from bartending and sports, I’m very familiar with harsh, competitive environments. Even innocently intended jokes sting for women in Magic right now because with so few in the game, they’re easily victimized by the elephant-villain in the room: poor sportsmanship.
“I’ll concede if you show me your tits.” This is actionable sexual harassment, even in a bar. You’re gone, brother! Say the offender was jesting and truly has no concept of right and wrong; the female says, “I don’t appreciate that remark and it makes me uncomfortable.” The mark of a truly powerful mage? Apologize. We don’t prove our worth by being the cleverest, the most aggro, or the biggest brainiac. We prove our worth through compassion.
Here you are sir, two Liz Taylors. This one’s on the house.
I guarantee that women in Magic have a great sense of humor and no harm whatsoever will come to the game if we commit to a code of ethics rooted simply in a handshake and mutual respect—unless, of course, your goal is to have Magic exist as the last bastion of unchecked hurtful behavior, including, but not limited to: sexism, homophobia, racism, and ageism. Thanks to all the men and women who have offered their thoughtful takes on this topic so far.
For me—the type of Vorthos who chooses outfits based on Magic art—the bleed from battlefield to real life feels normal. Thus, I hope we can agree that the stuff of Magic, such as courage, honor, innovation (for the better), and a thirst for knowledge and understanding should be encouraged, and not feared, in our growing community.
’Til next time, may Magic be your sword and may all your cups runneth over. I raise my glass to you, but—more important—with you.
— MJ
@moxymtg on Twitter
www.moxymtg.comDemocratic National Committee Chair Donna Brazile before the vice-presidential debate on Oct. 4. (Joe Raedle/Reuters via POOL)
WikiLeaks is torturing CNN with a drip-drip-drip series of shots to its bankrupt journalistic model. This is a network that believes in hiring political hacks onto its payroll, with the result being a bunch of emails showing that Donna Brazile, then a CNN contributor, sent |
from Google's Index if Google had complied (which it did not). Clearly, Yankelevits does not hold the copyright on the email in question, which was not written by him. Yankelevits sent the bogus DMCA takedown on behalf of Sony Pictures, despite there clearly being a personal motive behind it. It makes you wonder if Sony Pictures lets any exec just file DMCA notices in its name. Yankelevits lists the actual email URL as the "original URL" which makes no sense. The "original URL" is supposed to be where the content was copied from.
Yeah, so the Sony Pictures hack is basically old news at this point. People have gone through it for all the juicy details and it's been out of the news for quite some time. So, apparently, one Sony "legal affairs" exec decided that perhaps he could engage in a little copyfraud to try to hide some info without anyone noticing. As TorrentFreak first noticed, however, Sony Pictures Legal Affairs VP Daniel Yankelevits wasn't particularly subtle in sending a DMCA notice to Google, asking it to delist the Wikileaks page with a search engine for all of the Sony Hack emails. The full DMCA notice is as stupid as it is faulty:There are oh so many things wrong with this -- many of which you'd think a "legal affairs" VP at a giant entertainment company would know about before sending it. But, to be fair, Yankelevits appears to be more of a contracts / "dealmaker" legal exec, rather than an intellectual property expert. But, still...Yankelevits gets almost everything wrong with this bogus takedown. Let's count the ways:So, here we have a Sony Picturesfiling a DMCA notice so stupid that it fails to make a copyright claim, fails to list the infringing work, and instead points to the email he really wants taken down as the "original" work, and demands a different URL (which doesn't have the info he's trying to hide) get taken down -- and it's all because he doesn't want his salary posted, because "it's not right" which is, you know, not how copyright law works, at all.But it does give you some enlightenment into how a top lawyer at Sony Pictures actually recognizes that the DMCA is a tool for censorship, yes? Well, that and the caliber of the legal minds working at Sony Pictures in their "dealmaking" division.
Filed Under: censorship, copyfraud, copyright, daniel yankelevits, dmca, salary info, sony hack, takedown
Companies: google, sony pictures, wikileaksSign of the enraged times. Twitter photo.
SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT Help Keep Common Dreams Alive Our progressive news model only survives if those informed and inspired by this work support our efforts
It took only hours after Trump's heedless "act of diplomatic arson" against Palestinian rights and hopes for furious protests to break out in Gaza, the West Bank and around the world. As Palestinian officials denounced the abrupt Jerusalem edict as "declaring war on 1.5 billion Muslims and hundreds of millions of Christians," many thousands of Palestinians took up marches, burnings of Israeli flags and photos of Trump, chants that "America is the mother of terror," warnings "a storm is coming" and plans for a general strike and three days of rage. Online, under hashtags like #HandsOffJerusalem and #HandsOffAlQuds, Palestinians over and over insisted, "Jerusalem will forever be the capital of Palestine." Meanwhile, the unanimous international consensus is that the ever-crassly-motivated Trump's barging into "this delicate thicket" of history and faith that is the Middle East was a stupid, ill-informed, pointlessly incendiary act in a conflict where symbols matter, deeply - an act, wrote one analyst, akin to "walkinginto a bone-dry forest with a naked flame." Trump has no clue what he's unleashed. God help the Palestinians, and us all.
I come from there and I have memories
Born as mortals are, I have a mother
And a house with many windows,
I have brothers, friends,
And a prison cell with a cold window.
Mine is the wave, snatched by sea-gulls,
I have my own view,
And an extra blade of grass.
Mine is the moon at the far edge of the words,
And the bounty of birds,
And the immortal olive tree.
I walked this land before the swords
Turned its living body into a laden table.
I come from there. I render the sky unto her mother
When the sky weeps for her mother.
And I weep to make myself known
To a returning cloud.
I learnt all the words worthy of the court of blood
So that I could break the rule.
I learnt all the words and broke them up
To make a single word: Homeland.....
Mahmoud Darwish
In Istanbul. Reuters photoReuben Bresler is a stand up guy, literally. He does stand up comedy but is also the host of Magic: The Newsening. And when he is not hosting the show, he is doing commentary for Star City Games. Many people have seen his show online and I had a chance to catch up with him last weekend during Grand Prix Louisville.
In addition to making him extremely late to his side event, I was able to find out more about the man who is quickly becoming a major Magic personality.
How is it going Reuben?
Reuben: I’m doing okay
Perfect. I just want to ask few questions. first of all, how did you kind of get into magic?
Reuben: I learned magic when I was 12. I used live in Columbus, Ohio. I was at a friend of mine’s house and we were boy scouts together and we would look at comic books and MAD magazines and stuff like that. One day I was over my friend, Alex’s house with my other friend Chris and they were playing Magic. I was like, what’s that? They were like, it’s just a game. I watched them play for a little while. I was like I want to try and we jammed dragons, elves, and fireballs against each other and I had a good time. I started playing with my local card shop, just went every week, over like twice a week for years. I didn’t win a sanctioned magic event for the first year to year and a half that had a DCI number, but yes, I was hooked ever since. It’s a really fun intellectual pursuit and that’s the main reason why I like it.
So, I don’t if a lot of people know but you’re also a stand-up comedian. How did you get into that?
Reuben: I’ve always sort of been a performer. My parents have a video of me telling bad jokes on our back porch when I was 9 for like 10 minutes, just bad jokes, laughing at myself. I started doing actual stand-up comedy when I was 17 in between my senior of high school and college and, started going to shows. About a year before that, I’m Jewish, and I went to Israel on pilgrimage with my youth group. My youth group adviser was like you’re very funny, you’re very talented, you should do something for our talent show at the end, and I was like “I don’t know what to do.” He said just come up with something and so I came up with this 5 minute bit and ever since then that’s my favorite hobby. I love Magic, but doing stand-up comedy is where it’s at.
You still do it?
Reuben: I still do it.
And are you still in Columbus?
Reuben : No, I now live in Roanoke Virginia. I work for Star City Games in an office.
Do you do comedy at local Roanoke locations?
Reuben: There’s one place that does it weekly on Wednesdays. The problem is most comic open mics in smaller cities like Roanoke are on Fridays and Saturday nights when I’m travelling, and open mics larger cities like Louisville, where we are now, they’re on the weekdays because they have the paid gigs come in on Fridays and Saturdays so I always miss various days, but now we have an open mic on Wednesdays that I’m taking part in, so I’m glad that I have another thing going. It’s not three hours away from where I perform at.
Good. So how did you get hooked up with Star City Games?
Reuben: My freshman year, no. My sophomore year of college? Somewhere junior year, somewhere in there. Me and my buddy Nick, who I’m here with. I’m actually staying at his house. We played Magic with each other in college and we noticed the show called “The Magic Show” was just getting started on YouTube. That’s Evan Erwan’s show, who’s now my boss. Evan went on vacation one week, and he was like, hey if you guys want to try an episode of The Magic Show and I think it’s good, I’ll air it. So Nick was like hey we’re both comedians, we both play Magic, we’re both good on camera, we’re both writers, let’s do one of these, so we filmed an episode of The Magic Show. Episode 43, the future is bleak, and a future site preview show of The Magic Show. We sent it in, Evan liked it and the story goes that he has wanted to hire me ever since then. It took me a few more years to do that. I had some success on the Grand Prix circuits, some success on the open series circuit, fell away from Magic to focus on studies and stand-up. I came back, started writing for Star City, fell away again, came back, started some videos and then Evan decided to hire me one day. That’s the abridged version.
Now, Evan did not get picked-up by Star City until an episode of a hundred or so. Okay, so by that he was still doing his own thing?
Reuben: Yes, he was still doing his own thing, but he knew he wanted to work with me and then he got hired [at Star City Games]. He was like, someday Reuben’s going to come work here.
How do you like your experience there so far?
Reuben: I love it. It’s my dream job at this point in my life. I majored in English and Film. I’ve played Magic since I was 12, I’ve done stand-up comic since I was 17. This is the confluence of all that. I get to go Magic tournaments and hangout with people. I am much better talker than I am a Magic player, so I would much prefer to do commentary than actually play for the most part. I don’t have that competitive drive any more that I used to have when I was heavy PTQing when I was 19. Now I love doing commentary. I can travel around the country, see the insides of the finest convention centers and airports in all of the land, watching all of my friends do well in these tournaments. A bunch of my friends are doing really well in this tournament and yes, I love doing this stuff.
Do you love the Newsening more or doing the coverage?
Reuben: It’s a trade-off. I love them both. I think I like doing coverage more and I don’t do the Newsening as much as I used to because I’m very busy with lots of other house stuff and the directors are very busy as well. I do the Newsenings at Pro Tours and at Invitationals and I do Interviewsenings with the same character for Invitational also, whereas I could get to do coverage more often, to hone my skill more often. Being the voice of a Magic community in serious terms, like actually being a voice that people recognize, being a Steven Corbell is nice, but being the Brian Williams for Magic is more interesting for me and a more interesting challenge to try and go for. I love them both, but I get my comedic outlet outside of Magic as well, whereas I don’t I don’t get a broadcaster outlet. I don’t host a radio show or anything like that. I think at this point I like doing commentary more slightly.
As for the Newsening, did you come up with that title?
Reuben: I came up with that title. I came up with the idea. Evan messaged me on Twitter one day, this was before I got hired, and it was like “hey you haven’t done anything in a while but you did this like…” I had a tournament report for a topic of an SCGO open that people really liked and missed my writing for some reason, and Steve is saying “come and write for us full time again” and so I started writing a bi-weekly or weekly column. Evan was like “what are you doing writing? Make more videos,” and it got retweeted 15 time. I was like “oh geez they still remember my old show”. It’s called the Main Phase, it was like 5 years ago.
Is it still on YouTube?
Reuben: Episodes of Main Phase are still on YouTube. It’s like 15 episodes. It was very internet, very YouTube, cut, jump, cut, and stuff like that. I liked it, it was fun, but it was too much of a time constraint and then I fell away from Magic again, but then Evan was like, “start making another video show” and I got a ton of response so I was like I guess I should do this. I’ve always wanted to do the news for Magic because there isn’t a weekly news update like a round up or wasn’t at that time. I was like “I want to do that”, but Magic players don’t really have the patience for an actual news show so I’m going to make the fake news, the joke news. While still delivering lots information, I get to make people entertained and I have very good dry wit so I delved deep and became the Steven Colbert for Magic and then I filmed the first episode and then a week later I went to Grand Prix Nashville and they hired me.
[Episode one below!]
Reuben: I write about 95% of all jokes that have been in the Newsening. I have had “guest authors”. There’s a guy from New York City who used to send in jokes every once in a while. He’s another comedian named Shawn McCarthy and he would send me jokes, I think it was like 1 or 2 episode. Some of the folks who are big in the Magic community have written jokes before. Matt Sterling has sent me a couple of jokes. Evan Erwan has written a couple of jokes. Folks that I’m not allowed to tell you have written some jokes but lots of people from the Magic community have sent in jokes.
So you’re open to joke submissions?
Reuben: I am open to joke submissions. Whenever people send them to me, I take them. A major shout out that I should make here is, Peter Johnson is a Magic player who writes for LegitMTG every once in a while and he is very instrumental in the style of the Newsening, so often I will introduce someone as an avid something or notable of something or a practioner of something, that is very Peter-esk, I basically stole that from him for the character and he also writes jokes occasionally, so I’m a big fan of his stuff and his a big part of what the character is now.
Well, I know you got to go so I’ll just finish it up here. Since you were a film major and are a comedian, what is your favorite film and comedian?
Reuben: Princess Bride probably is up there. Princess Bride is like the perfect movie in terms of how it’s structured in that it doesn’t take itself too seriously but every little bit is like meticulously worked on. I can continuously watch that movie for the rest of my life. That’s pretty close to my favorite if it’s not my favorite. Favorite comedian is probably George Carlin. He was very instrumental. Carlin on campus was one of the first albums I listen to all the way through. I would probably pick George Carlin.
Thanks a lot for your time.
Reuben: Thank you. I appreciate it.
Thanks again to Reuben for his time, I’m sure he will be in Indy this weekend for the SCG Invitational.”Este foarte complicat să comentez o astfel de decizie, pentru că nu cunosc dosarul, nu cunosc faptele din dosar. Ceea ce ştiu eu din ceea ce am văzut şi am trăit este că nu s-a petrecut ceva ilegal, mai departe ţinând de conţinutul dosarului, de acuzaţii nu pot eu să comentez, nu este rolul meu. Eu nu am participat efectiv la organizarea campaniei pentru că eram preşedinte interimar”, a declarat Crin Antonescu, potrivit celor de la B1.
Totodată, fostul lider al liberalilor şi-a exprimat speranţa că Dragnea nu a fost condamnat pentru că a mobilizat oamenii la vot, ceea ce, spune Antonescu, este o acţiune normală pentru un lider politic.
”Sper din toată inima că nu există niciun fel de element care ţine de organizarea normală a unei campanii electorale în orice ţară democratică, orice acţiune pe care o face un lider şi anume aceea de a aduce oamenii la vot. Este rolul liderului să mobilizeze electoratul”, a mai spus Antonescu.
Altfel, PNL a cerut, vineri, demisia preşedintelui PSD, Liviu Dragnea, în urma deciziei definitive a ÎCCJ, afirmând că menţinerea acestuia în funcţie induce în spaţiul public ideea că infractorii pot conduce instituţii democratice de forţă cum sunt partidele politice.
"PNL solicită demisia preşedintelui PSD, Liviu Dragnea, în urma unei decizii definitive dată de o instanţă din România. Menţinerea în funcţie a domnului Dragnea induce în întreg spaţiul public ideea că, în România, infractorii pot conduce instituţii de forţă, precum sunt partidele politice", a declarat purtătorul de cuvânt al PNL Bucureşti, Cezar Preda.
PNL consideră că fiecare minut în care Liviu Dragnea rămâne la conducerea PSD "creează în întreaga Europă şi în lumea democratică certitudinea că, în România, democraţia este în regres".
"Nu este o soluţie care vizează persoana domnului Dragnea, ci funcţia pe care domnia sa o ocupă. În opinia PNL această incompatibilitate trebuie să înceteze imediat", a mai spus liberalul.A majority of Conservative and Ukip supporters are in favour of gay marriage, new polling shows.
A study by Ipsos MORI found that 61 per cent of would-be Tory voters and 54 per cent who intend to vote for the UK Independence Party support same-sex unions.
The poll highlights a dramatic shift in attitudes to homosexuality in general in Britain within a generation, with support specifically for same-sex marriage more than quadrupling in less than 40 years.
Ipsos MORI said it was “very unusual” to see such a large swing in public opinion on a social issue.
Overall almost seven in 10 Britons – 69 per cent – believe that homosexual couples should be able to marry while just over a quarter – 28 per cent – disagree.
When the same question was asked in 1975, support for gay marriage stood at just 16 per cent, with 53 per cent against.
But opinion in the subject varies between generations. While 88 per cent of 18 to 34 year-olds think gays and lesbians should be able to marry, only a minority – 43 per cent – of those aged over 65 agree.
Along political lines, support for gay marriage is strongest among Labour and Liberal Democrat supporters, with three-quarters in favour.
But the poll shows clear majorities of Conservative and Ukip voters backing the change, which came into force in England and Wales on March 29.
The poll also pointed to a “sea change” in attitudes to homosexuality in general within 40 years.
The number of Britons who think same-sex couples should be able to live together openly has more than doubled since 1975, with 89 per cent now agreeing, including 96 per cent of people aged 18 to 34 and 77 per cent of those over 65.
When the same question was asked in 1975, only 40 per cent of British people agreed with the statement “homosexual couples should be able to live together openly”. At that time 28 per cent disagreed and 31 per cent said they did not know.
Simon Atkinson, assistant chief executive of Ipsos MORI, said: “It is very unusual, even over a period of 40 years, to see such a sea change in public attitudes.
“People in Britain are clearly behind the recent legislation on gay marriage – a rare example of Parliament and public opinion being very much in tune with each other.”2013 was Kierkegaard’s 200th birthday. I am grateful to Mark Taylor for asking me to contribute something to his birthday celebration, and also for not giving us any time to prepare for it. Had he done so I might have had to do more than say what I think I know.
Marx and Kierkegaard were contemporaries, and one could think of them as diverging from Hegel in different and opposite ways. But are those divergences complementary?
I want to approach this topic via the reception of Kierkegaard by western Marxists, including Adorno and Sartre, but also Debord and Kierkegaard’s fellow Dane Asger Jorn. I want to propose that Jorn represents a more interesting way to take up Kierkegaard in the present than the way that Zizek and Badiou have deployed him, via Sartre.
Kierkegaard came to Georg Lukacs too early and to Walter Benjamin too late, but to Theodor Adorno at just the right time. His first book is Kierkegaard: Construction of the Aesthetic (1933). Walter Benjamin identifies the key to it: Adorno reads literally Kierkegaard’s metaphorical descriptions of the bourgeois interior. He is a kind of “flaneur who promenades in his own room.” (41) “Fleeing precisely from reification, he withdraws into ‘inwardness.’” (50) The social reappears only via the contiguity of the interior as the neighbor, who is shorn of all substance, all necessity.
Adorno produces out of his encounter with Kierkegaard a “sociology of inwardness.” Whatever its merits as a reading of Kierkegaard, Adorno’s book opens up a path for Adorno himself as a critical sociologist of just such interiors. One thinks here of his magnificent Minima Moralia, and the way it works outward from the bourgeois interior to the commodity form, to the administered society, to damaged life.
A more affirmative reading of Kierkegaard had to wait until after the war and Sartre’s Being and Nothingness. For Sartre, the body is an obstacle to inter-subjective unity. There can be no dialectical reconciliation of subject and object. The subjective pole is considered negatively, as lack, as nothingness. There is no meta-being which might include both the subject and what it desires.
Nor is there a subjective group. Individual consciousness regards others with an objectifying gaze. There can be no world-community because there is no God. To be human is to be future-oriented. There is no past unity, and there is no future reconciliation. We are condemned to freedom. Our free choice is concealed by bad faith. One should take responsibility for the choice of a project. Such projects never amount to much: “man is a useless passion.”
After the war this rather stark view of the self and the world had to confront the historical experience of the Resistance. To Sartre as to so many others it was an exemplar of a praxis. His postwar work tries to respond to it. Hence his 1945 lecture on existentialism and humanism. Here men are defined by their actions. Sartre offers an anti-materialist view of revolution as a subjective transcendence of the material world, a sort of secularized leap of faith.
In Search for a Method, he argues against the subject-object dialectic as it appears in the late Lukacs as a kind of terror, liquidating all particulars. Sartre speaks up for the stubborn resistance of the particular to dialectical sublation. For Sartre, a philosophy is the consciousness of a class. A philosophy is a totalization of knowledge, a method, a weapon and a praxis. They are rare. There were only three: 1. Descartes/Locke, 2. Hegel/Kierkegaard and 3. Marx/(Sartre).
Kierkegaardian existentialism is on ideological revision within a philosophy, within Hegelianism. Kierkegarrd stands for the incommensurability of thought and the real. Marx, like Kierkegaard, reproaches Hegel for a dialectic which makes the real disappear into system, where objectification and alienation are conflated.
But Marxism reduces change to identity. Satrean existentialism insists on differences. Yet Marxism remains for Sartre the philosophy of our time, even if inflected into his own idiom: “For us man is characterized above all by his going beyond a situation, and by what he succeeds in making of what he has been made – even if he never recognizes himself in his objectification.” (91)
In The Critique of Dialectical Reason, Sartre puts far more stress on the impediments to the conscious creation of world history. Now history has no subject. It is a “totalization without a totalizer.” There are only ephemeral totalizations of the fused group, and the fused group is very rare. The fused group totalizes, but the totalization collapses back into the practico-inert and seriality is restored again. There isn’t a world knowable in its totality by collective praxis.
Sartre is perhaps responding here to the parallel encounter with both Marx and Kierkegaard in Merleu-Ponty: “As it becomes material, the dialectic must grow heavy…. there is an inertia in Marx.” (33) And hence: “Marxism does not have a total view of universal history at its disposal.” (51) For M-P: “Within the revolution itself the scintillation of truth and falsity continues.” (40)
Sartre’s politicized reading of the leap, as the fused group realizing its project in a situation, but falling back into seriality as it produces the practico-inert over and against it self, is an idea with a strange afterlife. It could be read optimistically as prefiguring May ’68, as it was by Mark Poster, or pessimistically, as predicting its failure, as in Martin Jay.
But beyond that, in our own time, both Slavoj Zizek and Alain Badiou reproduce quasi-secularized version of the political event as a leap of faith. For Zizek, taking the proletarian position is a leap of faith, and the truth of Marxism-Leninism-Zizekism is available only to those who make such a leap. (Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling. It is perhaps worth remembering that God’s commandment to Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac is the story upon which Kierkegaard bases the leap of faith.) While partisan, the Leninist who makes this leap of faith acquires a ‘universal truth.’ The working class cannot perceive itself as itself, only the Leninist coming from without can be the bearer of this universal truth. Zizek goes so far as to ask why Lenin’s version of Marxism ought not to be thought of as a secularized religion.
The traumatic experience of the divine real and the leap of faith of the Leninist is for Zizek the same as the role of the psychoanalyst. Something must come from without for the worker, the believer, and the analyst’s client. In each case there’s a foreign kernel: God, Party, Analyst, three forms of the “subject supposed to know.”
For Zizek and Badiou, the political and the economic appear as separate worlds, irrevocably split. The criteria of a Zizekian political act is that it is an enacted utopia: “… it is rather as if, in a unique suspension of temporality, in the short-circuit between the present and the future, we are – as if by grace – for a brief time allowed to act as if the utopian future is not yet fully here, but already at hand.” (Slavoj Zizek, Repeating Lenin, grace, p. 102-103) Revolution is ”as it were its own ontological proof, an immediate index of its own truth.”
In Badiou, four major concepts betray in a parallel fashion a strange uptake from Kierkegaard via Sartre. They are being, event, subject, fidelity. There are also four domains of truth procedure in which a subject might encounter an event: politics, science, art, and love. Fidelity to the event is what makes a subject. A subject is an an individual or group transfigured by the truth it proclaims. We are all possible subjects of an event, always open to its happening. But subjects, like Sartrean fused groups are rare.
We have come to a bad place. Where Sartre and Merleau-Ponty used Kierkegaard as a wedge against all-encompassing dialectic that subsumes all into its historical maw, Zizek and Badiou do quite the opposite. A residual Kierkegaardian moment becomes the very thing which short-circuits the discovery of the inertia of the material world beyond the bourgeois interior and the irreducible particularity of the subject within it. Badiou, let’s recall, has never renounced or much revised his fidelity to Mao Zedong, whom he once described as “the greatest philosopher of the twentieth century.”
There is however another, less well known passage of Kierkegaard into western Marxism. I’m thinking here of Asger Jorn and Guy Debord, co-founders of the Situationist International. While this avant garde movement was probably named for that Kierkegaardian concept by Debord by way of a borrowing from Sartre, Asger Jorn certainly knew his Kierkegaard – and in Danish. At a particularly low moment in his career as an artist, he ended up in with tuberculosis, and while recovering in a Danish sanitarium, borrowed several volumes of Kierkegaard from a priest he met there.
Luck and Chance was Jorn’s first published book, in 1952. It is, amongst other things, a critique of Kierkegaard’s triad of aesthetic, ethical and religious stages, and of his definition of truth. It is one of the most fundamental texts to understand Jorn’s undertaking of “a reconstruction of philosophy from the point of view of an artist”.”
Jorn thought of the irrational mysteries of cult and religion as keys to a materialist attitude to life. He held that a unitary monism interrupted by rise of class society and its idealism. The dualism of class society renders impossible a genuinely monist attitude to life. Aesthetics, ethics, religion as three idealist deviations. All three are bourgeois forms, both historically and in terms of individual life courses. The three working class deviations: anarchism, syndicalism and communism.
The situationist, in Jorn’s version, is a member of a movement which positions itself beyond both of these series of deviations from an originary, mystical and materialist monism. The situationist is committed to the construction of new situations which overcome both the reified forms of working class organization and the dualist doctrines of bourgeois thought.
Whether intentionally or not, Jorn and Debord make progress by taking the liminal category of situation as a central one. The site of the production of situations is everyday life, but one not restricted to the bourgeois interiors, which, no matter how much he critiqued their reified form, Adorno never really left behind.
The situation, for situationists, is where the rational and non-rational are both in play. It’s the site of neither the administered life of Adorno nor of irrational leaping Lenins and Maos. For Jorn, it’s the place of an experimental practice, after art; for Debord the situation is the site for the signature situationist practice of détournement, which takes all of culture to be a commons, to be freely appropriated and corrected by all.
In his major work, Society of the Spectacle, Debord even explains the concept of détournement via two quotes from Kierkegaard. Its likely a nod to his friend and comrade Asger Jorn. While acknowledged as one of the great painters of mid century Europe, Jorn has never quite received his due as a writer, even as a writer in the western Marxist tradition. I want to end this account of the strange mediation of Kierkegaard through western Marxism with a tribute to his fellow Dane, Asger Jorn.
Jorn’s reading of Kierkegaard has no more fidelity to him than those of Sartre, Badiou or anyone, perhaps even less. We could actually celebrate eighty years of détournement of Kierkegaard, of borrowing and correcting him, if not always in helpful directions. But of all Kierkegaard’s ‘frenemies’ in the Marxist camp, Jorn found the most productive use for him, by turning the Kierkegaardian aesthetic on its head and making it over into a collaborative practice. Whatever its limits, it’s a better idea than a theology of revolutionary terror.
Also for you:Courtesy video image
Several former San Francisco police officers are facing federal charges stemming from allegedly illegal searches and seizures at residential hotels in The City.
Jury selection was completed in federal court Monday in the corruption trial of two San Francisco police officers accused of stealing money and property during searches in 2009.
Opening statements and testimony in the trial of Sgt. Ian Furminger, 48, of Pleasant Hill and Officer Edmond Robles, 47, of Danville are expected to begin Nov. 10 before the jury in the court of U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco.
The officers were all part of plainclothes investigation teams whose alleged misdeeds in searches conducted at single-room-occupancy hotels in the Mission and Tenderloin and on Sixth Street -- including allegedly searching rooms without warrants -- were captured on video revealed by the Public Defender's Office in 2011.
A third defendant, former Officer Reynaldo Vargas, 46, of Palm Desert, pleaded guilty before Breyer to four felony counts Oct. 28 and agreed to testify against the other two men.
Following that plea bargain, prosecutors obtained a revised and expanded grand jury indictment against Furminger and Robles on Oct. 30.
The officers were originally charged in a six-count indictment in February. The revised indictment contains nine counts, including new charges of using wire communications to commit fraud and depriving the people of San Francisco of the officers' honest services.
Both Furminger and Robles are charged with eight counts and the ninth charge accuses Furminger alone of extorting property from an individual identified by the initials S.S. in 2011 and 2012.
The other eight counts include two counts of wire fraud, two counts of honest services fraud, conspiracy against civil rights, conspiracy to commit theft from a federally funded program, theft and conspiracy to distribute drugs.
A previous charge of selling marijuana was dropped from the revised indictment against Furminger and Robles.
The theft-conspiracy count adds new examples of alleged thefts during searches.
In addition to an earlier allegation that the officers stole a $500 Apple gift card during an apartment search in March 2009, the revised conspiracy count also alleges that either Robles or both Robles and Furminger joined Vargas in stealing money during four other searches in Newark and San Francisco between May and November 2009.
After stealing the money, the officers "split it among themselves" each time, the indictment alleges.
The counts each carry maximum sentences ranging from three to 10 years in prison, if the officers are convicted.
Vargas pleaded guilty before Breyer last week to charges in the original indictment of conspiracy to distribute drugs, distribution of marijuana, conspiracy to commit theft, and theft of more than $5,000 worth of property from a federally funded program.
A sentencing date has not been set.A report finds emissions from developing economies offsets reductions expected from advanced economies, putting only a dent in what's needed to curb climate change. File photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo
WASHINGTON, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- Pledges made ahead of the climate conference in Paris are short of what's needed to address stated climate change goals, analysis finds.
Countries that combine for 86 percent of total world greenhouse gas emissions in October issued pledges that, if fully realized, would keep levels at or near today's levels by the end of 2030.
Analysis group IHS finds emissions from advanced economies decline by about 20 percent over 2012 levels, while emissions from emerging economies grow by 30 percent. Combined, analysis finds it's not enough to keep warming in check.
"This represents approximately 40 percent of greenhouse gas reductions needed to reach the United Nations goal of limiting global average temperature increase to less than 2 degrees Celsius by 2100," it said in an emailed report.
RELATED Oil rallies on geopolitical tensions
IHS adds many of the parties to a U.N. convention on climate change don't have clear market-based mechanisms in place to drive emissions lower. More than 25 percent of the contributions proposed, meanwhile, rely on funding that's yet to materialize.
The International Energy Agency warned earlier this year that policy uncertainty and a lack of incentives leaves global renewable energy development far short of what's needed to abate warming.
Several major economies are taking steps to move away from coal-fired power, one of the larger sources of greenhouse gas emissions. The British government earlier this month said it would start restricting the reliance on coal-fired power by 2023 |
struggling family, we live a totally normal life.'
He said he last communicated with his brother over Facebook two weeks ago and does not have a mobile number for the fugitive.
'We are as shocked as everyone else in the world,' he added. 'We have no contact to Isis. I only learned my brother was being hunted over Facebook. I am affected the same as everyone else by this news.'
Sister Najoua said: 'I was the first to see his picture and it came as a total shock. I can't believe my brother could do such a thing.
'He never made us feel there was anything wrong. We were in touch through Facebook and he was always smiling and cheerful.'
Despite an unfolding international manhunt the first pictures released of Amri in Germany showed his eyes deliberately covered, thought to be because of strict privacy laws there.
Police are believed to have found blood in the truck's cab and now assume that the suspect may be badly injured.
Squads of officers have been to every hospital in Berlin and the surrounding state of Brandenburg. They also arrested another unnamed suspect in connection with the terror attack but have since ruled him out.
Amri was living in Berlin but a police operation is now underway in North Rhine-Westphalia - the industrial region of Germany containing Cologne, Dortmund and Bonn. His ID was issued on the town of Kleve close to the border with the Netherlands and Belgium.
The atrocity could be a political disaster for Mrs Merkel, who will seek a historic fourth term as chancellor next year. She has staked much of her political capital on opening Germany's doors to refugees.
TUNISIAN TRUCK SUSPECT'S DEPORTATION PAPERS ARRIVE TWO DAYS AFTER BERLIN TERROR ATTACK A German regional minister Wednesday accused Tunisia of delaying for months the extradition of a man now wanted over the Berlin market attack, saying required papers had only just arrived, two days after the carnage. The asylum request launched by the man hunted by police, identified by media as Anis Amri had been rejected in June, said Ralf Jaeger, interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia state. 'But the man could not be deported because he had no valid travel documents,' said Jaeger. 'The procedure for drawing up a document in lieu of a passport was initiated in August, but Tunisia disputed the fact that this person was one of its nationals,' he added. Amri is the chief suspect in Monday's fatal truck attack in Berlin and a €100,000 reward has been offered for his immediate capture Only after a months-long wait - during which German security services investigated the man for a suspected attack plan - Tunisia came through with the papers, Jaeger told a press conference. Finally, the new Tunisian travel document 'arrived today' in Germany, two days after the Berlin Christmas market attack. Germany has repeatedly accused Tunisia and other Maghreb states of stalling on the repatriation of its nationals from Germany. The subject sparked tensions after the mass sexual assaults in the German city of Cologne, blamed largely on North African and Arab men, last New Year's Eve. Germany this year moved to declare Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco as so-called safe countries of origin, to raise the bar for asylum requests. But the bill has been stuck in the upper house for months over human rights concerns in those nations.
Too little too late? Berlin police install terrorist-proof concrete barriers around the Christmas market as it reopens today – three days after 12 people were massacred in lorry attack
Police have today used concrete barriers designed to stop terror attacks to surround the Berlin Christmas market struck by a deadly truck rampage.
Stalls on Breitscheidplatz square opened again today three days after the 25-tonne lorry was used as a weapon to murder 12 and injure 48 more.
Critics of the German authorities claimed the barriers should already have been there after the CIA and MI6 warned them that their Christmas markets were among the top targets for terrorists.
The barriers can stop lorries even when they are travelling at high speeds.
Security: Police have today used concrete barriers designed to stop terror attacks to surround the Berlin Christmas market struck by a deadly truck rampage
New start: Stalls on Breitscheidplatz square opened again today three days after the 25-tonne lorry was used as a weapon to murder 12 and injure 48 more
Powerful: The barriers can stop lorries even when they are travelling at high speeds
People walk through the re-opened Christmas market at Breitscheidplatz square in Berlin
Bomb scare halts underground and shuts shopping centre - and police raid a coach Police secures the area near the Schoenhauser Allee shopping mall in Berlin Berlin's underground system was halted after suspicious package was found. All trains wee suspended because of an item reported to police at Prenzlauer Berg in north-east of the city. The shopping centre next door was also closed as a precaution. Police are in Schönhauser Allee and traffic has been stopped. German police also searched a coach in the southwestern town of Heilbronn on Thursday, newspaper Heilbronner Stimme reported, adding that the search was apparently linked to the hunt for the suspect in the Berlin Christmas market attack. Stimme later tweeted that the all-clear had been given in Heilbronn and that a mix-up had led to the connection being made with the attack suspect.
The Berlin Christmas market reopened at 11am as the grieving city sought a return to normal life and police hunted for the prime suspect in the attack.
The wooden huts selling mulled wine, sausages, toys and seasonal decorations are run by people who saw the horror unfold.
But the section where the truck cut a bloody swathe through the market on Monday remains sealed off.
The Berlin association of market vendors said the decision to reopen the market was not an easy one.
'We are still stunned and deeply shocked. Our thoughts are with the injured, the dead and their families,' the association's chairman Michael Roden said.
'In a situation like this it's very difficult to know what the right thing to do is.'
The Berlin Christmas market reopened at 11am as the grieving city sought a return to normal life and police hunted for the prime suspect in the attack
Twelve people were killed and 48 injured when a driver rammed a truck into the crowded market, crushing yuletide revellers and knocking over stalls and Christmas trees.
Out of respect for the victims, Roden said the market on Berlin's central Breitscheidplatz would refrain from playing party music and keep garish lights turned off.
Two memorial sites are planned where visitors can pay their respects, the association added.
Christmas markets are a much-cherished annual tradition in Germany.
In the wake of the attack, the authorities urged organisers across the country to keep their markets open, while beefing up security.
Meanwhile, a European manhunt is under way for 24-year-old Anis Amri, a rejected Tunisian asylum seeker who has been named as the main suspect in the attack after his asylum papers were found in the cab of the truck.
WAS PETTY CRIMINAL RADICALISED IN A JAIL CELL? By Mario Ledwith, Emily Kent Smith and Emine Sinmaz for the Daily Mail As a teenager growing up in a poor part of Tunisia, Anis Amri spent his evenings chasing girls, drinking alcohol and indulging in petty thieving. He had apparently grown apart from the Muslim faith that played a central role in his childhood. But a scrape with the law after making the perilous journey to Europe aged 18 with a group of Syrian refugees saw him embrace religion once again. Relatives yesterday revealed how Europe's most wanted man began praying in a possible act of desperation as he spent four years in Italy largely locked up in jail. It was then that his journey into the dark world of extremism is thought to have begun, which led to him fraternising with notorious hate preachers. One of nine children, he grew up on an estate in the small town of Oueslatia in northern Tunisia's Kairouan province. Speaking from Tunisia yesterday, the fugitive's brother Walid insisted that his sibling was a 'calm and nice' man when he left for Europe in 2011 in search of work. But his behaviour apparently changed after he was jailed in Italy shortly after arriving the following year. 'We went to mosque when we were younger and then Anis started to drink alcohol when he was a teenager and he had girlfriends,' Walid said. 'My brother changed after he was released from the Italian prison. Before he was drinking and he had a girlfriend, but after he was released his life became secret. He told me when he was in Italy that he was praying again.' His lengthy spell in an Italian jail housing mafia bosses and gangsters was for smashing up a migrant centre. Amri, now 24, crossed the border into Germany in July 2015 following his release, and tried to maintain a low profile. He was known to German security officials, who were yesterday forced to reveal how a series of errors allowed him to slip through the net. He was arrested in Germany three times this year alone, local media reported. And despite being refused asylum in July, he was given temporary permission to stay until the end of the year. It is thought the hold-up was because Tunisian officials denied he was a citizen there. Documents proving that he was Tunisian only arrived in Germany yesterday. Amri went by at least six different names and claimed to be from both Egypt and Lebanon. One of his many German homes was an asylum centre in Emmerich, North Rhine-Westphalia, which was yesterday raided by police. His Facebook profile revealed links to Ansar al-Sharia, a Tunisian terror group connected to the 2015 Sousse beach attack that left 38 dead. He is also believed to have known Abu Walaa, an Iraqi fanatic known as 'the faceless preacher' as he has delivered video sermons with his back to the camera. Relatives said they had not heard from Amri for 15 days.
Carnage: The lorry used to kill a dozen people in Berlin on Monday night was towed away from the scene on Tuesday
Horror 2016: These are all the terror attacks carried out on German soil in the past year, claiming the lives of 22 people
'Turn yourself in': Heartbroken Berlin terror suspect's Tunisian family make public call for him to give himself up as they say they will disown him
The heartbroken family of the Berlin terror suspect have pleaded with him to give himself up to police and warned that they will disown him.
Anis Amri, who turns 24 on Thursday, is the main suspect in the attack on the Christmas market in the German capital which killed 12 people and is now the subject of a international manhunt.
He is originally from Tunisia but left seven years ago to travel Italy and it is thought he entered Germany just over a year ago.
Amri's brother Abdelkader, who says he will disown his brother if it is proved he carried out the Berlin attack
His other brother Walid, right, also weeps outside the family home in Tunisia and says the family will disown him
Amri's mother Nourhane was also seen in front of the family home in the small town of Oueslatia
Death toll could rise as the injured fight for their lives Berlin's state government has said 12 people are still being treated for severe injuries after Monday night's truck attack on a Christmas market, and that an unspecified number of them are still in critical condition. Another 14 people with less serious injuries were also still hospitalized, while 30 others have been discharged. Twelve people were killed in the attack. Berlin's state health ministry on Thursday raised the number of market attack victims treated in Berlin hospitals to 56, up from 48. It said some victims had reached hospitals on their own after the attack.
And today his family who still live in the small Tunisian town of Oueslatia appeared outside their home where they tearfully called for him to go the authorities.
His brother Abdelkader told reporters: 'I ask him to turn himself in to the police. If it is proved that he is involved, we dissociate ourselves from it.
'When I saw the picture of my brother in the media, I couldn't believe my eyes. I'm in shock, and can't believe it's him who committed this crime.
'If he's guilty, he deserves every condemnation. We reject terrorism and terrorists - we have no dealings with terrorists.'
Meanwhile his sister Najoua added: 'I can't believe my brother could do such a thing.'
He never made us feel there was anything wrong. We were in touch through Facebook and he was always smiling and cheerful.'
It comes after his father Mustapha was also pictured outside his run-down shack of a home home in the small town of Oueslatia, where his wanted child Anis Amri grew up.
He was pictured steering his horse and makeshift cart along the street before stopping to talk to his other son, Walid.
It comes after Mr Amri told the Times that even before his son left for Italy, he had been in trouble with the law after turning to drugs and dropping out of school.
He said: 'He was like all the other kids in the village, he went to primary school near here, and continued his secondary school in Kairouan but he dropped out due to poverty.
'He worked in farm fields and sometimes with street vendors. He drank with his friends, which led to his arrest several times. His name also came up in many court cases regarding his use of cannabis, robbery and violence.'
British trucker raises £50,000 for family of murdered driver Yorkshire trucker Dave Duncan is raising money for the family of the Berlin victim A British truck driver has raised nearly £50,000 via crowdfunding for the family of the Polish driver found dead in the truck used in the attack on a Berlin Christmas market. Dave Duncan said on the website GoFundMe, where he created the campaign on Tuesday, that the story of 37-year-old Lukasz Urban had shocked him. 'Although I did not know Lukasz, the story of his untimely departure shocked and disgusted me. 'So, as a fellow trucker, I decided to reach out to the trucking community and beyond to help in some small way,' he said, signing off with the words 'RIP Lukasz... from the truckers of the UK and beyond'. According to the website, 3,400 people had made donations. Twelve people were killed when the Polish-registered articulated truck, laden with steel beams, slammed into a crowded holiday market late Monday, smashing wooden stalls and crushing victims. Urban, who worked for his cousin Ariel Zurawski's transport company in northern Poland, was found killed with a gunshot in the passenger seat. An autopsy indicated that the driver was still alive at the time of the attack, Bild newspaper reported.
Mr Amri stops to speak with his other son Walid. He has previously said how his son had run-ins with the law in Tunisia after he turned to drugs
A picture reportedly showing the run-down house where Amri's family still live in Tunisia
Meanwhile, Mosaique FM quoted Amri's father as saying that his son left Tunisia about seven years ago and spent four years in a prison in Italy after being accused in a fire at a school.
He then moved to Germany more than a year ago. The father did not provide details and said he had no contact with his son, although his brothers did.
He added: 'He called his siblings but never spoke to me, he never sent money, but he once sent a mobile phone and a box of chocolates with a Tunisian friend of his who lived in Italy.'
Authorities have also confirmed that the suspect has a history of petty crime and drug dealing.
Amri's asylum-office papers for a stay of deportation in Germany were found in the cab of the 40-tonne lorry, pictured, that cut a swathe of death and destruction through the festive crowd
The aftermath of the attack on the Christmas market in Berlin which shows some of the stalls that have been destroyed
Amri's asylum-office papers for a stay of deportation in Germany were found in the cab of the 40-tonne lorry that cut a swathe of death and destruction through the festive crowd.
The warrant said the dark-haired, brown-eyed and possibly bearded suspect had used six false names as he dodged security services and mingled with radical Islamist preachers, some of whom are now in custody.
He had already been in the cross-hairs of counter-terror agencies, and a probe had been launched suspecting he was preparing 'a serious act of violence against the state,' said Ralf Jaeger, interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia state.
The Berlin prosecutors, who were in charge of the case, said Amri had been suspected of planning a burglary meant to raise cash to buy automatic weapons, 'possibly to carry out an attack'.
Surveillance had then however shown that Amri was working as a small-time drug dealer in Berlin and once had a bar fight with another dealer, a statement said, adding that the surveillance had ceased in September.Capping off a tumultuous weekend for the NFL, one in which the league and its players were put on the defense by incendiary comments from the U.S. president, Sunday Night Football again saw its ratings lot take a hit from that of the previous year.
The NBC match-up between Oakland and Washington averaged an overnight 11.6 rating among households. The preliminary score, a low for this season, was down 11 percent from early scores the same night a year ago and 9 percent from the week before — albeit with a lopsided score that saw Oakland scoreless well into the second half and ultimately trounced 10-27.
It's not really bad news for the NFL, but it's not great timing. On Friday night, President Donald Trump chose to target the league during an Alabama rally, saying that players who don't kneel during the National Anthem should be fired. Those players, many of them black, have done so in protest of the treatment of people of color by the police. (An ad from the NFL aired in reaction during the SNF game.)
The 2017 NFL season has again been suffering from year-over-year ratings declines, but none to the level to keep it from being the biggest thing on TV. Sunday Night Football alone has been averaging 22.3 million viewers in its first two weeks — and, just as advantegously, a 8.1 rating in the key demo of adults 18-49.Afro Samurai. Aria. Astro Boy. Azumanga Daioh. Baccano. Bakuman. Battle Angel Alita. Berserk. Black Butler. Bleach. Castle in the Sky. Chobits. Clannad ~After Story~. Claymore. Code Geass. Cossette no Shouzo. Cowboy Bebop. Cyborg 009. D.Gray-man. Darker Than Black. Detective Conan. Digimon. DNAngel. Dragon Ball Z. Durarara. Elfen Lied. Eve no Jikan. Fruits Basket. Fullmetal Alchemist. Get Backers. Ghost in the Shell. Gosick. Gurren Lagann. Hajime no Ippo. Haruhi. Hellsing Ultimate. Hetalia. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. Jin-Roh. Kimi ni Todoke. Last Exile. Lucky Star. Lupin III. Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica. Maria Holic. Metropolis. Monster. Mushi-shi. Nabari no ou. Naruto. Neon Genesis Evangelion. Outlaw Star. One Piece. Ouran High School Host Club. Pandora Hearts. Pokemon. Princess Mononoke. Redline. Rozen Maiden. Samurai Champloo. School Days. Shakugan no Shana. Shuffle. Sora no Otoshimono. Soul Eater. Speed Grapher. Spirited Away. Steamboy. Srtawberry Panic. Texhnolyze. Toradora. True Tears. Trigun. Tsubasa. Welcome to the NHK. Yu-Gi-Oh
I've always like Monopoly, and I'm mildly obsessed with anime, so I decided to make an Anime Monopoly.At 100%, this should be to scale to an actual Monopoly board. Printed, it covers a little more than 4 pages.The real push to make this came from this year's Acen. I figured it would be nice to have something for us to play at the hotel after walking around all day, and it was a lot of fun.(Even though I got demolished the first time we played.)This took a whole lot of hours, so, I'm just glad I got it done.Most of the pictures are stills from the series, scans from posters, merchandise, etc. However, a few images are actual art from people, so here's credit where it's due.-----------------------------------Sheila Ng - Code GeassShimazaki - Darker Than Blacknekosasu - Rozen Maidennuriko-kun - Toradora!ndox900 - Evangelion-----------------------------------Total Anime Used: 77If there's something I didn't include, but you really like, you can always just add your own Tsundere or Yandere cards.Wall Street Journal columnist Bret Stephens, a prominent conservative opponent of Trump, recently noted that he is now more popular on the left than in the past, but despised by many of his former fans on the right:
Watching this process unfold has been particularly painful for me as a conservative columnist. I find myself in the awkward position of having recently become popular among some of my liberal peers—precisely because I haven’t changed my opinions about anything. By contrast, I’ve become suddenly unpopular among some of my former fans on the right—again, because I’ve stuck to my views. It is almost amusing to be accused of suffering from something called “Trump Derangement Syndrome” simply because I feel an obligation to raise my voice against, say, the president suggesting a moral equivalency between the U.S. and Vladimir Putin’s Russia. The most painful aspect of this has been to watch people I previously considered thoughtful and principled conservatives give themselves over to a species of illiberal politics from which I once thought they were immune.
As a libertarian strongly opposed to Trump’s agenda, I have had a similar experience. I too find myself more popular on the left, and less so on the right. Liberal academics and intellectuals occasionally even praise me for my “courage” in opposing Trump (even though I don’t think it actually requires much courage to do so when you are a tenured professor with no aspirations to serve in government). On the other hand, I occasionally get hostile e-mails and Tweets from conservatives accusing me of selling out to the left, or – in one amusing case – of being “a liberal law professor who spreads liberal lies about Trump.”
Because I am far from the only libertarian opposed to Trump and libertarians generally have strong reason to be suspicious of Trumpist nationalism, I don’t think I have lost much support in that community. But I clearly have among more conventional conservative Republicans.
All this, despite the fact that my positions on the major issues I write about are the same as they were before 2016. The same views on immigration, free trade, civil liberties, federalism, religious freedom, and the evils of Vladimir Putin’s aggression, that led me to oppose much of Barack Obama’s agenda, are also the ones that lead me to oppose Trump.
For example, I oppose Trump’s cruel order banning refugees from seven Muslim nations for many of the same reasons as I previously attacked Obama’s cruel policy reversal on Cuban refugees. Similarly, my commitment to constitutional federalism and strong judicial enforcement of limits on federal power led me to oppose both the Obamacare individual health insurance mandate and Trump’s executive order targeting sanctuary cities. The experience of the last year did lead me to change my views on a few issues. But these shifts are not what has stimulated either my new fans’ praise or my new critics’ ire.
People like Stephens stand out because they have put principles ahead of partisan bias. Even before the rise of Trump, growing partisan bias and hatred of the opposition led many people to excuse behavior by their own party’s leaders that they would never tolerate from the opposing party. Many conservative Republicans are falling prey to such bias under Trump. But numerous liberal Democrats did the same under Obama, as when they tolerated or even supported his starting two wars without congressional authorization.
It is to some extent understandable if politicians trim their sails to whichever direction their party’s wind blows. After all, they want to stay in power and are afraid of being ostracized within their party. But intellectuals, activists, and ordinary voters often behave in much the same way, even though most have far less to fear in the way of tangible personal costs. Being a loyal member of Team Red or Team Blue is such an important part of many people’s identity that it often takes precedence over other, supposedly more fundamental principles.
Unlike Stephens, who is a longtime Republican, I can’t claim any special virtue in resisting this tendency. Because I was never a committed partisan in the first place, it isn’t psychologically difficult for me to oppose either the GOP or the Democrats on the many occasions when they do things that run counter to the principles I espouse. Things are much tougher for the many people who (often for understandable reasons) do see themselves as loyal Democrats or Republicans, or at least have a deep hostility to whichever party they oppose. In the latter case, “partyism” can lead them to avoid criticizing their own party, lest it give ammunition to the opposing one (which, by assumption, is much worse).
The good news is that we don’t have to behave this way. Even politicians sometimes rise above partisanship. For example, libertarian Republican Rep. Justin Amash stands out as a principled opponent of Trump, and Democratic Senator Tim Kaine was highly critical of the unconstitutional wars initiated by Obama.
Those of us who aren’t politicians have even less excuse for indulging partisan bias. Before reflexively following the party leader wherever he wants to go, we should ask whether his course really is consistent with the principles we espouse. And before condemning dissenters from the party line as sellouts, we should consider the possibility that they are actually the ones staying true to their principles.
I am not optimistic that we will overcome the dangers of partisan bias anytime soon. Far from it. Even if we do, there are a lot of other ways in which voters and intellectuals’ political views are influenced by ignorance and illogic. But the beginning of wisdom is to at least recognize that we have a problem, and try to reduce it.* WCMY’s Rick Koshko interviewed Chris Kennedy this week…
Koshko: How would you balance the budget if you were governor right now?
Kennedy: Well, the first thing I would do is I would abandon the need to adopt his Turnaround Agenda first. This isn’t a stalemate, this isn’t a logjam, this is a hostage-taking. Gov. Rauner is holding the state budget hostage for ideas that only he thinks are more important than what the rest of the state believes in. If he gave up on those ideas, there would be a balanced budget passed in Springfield within ten days.
Koshko: Revenue, cuts or both?
Kennedy: I think the legislature would figure that out in these next ten days. If you’re talking about what happens two years from now, I think we need to know what damage Gov. Rauner does. Enormous pile of unpaid bills that he has created under his own management, it leaves the state really at risk and I don’t know how bad it will get.
Koshko: With some Democrats saying, look, it’s Rauner’s job to propose the budget, it would be reasonable for them to say it’ll be your job to propose the budget. So what would you do, how would you propose the budget?
Kennedy: I don’t know what the size of the unpaid bills is. How can I answer that? Could you have predicted that he’d go with $12-14 billion in unpaid bills? Can you tell me what it will be like, you know, two years from now? I’m sorry, I can’t do that. We have one governor at a time. It’s his job. He ought to get it done.EclipseScript
About
EclipseScript is an Eclipse plug-in providing support for scripting the development environment using javascript. It provides a simple API to interact with the editor while also exposing the full Eclipse platform and plug-in system.
News
2016-01-12 - Version 1.0.12 released, introducing eclipse.runtime.exec() and eclipse.editors.open() The rhino javascript engine has also been updated, which brings in the changes made in rhino 1.7.6 and rhino 1.7.7.
Installing
Eclipse 3.6 and Java 6 or later is required. Update site URL:
Writing and running scripts
EclipseScript scripts are javascript files inside the workspace with the file extension.eclipse.js. As a start, create a new file with the name count-js.eclipse.js and put the following content in it:
To run a script, open the EclipseScript launch dialog by using the shortcut Ctrl+4 (or Cmd+4 on Mac). Start writing the name of the script and execute it by pressing return when the script is selected in the list.
Basics of scripting
Scripting is implemented using version 1.7R4 of the Rhino javascript engine. For more information on using java from Rhino, see the Rhino documentation on the subject.
Besides this general java <-> javascript bridging, the EclipseScript plug-in injects a global object with the name eclipse exposing a simplified API to interact with the Eclipse development environment. See the below documentation for the eclipse global object.
Besides using the eclipse global object scripts may access eclipse plug-in classes just as normal java code. Plug-in loading is on demand - when first accessing a class unknown to the runtime, the EclipseScript plug-in will resolve a plug-in providing the class and load it.
Example scripts
Accessing and replacing the currently selected text:
SWT may be used directly:
A plug-in such as JDT is loaded just by using a package from the plug-in:
Debug output to the console:
Operations that may take some time should be run in a background job to avoid blocking the user interface thread:
A script to post the current selection to gisthub:
Example using the java AST and the eclipse markers API:
Finally an example using the java AST to wrap method bodies in timing statements, adding statements to void myMethod() {... } resulting in void myMethod() { long _startTime = System.currentTimeMillis(); try {... } finally { long _stopTime = System.currentTimeMillis() - _startTime; System.out.println("Time executing MyClass#myMethod: " + _passedTime) } :
The eclipse global object
The eclipse object is a global object injected by the EclipseScript plug-in and provides a simplified API to interact with the Eclipse environment compared to accessing the API directly.
eclipse.console.print(String message) Function to print a message to the console view. eclipse.console.println(String message) Function to print a message line to the console view.
eclipse.editors.clipboard String property. The current clipboard text content or null if none - may both be set and read. eclipse.editors.document Read-only property. The currently selected text document or null if none. An instanceof of IDocument which most notable contains the get() method to get the text of the document and the set(String) method to set the text. eclipse.editors.file Read-only property. The currently edited file or null if none. An instance of IFile. eclipse.editors.insert(String textToInsert) Function to insert text at the current cursor position. eclipse.editors.open(IFile file) Open the specified file in an eclipse editor.. eclipse.editors.replaceSelection(String newText) Function to replace the current selection. eclipse.editors.selection Read-only property. The current text selection or null if no selection. This object is an instance of ITextSelection and contains the text property for the text, as well as the offset, length, startLine and endLine properties. This property is read-only, use eclipse.editors.replaceSelection(String) to change the content of the current selection. Example: eclipse.window.alert('Selection is'+ eclipse.editors.selection.text +'and starts at line'+ eclipse.editors.selection.startLine);
eclipse.resources.currentProject Read-only property. The project of the current editor or null if none. An instance of IProject. eclipse.resources.read(Object input) Function returning a String resulting from reading the input, which may be an URL or an IFile. eclipse.resources.filesMatching(String regexp, IResource startingPoint) Function returning an array of IFile:s matching the regular expression and which are children of the starting point. Note that both IProject:s are IResource:s, so eclipse.resources.scriptProject and eclipse.resources.currentProject are valid starting points. Use eclipse.resources.workspace.root as starting point to examine the whole workspace. eclipse.resources.scriptProject Read-only property. The project which the currently executing script is a part of. An instance of IProject. eclipse.resources.workspace Read-only property. The current eclipse workspace. An instance of IWorkspace.
eclipse.runtime.include(String... files) Executes one or more script files in the current context. If the path starts with a slash it is workspace-relative, so use eclipse.runtime.include('/' + eclipse.resources.currentProject.name + '/path/to/file') to include project-absolute paths. Otherwise the path is relative to the current script, so use eclipse.runtime.include('file.js') to include a script being side-by-side with the current one. eclipse.runtime.die(String message) Function to exit the execution of the currently running script while providing a message shown to the user. An example for scripts operating on a selection would be if (eclipse.editor.selection == null) die('Nothing is selected'). eclipse.runtime.exec(String cmd) Execute the specified command in an external process. eclipse.runtime.exit() Function to exit the execution of the currently running script. eclipse.runtime.schedule(IJobRunnable runnable) Function to run a task in a background, non-ui thread. See the IJobRunnable class documentation for more info, though the example given previously should cover many use cases. eclipse.runtime.putGlobal(String key, Object value), eclipse.runtime.getGlobal(String key) Functions to manipulate global state bound to the lifetime of the whole eclipse process (that is, outliving the current script execution).
eclipse.window.alert(String message) The normal javascript alert function as available in browsers. eclipse.window.confirm(String question) The normal javascript confirm function as available in browsers. eclipse.window.open(String url) The normal javascript open function to open a browser. eclipse.window.prompt(String message, String initialValue = "") The normal javascript prompt function as available in browsers.
eclipse.xml.parse(Object input) Parse the input into a org.w3c.dom.Document object.
Source code
Source code is available at https://github.com/fornwall/eclipsescript/.
Feedback
Comments, ideas and bug reports can be filed at the issue tracker.Hi all, By now i would hope you’ve all realised there’s a new site and a new design!
I just wanted to take a moment to thank you all for your continued contributions and visiting the site so regularly. I also want to thank the hard work and efforts of David, Enrico. Matt, Anthony and David T.
I’ve just finished updating all the various stories and match reviews, next up, I want to know from all of you what more you would like to see on the site.
The obvious things i’m working on are pages covering player stats, profiles, videos etc. Is there anything else you can think of to improve the site going forward?
PLEASE USE THIS POST PURELY FOR SITE IMPROVEMENTS – KEEP MATCH AND CLUB TALK ON OTHER POSTS!!!!
Thanks all
AdminGNU Terry Pratchett
"You know they'll never really die while the Trunk is alive[...]
It lives while the code is shifted, and they live with it, always Going Home." - Moist von Lipwig, Going Postal, Chapter 13
In Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, the clacks are a series of semaphore towers loosely based on the concept of the telegraph. Invented by an artificer named Robert Dearheart, the towers could send messages "at the speed of light" using standardized codes. Three of these codes are of particular import:
G : send the message on
: send the message on N : do not log the message
: do not log the message U: turn the message around at the end of the line and send it back again
When Dearheart's son John died due to an accident while working on a clacks tower, Dearheart inserted John's name into the overhead of the clacks with a "GNU" in front of it as a way to memorialize his son forever (or for at least as long as the clacks are standing.)
"A man is not dead while his name is still spoken." - Going Postal, Chapter 4 prologue
Keeping the legacy of Sir Terry Pratchett alive forever.
For as long as his name is still passed along the Clacks1,
Death can't have him.Chris Li, translating for Moriteru Ueshiba Doshu
Aikido Celebration 2011 Banquet at the Manoa Grand Ballroom
Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii in Honolulu
Ni-Dai Doshu Comes to Hawaii
2011 marked the 50th anniversary of Morihei Ueshiba O-Sensei’s visit to Hawaii in 1961 to dedicate the opening of the Honolulu Aiki Dojo (for an interesting story from this time see “Morihei Ueshiba: Untranslatable Words“). Many of the local Aikido dojo cooperated in the effort to hold a commemorative seminar and event.
Moriteru Ueshiba (San-Dai Doshu and grandson of Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba) and his son Mitsuteru Ueshiba (Waka-Sensei) came to Honolulu to help celebrate this event, along with almost 500 Aikido students from around the world.
Seijuro Masuda Sensei from Aikikai Hombu dojo attended – here I am translating his stand-up (or maybe that should be fall-down…) routine:
http://youtu.be/tXbzEJwpC0g
Moriteru Ueshiba Doshu provided us with a message for the event brochure (this is the translation from the original Japanese that I provided for the brochure):
CONGRATULATORY MESSAGE FROM AIKIDO DOSHU MORITERU UESHIBA
We have reached 50 years since Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba visited Hawai’i in 1961 to bless the opening of the Honolulu Aiki Dojo. It is truly wonderful that the Aikikai affiliated groups in Hawai’i have gathered together to hold a commemoration of this event.
In 1963, Ni-Dai Doshu Kisshomaru Ueshiba also visited Hawai’i for three months. During his visit he strove to deepen relations with the people of Hawai’i while instructing at the Honolulu Aiki Dojo. In successive years he continued to make frequent visits to Hawai’i dedicated to the spread of Aik |
you want to see why the internet and smartphones are just the tip of the iceberg of what’s coming in our lifetimes.
…you are an aging boomer who refuses to see a therapist and needs something to look forward to.
The Denial of Death
by Ernest Becker
What It’s About: Speaking of being afraid of dying… Here’s The Denial of Death in a nutshell:
Because man is the only animal capable of conceptualizing his own existence — thinking about his life, questioning it, imagining future possibilities — man is therefore also the only animal capable of conceptualizing his own non-existence, i.e., his own death.
In other words, humans were given the gift of being able to imagine the future and who we want to be, but the price we pay for this gift is the realization that we will one day die. A dog doesn’t realize she’s going to die. Neither does a fish. Or a roach. But we do.
This knowledge of our own inevitable death leads to a kind of ever-present “terror” that underlies everything we do. Becker argues that this terror inspires us all to take on what he calls a “hero project,” where we attempt to immortalize ourselves through our deeds and actions, to create something bigger than ourselves that will live beyond our own lives.
It’s when people’s hero projects contradict one another that we get conflict, violence, bigotry, and evil. It’s when hero projects fail that we fall into deep despair and depression because we’re once again confronted with the inevitability of our own death and meaninglessness of our lives.7
Notable Quotes:
“Man cannot endure his own littleness unless he can translate it into meaningfulness on the largest possible level.”
“The irony of man’s condition is that the deepest need is to be free of the anxiety of death and annihilation; but it is life itself which awakens it, and so we must shrink from being fully alive.”
“What does it mean to be a self-conscious animal? The idea is ludicrous, if it is not monstrous. It means to know that one is food for worms. This is the terror: to have emerged from nothing, to have a name, consciousness of self, deep inner feelings, an excruciating inner yearning for life and self-expression and with all this yet to die. It seems like a hoax, which is why one type of cultural man rebels openly against the idea of God. What kind of deity would create such a complex and fancy worm food?”
Bonus Points For: Making you contemplate your own non-existence and kind of making you feel okay about it.
If This Book Could Be Summarized in An Image, That Image Would Be: The grim reaper silently laughing to himself watching you build an elaborate Lego set called “Life,” and you turning around and saying, “Stop laughing, this is important!”
Read This Book If…
…you plan on dying one day.
…you think you take life a little bit too seriously sometimes and need to chill.
…you want to read a convincing argument for why we should embrace our pain and our fear rather than avoid it.Climate change will play havoc with farming, and policy makers and researchers aren't fully aware of the significance on food supply, according to the World Bank.
Earth will warm by 2 degrees celsius “in your lifetime,” Rachel Kyte, the World Bank's vice-president for climate change, said at a meeting of agriculture ministers in Berlin over the weekend. That will make farming untenable in some areas, she said.
Extreme weather from China's coldest winter in at least half a century in 2010 to a July hailstorm in Reutlingen, Germany, already started to affect food prices. In the past three years, orange juice, corn, wheat, soybean meal and sugar were five of the top eight most volatile commodities, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Natural gas was first.
“Significant damage and destruction is already happening,” Kyte said. “It isn't a benign and slightly warmer world. It will be a volatile warming of the planet, with unpredictable impact.”
Adapting agriculture to withstand a world with a changed climate and depleting resources isn't happening fast enough, according to Achim Steiner, the director general of the UN's Environment Programme.In a special event ZiggyD and the GGG team will be working with the community to create a new unique item design.
Edit: Voting has now closed. Updates on the next stage of the voting will be coming soon. Ever wanted to design a unique item for Path of Exile? Here's your chance! With this community designed unique project each week you'll have a chance to vote on a series of choices to design a new unique! From base item selection all the way to art and flavor text you guys get to work with GGG to make a brand new item!In a special event ZiggyD and the GGG team will be working with the community to create a new unique item design. Here is a video from ZiggyD explaining the choices for the first vote. Edit: Voting has now closed. Updates on the next stage of the voting will be coming soon. Balance & Design Last edited by Rory on Nov 24, 2014, 3:00:06 AM Last bumped on Mar 17, 2016, 4:49:53 AM Posted by Rory
on Grinding Gear Games on Quote this Post
Happy voting, really curious to see what you guys choose!
Now... I know I'm supposed to be impartial here but how can anyone not choose the most redundant item slot in a pants-less society?
#BeltforHeavyWeightChampionofWraeclast
Although a new flask could be super interesting...
And there's so much possibility with Amulets...
And new unique gloves could come in handy....
Update: Just been given some additional info re: belts that might help you guys decide. There are already 1-2 rustic sash uniques coming up in patches soon. Twitch.TV/ZiggyDLive
YouTube.com/ZiggyDStarcraft
Twitter.com/ZiggyDStarcraft
PoE and Strategy Gaming Content Last edited by ZiggyD on Nov 21, 2014, 9:54:58 PM Posted by ZiggyD
on on Quote this Post
Oh snap just like d3 I actually liked what D3 did haha good you guys caught this too =o community making a unique.
But please community DON'T GO CRYING IF IT'S FUCKING OP -.- IGN: I_NO
Supreme Ruler of the Walrus Clan
- ''Wtf get back online daughter''
- ''Hold on need to login to poe so I can be cool''
- ''What the fuck'' Last edited by I_NO on Nov 21, 2014, 3:40:11 AM Posted by I_NO
on on Quote this Post
Did you take this idea from MTG? I love POE thiiiiiiiiss much (see avatar picture) Last edited by Disrupted on Nov 21, 2014, 10:48:12 PM Posted by Disrupted
on On Probation on Quote this Post
New Belt Incoming!
Very cool idea. Dreamfeather Elemental Cleave Ranger: http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1087616 Posted by Tempada
on on Quote this Post
" I_NO
Oh snap just like d3 I actually liked what D3 did haha good you guys caught this too =o community making a unique.
" Disrupted Did you take this idea from MTG?
I really wanted to run one of these for ages after seeing how Wizards did theirs for MTG. We were planning it a few years ago but then ran the Diamond Unique stuff instead. Blizzard later ran a successful community unique promotion that people also really enjoyed.
ZiggyD is running this one using a Diamond unique that another supporter donated for the cause. Thanks guys! I really wanted to run one of these for ages after seeing how Wizards did theirs for MTG. We were planning it a few years ago but then ran the Diamond Unique stuff instead. Blizzard later ran a successful community unique promotion that people also really enjoyed.ZiggyD is running this one using a Diamond unique that another supporter donated for the cause. Thanks guys! YouTube |
Lead Developer. Follow us on: Twitter Facebook | Contact Support if you need help! Posted by Chris
on Grinding Gear Games on Quote this PostImage caption Kilkenomics is an annual event bringing together comedians and economists
Walk into Cleere's pub in the medieval city of Kilkenny in the south east of the Republic of Ireland and you could be in any Irish bar.
There's a crackling fire burning in the grate, men are gathered around tables supping the local creamy Kilkenny ale and the air is thick with discussion.
As a country we have a propensity to feel more ashamed rather than angry at times Colm O'Regan, Comedian
But the topic of the day is less likely to be the progress of the city's championship-winning team in Ireland's national sport of hurling and more likely to focus on the country's other national obsession - the state of the economy.
This pub is one of many in Kilkenny playing host to the annual Kilkenomics festival, a quirky mix of economists, comedians and the general public discussing the state of Ireland's and the world's finances.
Ever since international lenders bailed out Ireland in 2010 to the tune of 85bn euros ($110bn; £70bn), Ireland's four-and-a-half million people have lived under a regime of punishing austerity and plummeting property prices.
The country is still coming to terms with what many see as the collective madness that gripped both ordinary people and the financial world in the run up to the economic crisis - leaving banks ruined and many householders owning property worth much less than the mortgage they owe on it.
Former US bank regulator and criminologist Prof Bill Black, who was responsible for aiding prosecutors during America's savings and loans crisis of the 1980s, is a regular at Kilkenomics. He would like to see many more financiers in Ireland and beyond prosecuted for what went wrong in the run up to the 2008-9 financial collapse.
Image caption Prof Black is also the author of The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One
And he says one of the reasons more people have not faced prosecution in Ireland is the attitude of the Irish people.
"The Irish love to blame themselves," Prof Black says. "I have been invited to a bunch of the countries that have come through this crisis to help them and Ireland is really distinctive compared with the rest of the world.
"In Ireland there is an absolute love affair with guilt in this crisis. You don't see that in Iceland, you don't see that in Spain or in Italy. They all want to blame the largest bankers. But here in Ireland they say, 'well, but, we were guilty too'."
'Terrified'
Wounded tiger The booming Irish economy was once dubbed the Celtic Tiger
Its success was built on cheap and easy loans to developers and homebuyers
But when the financial crisis came in 2008, the property market collapsed
Saddled with huge debts that could not be repaid, banks had to be bailed out by the government
The Irish government itself then had to ask its European partners for 85bn euros of loans in return for four years of cuts and tax rises In depth: Eurozone crisis
Comments from some of the younger festival-goers back up that view.
One pupil visiting Kilkenomics along with fellow economics students from a nearby school says: "It's a bit difficult to point the finger because so many people were heavily involved. How do you prosecute a whole country?"
So, who was to blame?
David McWilliams, one of the few economists in Ireland to warn of the economic collapse ahead of time, says it is unfair to point the finger at Ireland's homeowners.
Most were young families struggling to buy homes: "To implicate those people in complicity seems to be far and away from what actually happened, which is that they were terrified onto the property ladder, terrified."
Image caption David McWilliams says an entire generation has debts they will never repay
Pub-owner John Cleere agrees that Ireland's property developers were to blame for much of what went wrong and that ordinary people were innocently caught up in the property bubble.
"I remember one guy... lining up to buy a house and the following week it had gone up by 35,000 [euros]. But the property developer had no qualms about it. His answer was 'the market can take it, the market can take it'."
'Brass necks'
Others think the Irish people still hold property developers in too much awe. One woman says until that mindset changes, public shame won't be imposed.
There are thousands of senior executives between the UK and Ireland who should be going to jail - and it is the only thing they fear. Fines are nothing Prof Bill Black, University of Kansas-Missouri
"We still have rallies for the big developers supporting them. I think it is embedded in the Irish psyche that we admire these people more than we disapprove of them."
Prof Black believes that attitudes like these are getting in the way of an effective response to clearing out the finance executives who might have been responsible for bank collapses in Ireland.
"It is hard enough to prosecute elites when you have the people behind you. But if the nation is going, 'well, we were not so good either' you don't get the political dynamic," he says.
Irish comedian and writer Colm O'Regan agrees: "As a country we have a propensity to feel more ashamed rather than angry at times.
"But at the same time we have a sneaking admiration for people with brass necks and thick skins who appear not to have any shame and not to be hampered by it.''
David McWilliams says that in a small country with a tiny financial and political elite it has been hard to call to account those at the top.
"For many, many years we have had politicians behave without shame. We have had politicians over the past 30 years who - even after the evidence emerged that their hand was in the till - they still walk into tribunals as if they were saying, 'the effrontery of you, the Irish citizens, to be actually taking us to task!'"
Prof Black, a veteran of many prosecutions of finance executives, says only the threat of prison frightens them into considering their actions.
"Prison is a mind numbing and terrible experience and it is the only thing they fear.
"There are thousands of senior executives between the United Kingdom and Ireland who should be going to jail - and it is the only thing they fear. Fines are nothing."
In the Balance is broadcast on BBC World Service. Listen to the Kilkenomics episode of In The Balance via iPlayer or download the Kilkenomics podcast.LAMBORGHINIS are a common enough sight these days on Sydney streets they hardly turn a head... unless of course you’re towing a trailer full of goats in your $250,000 beast.
Towing anything behind an iconic car that costs the same as a three bedroom home in some NSW cities, would be considered sacrilegious by some lovers of expensive chunks of metal.
media_camera This is not something you see everyday. Picture: YouTube / Joseph Criniti
media_camera The goats seemed to be completely content. Picture: YouTube / Joseph Criniti
The 2002 Lamborghini Murcielago was filmed by a highly amused passenger who spotted the silver DeLorean-looking car and its odd cargo near Liverpool before posting the video online.
Things looked weird enough with the luxury car towing a rusty metal contraption behind it, but when the video zooms into what was inside the trailer, the weirdness factor jumped to another level.
media_camera The 2002 Lamborghini Murcielago is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Picture: YouTube / Joseph Criniti
A number of perfectly happy goats were resting in the back as they made their way along the Hume Highway, oblivious to the fact their owners were living a life of luxury just metres ahead of their naturally air-conditioned box.
Heads were definitely turning for this Lambo, with drivers obviously distracted by the odd combination of goat and grandeur as it made its way through Western Sydney.
DO YOU KNOW THE OWNER OF THIS LAMBORGHINI FARM TRANSPORTER?
If you do, email [email protected] opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not represent the views of Townhall.com.
At the head of every nefarious syndicate, there is a villain; and at the head of the tangled web of leftist non-profit organizations, Democrat political campaigns, and progressive social causes -- funded by the same shadowy money -- there is George Soros. For the last half-century, George Soros has used the power of his money, his financial acumen, and at times legally questionable tactics, to build a global financial empire the value of which is estimated at nearly $25 billion.
With this virtually unlimited bankroll, Soros has become something of a puppet master in both international markets and political arenas, using his influence to enhance his riches and further his leftist political agenda.
Given Soros’ backing of numerous of grassroots organizations including MoveOn.org, his funding media properties, and contributing millions to Democratic campaigns (including the 2016 cycle), it is fair to say that Soros’ influence in American politics is massive, if not unprecedented. This does not, of course, stop the Hungarian-American money manipulator from criticizing President-elect for being exactly what he –Soros – is: a “con artist and would-be dictator.”
Of all those who had their hopes for a progressive utopia dashed on the rocks of November’s presidential election, perhaps none had more to lose with the defeat of Hillary Clinton than Soros. Yet, disappointment and petulance is no excuse for the harsh and highly hypocritical words Soros has levelled at our next president. After all, it was Soros who helped build his empire on a foundation of flimflam and manipulation; even at the expense of entire nations.
Trump certainly has earned some criticism for his financial dealings over a long and generally successful career, but it is Soros, not Trump, who has earned the ignominious title of “the man who broke the bank of England.”
And, that was just the start.
On September 16, 1992, a day known in Britain as “Black Wednesday,” currency speculators shorted the British Pound on a bet against the British government. Of these speculators, Soros and his hedge fund were among the leading forces in a strategy he is reported to have described as going “for the jugular” to get the most out of his investment. Robin Dhar, founder of Priceonomics.com, recounted the tactics employed by Soros, including shorting the currency at an “unprecedented” pace. According to Dhar, the result of this ruthless maneuver “netted Soros’s firm over a billion dollars, toppled the Bank of England’s currency regime, ultimately led to the disgrace of the Prime Minister... [and] cost the British taxpayers billions.”
Seeing how profitable it was to manipulate currencies, Soros would use his talents again in Thailand a few years later. As he did in the U.K., Soros and his hedge fund bet against the Thai baht in 1997, shorting their investments, and prompting an overreaction by Thailand’s central bank to save the currency – a move that even Soros himself admitted was “catastrophic.” Of course, Soros (who fancies himself a financial prophet to be ignored at one’s peril) blamed Thai authorities for how they responded to his bets. Never mind the impact on Thai citizens held at the mercy of the games played between Soros and their country’s officials; profit was to be had.
These cut-throat moves by Soros, manipulating currency for profit at the expense of national and world financial markets, is why Investopedia.com lists Soros among its top-five “feared figures in finance.” According to the authors of these rankings, Soros uses “his currency positions to ‘punish’ countries whose policies are ignored in favor of positive economic data by most speculators,” while “pressuring these governments financially... [to] force political changes.”
And Soros has the gall to call Trump a “dictator?”
Trump is a successful businessman, worth billions of dollars; but even he, at his most grandiose, would likely balk at the claim to possess the clout in a single breath to topple governments and reduce global currencies to Monopoly money, as Soros in the past has done. Nor has Trump shown any of Soros’ zeal for influencing the political process with shadow money and “AstroTurf” grassroots organizations. In fact, Trump’s genuinely organic draw among everyday Americans, coupled with receiving just a fraction of super PAC money during the primaries compared to Clinton, shows him to be the polar opposite of Soros when it comes to expending private dollars for public influence.
Furthermore, Trump’s cabinet selections thus far show that he has more interest in reducing the government’s grip over the nation, than solidifying it -- as Soros would no doubt prefer. In his post-election whining, Soros has proven himself to be nothing more than a disgruntled emperor who cries “dictator!” when his own reign is threatened by an outsider.There were subscriptions to dating websites, meals at Hooters and purchases at Victoria’s Secret — not to mention jet ski joy rides and couples’ cruises to the Caribbean.
All of it was paid for with the nearly $200 million donated to cancer charities, and was enjoyed by the healthy friends and family members of those running the groups, in what government officials said Tuesday was one of the largest charity fraud cases ever.
At the center of the operation was James T. Reynolds Sr., who opened the Cancer Fund of America in 1987. Over the decades, according to a complaint filed by the Federal Trade Commission and regulators from 50 states and the District of Columbia, he expanded the enterprise to four separate groups and was joined by his son, friends and members of his Mormon Church congregation in Knoxville, Tenn.
In its complaint, the F.T.C. called all four of the cancer groups “sham charities,” charging the organizations with deceiving donors and misusing millions of dollars in donations, including putting money toward personal expenses like carwashes and college tuition, from 2008 to 2012.While building your app into the an application package (APK), the build system uses the package attribute for two things:
It applies this name as the namespace for your app's generated R.java class (used to access your app resources). For example, if package is set to "com.example.myapp", the R class is created at com.example.myapp.R.
class (used to access your app resources). It uses this name to resolve any relative class names that are declared in the manifest file. For example, if package is set to "com.example.myapp", an activity declared as <activity android:name=".MainActivity"> is resolved to be com.example.myapp.MainActivity.
This name is also the default name for your app process (see the <application> element's process attribute). And it's the default task affinity for your activities (see the <activity> element's taskAffinity attribute).
This name also represents the application ID, which must be universally unique in order to publish your app in Google Play. However, toward the end of the APK build process, the build tools override the package name using the applicationId property from the build.gradle file (used by Android Studio projects). As long as you keep the manifest's package name the same as the build file's applicationId, this won't be a concern. But if these two values differ, you should understand the differences between the "package name" and "application ID" by reading how to set the application ID.
To avoid conflicts with other developers, you should use Internet domain ownership as the basis for your package names (in reverse). For example, apps published by Google start with com.google.
Note: Both the com.example and com.android namespaces are forbidden by Google Play.With the nation transfixed by one of the most captivating presidential elections ever, the broadcast networks have struggled to draw eyeballs for their entertainment and NFL programming this fall. It’s been a pretty rough couple of months for them, with a few bright spots among new series, most notably NBC’s This Is Us; a couple of returning series, including CBS’ Hawaii Five-O; and a World Series for the ages.
With a huge boost from the blockbuster seven-game World Series, Fox is the only broadcast network in positive territory year-over-year in the “most current” Nielsen ratings, which include delayed viewing. Here are the season-to-date averages and year-over-year changes for the five networks in adults 18-49 and total viewers.
Adults 18-49 Total Viewers
Net….Fall ’15…Fall ’16…%Diff Net….Fall ’15…Fall ’16…%Diff
NBC…2.8……..2.6………-7% CBS…11.8 million…10.7 million…-10%
Fox…..2.2……..2.4…..…+9% NBC…9.7 million….9.2 million..…-5%
CBS….2.5………2.1……..-16% Fox….6.5 million…..7.6 million…..+17%
ABC….2.2………1.9…..…-14% ABC…8.1 million..…7.3 million..…-10%
CW……0.8…..…0.7……..-12% CW.…1.9 million……1.8 million..…-6%
But when sports and news (election) coverage are taken out, all networks are down, driven by virtually across-the-board declines for returning series.
Adults 18-49
Net…Fall ’15…Fall ’16…%Diff
NBC…2.1………2.0…..…-5%
ABC…2.3……….1.9…….-17%
CBS…2.0……….1.8……..-10%
Fox….2.0…….…1.7………-15%
CW….0.8…….…0.7…..…-12%
Here is how the broadcast networks have fared this fall with new and returning series.
New Series
There has been one true breakout new series this fall, NBC’s This Is Us (4.3 in 18-49), which checked all boxes: significant (and organic) pre-launch awareness from its trailer going viral on Facebook, good reviews, a strong ratings launch followed by an impressively consistent run — This Is Us just hit a new Live+Same Day series high in total viewers last night — backed by substantial delayed-viewing bumps. Its average Live+7 lift now stands at a 1.97 rating, the biggest on broadcast TV, just ahead of The Big Bang Theory‘s 1.96 and Designated Survivor‘s 1.95. The time-jumping family drama is not only the highest-rated new series by a mile in the demo, but it also is the third-highest-rated broadcast entertainment series behind Big Bang Theory and Empire, and it is gaining on the latter. For the most recent week with L+7 data, the November 15 telecast of This Is Us (4.65 in 18-49 L7) edged Empire (4.64) to rank as the week’s No. 1 broadcast drama.
NBC
This Is Us is followed on the list of top new series by ABC drama Designated Survivor starring Kiefer Sutherland (3.0). After a solid opening, the new series has followed the ratings pattern of Quantico last fall — so-so Live+SD numbers and big DVR lifts that have set all-time ratings highs. Other new series that have done reasonably well this fall, earning full-season orders, include CBS dramas Bull, which is keeping up with its lead-in NCIS and drawing some 17 million viewers a week, the most for a new series this fall, and MacGyver, which has boosted the network’s Friday lineup. Both series are owned by CBS and sell well internationally, making them good business for the network.
Comedy-wise, ABC’s American Housewife (2.3) has exceeded expectations, regularly building on its The Middle lead-in to rank as ABC’s highest-rated series on Tuesday. The network’s other new half-hour, Speechless (2.3), also had been solid as part of ABC’s established Wednesday comedy block, while sophomore The Real O’Neals (1.3) has been shaky, only earning a three-episode back order vs. nine episodes for the freshman comedies.
ABC
On the drama side, Designated Survivor has been ABC’s sole bright spot, with new Monday legal drama Conviction (1.2) not getting a back order, and Notorious (1.4) getting its order trimmed after failing to capitalize on its sizable Grey’s Anatomy lead-in on Thursday.
CBS’ Kevin Can Wait (2.6 in 18-49) remains the highest-rated and most watched (10.21 million viewers) new comedy series of the season thanks to an early boost from airing behind The Big Bang Theory. The sitcom starring Kevin James still does a decent job anchoring Monday night for CBS and serving as a lead-in for fellow newbie Man with a Plan (1.6). The new family sitcom starring Matt LeBlanc as well as new CBS Thursday ensemble comedy The Great Indoors (1.9) have underperformed. The latter is not taking advantage of its Big Bang lead-in, and its ratings are running on par with the 9-10 PM Thursday comedies Mom (1.7) and Life in Pieces (1.8).
New CBS medical drama Pure Genius (1.2) has been consistent but soft, missing out on a back order, while sophomore medical drama Code Black (1.5), which has done a tad better, received an order for three more episodes.
NBC’s new Monday 10 PM drama Timeless (2.3) has done OK but not great for a post-Voice Monday NBC series, which, combined with elaborate production for the time-travel drama that requires new sets and costumes every week, led to a three-episode back order. After a string of flame-outs on Thursday, NBC brass seem happy with new comedy additions Superstore (1.8), picked up for a 22-episode sophomore season, and the binge-able The Good Place (2.0), designed for 13-episode runs.
Richard Foreman/FOX
Fox has had a middling fall outside of the spectacular seven-game World Series. Its best new performer has been Lethal Weapon (2.5), which has benefited from being lead-in to Empire and received a five-episode back order. (The reboot just matched its biggest L+7 lift, 51%). The other new Fox series, Pitch (1.3) and The Exorcist (1.1), both have struggled and neither has gotten additional episodes, with their long-term fate in limbo.
The CW got a boost with the addition of new (to the network) DC drama Supergirl, but it struck out with the new fall series it had developed as neither No Tomorrow nor Frequency connected with audiences, leading to the CW’s decision for the first time in its 11-year history not to give at least one new fall series a back order.
Returning Series
All returning broadcast series are in the red year-to-year with a couple of exceptions, most notably CBS’ Friday dramas Hawaii Five-O and Blue Bloods, which have been invigorated by the addition of new action procedural MacGyver as 8 PM anchor. Hawaii Five-0 (1.8 in 18-49) at 9 PM is up 13% year-to-year, while Blue Bloods (1.8) is even.
CBS
Also up vs. last season is CBS’ drama NCIS: LA (1.9, 12%), which moved from Monday to Sunday, where it is getting NFL football boosts and has topped AMC juggernaut The Walking Dead in Live+SD total viewers for two of the past three weeks. CBS’ Thursday comedy Mom (1.7) and the CW’s Jane the Virgin (0.6) and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (0.3), which relocated from Monday to Friday, all have been steady year over year. (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend solidified its renewal chances with a Gotham Award this week.)
While NCIS: LA has thrived (we will see how it will after the end of the football season), several series were hurt by being moved to new time slots. NBC’s Blindspot, which was relocated from the protected post-Voice Monday 10 PM to Wednesday 8 PM, has posted the biggest year-to-year decline, 53%, to 1.8 in 18-49. Fox’s Rosewood (1.0) has dropped 52% in its transition from Wednesday to Thursday; The Vampire Diaries (0.6) on Friday is off by 40% from last fall when it aired on Thursday; and Scorpion (1.9) has declined by 30% in its shift from 9 to 10 PM.
Other returning series with drops over 30% include Quantico (down 47% to 1.6), How to Get Away With Murder (32% to 2.3), Once Upon a Time (32% to 1.7) and Dr. Ken (1.1, 31%) and Fox’s flagship Empire (33% to 4.6) and Scream Queens (40% to 1.2).
Holding up well again is veteran ABC medical drama Grey’s Anatomy (3.4), off only by 6%, and Dick Wolf’s NBC’s procedurals, veteran Law & Order: SVU (2.3, -8%), Chicago Fire (2.4, -8%) and Chicago Med (2.1, -5%) as well as another long-running producedural, NCIS (2.6, -10%). Ditto for Fox animated stalwarts The Simpsons and Family Guy, which also are roughly even with last fall, with the former recently hitting the 600-episode milestone and the latter getting a major boost from digital play on Hulu and FoxNow.In theory, the Environmental Protection Agency has the power to solve this problem by tweaking the mandates imposed by Congress, and it may act as early as next week.
Each potential solution would anger one interest group or another, so the agency has been subjected to fierce lobbying, including from members of Congress lining up behind various factions. One possibility is to raise the maximum proportion of ethanol in gasoline to 15 or 20 percent.
But that idea is opposed by some carmakers and pollution experts. They contend that high ethanol blends can cause damage to cars, including making catalytic converters run hotter.
Photo
The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers says it believes this could cause the converters, components that help control pollution, to fail at around 50,000 miles. They are supposed to last for 120,000 to 150,000 miles. “We are sensitive to the issues facing the ethanol industry, but the government must make decisions based on sound science,” said Dave McCurdy, president and chief executive of the alliance, in a letter to the E.P.A.
Another possibility is that the agency could waive the mandates requiring use of a large volume of biofuels. But that would anger farmers, who sell a great deal of corn to ethanol factories, and the members of Congress who represent them. It might also undermine the efforts of companies that are investing millions in factories to make ethanol from waste materials, like corncobs, straw and garbage.
“Ethanol is the only viable, competitive alternative to foreign oil,” said Tom Buis, chief executive of Growth Energy, the ethanol trade group that filed the petition with the E.P.A. to increase the blending percentage. “If we’re going to become less dependent on foreign oil, we’ve got to move forward.”
A third possibility is that the E.P.A. could announce that it is waiting for more data on how cars perform at higher blends, but that would merely put off the hard decision.
Advertisement Continue reading the main story
When Congress wrote the rules, in 2007, gasoline consumption had been growing for years, and it looked as if the nation would be able to use considerably more ethanol in the future. Gasoline consumption hit a peak of 3.4 billion barrels that year.
Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You will receive emails containing news content, updates and promotions from The New York Times. You may opt-out at any time. You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters.
But gasoline demand fell in 2008, after soaring gas prices early in the year were followed by the economic crisis. Consumption was slightly less than 3.3 billion barrels last year, and it could end 2009 at about the same level.
With consumers buying more fuel-efficient cars these days, and carmakers rushing to bring even more of those to market, gasoline demand may not recover much in coming years, even as ethanol production soars.
As of yet, not all gasoline is blended with 10 percent ethanol, but that saturation point is rapidly approaching. Under the present rules, the nation could hit the upper limit of its ability to consume ethanol in 2011.
Photo
Mr. Buis and others argue that Congress or the E.P.A. must do something if the country is to move to a new generation of biofuels that do not compete with food crops. The possibilities include ethanol made from wood chips, waste paper or agricultural waste like straw and corncobs.
Congress has also passed mandates for the blending of this type of fuel, so that the nation’s total consumption of all renewable fuels, in vehicles and other equipment, is supposed to reach 36 billion gallons in 2022.
Perhaps the easiest way for the country to absorb all the excess ethanol would be to make wider use of an ethanol blend called E85, which contains 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. Most cars on the road cannot use it, but in recent years, millions of “flex-fuel” cars have been sold, especially by General Motors. (Any car with a yellow gasoline cap can use E85.)
The problem is that at current prices, E85 does not make economic sense for drivers, and most of them use regular gasoline in their flex-fuel cars. That means gasoline stations have little incentive to install pumps for E85. The fuel can be found in the Corn Belt but is not readily available elsewhere in the country.
Gasoline was selling on average Thursday for $2.63 a gallon, while E85 was selling for $2.23 a gallon. That might make E85 sound like a bargain, but cars go fewer miles on a gallon of ethanol than of gasoline. Adjusted for that factor, E85 on Thursday was effectively 31 cents a gallon more expensive than gasoline.
Advertisement Continue reading the main story
A return of $4 gasoline might change things, by making |
3-5 years, sell options as they vest (in case you joined Enron), and retire at 60, rich. This plan works every time.
Beyond the sub-market salary you’ll receive for joining a startup, there are no financial guarantees. Your equity is probably worthless. The whole damn thing might fall apart any time. The hours are long. A lot of shit won’t work right. Etc.
But, as far as I know, startups are the only way to get 20 years of experience in five. The reason to join a startup is because you are awesome, you’re willing to work hard, and you don’t want to wait 20 years to be making decisions that impact the business.
And if you go in with this mentality, even when startups fail, you succeed. If you put five years into building a company and team, you will end up with a great network of talented and motivated people, lots of first-hand experience, and often some management experience as well.
Worst case, your next step could be going into Google at the VP level it would’ve taken you 15 years to get to joining out of college to “inject some startup DNA,” and catch up on salary within a few years. Unless this internet thing is a fad, that job will always be there for you.
But for all that is good and holy, don’t join a startup for the fucking money.
Sundry advice on picking a startup:
Be clear on what you want. Do you want to join pre product-market fit, or post? Do you need a salary, if so, how much? Do you care about vertical or role? Location? Travel? Etc. Most people that end up in the wrong job didn’t think through what their ideal job was before looking.
Run a process. Most people fail at this. Startups are interviewing you, but you’re interviewing them too. Write down your criteria. Look at 200 startups, contact 50, do first interviews with 20, move forward with 5, pick between 2-3 good options. If you’re passive, or only talk to a few companies, you’ll be choosing between limited options. You can get 200 plausible startups in a couple hours.
Focus on good people/culture. Above all else, my observation is that when you find good people (high-integrity, smart, hard working, etc) and a compatible culture, you end up happy, even if the company fails. When you ignore suboptimal people fit because you think the product is sexy or you’ll make money, you end up sad.
Accept fair comp. Many people are unrealistic on comp. They want an early-stage experience with Google salaries. It doesn’t work that way, and startups often suck at explaining that. Talk openly with startups about what they can pay you, what they’ve raised, what your needs are, and what milestones will lead to higher salary. Keep in mind, you might be the first person to take a salary and the founders might have been working for two years. Sure, it’s a 50% haircut for you, but for them it’s a big chunk of their first round.
Expect to earn it. Some startups will hire a dev and call them CTO. That doesn’t make them a CTO. If you want to be a CXO, say so up front, but expect to earn it. Entering a startup is a lateral move with unlimited upside. Tell the startup where you want to be, and set milestones that give you what you want that make the company successful. Now you’re a CXO.
Discount the vertical. With a few role exceptions, what you’re actually making isn’t that important. Assuming the company is making something people want and you’re delivering a ton of value, most people can be as happy making enterprise cloud infrastructure as social networking tools. Business development is business development. Do it with/for people who do not suck.
Understand the basics of the business. You shouldn’t try to become an expert, but you can ask some basic questions. What is the valuation of the company, and what’s the valuation for your purposes? How much has the company raised to date? How much money does the company have in the bank, and what is the net burn rate? What milestones does the company need to hit to get to the next round?
This is good to know so you can roughly assess the business. But it’s also a great way to understand how you fit in. Can you help with the core problems the company needs to solve?
Bias towards transparency. Companies can’t be expected to share every single detail with employees, especially potential hires. But, in general bias towards companies that give employees info to make informed decisions You should, for example, know what percent of the company you own. Trust is a two way street, and if the company lies to it’s employees, it’s hard to maintain that trust. Life is too short to watch your back inside the building.By Mark E. Johnson
In the post-Clooney world of 2005 we were all more than happy to accept a grimmer, more ‘realistic’ Batman. It was already five years since the first X-Men film brought on-screen superheroes closer to Earth. And… you know, Batman’s Batman. The dark(ish) tone of Man of Steel, however, has proved to be more of a sticking point. A lot of people are unhappy with the fit.
In a thoughtful and well constructed piece over on CBR, Jim McLauchlin argues that the superhero films of DC/Warner Bros have a much more pessimistic outlook than those of Marvel. Further, he argues, they fail to reflect the worldview of that all-important 18-34 demographic that they’re kinda-sorta catering for. While I’ve greatly enjoyed output from both camps, I’m here to disagree.
The DC films are, of course, darker in tone than their Marvel counterparts (Green Lantern seems to be getting locked in a yellow wooden box and buried for the purposes of this discourse, which suits me just fine). You could be forgiven, after a viewing the final battle of Man of Steel, for crawling into a Pikachu onesie and refusing to come out until Adventure Time came on the telly. Personally, I would certainly have appreciated a lighter touch in the film—a gentle smattering of a few additional humorous moments would easily have done it. The Marvel films, by comparison, make you feel like you’re already wearing your bright yellow onesie and it’s OK because Ryan Gosling has one too.
It’s a mistake, however, to mistake darkness for pessimism.
McLauchlin discusses optimism among today’s 18-34s in terms of their belief in their ability to mold the future, in a sense of agency. He makes an example of the recent strides towards equal marriage rights in the US. I’d be tempted to argue that we actually feel that we have some agency in civil rights-related issues, but feel largely powerless on issues which involve the cold hard realities of cash, such as global warming and income disparity. However, McLaughlin and I are writing from different sides of the Atlantic (I’m in the UK) and I’m sure that we could trade contradictory anecdotal evidence all day. So, accepting the notion that we’re basically an optimistic bunch with a sense of agency, how does that bear up in the films?
I’d have to say: better in the recent examples of DC films than of those from Marvel. So… SPOILER WARNING.
In The Avengers, New York City is attacked by a raging alien horde and the average-Joe-policemen look on, helpless, until a man in a superhero costume rocks up and suggests in a steely voice that they might get some civilians to safety. In Man of Steel, it’s actually an average-Joe-soldier who deals the decisive blow against the raging alien horde, saving the world. Similarly Lois, while she still needs rescuing a couple of times, manages to be a lot more useful than any of the un-super-folk we see in Marvel’s films.
In The Dark Knight Rises, Bats wouldn’t have got very far without the ordinary, heroic men and women of the GCPD stepping up for that final battle.
‘But,’ you might argue, ‘up until that point the GCPD are a bit rubbish. And Superman trashes the military’s drone because he doesn’t really trust them.’ Yes. There’s definitely an air of distrust whirling round the DC movieverse when it comes to powerful institutions. There wouldn’t even be a Batman if he trusted the police to do their job.
Individually, though, ordinary folk are frequently stepping up. Jim Gordon is an obvious example. Perry White refuses to abandon Jenny (whoever the hell she is – ‘Jenny Olsen’?). The chaps on the boat in Dark Knight decide not to blow up the other chaps. While the machinery of the GCPD fails Gotham, the men and women of the force come forward to fight Talia and Bane. According to David Goyer, there are numerous people in Smallville presumably keeping Clark’s secret, even as the military tries to spy on him. (And by the way, doesn’t smashing up that spy drone look like a good idea right now?)
Over in the Marvel movieverse our heroes have a vaguely more positive relationship with public institutions. SHIELD seems to exist as part networking tool, part superhero cover-up operation, part shady weapons manufacturer to be disregarded once it becomes apparent they’re shady. Oh, and they wanted to nuke NY. On balance, I suppose you’re getting a watered-down version of the negativity towards state authority without the faith in the man on the ground. The man on the ground, for the most part, is there to bungle things so the superheroes look more impressive when they show up to see off the aliens/save the president/punch Loki.
You could actually frame the entirety of Man of Steel as a tug of war between pessimism and optimism. Clark, fuelled by the fear that mankind will reject him and/or do something stupid to itself should it discover his true nature, has to decide whether he can trust humanity to accept him and step forward with him into the future. And, frankly, they do. Arguably, it’s the graver threats that throw the heroism of all those average-Joes into greater relief.
Over in the Mighty (film) World of Marvel, however, the question is ‘can some super-people swoop down and save us, absolving us of responsibility for dealing with this mess ourselves?’ The answer, of course, is yes.
Sure, the movie world of Marvel is a brighter-looking place than the DC equivalent. I’m sure many of us would agree we’d rather go for shawarma with the Avengers than nomadically wander the Earth with Bruce or Clark. But surely, when you get down to it, the more optimistic outlook is the one in which ordinary folk stand up and take some responsibility for saving themselves, rather than just waiting for a caped messiah to turn up and do it for them?
[Mark E. Johnson is a writer and professional nerd. He tweets from @Spinface. Copyright © 2013 Mark E. Johnson. All Rights Reserved.]
Heidi MacDonald is the founder and editor in chief of The Beat. In the past, she worked for Disney, DC Comics, Fox and Publishers Weekly. She can be heard regularly on the More To Come Podcast. She likes coffee, cats and noble struggle.
Like this: Like Loading...Image caption Defence lawyers have repeatedly raised questions about the accused's mental health
The man accused of killing 12 people and injuring dozens in the July massacre at a Batman film in Colorado intends to plead not guilty by reason of insanity, his lawyers have said.
Lawyers for James Holmes, 25, said they would ask for the change of plea at a 13 May hearing.
A judge previously entered a not guilty plea after the defence said Mr Holmes was not ready to plead.
Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty.
Mr Holmes is charged with multiple counts of murder and attempted murder in the 20 July attack in Aurora, Colorado. It was one of the worst mass shootings in US history.
The attack took place at the midnight premiere of the newest Batman film in a suburb of Denver.
He is also accused of booby-trapping his apartment with explosive chemical and incendiary devices linked by wires, intended to distract emergency responders from the cinema shooting.
Medical evaluation
If the judge accepts the new plea, Mr Holmes will be moved to a psychiatric hospital where doctors will determine whether he was insane at the time of the attack.
A jury could still find him guilty despite a medical finding of insanity.
Colorado law defines insanity as the inability to distinguish right from wrong, caused by a diseased or defective mind.
Mr Holmes's lawyers have said at hearings and in court documents that they believe the former student is mentally ill. He was being seen by a psychiatrist before the shooting.
The trial had been scheduled for August, but a judge has pushed it back to February 2014. It is unclear if the new plea will further delay the case.
Prosecutors rejected an earlier offer from Mr Holmes's lawyers to plead guilty in order to avoid execution.
In a court filing, they accused the defence of violating a gag order by making the offer public, and argued the defence had repeatedly refused to yield information they needed to evaluate the plea offer.ES News Email Enter your email address Please enter an email address Email address is invalid Fill out this field Email address is invalid You already have an account. Please log in or register with your social account
A massive iceberg nearly four times the size of Greater London has broken away from Antarctica.
The enormous lump of ice is thought to cover an area of around 6,000 sq km, which is around 15 times the size of the Isle of Wight, twice the size of Luxembourg and a quarter the size of Wales.
The giant ice shelf – which was part of an area on the west of Antarctica named Larsen C – has been monitored by scientists for the last 10 years after a huge crack began to form. An ice shelf is a large sheet of ice attached to land.
On Wednesday US satellite date showed the iceberg had finally split off, an event called “calving”, and had started to drift into the Weddell Sea, part of the Southern Ocean.
The new trillion-tonne iceberg is thought to be one of the 10 largest icebergs ever recorded, measuring over 200-metres thick and 5,800 square km.
Is the new iceberg caused by climate change? According to Professor David Vaughan from the British Antarctic Survey, "there is little doubt that climate change is causing ice shelves to disappear in some parts of Antarctica at the moment". He added that there are no obvious signs climate change is causing the whole of Antarctica to break up - but around the Antarctic Peninsula, where we saw several decades of warming through the latter half of the 20th century, "ice shelves are collapsing and ice loss increasing". In the case of Larsen C, the calving could be a result of climate change or it could be natural. In other ice shelves cracks can form naturally with no link to warming. Glaciologist Dr Martin O’Leary from Swansea University said they are not aware of any link to climate change.
Experts will continue to track the block amid fears sea currents and winds could push it north where it could break up and stray into the path of cruise ships visiting from South America. But the iceberg is not expected to move fast.
Professor Adrian Luckman, who has followed the iceberg's formation as part of Project MIDAS at Swansea University, said: "We have been anticipating this event for months, and have been surprised how long it took for the rift to break through the final few kilometres of ice.
"We will continue to monitor both the impact of this calving event on the Larsen C ice shelf, and the fate of this huge iceberg.
"The iceberg is one of the largest recorded and its future progress is difficult to predict. It may remain in one piece but is more likely to break into fragments.
"Some of the ice may remain in the area for decades, while parts of the iceberg may drift north into warmer waters."
Since breaking off, the Antarctic peninsula, the most northern part of the continent, is now changed in shape, scientists said.
The rift had been monitored by scientists using the European Space Agency satellites.
In the 1950s a US Navy icebreaker ship recorded an object of 32,000 sq km. Since satellites have been used, the largest iceberg seen was 11,000 sq km after breaking off in 2000.
Experts say the new huge iceberg will not directly make sea levels rise because it was already floating before it broke off. But ice shelves act as buttresses holding back glaciers flowing down to the coast.
Dr Martin O’Leary, a Swansea University glaciologist and member of the MIDAS project team, said: “Although this is a natural event, and we’re not aware of any link to human-induced climate change, this puts the ice shelf in a very vulnerable position.
"This is the furthest back that the ice front has been in recorded history. We’re going to be watching very carefully for signs that the rest of the shelf is becoming unstable.”
The similar Larsen A and B ice shelves, which are further north on Antarctica than Larsen C, collapsed in 1995 and 2002.
David Vaughan, glaciologist and director of science at the British Antarctic Survey, told Reuters that the two ice shelves collapsing "resulting in the dramatic acceleration of the glaciers behind them, with larger volumes of ice entering the ocean and contributing to sea-level rise."
He said: "If Larsen C now starts to retreat significantly and eventually collapses, then we will see another contribution to sea level rise."By Paul Taylor and Renee Maltezou
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Euro zone members have given Greece until the end of the week to come up with a proposal for sweeping reforms in return for loans that will keep the country from crashing out of Europe's currency bloc and into economic ruin.
"The stark reality is that we have only five days left... Until now I have avoided talking about deadlines, but tonight I have to say loud and clear that the final deadline ends this week," European Council President Donald Tusk told a news conference.
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has until Friday to present the proposal, but German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she hoped to have convincing reform commitments from Tsipras on Thursday so she could ask the German parliament to authorize negotiations on a new aid program.
Merkel said she was "not exaggeratedly optimistic" for a solution.
At an emergency summit in Brussels on Tuesday, representatives of the 19-country euro zone said all 28 European Union leaders would meet on Sunday to decide Greece's fate. The talks were organized after Greeks voted in a referendum on Sunday against a bailout that carried stringent austerity measures.
French President Francois Hollande said the European Central Bank would ensure that Greek banks had the minimum necessary liquidity to stay afloat until Sunday.
The situation in Greece worsened with banks closed for a second week, limited cash withdrawals and businesses feeling the crunch of demands from vendors for cash payments.
Tsipras sounded upbeat as he left the summit, even though many of the reforms demanded by his partners would inflict more pain on Greeks who voted at his behest to reject the austerity measures in return for financial aid.
"The discussion took place in a positive climate," he said. "The process will be extremely fast. It starts in the coming hours, with the aim to conclude by the end of the week at the latest."
He promised to work for a socially just deal that would bring a "final exit" from the crisis, return Greece to growth and restructure Greek debt to make it viable.
Failure, Tusk warned, would undermine the EU's standing in the world and said the six-decade-old bloc may face "the most critical moment in our history".
STRICT TIMETABLE LAID OUT
Under a timetable agreed by the 19 leaders of the common currency area, Greece will submit on Wednesday a formal request for a two-year loan program, with a first list of reform commitments to be spelled out in greater detail on Thursday.
If the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank approve, Eurogroup finance ministers will meet on Saturday to recommend opening negotiations on a conditional assistance program.
"The ball is in Greece's court," Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said, calling Sunday "the final meeting on Greece".
He said positions had hardened since previous bailout talks collapsed in late June, when Tsipras called a referendum at short notice to defy Greece's creditors.
Merkel said if Athens came up with satisfactory proposals and took "prior actions" by passing laws to convince creditors of its intent, short-term financing could be made available to help Greece over a repayment hump this summer.
She did not rule out rescheduling Greek debt in the longer run by extending loan maturities, lowering interest rates and allowing a longer moratorium on debt service payments, but she said a "haircut", or writedown, was impossible because it would be illegal.
Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann warned that if there were no deal on Sunday, euro zone governments would have to prepare "Plan B," code for Greece losing all access to euros and finding itself excluded from the currency bloc.
Even EU chief executive Jean-Claude Juncker, who has worked tirelessly to keep Greece in the euro, said he now had detailed plans to cope with a "Grexit" if Tsipras failed to deliver.
People familiar with Greece's financial system said the banks could start running out of money within two days unless they received more liquidity.
BRIDGE FINANCING
Euro zone sources said bridge financing could be provided by "Greece's friends" and by releasing past ECB profits on Greek bonds to prevent Athens from missing a crucial 3.5 billion euro bond redemption to the ECB due on July 20.Making advanced microchips has always been hard. But it’s now so difficult that the number of companies with the knowledge and cash to do it is about to shrink to precisely four.
The factories in which microchips are made, called fabs, can cost billions of dollars. They’re like rocket launch sites or nuclear power plants: Everyone knows where they are and how many are in the works. And they make the microchips on which all nearly all advanced smartphones, PCs, servers, and other critical pieces of IT infrastructure depend.
The smallest elements on the most advanced microchips, currently in testing, are down to 14 nanometers, on the scale of atoms and molecules. Fifty water molecules in a row would just reach 14 nanometers.
The companies that can manage this feat of nano-scale manufacturing for a variety of microchips are Intel, Samsung, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC), and GlobalFoundries, the last of which announced today that it aims to be the world’s leading contract chip manufacturer by both volume and revenue.
Intel is currently building a high-volume fab for its most advanced processors, and outfitting two others with the same technology. This is typical: These structures are so expensive and complicated that companies start with a few, or sometimes even just one, and wait for the volume to justify the enormous capital expenditures required to build more.
By 2014, most new electronics that think with silicon will be using chips built in these factories, which means we will be more dependent than ever on just a handful of manufacturers. These facilities are spread across the globe, which is good in terms of the overall system’s susceptibility to natural disasters. But there’s not much spare capacity at these facilities. As the world—and Apple—discovered after the earthquake in Japan, supply chains are long and full of unexpected vulnerabilities.The July 11, 2016 release of high school seniors' final exam results by the Palestinian Authority (PA) Ministry of Education is being widely covered in the Palestinian media. As part of this coverage, on July 12, PA dailies published articles on high school seniors who had been killed during the school year carrying out, or attempting to carry out, stabbing attacks against Israelis, and who thus would never graduate. The articles praised the teenagers' martyrdom, playing with the Arabic word shahada, which means both "diploma" and "martyrdom." The lead article in the PA official daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida listed 16 Palestinian students whom, it stated, had not been able to take their final exams, but had "passed the difficult [test] of dying as martyrs for the sake of the homeland" with flying colors. It added, "Dying as a martyr is the path of excellence and superiority."
The list included 16-year-old Ahmad Abu Al-Rab, who participated in the February 3 shooting and stabbing attack at Damascus Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem in which a female Israeli Border Guard was killed, and Labib 'Aazem and Muhammad Zaghlawan, both 17, who carried out the March 2 stabbing attack at Har Bracha, wounding two Israeli soldiers.
PA Dailies: '16 [Students] Successfully Passed The Difficult Test Of Dying As Martyrs For The Sake Of The Homeland'
Articles in the PA dailies praised the dead students, calling them a source of pride for their families and for the entire Palestinian people. They quoted their relatives' and friends' expressions of praise for them and yearning for them, and referred to the teen attackers as martyred by "the bullets of the occupation" while omitting mention of the attacks they had carried out.
Thus, for instance, a front-page article in Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, which also appeared on page 12, stated: "The places of 16 students was not missing from yesterday's announcement of the general high school [exam] results. This is despite the fact that the occupation's bullets ended their lives and prevented them from taking their final exams, as they became martyrs in Paradise. Sixteen [students] passed the difficult [test] of dying as martyrs for the homeland, since dying as a martyr is the path of excellence and supremacy.
"Sixteen boys and girls, seniors in high-school, died as martyrs, leaving behind friends, ambitions, and sorrow in the hearts of their families and loved ones, who had waited for this day to congratulate them. But the bullets of the criminal occupation were swifter, and denied them the opportunity to be a source of joy for their families..."[1]
The full article in Al-Hayat Al-Jadida
The PA daily Al-Ayyam also quoted friends and relatives of some of the attackers, and, like Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, provided a selective narrative omitting mention of the attacks that they carried out or the victims of those attacks. The article opened by stating: "'Ali Zaghlawan, the brother of the martyr Muhammad Zaghlawan [who carried out the March 2, 2016 Har Bracha attack], from the village of Qariout near Nablus, who was martyred by the bullets of the occupation near the settlement of Eli on the Nablus-Ramallah road, has been waiting since morning for the publication of the high school final [exam] results, in order to congratulate his brother's friends [on their scores]. Muhammad's name should have been among them [i.e. those who received results], especially as he was known for his [scholastic] excellence and diligence..."
The article also quoted the friend of dead student Ahmad Abu Al-Rab, who had participated in the Damascus Gate attack, describing him as having been "martyred by the bullets of the occupation soldiers on the steps of Damascus Gate in Jerusalem."[2]
Palestinian Honor Students Dedicate Their Success To Palestinian Martyrs
One notable article on the finals results, published by the Palestinian news agency WAFA, focused on honor students who said that they dedicated their success to the martyrs of the Palestinian people. Muhammad Abu Nahla, an honors student majoring in industry, dedicated his success to the martyr 'Adnan Al-Mashni, killed while attempting to carry out a stabbing attack. Abu Nahla said: "I dedicate my success to the Palestinian leadership and its head President Mahmoud 'Abbas; to the educational and pedagogical family; to my family and our people; and especially to my friend, the 17-year-old martyr 'Adnan 'Aaid Hamed Al-Mashni Al-Halaiqa, from the town of Al-Shayoukh, who was martyred at Beit 'Einun Junction east of Hebron on January 12, 2016... How I wish that he could have celebrated his success today - but the bullets of the occupation stole him, denying us and his parents of this joy. But we are all proud of the martyr's death he attained."[3]
PLO Executive Committee member Ahmed Al-Majdalani also mentioned the martyred students, saying: "In these moments, we feel the absence of 16 students, the martyrs who should have taken the high school finals but who were prevented from taking them by the violent and aggressive occupation forces, who denied joy to their families..."[4]
Endnotes:I added some extra filters to this survey to triple check that the survey wasn't being gamed. I only counted the votes of (a) people who were on the original ConHome panel when it was created in 2005 from various Tory membership lists and correctly predicted the outcome of the Cameron/ Davis contest; (b) who still identify themselves as Tory members; and (c) said, this time last year that they were quite or very satisfied with David Cameron. This reduced the sample size to just 505 people*.
In the most recent ConservativeHome survey I asked Tory members to say how they'd vote under the Alternative Vote.
I am sorry that my technical inabilities mean I wasn't able to deliver consistency on colours in the pie charts below.
HOW WOULD YOU USE YOUR FIRST PREFERENCE?
On 1st preference 88.5% said they would vote Conservative.
10.1% said they would vote UKIP.
0.8% would vote Lib Dem.
0.4% would vote Green.
Oddly, 0.2% (one person) would vote Labour.
Not one vote would go to the BNP, English Democrats or nationalists.
HOW WOULD YOU USE YOUR SECOND PREFERENCE?
A large plurality (44.4%) of respondents wouldn't use their second preference.
34.5% would vote UKIP.
8.7% would vote Conservative (which suggests about one-in-ten Tory members are ready to use AV to put UKIP as their first preference - something they wouldn't think a safe option under first-past-the-post - and then put Conservatives as their second preference).
5.9% would vote Lib Dem.
3% English Democrats.
1.2% Green.
0.8% Labour.
0.8% (four people) BNP.
0.6% nationalist.
A survey of Conservative voters by YouGov for Channel 4 - published yesterday - found a similar percentage would choose UKIP as their second preference (27%) but, compared to this survey of Tory members, many more would back the Liberal Democrats (41%).
HOW WOULD YOU USE YOUR THIRD PREFERENCE?
By the time we are down to third preferences we discover that 71.5% have decided not to bother.
The English Democrats receive 9.5% of third preferences.
UKIP and the Lib Dems both get 4.8% (24 votes each).
The Greens get 2.8%, Conservatives 2.6%, BNP 2.0% (10 votes), nationalist parties 1% and Labour 0.8%.
* If I take two of the triple protections off and just look at the votes of people who self-identify themselves as Tory members the results aren't that different. 42.2% wouldn't use their second preference, for example, 33.8% would vote UKIP, 9.6% Conservative and 7.6% Liberal Democrat.By
Peter Sterry
21st Century Wire
Sixteen years after she died in Paris, the United Kingdom Metropolitan police have apparently reopened the investigation into the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. The exact circumstances of the crash remain a subject of much debate, but we have learned in recent weeks after the publication of Alan Power’s The Princess Diana Conspiracy, of the existence of an SAS assassination unit known as ‘The Increment’ which worked – or works, under the orders of MI6 and that the head of the this unit was in Paris the night Diana died.
(INFOGRAPHIC: Daily Mail) Although one might feel squeamish doing so, one could also speculate about what other operations ‘The Increment’ has been up to in recent years, but we do know that there were plans to assassinate former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic in a car, in a tunnel, using a ‘lamping unit’ to dazzle the driver and cause a crash. And now in the last few days, an SAS soldier has gone on record to say Diana was killed in this way – in a crash, but not an accident.
‘Soldier N’, made the astonishing allegations to his wife after taking Prince William on his advanced driving course in 2008. The revelation was reported today in the Daily Mail, where the man speaking,made the astonishing allegations to his wife after taking Prince William on his advanced driving course in 2008.
Now the problem for the Metropolitan Police, as their insignia (left) so aptly demonstrates is that like all public servants in Britain they are literally ‘under’ the crown, so if their investigation is to be as impartial, thorough and comprehensive as the public would expect, then it will raise very grave questions about the unwritten British constitution as well as certain individuals near the top of the Order of Precedence.
The Mail explains: The Order of Precedence is the hierarchy of the British establishment writ large. It pertains to seating arrangements at state banquets, but more than that it illustrates how closely interwoven the royal Family are into the fabric of the British state.explains: “The wife reportedly claimed her husband had told her the ‘hit’ had been instructed by individuals in the royal inner circle because they disapproved of Diana’s relationship with Fayed. The forthcoming investigation will probe claims today from a key source in the UK security industry that GCHQ was remotely taping Diana and Dodi up until the moment of the crash. The source told the Sunday Express the controversial couple had their phones tapped.”
Mohammed Al Fayed has long insisted that the Paris car crash which killed Diana, Dodi and their driver, Henri Paul, was the work of MI6 at the request of the Duke of Edinburgh, number two in the order of precedence after The Queen. While Al Fayed was dismissed as a conspiracy theorist, now the wife of a former SAS soldier has come forward to back up his claims. The woman told detectives that her husband had claimed that ‘the “hit” had been carried out on the orders of individuals ‘within the Royal inner circle’ as they did not approve of Diana’s relationship with Dodi Al-Fayed.’
IMAGE: Mohammed Al Fayed has been relentless in his pursuit of the facts surrounding his son and Diana’s death.
According to the Daily Express ‘Normally, the licence to kill has to be authorised by the Foreign Secretary, under a Class Seven Authorization, but fresh military sources say in this case it came from deeper within the intelligence establishment.’ Al Fayed has always maintained that the recently elected Prime Minister of the time Tony Blair was involved, which would indicate that order came from the Palace and went via the Prime Minister to MI6 and then to the hit squad.
Were this to be the case, this presents the British people with quite a difficult problem, for as the official website of the British Monarchy states:
“In the earliest times the Sovereign was a key figure in the enforcement of law and the establishment of legal systems in different areas of the UK. As such the Sovereign became known as the ‘Fount of Justice’.
While no longer administering justice in a practical way, the Sovereign today still retains an important symbolic role as the figure in whose name justice is carried out, and law and order is maintained.”
Although civil and criminal proceedings cannot be taken against the Sovereign as a person under UK law, The Queen is careful to ensure that all her activities in her personal capacity are carried out in strict accordance with the law.”
So there you have it. In their own words, The Sovereign appears to be ‘above the law’ and civil and criminal proceedings cannot be taken against her, but what of her husband, or son and heir, who Diana herself said in her hand written note, was planning an accident in her car. This raises some very interesting lines of inquiry, and issues regarding constitutional law in Britain.
These individuals are the numbers two and three in the order of precedence, so are they in fact “above” any law enforcement officer or elected official?
Perhaps they too consider themselves to be above the law. Perhaps they are.
–Hey everyone, welcome back to, say it with me now, the New Longest Chapter Yet! Lots of notes this time around, so bear with me:
First, I had an amazing time this month at the Center for Applied Rationality workshop in Seattle. It was tons of fun, I met all sorts of interesting and unique people, and I learned quite a lot about myself and various tools available to upgrade my thinking and perspectives. If you're curious to learn more you should totally check out their site! The title of this chapter is based on one of the techniques I learned there, and I'm going to try and draw Red's out and upload it to my site soon so you can get a better picture of what it looks like.
Second, in case it's not quite clear in the story: abra can't be used to teleport others. They can only teleport their trainer, since it requires a full-mind-meld to bring them along.
Third, some amazing readers have made some amazing fan creations! Check out my site for links to some awesome fan art and an audio play of the first chapter, which was just delightful and a fantastic surprise for me.
Finally, I wanted to repeat once again that, while I enjoy and appreciate and value guest reviews, remember that fanfiction literally does not allow me to respond to them, so please keep that in mind if you leave reviews that have questions in them but are not signed in :) Additionally, fanfiction will block anything that looks like a website or email address, so if you try to leave those in your reviews, Guest or otherwise, I cannot follow up on them as they will just look like empty spaces in the reviews.
Enjoy, and all feedback welcome, as usual!
Chapter 45: Goal Factoring
Once everyone gets over their surprise and has a chance to properly greet each other, Daisy brings out a container full of fold-out chairs and a picnic basket. The professor releases a couple of his pokemon to watch their surroundings, freeing the rest of them to bring theirs out for socializing. Blue's shinx plays with Red's pichu and Aiko's oddish, while Daisy introduces her ivysaur to Leaf's bulbasaur.
Food is served, two separate cakes are revealed, songs are sung, and only after Blue has started on his second piece does he lean back and fix Professor Oak with a pointed look.
"Okay Gramps, spill. What really brought you and Aunt Laura out here so early?"
|
package, there were 90 'no' votes and five abstentions.
Al Jazeera's Nick Spicer, reporting from Berlin, said there was "a big disconnect between the politicians and the people".
"The front page of Germany's best-selling Bild newspaper says they do not want any more bailouts for Greece, and polls show that two-thirds of Germans agree with that sentiment," he said.
Berlin provides the majority of the eurozone's emergency funds.
Merkel is caught between pressure at home to stop giving money to the bailout fund, while facing calls from abroad to work harder at boosting Europe's crisis defences.
Greece's growing unpopularity
Some MPs from Merkel's centre-right coalition have become increasingly critical of efforts to keep Greece in the eurozone and one of her own cabinet ministers said this weekend Greece's chances of recovery would be greater outside the currency zone.
However, Merkel told parliament before the vote that it would be "reckless" of her to expose Germany, and the eurozone and wider global economy, to the unknown consequences of a Greek default.
"The risks of turning away from Greece now are incalculable," Merkel told the 591 legislators of the Bundestag lower house who had gathered for a special session to vote on the Greek package.
"No-one can assess what consequences would arise for the German economy, on Italy, Spain, the eurozone as a whole and finally for the whole world" of a Greek bankruptcy, she added.
Merkel said Greece faced a path ahead that was long and not without risk, adding: "That goes also for the success of the new programme. Nobody can give a 100-per cent guarantee of success."
Germany came under renewed pressure at a G20 weekend gathering in Mexico to agree a bolstering of the eurozone's defence funds to 750bn euros ($975bn).
Berlin believes that with calmer market conditions and lower bond yields for Spain and Italy, the risk of debt crisis contagion is lower and the pressure to bolster the eurozone's rescue resources has lessened.
"The government sees at present no necessity for a debate on the increase of the capacity" of the eurozone's current and future bailout funds, Merkel told parliament.
But she said it would first be necessary to see the results of a Greek operation to write-down nearly a third of its debt before making a final decision on the issue.
Under a plan hammered out by eurozone finance ministers, Greece would receive up to 130bn euros ($175bn) in direct loans by 2014 in return for tough new austerity measures and tighter EU-IMF oversight of its economy.
A private creditor bond writedown is worth another 107bn euros ($142bn).Conservative's proposed changes to the rules around overseas development aid could undermine our international leadership role, says Lord Collins.
"The truth is that UK development influence is massive, greater than our foreign policy, and this isn’t just about money, Britain is saving lives and bringing stability and security, and that’s good for our economy."
Not my words but those Priti Patel in an interview with the Guardian recently. Whilst I welcome her new found enthusiasm for Development I do have huge concerns about the direction she is taking her Department.
The Conservative manifesto in the recent General Election whilst maintaining the commitment to spend 0.7% set out to challenge the internationally agreed definition of what constitutes Overseas Development Assistance. This has the potential to undermine both the cross Party consensus on the spending target and the UK’s leadership role in encouraging others to step up to the plate to meet it.
The 0.7% target is an internationally agreed one, monitored by the OECD Development Assistance Committee. Through a consensus of its 29 member countries, the DAC has long monitored levels of ODA spend. The world we live in is rapidly changing; Defence Diplomacy and Development are the necessary ingredients to securing the peaceful world we all desire, they are indivisible and interrelated, all needed in supporting peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development.
This has been recognised by the DAC when In February 2016 at a High Level Meeting agreement was reached on updating the rules. The rule changes agreed recognised the detrimental impact that conflict, fragility and insecurity have on efforts to tackle poverty and reflect the importance of private sector investment for development.
The changes mean that:
• official aid can be used to support the military in fragile countries on issues that promote development, such as human rights and the prevention of sexual violence;
• tackling violent extremism is now formally recognised as a development activity; more than 90% of terrorist attacks occur in states with weak governance and poor human rights records
• donors are incentivised to work more with the private sector to boost economic development and create jobs in some of the world’s poorest countries.
However the core principle of the ODA system remains unchanged. To count as ODA, an activity must support the economic development and welfare of a developing country as its main objective.
Lord Ahmed in the Queen’s speech debate asserted that the UK has driven and will continue to drive reform of the official aid rules. He argued that in an ever changing world, it is right to push for more changes to ensure that the aid rules remain relevant, credible and appropriate for today’s needs. So what more changes do they want? Are the 2016 rule changes no longer relevant or sufficient?
Failure to engage and present a fait accompli seems to be the hallmark of this Government. That’s why I’m demanding in today’s oral question that the Government undertake the widest consultation process with NGOs and Development Charities before they commence international talks to change the rules further.
The worrying shift of ODA spend away from DfID was also touched upon in Lord Ahmed speech when he said more aid will be administered by other government departments. He pointed out that in 2015, they accounted for 19.5% of ODA spending, compared with 13.8% in 2014.
One of the largest beneficiaries of this aid has been the FCO and a big problem with this is the lack of monitoring and evaluation systems. The Government must ensure that non DfID aid programmes and funds meet DfIDs high levels of transparency and report publically on their activities. Parliament needs to be satisfied they are being properly assessed against their achievements in delivering the Sustainable Development Goals.
Lord Ray Collins of Highbury is both Shadow FCO and Shadow DfID Minister in the House of LordsEpisode Eight: Voyage of the Giant Squid
For me, to look at it for the first time, it was...this mythical creature. I was face to face with the giant squid. Neil Landman Curator, Division of Paleontology
The Stuff of Legend
This episode of Shelf Life focuses on the very practical problem of transporting a rare giant squid specimen. But long before they were a quandary for customs officials, these mysterious cephalopods fueled folklore all over the world. They’re not alone—many storied beasts took shape around seeds of reality. While they may not breathe fire, heal disease, or crush ships, the animals that inspired their mythological counterparts are no less fantastic.
Release the Kraken
Denizens of the deep have enthralled humans for centuries. Greek myths pitted Hercules and Perseus against the serpentine sea monster Cetus. A 13th-century Icelandic saga told of the sea beast Hafgufa, which swallowed men and ships alike. In 1830, Alfred Lord Tennyson penned a sonnet about the kraken, a legendary Scandinavian sea creature so charismatic that 150 years later Hollywood decided to unleash it on ancient Greece in Clash of the Titans.
These marine monsters may have a basis in fact. Giant squid may not reach the size of the gigantic kraken, which was sometimes depicted demolishing boats with its massive tentacles, but they are formidable and impressive animals. The largest giant squid are thought to measure more than 40 feet from the tips of their tentacles to the end of their mantle, or body. That’s about the length of a school bus.
Giant squid at the Museum ©AMNH/P.Rollins
Sighting a squid as big as a bus is still a momentous feat. Photos and videos of these benthic behemoths in their natural habitat are rare, headline-making events. So imagine a sighting centuries ago: it would certainly have been exceptional fodder for any seafarer’s stories. And as those tales were shared, the creature likely grew with each retelling, eventually reaching titanic proportions.
View larger Pierre Denys de Montfort’s Poulpe Colossal attacks a merchant ship. 1810. Pierre Denys de Montfort’s Poulpe Colossal attacks a merchant ship. 1810.
In his book The Search for the Giant Squid, marine biologist and Museum Research Associate Richard Ellis speculates that even Greek myths of the many-armed Scylla and the Hydra, one of Hercules’s foes, could have been inspired by glimpses of giant squid.
Since enormous cephalopods usually keep to mid- to deep-water habitats, the most common way to see a giant squid would have been to spot a dead or dying squid that had floated to the surface. These animals’ bodies—long, thin, and utterly strange—may have helped to give life to legends of serpentine sea monsters.
View larger Hydra, Gesner ©AMNH/D.Finnin Hydra, Gesner ©AMNH/D.Finnin
In Conrad Gesner’s 16th-century Historiae Animalium, for example, the hydra is depicted as having a trunk-like body with many heads, each one sitting on the end of a long, serpentine neck. “[It] is not impossible,” Ellis points out, “to see the ‘heads’ as arms, and the body as that of a large cephalopod.” Lose the feet, and Gesner’s hydra turns out to be a pretty decent depiction of a giant squid.
Slide to reveal how a "sea serpent" sighting may have been inspired by a breaching of a giant squid.
Sea serpent illustration: Erik Pontoppidan, 1752; giant squid illustration: Henry Lee, 1883.
My, What Big Tooth You Have
The natural world provided plenty of inspiration for other legendary beasts, as the Museum’s 2008 exhibition Mythic Creatures detailed.
Take the unicorn, an iconic creature in Western mythology that also has counterparts in China and Japan. Typically depicted in the West as white horses with long, slender horns rising from their heads, unicorns have inspired artwork for hundreds of years, from medieval tapestries to elementary-school notebooks.
View larger The Unicorn in Captivity Metropolitan Museum of Art/37.80.6 The Unicorn in Captivity Metropolitan Museum of Art/37.80.6
In the Middle Ages, believers didn’t have to rely on second-hand stories to bolster their faith in unicorns. For a hefty sum, they could purchase long, white, spiraled horns, presented as proof of the wondrous creatures' existence. The majestic horns were said to have magical properties, including the power to cure disease.
A narwhal tusk. ©AMNH/D.Finnin
Unfortunately for medieval shoppers, these horns didn’t come from unicorns. They were harvested from creatures arguably even more fantastic: narwhals, Monodon monoceros, a species of whale. Narwhal males sport an extraordinarily long tusk, which is actually an overgrown left canine tooth that pierces the animal’s upper lip. Researchers have proposed several purposes for these impressive teeth—which can reach more than 9 feet in length—from an acoustic sounding stick to a seafloor spade. In 2014, dentist and Harvard School of Dental Medicine instructor Martin Nweeia, along with a team of colleagues, published a papersuggesting that this tooth is actually a sensory organ that may help males detect changes in salinity, temperature, pressure, and even pheromones released by females who are ready to mate.
View larger Narwhals NIST/G. Williams Narwhals NIST/G. Williams
Narwhal horns were not the only thing fueling belief in mythological equines. As Westerners began to expand their trade routes, real-life animals with notable horns on their heads were spotted in the far corners of the world. Around 1300, the Italian explorer Marco Polo recorded this sighting in Sumatra:"There are wild elephants and plenty of unicorns, which are scarcely smaller than elephants. They have the hair of a buffalo and feet like an elephant's. They have a single large, black horn in the middle of the forehead... They have a head like a wild boar's and always carry it stooped towards the ground. They spend their time by preference wallowing in mud and slime. They are very ugly brutes to look at."
View larger Conrad Gesner, Historiae animalium; liber primus, qui est de quadrupedibus viviparis, woodcut, Zürich, 1551. Conrad Gesner, Historiae animalium; liber primus, qui est de quadrupedibus viviparis, woodcut, Zürich, 1551.
View larger Sumatran rhino Wikimedia/ Ltshears Sumatran rhino Wikimedia/ Ltshears
In retrospect, it seems clear that Polo had in fact encountered the Sumatran rhinoceros. The animals’ horns may have helped perpetuate the myth of the unicorn, though given the discrepancy between the unicorn’s idealized form and and the reality of the so-called “hairy rhinoceros,” one can forgive Polo his disappointment.
Dinosaurs and Dragons
While specimens from living animals like the narwhal and rhino helped prop up the myth of the unicorn, some stories of mythological creatures were inspired by animals that had long been extinct. For instance, the fossilized skulls of dwarf elephants—which have huge nasal cavities in the center—are thought to have inspired stories of the Cyclops, the one-eyed giant of Greek mythology.
View larger Dwarf elephant skull © D. Finnin/AMNH Dwarf elephant skull © D. Finnin/AMNH
Big bones may have also given rise to one of the most enduring creatures of legend: the dragon. These enormous serpents or lizards, sometimes described as having wings and breathing fire, are found in tales across Europe and Asia, a tradition that spans Arthurian legend to contemporary film and television.
View larger The Mythical Creature Dragon, Friedrich Johann Justin Bertuch, 1806. The Mythical Creature Dragon, Friedrich Johann Justin Bertuch, 1806.
Dragon legends were likely inspired, and fueled, by fossil finds. The Austrian town of Klagenfurt for years displayed the skull of an extinct woolly rhinoceros that was fabled to belong to a dragon slain by knights. And pioneering paleontologist Mary Anning may have been the original "Mother of Dragons," securing her reputation as a famed fossil hunter in the 1820s with discoveries of pterosaurs and a complete skeleton of a Plesiosaurus, a find made famous in the 1840 title The Book of the Great Sea-Dragons.
View larger Pterosaurs in the Vertebrate Origins on the Museum's fourth floor. ©AMNH/D.Finnin Pterosaurs in the Vertebrate Origins on the Museum's fourth floor. ©AMNH/D.Finnin
Dragons have been a powerful presence in Chinese culture for centuries, and in traditional Chinese medicine powdered dragon bones are still prescribed as a cure for conditions ranging from madness to dysentery. Most of these “dragon bones,” though, are the fossils of extinct mammals, unearthed from China’s many rich fossil beds.
View larger Smaug gigantus is a newly-reclassified giant girdled lizard from South Africa. ©AMNH/E. Stanley Smaug gigantus is a newly-reclassified giant girdled lizard from South Africa. ©AMNH/E. Stanley
The dragon continues to loom large in popular culture, at times inspiring a curious reversal: real species named in honor of legendary monsters. In 2011, while working on his Ph.D. at the Museum’s Richard Gilder Graduate School, biologist Ed Stanley named a genus of girdled lizards found in South Africa’s Drakensberg (that’s Dragon Mountain) range after Smaug, the terrifying, treasure-hoarding dragon of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. Stanley says the homage was as much to the author—Tolkien was born in South Africa—as to the fabled beast, but the end result is the same: the storied Smaug is now a real-world lizard.Organizing a queer film festival in Uganda —considered to be among the most dangerous places on earth to be queer — is a high-stakes, life-and-death matter that takes a special kind of nerve and skill.
“Imagine living in fear every day,” says 30-year-old Hassan Kamoga, primary organizer of the Queer Kampala International Film Festival. “People still live in fear of losing jobs, people still get attacked everyday. The situation is not good at all.”
The challenging human-rights environment Uganda’s LGBT community faces came more prominently to the fore after MP David Bahati began championing a so-called “Kill the Gays” bill in 2009 that initially included the death penalty. In December 2013, the Ugandan parliament passed a version of the bill with a minimum 14-year prison term and a promise to punish the “promotion” of homosexuality, as well as anyone who failed to report homosexual activities to police.
When a court later struck down the act, Kamoga and his friends hoped the legal victory might lead to a slightly more accepting environment, but it has not. In August, police raided a Pride celebration where attendees were beaten and at least a dozen were arrested.
For Kamoga, educating people in Uganda on these topics seems like an uphill battle. He sees film as a powerful weapon to break down barriers and challenge misconceptions.
“When you use film, you can reach out to a very large number of people and then that opens up channels for understanding,” Kamoga says of the festival, which will have its inaugural run from Dec 9–11.
Among the tight circle of volunteers working with him, some do not want to be identified as part of the festival’s crew. Kamoga says he was recognized and attacked at a previous event and routinely changes his name on social media to evade the incessant threats of violence and death.
“It’s a risky fight,” he admits. He has lost friends, some homophobic, others afraid of being associated with a prominent gay man. While his mother is supportive of his orientation and activism, she fears for his safety. His father hasn’t spoken to him in years.
After the media ran lists of people who were identified as gays and lesbians, many fled the country, Kamoga says. “I myself am a queer person living in Uganda, and if I go silent...” His voice trails off.
“I mean, I may get killed. I always tell people that I may not finish this job that I have started, but when we fight now we are making it easier for the next queer people who are going to come when we are gone. So we don’t have to go silent, we have to speak out.”
In some ways, he believes being open is a means of protecting himself.
“When you put your name out there, or if you tell people about what is happening, this probably could save you,” he says.
He brings up his summer visit to Montreal, where he was invited to speak at the World Social Forum around Pride. There, he had his picture taken with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Kamoga considers the photo a sort of talisman against danger.
“When I took that picture with Justin Trudeau, little did I know that that picture could somehow protect me, because here in Uganda people think that because I’ve met such people, they think that I’m somehow protected,” he says.
Kamoga Hassan with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at Montreal Pride 2016. Courtesy Kamoga Hassan
The Queer Kampala International Film Festival will not bear much resemblance to similar festivals in Canada or the US. Those who wish to attend a screening in Kampala must undergo screening themselves. If potential attendees who connect through social media are not personally known to Kamoga and his friends, organizers will examine their Facebook pages to assess if there’s reason to suspect ill will.
If they don’t seem suspect, organizers will then ask potential attendees to explain a bit about themselves. Once vetted, attendees will have to wait until just before screening time for a private message indicating the location.
The festival is being discreetly publicized through Uganda’s queer organizations, some of which are so secretive that they are effectively invisible. Kamoga wants allies to feel welcome too, though again, the challenge is identifying friend from foe.
Organizers are not reaching out to the police because those who are sworn to protect are among those most likely to disrupt and initiate violence, he says.
Finding venues has also been a challenge.
“At first we were looking at commercial theatres where they normally screen films, but most of these places don’t want to host us because of the nature of the festival that we are organizing,” Kamoga notes.
“We are looking at queer-friendly clubs and hotels that have space. We also have people from the queer community who have private homes and they want us to have some of our activities in their homes.”
When attendees do pass the vetting and find their way to the venue, admission is free. Organizers don’t want money to be an added barrier to participation.
Festival screenings will be a mix of offerings from around the world and Uganda, including one by Kamoga about the media’s outing of queer people. Kamoga, a small-scale farmer, also runs his own film company, Visual Power Uganda.
Through a global platform for filmmakers, FilmFreeway.com, the Queer Kampala International Film Festival has received submissions from Kenya, Germany, Tanzania, Spain, Brazil and the United Kingdom. There will be 30 screenings, including six films from Africa and 23 from other continents. One of the festival’s screenings will take place remotely in Toronto at the same time as the main festival in Kampala.
Kamoga says that many of the filmmakers react strongly to the idea of showing their film in Uganda.
“Most of the filmmakers, when they hear Uganda, they actually freak out,” Kamoga says. “So one of the ways that they can support our cause is by giving us their films to screen. They are actually trying to monitor the situation and they are promising to come for the next edition [of the festival]. They want to see how safe this event is going to be.”
Despite the fear, many of the films being screened will not be stories of repression but uplifting narratives that can give LGBT people living in Uganda a sense of hope, exploring themes like LGBT activism during the Stonewall riots.
Even as Kamoga and other Ugandan queers fight for their rightful place in society, he admits they feel deeply alone. “We have not got any financial support, and it’s really embarrassing to say that because we are organizing this festival using our own resources,” he says. “At the moment, we feel like we are really abandoned by the world. People know about what is happening in Uganda, but they’re not helping.”
To countries like Canada where LGBT people are revelling in unprecedented freedom and equality, Kamoga appeals for greater understanding of the critical situations other queer communities are facing worldwide.
“As people celebrate about achieving their rights anywhere around the world, like in countries such as the US and Canada, they have to think about people who are living in the 75 countries where it’s actually criminalized to be gay,” he says. “They have to support our work and they have to speak out.”
How to support the Queer Kampala International Film Festival
You can make a direct financial contribution to this year’s Queer Kampala International Film Festival by clicking here. All funds raised will be spent on venues, filmmaker fees, equipment leasing, interns, workshops and website development. Additional money may be awarded in small grants to queer Ugandan filmmakers or people who are passionate about telling LGBT stories in Uganda and other East African countries.
Additionally, on Dec 10, 2016, the Queer Kampala International Film Festival in partnership with Xtra Spark will present a satellite screening at Toronto’s Carlton Cinema of the film Outed, an unflinching dramatization of the violence faced by LGBT people in Uganda. QKIFF organizer Hassan Kamoga will be in attendance via Skype for a post-screening Q&A.
Tickets can be purchased here, with all proceeds from ticket sales being donated to the QKIFF.
Special thanks to community partners Imagine Cinema, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Inside Out, Supporting our Youth and Glad Day Bookshop for supporting the Toronto satellite screening.I want to be clear that I actually showed restraint regarding my conversation with DCPS Board member Scott Shine. Mr. Shine has lost restraint, publicly attacking Chris Guerrieri (a DCPS teacher), for criticizing him (an elected official). In light of this, I felt it necessary to release some quotes I’d previously decided not to publish because I didn’t want to pile on the guy too hard when he had the courage to speak to me. No more, especially after he had previously lectured me about the importance of civil discourse.
I asked Mr. Shine how he could defend Vitti’s decisions that led to 32 middle and high schools closing their libraries. I stated that this hurts poor kids without cars and computers the most, because school libraries are the only place many low-income kids can research. Shine’s direct response to this statement? “Well, there will always be haves and have-nots,” then continued to downplay the concern.
I want to be clear and reiterate: his quote was a direct response to my concern about the closing of libraries hurting low-income kids.
Furthermore, Mr. Shine told me that he feels teachers are going about our fight the wrong way: that we need to stop campaigning against politicians we disagree with, and instead convince them to agree with us. He further implied that teachers are missing the boat by focusing on anything other than “more teachers at higher salaries” (Edit: I feel the need to clarify because a number of people have misunderstood this: Shine implied teachers cared about too many things. He never said teachers only cared about salary.).
Of course we want more teachers at higher salaries, but that is not all we want. We want our jobs to be as meaningful and productive as possible because to many of us it’s much more than just a paycheck.
And here’s the thing about “convincing” politicians: people don’t generally change their minds about things. On the rare occasion they do, it is usually because they are made aware of new information and take that new information into account.
When politicians (School Board members, governor, state legislators) or bureaucrats (Superintendent, etc.) are made aware of new information, and that information does not change their mind, it isn’t long before the only option is to try to replace them with people who do agree with us.
Share this: Facebook
Twitter
Reddit
Email
PrintCLOSE Roughly 75 percent of Rochester residents without private vehicles lived in poverty, according to a 2011 report by the Brookings Institution. Carlos Ortiz/Todd Clausen
Buy Photo Transit Center in downtown Rochester. (Photo: CARLOS ORTIZ/@CFORTIZ_DANDC/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)Buy Photo Story Highlights Exodus of downtown jobs to the suburbs has left many in poverty with hours-long commutes.
New alternatives are in the works to cut down travel lengths for those without a vehicle.
Rochester may be lauded for short commutes but for those without vehicles — particularly those living in poverty — traveling to work has not gotten any easier in recent years.
For many, getting to work entails traveling an hour or more one way just to get to a job roughly 10 miles away. The problem, some say, is growing with jobs moving out of downtown, where a $50 million Transit Center opened roughly two years ago.
Downtown high-rises once filled with jobs are being converted to lofts and apartments; while retail has largely left the area after the demolition of Midtown Plaza and transformation of the Sibley Building.
Nearly 50 downtown buildings have been converted from commercial, to either residential or mixed use since 2000, according to a report by the Rochester Downtown Development Corp.
About 1.65 million square feet of commercial space downtown has disappeared along with the hundreds of jobs.
RELATED CONTENT
Meanwhile, new call centers have bypassed the city for Gates, Henrietta and elsewhere. A casino promising 1,800 jobs opens Feb. 1 nearly 50 miles away in Tyre, Seneca County. Maximus brought roughly 2,000 jobs to the Rochester Tech Park. Spectrum plans to add an additional 225 jobs in Henrietta.
The dispersal of local jobs has stretched the public transit system, forcing those without vehicles to face multiple transfers and long commutes that contribute to a host of other adverse social and health issues.
"If you put dots on the map of 100 or more employees in a location, many more of those are being located in the suburban areas, where they used to be in the downtown area," said Bill Carpenter, chief executive officer of the Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority.
"It's not my job to tell employers where to pick their locations but gee, you build a transit center that’s so beautiful and nationally recognized why wouldn’t you want to put jobs near there?"
CLOSE Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren said earlier this month at a job fair at City Hall that many city residents have trouble finding affordable and reliable transportation. Todd Clausen
HOURS-LONG COMMUTE
Palmer Smith sometimes left his home two hours early to get to a food service job at the RIT Inn & Conference Center, about 8 miles from his Rochester home.
He would catch a bus from the city’s west side into downtown, wait for a second bus and take it to Henrietta. It is a trip that takes about an hour today, according to Regional Transit Service.
Bus routes also are on fixed schedules.
"I have taken the bus and gotten to work maybe an hour or so early," Smith said. "I would describe it really as very time consuming (but) it's better to be very early than late."
Palmer was among 115 Rochester-area residents hired by del Lago Resort & Casino at a job fair held earlier this month at Rochester City Hall.
Eric Goof of Greece also attended the job fair. He said those without transportation have to plan ahead when choosing where to work.
NEWSLETTERS Get the ROC60 newsletter delivered to your inbox We're sorry, but something went wrong Rochester in 60 seconds: Get all the news you need to know in less than a minute. Please try again soon, or contact Customer Service at 1-800-790-9565. Delivery: Invalid email address Thank you! You're almost signed up for ROC60 Keep an eye out for an email to confirm your newsletter registration. More newsletters
"You can’t wait until the last minute and plan to catch some kind of transportation that already has some kind of set schedule," he said. "You have to be on their schedule and not your own. You've got to plan ahead. You've got to be willing to do it."
Getting reliable and timely transportation to work concerns many city residents forced with applying for jobs along current mass-transit lines.
Roughly half of the 612 responses in a survey by the city and the Rochester-Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative said transportation was an issue in northeast Rochester.
Roughly 30 percent described it as "major issue."
About 8 in 10 said that they would be interested in paying for a neighbor vanpool option to take them to work, according to the survey.
“We know there are some transportation barriers," Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren said at the job fair earlier this month. "For an 8-mile ride, it may take an individual an hour to get there. We want to remove all those barriers."
It led the city to pilot a program with vRide, a service subsidized by the city that will cost each rider $75 a month. Nearly 80 people have signed up for the service.
"While the job opportunity may be someplace else, those dollars will come back to the community in one way or another, and that's why it is important for us to provide them with a chance to take care of their families in a meaningful way, to earn a living wage," added Warren, who has thrown support behind other ride-services, although those services would be more costly than public transit.
Jillian Moran is a 28-year-old single mom hired at the job fair as a server. She plans to use the vRide.
"It's hard finding anything really more than 20 hours a week with better pay," she said. "Hopefully, (I can) get my own transportation within six months."
Wegmans Food Markets has 15 stores within Monroe County, with most located outside city limits. A spokesperson for the Gates-based chain said 85 of the 305 student workers in the Hillside Work Scholarship Connection program are transported by Hillside to their jobs.
"It's sometimes the case that they cannot easily get to the store even when that store is on a bus route," Wegmans spokesperson Jo Natale said in an email.
Buy Photo Transit Center in downtown Rochester. (Photo: CARLOS ORTIZ/@CFORTIZ_DANDC/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
FUTURE SERVICES
Several studies have shown that longer commutes — whether by car, public transportation or other means — impact workers in all sorts of ways and tend to lead to higher levels of stress, divorce, absenteeism at work and less sleep.
Lengthy commutes also serve as a barrier for those living in poverty for improving their financial status, said Peter Nabozny, an associate principal at the Center for Governmental Research who has written on the issue for Reconnect Rochester.
"Just having a system that requires people to take so much time to get from their neighborhood to their jobs, it just kind of stacks the deck against people," he said. "The decisions we make about where — particularly those jobs that employ low-income people — are located is really, really important. We're making it that much more difficult for those residents we want to support."
Carpenter said the local bus service, which continues to offer $1 fares, has roughly 60 agreements with area businesses to help pay a portion of service. He added that the agency continues to be involved in ongoing anti-poverty efforts through several collaborative efforts.
RTS provided roughly 17.1 million rides in Monroe in the year ending March 31, 2016. It provided nearly 1.1 million rides to passengers in seven nearby counties, too. Cost to passengers remains the lowest in the state, Carpenter said.
The service has received high marks for covering the city, where residents rely more heavily on public transportation.
"I get that it's more difficult to get to the bank, the doctor and to work and stop and pick up your child at daycare and have a reasonable commute time with how often our buses run currently," he said. "We’re trying to cover so much geography and it becomes in our industry the difference between frequency and coverage."
He said the service is examining ways to provide transportation to more neighborhoods by using smaller buses to shuttle people to certain areas. The service might offer a way for riders to send a text for a ride in the northeast portion of the city.
It could also cut down on commutes. Efforts also are underway by the city and Reconnect Rochester to bring bike-sharing programs to the city.
New bike programs, along with the potential addition of ride-sharing services, promise to alter public transportation over the next several years, Carpenter said.
"We are right at that gap, the gap between what we know and what is yet to come," he added. "This transformation is going to be pretty interesting as people who try other products realize the difference in cost between public transit and other options."
[email protected]
TRAVEL TIMES
The number of jobs reachable by public transportation, according to a 2011 report by the Brookings Institution.
10.4%
56,297 jobs reachable within 45 minutes.
15.9%
86,476 jobs within 60 minues.
32.4%
176,938 jobs within 90 minutes.
Read or Share this story: http://on.rocne.ws/2k1MDxJSaturday Night Live Transcripts
Season 21: Episode 16
95p: Phil Hartman / Gin Blossoms
Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer
Judge…..Nancy Walls
Cirroc…..Phil Hartman
Jury Foreman…..Will Ferrell
Prostitute…..Molly Shannon
Announcer: [ over SUPER ] “One hundred thousand years ago, a caveman was out hunting on the frozen wastes when he slipped and fell into a crevasse. In 1988, he was discovered by some scientists and thawed out. He then went to law school and became.. Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer.
Jingle: “He used to be a caveman,
but now he’s a lawyer.
Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer!”
Announcer: Brought to you by.. Lawn Destroyer – when you don’t even care anymore; and by Cubic Yard of Earthworms – what you do with it is your business; and by Wilson Ear Drill – we don’t recommend that you use an ear drill, but if you insist, why not get the best! And now, tonight’s episode of “Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer”.
[ open on interior, courtroom, the Judge banging her gavel ]
Judge: Mr. Cirroc, are you ready to give your summation?
Cirroc: [ stepping out] It’s just “Cirroc”, your Honor..and, yes, I’m ready. [ approaches the jury box ] Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I’m just a caveman. I fell on some ice and was later thawed by some of your scientists. Your world frightens and confuses me! Sometimes when I fly to Europe on the Concorde, I wonder, am I inside some sort of giant bird? Am I gonna be digested? I don’t know, because I’m a caveman, and that’s the way I think! When I’m courtside at a Knicks game, I wonder if the ball is some sort of food they’re fighting over. When I see my image on the security camera at the country club, I wonder, are they stealing my soul? I get so upset, I hop out of my Range Rover, and run across the fairway to to the clubhouse, where I get Carlos to make me one of those martinis he’s so famous for, to soothe my primitive caveman brain. But whatever world you’re from, I do know one thing – in the 20 years from March 22nd, 1972, when he first ordered that extra nicotine be put into his product, until February 25th, 1992, when he issued an inter-office memorandum stopping the addition of that nicotine, my client was legally insane. And, for that reason, I ask that you fine him.. not guilty. Thank you.
Judge: The jury will now retire to deliberate.
Jury Foreman: [ standing ] Your Honor.. I don’t think we need to retire. Cirroc’s words are just as true now as they were in his time. We find the defendent.. not guilty.
[ the jury applauds Cirroc ]
Judge: Did |
be a fan of the former British lawmaker and conspiracy theorist Louise Mensch, who in May claimed that the “marshal of the Supreme Court” had notified Trump that impeachment proceedings had already begun. (Bryce even offered to buy her a “supersize order of #FreedomFries if you’re ever in [the] states.”) And his views on some issues have evolved. Bryce stated in a 2014 campaign questionnaire, for example, that he supported parental consent for teenagers seeking abortions, a position he abandoned only in June. (He now has the endorsement of NARAL Pro-Choice America.) He can be awkward in speeches or interviews and can sometimes shoot wildly from the hip, such as when he lambasted Trump for failing to appoint a Federal Emergency Management Agency director before Hurricane Harvey. (Trump had.)
Congress is “not reflective of society,” the Wisconsin director of the Working Families Party said.
What he does have, which is unusual in a field occupied largely by millionaires, is an uncanny ability to articulate the impact of his opponent’s policies on his own life. Bryce’s announcement video focused on Ryan’s push to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which would devastate programs like Medicaid and leave as many as 23 million Americans without insurance. The star of the spot was his 70-year-old mom, Nancy, whose speech is impaired by her multiple sclerosis. “I’m on 20 drugs,” she says to her son softly, her feet up on her living-room sofa, “and if I don’t take the one that costs thousands of dollars, I don’t know what would happen.” Bryce has his hands over his face as she explains it; when she’s done, he walks over to give her a hug. At this point in a typical campaign ad, the candidate would appear, with sleeves rolled up, perhaps, to explain why he’s fighting for people like Randy and Nancy. The essential appeal of Bryce, to his boosters, was that the regular guy in someone else’s ad was now the candidate. The campaign raised $430,000 in less than two weeks and Bryce became a national figure overnight—speaking at Netroots Nation one week and then headlining a fundraiser in Manhattan’s East Village alongside the actress Cynthia Nixon.
Embedded in Bryce’s instant popularity was an inescapable cultural anxiety among commentators and political types still reeling from the Trumpocalypse. One writer observed that “Bruce Springsteen’s discography has taken on human form.” Chris Matthews, interviewing Bryce on MSNBC, told him, “You strike me, Mr. Bryce, as the kind of guy or woman who voted for Trump.”
The timing was also fortuitous. If Jon Ossoff, the fresh, yuppie, technocratic Georgia congressional candidate, captured the capital-R resistance at its most desperate hour—when everyone seemed to be toting a pussy hat or a fundraising app—the popularity of Bryce in some circles captured the next wave. Ossoff had barely touched health care during a campaign that spanned the length of the Ryan repeal effort. Bryce was living the fight. It was as if lefty activists were collectively saying, “No, this is what a Democrat should be.”
“Populism is what people want,” Bryce told me over lunch at a fish house on Lake Michigan. “I think that’s why it blew up as big as it did. There’s just such a hunger for that. People want somebody like them to make decisions for them.”
The outpouring of money and support suggests Bryce and the WFP may be on to something. But much of that money and support also came from people who aren’t very much like Randy Bryce. And that’s the irony—and central challenge—of his candidacy. He may be a Brooklynite’s idea of what a Midwestern populist ought to be. But is he Wisconsin’s too?
On paper, the 1st district is a place where Democrats should compete. It was, until recently, a hub of auto manufacturing and union labor. When Ryan was first elected in 1998, General Motors employed about 5,000 people in Janesville and Chrysler staffed nearly 1,400 in Kenosha. Unions like the UAW formed the backbone of the Democratic Party in the district. The hometown hero who best represents Janesville politics historically isn’t Ryan—it’s Russ Feingold. Although there are enough Republican-heavy rural areas and suburbs to tilt the district red, Democrats have needed those enclaves to pad their margins in statewide races.
Ryan, who lives on the same block as his childhood home, in a stately brick house that once belonged to an executive from the now-shuttered Parker Pen Co., is an outlier in Janesville. Democrats like to point out that he has trouble carrying his own ward. But he has been uniquely bulletproof across the district. Since he won the seat at the age of 28, the Democrats have never mounted a serious challenge in what may be the closest that gerrymandered Wisconsin comes to a swing seat. Ryan has won by fewer than 20 points only twice and has outperformed the Republican presidential nominee in his district by large margins without fail. In 2008, Barack Obama carried the 1st District by 3 points; that same year, Ryan won it by 29.
Most of Ryan’s races have been foregone conclusions. Before Bryce got in, the only other Democrat in the race was a HuffPost blogger who had moved from Ohio specifically to run. He promptly dropped out, but Bryce now faces a primary challenge from Janesville School Board member Cathy Myers. Ryan’s 2016 opponent, Ryan Solen, spent just $17,000 after winning a primary against a plumbing engineer whose campaign vehicle was a hearse. After Kenosha County Supervisor Rob Zerban lost by 12 points in 2012, Zerban told reporters no one would ever come that close again.
Sure, Ryan has likely benefited from a hometown discount, but his ascendancy also coincided with the rise of people like Walker and Trump. “I can guarantee you, if the AFL-CIO and the UAW and all of them were still as influential as they used to be, that would have never happened,” says Stan Milam, a Janesville talk-radio host, of Clinton’s Wisconsin no-show. “When the plant closed, it just sucked the air right out of Janesville.”
I met Rick Gallo, a former postal worker who serves as president of the AFL-CIO in Kenosha and is backing Bryce. Walker’s union-busting had thinned the ranks of Gallo’s local so much that it had recently been forced to switch offices, to a new one-room space littered with boxes. He pulled out a piece of paper and began reading off a list of companies that had left the area. A good Democratic message alone won’t reverse that decadelong transformation.
Besides, it’s not as if no one has ever tried populism before. Perhaps no Wisconsin politician channeled this style of politics better than Feingold, the Democratic senator who fought dark money and corporate offshoring during his time in Washington. His reward? Losing two straight elections to Ron Johnson, a wealthy businessman who installed an Atlas Shrugged statue on a roadside near Oshkosh.
To win, Bryce will have to do what Feingold couldn’t. That means making union politics work in a place where the jobs aren’t union anymore, and getting working-class rural residents who have embraced Walker’s politics of resentment to buy into the idea that populism can work for them too.
A good Democratic message alone won’t reverse a decadelong transformation.
In Medicare-for-all, he thinks he’s found a policy that can cut across those divides. It would certainly make his life easier. Although he has taken time off for the campaign launch, Bryce plans to start working again during the race—he has to, or he’ll risk losing the insurance the union provides him and his son.
His work informs his politics in other ways. Bryce is passionate about subsidizing steel, in part from trying to weld Chinese metals on the job. “You’re going at a good rate and you have your temperature, the heat right—all of a sudden, it just blows out,” Bryce says. He extends his hands to form a circle. “I mean, just like a big hole.” (Industry groups have long complained about the quality of Chinese steel, although those complaints are mostly, like Bryce’s, anecdotal.) He supports new stipulations on buying American products for government vehicles (something Ryan has opposed), and he’s pushing a $15 minimum wage, which would be double what some of the district’s service workers make.
Meanwhile, Walker and Ryan’s makeover of the area is continuing at ludicrous speed. In August the Legislature agreed to Walker’s coup de grâce, a $3 billion package of incentives and tax breaks to lure the tech manufacturer Foxconn to the 1st District. Ryan, who lobbied for the move, calls the company’s arrival a “game changer” that has the potential to create up to 13,000 jobs—nonunion, of course.
Bryce cites his own experience in condemning the project. He explains that after Walker cut nearly $1 billion in education funding, his son’s summer school program shut down. Not long after that, the school closed. Then his son was transferred to a new school, where he no longer qualified for extra help because the average test scores were lower. Then the school cut the tutoring program. “When I hear $3 billion, I’m like, that’s a heck of a lot of money,” Bryce says.
And it is. But it means that Bryce will be running against a massive injection of capital into an area where the American Motors plant has been reduced to nearly 20 square blocks of rubble across the street from the headquarters of another company, Jockey, that no longer makes anything in Kenosha either. And he could clash with party leadership when he does it; Walker persuaded Kenosha’s Democratic legislator Peter Barca, the minority leader in the state Assembly, who resigned in September, to back the measure too. Divide, conquer, repeat.
A few hours before I watched Bryce film his town hall ad, he dropped in on a picnic of 50 retirees from the United Auto Workers local in a shaded pavilion at a park in Racine. They were his kind of people. Most of them used to work at Case IH, which manufactures agricultural machinery at a plant just down the street, and Bryce was dressed comfortably, in his customary short-sleeved blue button-down shirt, jeans, and pair of sturdy brown work boots. After a short introduction, Bryce took the microphone from a white-haired union hand with a fishing T-shirt that identified him as “The Rodfather.” Bryce was about to launch into his remarks when the Rodfather invited the group to grab some food.
Bryce could draw a packed ballroom in Atlanta and quiet a room in DC, but in Racine he was just the guy getting between union hands and their lunch break. Octogenarians crept past with their walkers, opening tins of baked ziti, chicken, and potato wedges and making small talk. A handful of people stayed seated. Bryce looked flustered for a moment. “This isn’t working,” a supporter murmured.
Less than two minutes after he began, Bryce cut himself off: “I’m not a stupid guy, and I know when I’m competing against a chicken leg.”
But voters who were paying attention greeted him warmly. Clutching a can of Miller Genuine Draft, a woman who’d once hosted a fundraiser for one of Ryan’s previous challengers approached Bryce to tell him that her daughter in Chicago had called her up about the ad. “‘What’s with this guy? He looks fabulous!'”
Another man recognized his face: “You’re the Iron Stache!”
Bryce loaded up a plate with his chicken and broccoli and ranch dressing and sat down at a picnic table. Finally, along came Monte Griffin. Griffin is bald with a white mustache, and he wore a purple T-shirt bearing the logo of an annual biker rally in the north woods. If Bryce is where Democrats want Wisconsin to be, Griffin is where the state is currently at. He nursed a can of MGD, and then another. For nearly an hour, the two strangers chatted about work and life.
“The whole thing is,” Bryce said, “who’s more like most of the people in the district, Paul Ryan or me?”
Politicians tend to respond to the complaints of their constituents by offering solutions, or by changing the subject; Bryce responds by rattling off his own problems. When Griffin talked about working in a foundry, Bryce talked about the strain he’s putting on his body when he goes out to a site. When Griffin talked about the frustration of losing his job but still being above the cutoff to receive assistance from the local United Way, Bryce told him about giving his son a can of food to donate to the local pantry and wondering if he’d end up needing to go to the pantry himself. They talked about apprenticeship programs and job retraining and what it’s like to look for work when you can’t afford to hit the road, and about the ways in which the people who run the state squeeze people like them. Bryce told Griffin about his cancer, and Griffin told Bryce about his cancer—”It’s bad enough that you have it, but it’s worse that you get everything taken away from you.” Griffin explained why he voted for Trump.
Over the course of the conversation, Bryce’s ability to listen and relate won him Griffin’s vote. But there was one thing Griffin took issue with.
“The whole thing is,” Bryce had said to him, “who’s more like most of the people in the district, Paul Ryan or me?”
It was meant to be rhetorical, but Griffin put down his Miller Genuine Draft and answered anyway. “Well, that’s the big thing, too, okay?” he said. “There isn’t that many factory workers and stuff like there used to be.”
Bryce returned to his backstory and his roots, but Griffin was insistent.
“What I’m saying is, the young college people look down on working people. They look up to the people in the offices and stuff, you know? And sometimes it’s hard for them to relate to that because they never knew what that was about.” Wisconsin just isn’t what it used to be.
Bryce’s ad ran as promised during Ryan’s CNN town hall. It didn’t break the internet this time, but that week the campaign raised more than $100,000, and Bryce found a receptive audience among the protesters outside the arena. That Ryan would be forced to spend part of his August vacation in Racine was itself a small victory, a sign to Bryce that the speaker of the House for once felt compelled to mind his own backyard.
A few days after that, Bryce noticed a new ad running in the 1st District. Paid for by American Action Network, a PAC affiliated with the speaker, it cheered Ryan on for fighting for “tax reform” and job creation. It was the choice of a narrator, though, that caused Bryce to do a double take. He had a yellow hard hat and goggles and a thick beard and was grinding down a piece of steel with a look of determination. The caption identified him as “Albert Jones, former metal worker.”Rinehart's Hancock files overdue financial reports
Updated
Gina Rinehart's company Hancock Prospecting has filed two overdue financial reports, one of which was more than two years late.
Hancock Prospecting and Hope Downs Iron Ore filed their financial reports for the 2010 and 2011 financial years on December 24.
The directors and auditors did not sign off on the reports until August 17, 2012 for the 2010 financial year report and August 23 for the 2011 report.
Under the Corporations Act, annual financial reports are due within four months of the end of the relevant financial year, making the 2010 reports 785 days late when submitted.
Hancock and Hope Downs had been disputing the need to file their financial reports with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT).
ASIC says Hancock and its related entities withdrew their applications from the AAT on December 24, and the proceedings are therefore over.
However one of those related entities, Hancock Minerals, still has not lodged recent annual financial reports, and the Hancock Prospecting and Hope Downs reports for 2012 are already overdue and should have been filed by October 31.
ASIC currently had no comment on whether the companies would be fined for filing their reports late, as is generally the case under the Corporations Act, or on whether it was taking any action to obtain the remaining overdue financial reports.
Profit results
The reports reveal that Hancock Prospecting made an after-tax operating profit of $688 million in 2010 and $1.2 billion in the 2011 financial year.
Those profits were based on $1.41 billion of revenues in 2010 and $2.37 billion in 2011.
However, the business only paid out $12.5 million in dividends in 2011 and under $6.2 million in 2010.
Hope Downs Iron Ore made a profit of $588 million in the 2010 financial year and $1.08 billion in 2011.
It paid dividends of $22.2 million in 2010 and $494.4 million in 2011.
The Hope Downs financial report for 2011 says a $1.16 billion deferred tax asset will be recognised in the 2012 financial year in relation to the Federal Government's Minerals Resource Rent Tax.
BHP Billiton booked a $US637 million tax credit related to the MRRT and Petroleum Resource Rent Tax in its 2012 report, while Rio Tinto recognised a deferred tax asset of $US1.04 billion in its latest half-year results.
Topics: regulation, business-economics-and-finance, iron-ore, australia, wa
First postedA coalition rallying opposing a proposed U.S. border tax on imported goods is planning to target lawmakers during the Congressional recess.
Americans for Affordable Products — an anti-border tax coalition that includes large corporations — is planning to focus its efforts on 40 members of Congress in 11 states, according to coalition spokesman Joshua Baca, Reuters reported Monday.
“We’re talking to businesses, local associations, having a frank conversation with them about how dumb this idea is,” Baca said.
The border adjustment would hit imports with a 20 percent tax, but exempt exports. The border tax along with a proposal to lower the corporate tax rate to 20 percent is a centerpiece of House Republicans blueprint for tax reform.
ADVERTISEMENT
Next week, the anti-border tax coalition will have a town hall meeting in Nevada with Sen. Dean Heller Dean Arthur HellerTrump suggests Heller lost reelection bid because he was 'hostile' during 2016 presidential campaign Trump picks ex-oil lobbyist David Bernhardt for Interior secretary Oregon Dem top recipient of 2018 marijuana industry money, study finds MORE (R-Nev.). The group also plans to have a discussion in Ohio with Rep. David Joyce (R-Ohio).
A spokesman for the Retail Industry Leaders Association said their group is also targeting lawmakers to urge them not to support the tax by giving tours of their headquarters and stores.
The groups are using a poll, shared with Reuters, which shows 63 percent of voters are against the tax. That includes 70 percent of women. The poll also finds that 56 percent of voters say they would be less likely to vote for a lawmaker who is for the tax proposal.Online jobs community Glassdoor has released its third annual Top 25 Companies for Work-Life Balance report, and 16 tech companies crack the list.
However, the results might surprise you. Silicon Valley giants like Google and Facebook are supposed to have a reputation of being beloved by their employees thanks to all that free food, shuttles to work, theme park-like campuses and who knows what else.
Yet neither of those are anywhere to be seen on this report.
See also: Glassdoor: Google ranked top company with best business outlook | Glassdoor stats reveal Yahoo employee sentiments about CEO Mayer
Instead, the chart reads more like a list of tech companies trying to make comebacks — notably Nokia, AOL and Yahoo.
Yahoo is an especially curious case given its history over the last year. CEO Marissa Mayer has had some ups and downs in the eyes of some of her employees in the last year.
While certainly the new iPhones and Android smartphones along with free food on campus have pleased some, others were outraged when she cut the work-from-home option.
Nevertheless, there's always the adage that you never really know what is going on at home, and maybe that can be applied here.
For reference, Glassdoor's report is based entirely on employee feedback from the past year. To quality, companies must have at least 50 work-life balance ratings on Glassdoor within the past year and at least 10 the year prior.
On a five-point scale with 1.0 being "very dissatisfied" and 5.0 being "very satisfied," Glassdoor data pointed toward an average work-life balance rating of 3.2 thus far in 2013.
Tech did grab the top two spots with SAS Institute ranking number one with a work-life balance rating of 4.5, followed by National Instruments with a rating of 4.3.
Here's the full list of the top 25:
SAS Institute National Instruments Slalom Consulting Mitre Orbitz Scottrade Mentor Graphics FactSet Agilent Technologies Nokia MathWorks Autodesk AOL Citrix GlobalLogic Yahoo Tieto MasterCard Morningstar Shell Bosch Chevron REI STMicroelectronics NetApp
Chart via GlassdoorWHAT do you get when you cross a tomato with a snapdragon? A cancer-fighting fruit, according to scientists.
Large-scale production of the genetically modified purple tomatoes is under way in Canada, where the first 1200 litres of purple tomato juice is ready for shipping, the BBC reports.
Developed in Britain, the dark pigment - known as anthocyanin - aims to give the tomatoes the same potential health benefits as antioxidant-rich blueberries. Studies on animals show the pigment could help fight cancer.
The tomatoes were developed at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, England, where Professor Cathie Martin hopes the first delivery of large quantities of juice will allow researchers to investigate its potential. In time, they hope to see the nutritional value boosted of other everyday items, such as tomato sauce.
"With these purple tomatoes you can get the same compounds that are present in blueberries and cranberries that give them their health benefits - but you can apply them to foods that people actually eat in significant amounts and are reasonably affordable," she said.
I hope this will serve as a vanguard product where people can have access to something that is GM but has benefits for them."
Restrictions on genetic modification in the European Union led Professor Martin to look to Canada to develop the technology.
The purple pigment is the result of the transfer of a gene from a snapdragon plant, which allows the anthocyanin to develop.
"It is frustrating that we've had to go to Canada to do a lot of the growing and the processing and I hope this will serve as a vanguard product where people can have access to something that is GM but has benefits for them."
Because all the seeds have been removed from the initial shipment of juice coming to Norwich, there is no genetic material to risk any contamination.Here is one aspect of the Gulf spill no one seems to be talking about. It concerns the same thing that conservatives commentators, libertarian journals, and economists seldom take into consideration: Persons in the upper management of large corporations are not necessarily very intelligent and few are well-educated. That is the hidden vice of capitalism. For once, I am speaking as an expert. (Go ahead, check my vita linked to this blog (pdf) and then, re-check the facts on Google. Make my day!)
The BP-caused oil spill – going on for more of a month as I write – is also a public relations disaster for the corporation. As I said earlier (“The Louisiana Oil Disaster?” Posted 5/21/10), we are still missing the moving photographs of thousands of dead, soiled aquatic birds. There is in and around Plaquemines parish a group of stake-holders that is becoming increasingly vocal: The fishermen. I heard some on NPR on 5/25/10 complaining that BP has mostly ignored their wishes to “volunteer” to help. It sounded true and it sounded incredible to me.
Whatever happens, BP is going to be on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars, possibly for more than a billion dollars. The fishermen whose livelihood and whose future appears to be threatened by BP’s negligence number in the hundreds. I doubt that there are a thousand of them altogether. At the risk of sounding cynical, I will say that they are the only easily identifiable group of human victims who tug at ordinary Americans’ hearts. It’s easy to imagine that most Louisiana fishermen don’t have a doctorate in solar energy science, for instance; it’s easy to recognize that few can readily switch to another occupation. That they may want to transmit their legacy to their children is also understandable from an emotional standpoint. Finally, the tens of millions of American who fish recreationally will have no trouble grasping that the Louisiana fishermen may love their occupation and the lifestyle that goes with it. I am skeptical myself about the extensiveness of the damage. I don’t hope it will become Obama’s Katrina. Yet my heart goes out to those unknown fishermen deprived of both livelihood and, it seems right now, of a future.
That’s why I find it incomprehensible that BP has not taken the following simple measures: Gather everyone who claims to be a fisherman and is in a boat that moves under its own power. Give $100 a day to very crewman, $150 to every captain, and another $200 for the boat. I think the total cost would be under $200,000 a day or six million dollars for a month. And yes, there would be graft and cheating.
BP could simply tell the fishermen that they are “on call,” to be deployed at four hours’ notice as needed. Almost all would cooperate because the urge to do something in a crisis is irresistible. The shirkers would not be missed and they would be shunned by their neighbors. Tempers would subside. The locals would be turned from louder and louder claimants enjoying the world’s sympathy into allies of BP.
Why does not BP do anything so simple, you wonder? Back to my opening comments. The upper levels of big corporations are replete with people with mediocre minds. That this is not well-known is the fault of ignorant journalists and of devious business schools. (Disclosure: I taught in a business school for more than twenty years.) In fact, the evidence that CEOs of big corporations, for example, do anything that is both useful and important is slim and ill-founded. I mean by the latter that the empirical evidence in support does not begin to reach the level of rigor expected in the social sciences in general. The quality of the evidence does not even come close to what one expect routinely in the social sciences that concern themselves with business specifically. I know this because I refereed for such journals and submitted my own research to them for thirty years. ( There is a column on the technical topic of scholarly refereeing somewhere on this blog.) Warning: I stopped taking interest in that kind of research about three years ago. If some great, well-executed study has appeared on the topic since then, I might not know of it. If you know of one such, please, let me know that I may correct my ignorance. In summary” The myth of the god-like captain of industry prevails. It prevails without much successful challenge because it’s a myth, precisely, the founding myth of capitalism.
How can such a disturbing, dismal view of corporate governance be correct? There are two, explanations; they are not mutually exclusive; in fact, they overlap. First, academics in general don’t receive well innovations that may undermine scholarly reputations built over a life-time. There is some good in this because many innovations are, in fact, frivolous, the products of passing fads. Yet, scholarly innovations with impeccable credentials, the very credentials the fortress defenders claim to respect, also have difficulty gaining a foothold. Frequently, when they do gain a foothold, they are restricted to a ghetto for a generation or more. Evidence in favor of the idea that CEOs are omniscient and omnipotent need not exist. Any evidence that they are not is guilty until it proves itself innocent, over and over again.
The second explanation is crass: Most or all business schools derive a significant fraction of their revenue from private donations and endowments. Donations, other than bequeaths by the dead, are always decided on or reviewed by CEOs or by their creatures. The unspoken consensus in business schools is that there is no need to bite the hand that feeds you, even if it feeds you only dessert. Why antagonize the people with wallets in hand with research and publications that minimize their importance and suggest they may not be all that bright? This state of mind does not result from any conspiracy. It needs not be expressed. It’s part of the culture of business schools. In support of this thesis is the well-known fact that the richest business schools turn out the most iconoclastic research Stanford University comes to mind where the mindset goes like this: You want to bequeath us what? Thank you, we are busy right now. If you can call tomorrow, we will try to find you a spot in the line of donors.
Its’ chic nowadays to downplay the relevance of academia and academia has done much to earn this contempt. The fact however is that business schools teach vast numbers of undergraduates, and only slightly smaller numbers of MBA students. They instruct ordinary people, journalists, teachers and teaches of teachers. Almost anything anyone in America knows about business come from or is heavily influenced by this teaching. What business schools teach matters in the long run although in diffuse ways.
While it might be used that way, this short essay is not an argument for government intervention or supervision. The perception that government bureaucrats know anything at all is even more questionable. After all, they have been running the US Post Office for 230 years!By Kevin Ryan
Posted on
Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld are among the leading suspects in the crimes of September 11, 2001. Reasons for this include that they were in the most powerful positions in the U.S. that day, that there is evidence they had foreknowledge of the attacks, and that they did not respond effectively. Other people who were closely associated with Dick and Don should also be investigated if they were in positions to be involved. Richard Armitage and Frank Carlucci are two such people. They both played important roles with respect to the events of September 11, 2001 and, prior to that, both had a colorful history of covert operations which intertwined and was aligned with the careers of Dick and Don. Armitage and Carlucci both also benefited from the War on Terror by way of profits made after the attacks.
For the twelve years prior to the attacks, Frank Carlucci ran the Carlyle Group, an investment firm with close ties to the most powerful members of the Reagan and Bush I administrations, and to the Saudi Arabian oil industry. The two major operating subsidiaries of that company were BDM international, for which Carlucci was chairman, and the Vinnell Corporation. Working for Carlucci at BDM from 1989 to 1996 was its vice president, Barry McDaniel, who left to become the Chief Operating Officer for a an alarmingly suspicious company. That was Stratesec, the security company that had contracts for so many of the facilities associated with the 9/11 attacks.
On September 11, 2001, Carlucci was meeting with Carlyle investors at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Washington, DC, along with the brother of Osama bin Laden.[1] Former president George H.W. Bush had been meeting with them the previous day. Today, McDaniel is business partners with one of Dick Cheney’s closest former colleagues, Bruce Bradley, whose business partner Alan Woods is mentioned below.[2]
Armitage was one of the signatories of a 1998 letter to President Clinton from the Project for a New American Century (PNAC), calling for military intervention against Saddam Hussein in Iraq. In 2001, Armitage was the Deputy Secretary of State reporting to Colin Powell. He was involved in the secure video teleconference run by Richard Clarke that failed to respond to the hijacked airliners. The week of 9/11, in Washington, Armitage met with General Mahmud Ahmed, the head of Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) who ordered $100,000 to be wired to the alleged hijackers. Moreover, Armitage was a director at Choicepoint, which provided DNA testing on 9/11 victims through its subsidiary, Bode Technology.
At the time of the attacks, Armitage was the boss of Marc Grossman, Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, and Grant S. Green, Undersecretary of State for Management. It has been reported that Grossman met with General Ahmed as well, prior to 9/11.[3] As Undersecretary of Management, Green was responsible for administration of U.S. embassies abroad as well as coordination with the president on key management issues, and he supervised the State Department’s Office of White House Liaison.
Green’s position in the State Department put him in control of the Bureau of Consular Affairs, which issued visas to foreign nationals. The Bureau’s new express visa program, instituted under the leadership of Armitage and Green, provided visas to five of the alleged 9/11 hijackers. Ten of the other alleged hijackers had previously received their visas in the same U.S. consulate office in Saudi Arabia. The express program made an already bad system worse because the new process was one in which “The issuing officer has no idea whether the person applying for the visa is actually the person (listed) in the documents and application.”[4] That is, in terms of the visas anyone could have taken the place of the alleged hijackers and Armitage and Green were in a position to supervise that dubious process.
Therefore Carlucci, Armitage and Green had interesting connections to 9/11. Furthermore Green’s background recalls the secret history of Armitage and Carlucci, two men who greatly influenced U.S. government policy in the 25 years before 9/11.
Some history
Frank Carlucci was one of the oldest and closest friends of Donald Rumsfeld, whose role as Secretary of Defense on 9/11 was central to the events of that day. They were college roommates together at Princeton and Rumsfeld brought Carlucci into his first position in the federal government at the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO). Carlucci went on to become Deputy Director of the Nixon Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and was later appointed Ambassador to Portugal by President Ford.
Like Richard Clarke, Robert Gates and Paul Wolfowitz, Carlucci’s career as a powerbroker in the U.S. federal government transcended political affiliation. That might be due to his charm and ability to work with others, or it might be that he was an operative of deep state organizations which transcended political parties. His history suggests the latter.
Before joining the Carter Administration as Deputy Director of the CIA in 1977, Carlucci had a long history of being implicated in world-changing covert operations. According to the London Times, he was “accused of plotting the 1961 assassination of Patrice Lumumba, who won independence for the Congo; the overthrow of Chilean president Salvador Allende; coups in Brazil and Zanzibar; and numerous other covert actions.”[5]
Carlucci denied these accusations and none were proven, but such claims continued. It was reported that Carlucci “was also accused by Italian communists of being behind the kidnapping of Aldo Moro, and subverting the revolutionary process in Portugal.” In Central America, the spokesman for the Sandinista Front in Nicaragua told reporters that Carlucci “has been a specialist in dirty work and coup attempts in the Third World.”[6]
Carlucci was also “very close friends” with Ted Shackley, a man who was at the center of a private network of covert operatives created after the U.S. government began to cut back CIA activities in the mid-1970s.[7] Shackley and his associate Thomas Clines knew Carlucci from the 1973 U.S-led coup in Chile, for which Carlucci arranged funding via his role in the OMB. It was Shackley, with help from George H.W. Bush, who maneuvered Carlucci into the position of Deputy Director of the CIA.
Shackley had a long, close working relationship with Richard Armitage as well. While Carlucci was working in the Nixon Administration and later in Portugal, Shackley and Armitage were funding covert operations from Southeast Asia by way of drug trafficking. Vast amounts of cash were smuggled out of Vietnam via this operation, along with military armaments, by Clines and another associate, Richard Secord.[8]
In 1975, Secord was transferred to Iran as chief of the Air Force’s Military Advisory Assistance Group (MAAG). With Shackley, Clines and others, Secord established an arms sales company called Egyptian American Transport and Service Corporation (EATSCO). Later EATSCO was convicted of embezzling millions of dollars from the Pentagon. In the mid-1980s, Secord worked for The Vinnell Corporation, a fact which surfaced during the Iran-Contra investigations.[9]
Another person referred to as a “silent partner” in EATSCO was Erich Von Marbod, who later became Carlucci’s special assistant at a company called Sears World Trade (SWT). Von Marbod was also the long-time mentor of Richard Armitage, having supervised him in operations in Vietnam and Iran. In Sept 1975, when Secord was relocated there, Von Marbod went to Tehran as the personal representative of Defense Secretary James Schlesinger. Armitage followed with his own “entourage.”[10]
In 1979, as the Shah was falling, Von Marbod negotiated (or extorted) a memorandum of understanding from the Iranian government which essentially gave power of attorney to the United States government to terminate all of Iran’s military contracts. The document put Iran in a difficult situation with respect to armaments just as it was facing a potential war with Iraq.[11]
Unofficial U.S. aid to the Mujahideen in Afghanistan also began in the summer of 1979. Proxy agents coordinated by the Safari Club had been invading Afghanistan for about a year prior to that. The U.S. aid to the Mujahideen, a rebel group from which al Qaeda originated, officially did not start until 1980 but went on for many years under the name Operation Cyclone. This operation relied heavily on using the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) as an intermediary for funds distribution, passing of weapons, military training and financial support.
With help from the CIA, the ISI armed and trained over 100,000 insurgents between 1978 and 1992.[12] That is, |
it wasn’t a danger) while its own scientists were privately telling its management the opposite. Ad Policy
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman raised the same question when he subpoenaed Exxon in November. The oil giant turned over some 10,000 pages of documents, which Schneiderman’s staff is reviewing. But when Virgin Islands Attorney General Claude Walker requested many of the same documents, Exxon not only refused; it went on the offensive. The company’s countersuit asserted that Walker’s subpoena was an attempt “to deter ExxonMobil from participating in ongoing public deliberations about climate change…. The chilling effect of this inquiry, which discriminates based on viewpoint to target one side of an ongoing policy debate, strikes at protected speech at the core of the First Amendment.”
Soon, in an exercise in mass ventriloquism, myriad voices on the right—including the Heritage Foundation, National Review, the New York Post, Reason, and the Hoover Institution—took up the refrain. Outraged that 16 other state attorneys general had pledged action against the fossil-fuel industry, Washington Post columnist George Will charged that the law-enforcement officials were trying “to criminalize skepticism about the supposedly ‘settled’ conclusions of climate science.” Fox News accused the AGs of “collusion” with activists, citing a meeting that a member of Schneiderman’s staff had with a representative of the Union of Concerned Scientists.
The right-wing chorus predictably glided past the fact that, as a matter of law, the First Amendment is no shield for fraud. And telling one thing to investors while privately knowing the opposite to be true, as Big Tobacco once did, is plainly fraud. But now, it was all about Exxon as the victim, with the usual left-wing villains—overreaching government and environmental extremists—trampling the oil company’s free-speech rights because it had dared to take an unconventional position on climate change. Exxon even used the same law firm that defended Big Tobacco—Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison—to file its countersuit.
Will crying “free speech” succeed in blunting the effort to bring Exxon and its fellow fossil-fuel giants to justice? It’s too soon to know, and compelling evidence runs in both directions.
Framing Exxon as a victim isn’t an easy sell beyond the right-wing echo chamber. Nor is climate denial. The vast majority of voters and policy-makers now understand that climate change is a real and growing danger. And most people have little trouble believing that Exxon knew full well about this danger, even as it spent decades and tens of millions of dollars portraying climate change as a “premise that defies…common sense,” to quote former CEO Lee Raymond.
What’s more, by enabling increased global warming, Exxon’s alleged lying has damaged many people around the world. Crucially, the victims include investors and business owners. The poor suffer first and worst from climate change, but they rarely file—much less win—lawsuits against polluters. But when people of means are damaged, they don’t hesitate to sue for compensation. LIKE THIS? GET MORE OF OUR BEST REPORTING AND ANALYSIS
Exxon’s exposure on this front is immense. If the allegations are true, the oil giant has in effect transferred massive amounts of risk and loss onto the rest of the market and virtually every business enterprise in it. By confusing the debate, Exxon helped delay government action against climate change. The company made buckets of money, but the resulting higher temperatures and extreme weather events have cost investors, governments, businesses, and ordinary people many billions, with much larger costs ahead. Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England, has warned that as climate change intensifies, “parties who have suffered loss or damage [may] seek compensation from those they hold responsible.”
Nor is the right’s cheerleading without its complications for Exxon. The right conflates the First Amendment argument with its cuckoo belief that climate change is a hoax, but Exxon has a different goal: to protect its public image. Exxon needs to be perceived as a good corporate citizen, and in 2016 a good corporate citizen doesn’t deny climate change.
On the other hand, no one familiar with Exxon’s history would underestimate the resources it brings to this battle. As Steve Coll documented in Private Empire, Exxon has long exercised political power and global reach more akin to that of a nation-state than of a corporation. And it is as calculating and tough as it is mighty and rich. When a jury awarded $5 billion in damages for the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the company fought the decision to the very end. The world had seen the tragedy unfold on television—the oil-drenched seabirds, the idled fishing boats—but Exxon simply refused to accept guilt. Instead, lawyers filed appeal after appeal, dragging out the proceedings for 20 years. By the time Exxon finally paid up in 2009, the damages had been whittled down to a tenth of the original amount.
Exxon will fight this new battle even more ferociously, for the “Exxon Knew” scandal poses an immeasurably graver threat. Exxon’s potential exposure on the Valdez spill was a $5 billion fine, a sum it could have paid with ease. By contrast, Exxon Knew could involve hundreds of billions of dollars in damages, enough to bankrupt the company. It also comes when the world’s governments have committed to phasing out Exxon’s products over the next decades. These twin threats endanger not merely Exxon’s revenue but its very identity as a company that made its name by pulling oil out of the ground. For Exxon, this is shaping up as a fight to the death, and the First Amendment offers scant protection against that."Saturday Night Live" is getting a new Barack Obama.
Lorne Michaels told the New York Times on Wednesday that Jay Pharoah, a featured player for two years who is entering his first as a cast member, will be taking over the role from Fred Armisen, who has played the president since the 2008 election.
"Jay has been doing Obama in his act this summer, and Jay is coming into his own," Michaels told the Times. "I just thought it might be time to shake it up."
Armisen's Obama has never risen to the beloved heights of, say, Darrell Hammond's Bill Clinton or Will Ferrell's George W. Bush. Moreover, when he was chosen for the part in 2008, people immediately pointed out that the first African-American president was not actually being played by a black man on "SNL." By promoting the 24-year-old Pharoah, who is black, the show solves that issue.
Here's a clip of Pharoah doing his Obama impression during a stand-up set in 2009:
Pharoah's elevation is just one of many changes the show is going through as it enters its 38th season. Former cast members Kristen Wiig, Andy Samberg and Abby Elliott have all left "SNL." On Monday, the show announced the addition of three new featured players.Plugless has been offering wireless charging retrofits for the Nissan LEAF and the Chevy Volt for a few years now, but the technology wasn’t available to Tesla owners until now.
The company started taking reservations for the Plugless system for the rear-wheel-drive versions of the Tesla Model S this week, for shipping in April, while the startup says that the option compatible with the all-wheel-drive Model S should be available later this year.
Plugless’ system consists of a charging pad, which needs to be installed on the ground where you park your vehicle and plugged into a dedicated 50Amp circuit, and a “vehicle adapter” inside your car, which needs to be installed by a certified technician. When the adapter and the charging pad are lined up, Plugless’ inductive power system charge the battery pack without contact at about a 4 in (10 cm) distance and 7.2kW charge rate (or 20 miles of range per hour of charging).
In comparison, Tesla’s Wall Connector can charge a Model S at a 10kW charge rate or 29 miles of range per hour of charging, and 58 miles of range per hour of charging if equipped with a dual charger.
Now Plugless’ system doesn’t affect the plug of the Model S, so someone who decides to install it on their car would still be able to use all other charging options available, including the Tesla Superchargers.
The company doesn’t reveal too many details about the adapter that needs to be installed in the vehicle and I wouldn’t be surprised if it ends being difficult to convince Model S owners to let Plugless tinker with their cars, but the company offers a 3-year warranty on all its systems and promises that if the system should affect the warranty of the vehicle, they would cover both parts and labor associated with the tinkering.
We contacted Tesla to see if they have any comment about the system and how it would affect the Model S’ warranty, and we will update this article if the automaker decides to comment.
Aside from the adapter in the vehicle, the installation of the charging pad itself can be a burden since it needs to be anchored in a concrete slab.
Tesla has never showed much interest in wireless charging citing low charge rates and energy loss during transfer. Instead, the company is working on a “robotic snake charger” to automatically connect to the charge port in order to alleviate the really not so cumbersome task of plugging your vehicle. CEO Elon Musk says that Tesla will first rollout these chargers at Superchargers and eventually sell them to customers, but without offering a timeline.
In the meantime, if you really can’t stand plugging your car anymore or you want to get even more out of Tesla’s new self-parking features, I suppose Plugless would be an option though we have not tried it ourselves so we can’t really recommend it.
No price has been confirmed for the Model S Plugless system, only a $244 refundable deposit is available on the website right now, but for comparison, the wireless charging system for the Nissan LEAF is available for $1,540.WITH the chills of winter well and truly upon us, it’s often difficult to stick to that diet.
Most of us know that having a hearty burger loaded with bacon, cheese and lashings of mayo isn’t the healthiest option.
But tweaking some of the ingredients could slash the calories and mean you’re able to still enjoy those splurges while keeping slim.
UK dietitian Helen Bond suggests ditching the potato wedges and vanilla ice cream for some low fat healthier equivalents.
We reveal her top 15 swaps that could shave more than 1500 calories off your diet — and there’s even a fruity cocktail and a delicious dessert thrown in for good measure.
1. SWAP: Potato wedges for butternut squash wedges
Butternut squash is a great low carb alternative to potatoes.
Dr Bond says: “Just three heaped tablespoons of butternut squash counts as one of your five a day.
“They’re high in vitamin A and a good source of vitamin C and E as well as fibre.”
125g Potato wedges contains: 173kcals, 4g fat, 0.4g sat fat, 0.5g sugars and 0.5g salt
125g Butternut squash wedges contains: 49 kcal, 0.1g fat, 0g sat fat, 4.8g sugars, 4g fibre and 0.01g salt
2. SWAP: Spaghetti for zucchini spirals
This simple swap from spaghetti to a spiralised zucchini substitute could save you a whopping 211 calories.
The vegetable version is also virtually fat free at 0.6g per 150g serving.
To make zucchini spaghetti simply put it through a spiraliser, or you could even use a peeler for a similar ribbon effect.
Most of the leading supermarkets also now stock pre-made zucchini pasta for around $3.
Dr Bond says this version is “a great source of potassium, folate and carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin — two antioxidants that help keep eyes healthy.”
150g Spaghetti contains: 239 kcals, 2.3g fat, 0.4g sat fat, 0.9g sugars and 2.9g fibre
150g zucchini pasta contains: 37.5 kcals, 0.6g fat, 0.2g sat fat, 2.8g sugars and 4.1g fibre
3. SWAP: A slice of chocolate cheesecake for strawberries dipped in chocolate
Changing this decadent dessert for an equally delicious fruit option could cut the calories in half.
A slice of chocolate cheesecake is 362 calories and 24.6g of fat while strawberries dipped in chocolate is 170 calories and 8.8g of fat.
A slice chocolate cheesecake (90g): 362 kcals, 24.6g fat, 13.5g sat fat, 20.8g sugars, 1.7g fibre and 0.3g salt
100g of strawberries plus four square of chocolate contains: 170 kcals, 8.8g fat, 4.74g sat fat, 15.6g sugars, 4.1g fibre and 0.1g salt
4. SWAP: Cous cous salad for quinoa salad
Dr Bond says: “Quinoa isn’t a true grain like wheat or rye, so it’s suitable for those with coeliac disease or gluten sensitivity.
“It has more iron than other grains and it’s a source of energy giving magnesium, folic acid and copper.
“Quinoa is a complete protein that will keep you fuller for longer.
“Another plus, is the gut healthy fibre it brings — adding a respectable 3.6g towards your daily 30g total.”
Cous Cous Salad (150g): 268 kcals, 1.5g fat, 0.3g sat fat, 1.4g sugars, 3.3g fibre and 0.02g salt
Quinoa Salad (150g): 163 kcals, 2.6g fat, 0.3g sat fat, 3g sugars, 3.6g fibre and 0.1g salt
5. SWAP: Pork sausages for salmon steak (flesh only)
Sausages provide nearly half of the daily maximum recommended amount for saturated fat — plus 33 per cent maximum recommended amount for salt.
Meanwhile salmon contains a huge 36.9g of protein per serving.
Dr Bond says: “Salmon is high in vitamin D (11.7mcg per serving) and E (5.9mg per serving), phosphorus (393g per serving) and heart health omega-3 fats (5g).”
Three sausages (120g) contains: 357 kcals, 26.5g fat, 9.6g sat fat, 1.7g sugars, 2.8g fibre and 2g salt
Salmon steak (150g) contains: 358 kcals, 23.4g fat, 4.4g sat fat, 0g s37ugars, 0g fibre and 0.2g salt
6. SWAP: Cheddar cheese for feta cheese
Cheese is considered a good source of fat, which is essential for a balanced diet.
But don’t go overboard on the cheddar — because it contains more calories than some of the milder cheeses like brie and feta.
30g (Matchbox size) Cheddar cheese: 125 kcals, 10.5g fat, 6.5g sat fat, 0.03g sugars, 0g fibre and 0.6g salt
30g Brie: 103 kcals, 8.7g fat, 5.5g sat fat, 0g sugars, 0g fibre and 0.4g salt
30g Feta: 75 kcals, 6.1g fat, 4.1g sat fat, 0.4g sugars, 0g fibre and 0.8g salt
7. SWAP: Mayonnaise for mashed avocado
Half an avocado is one of your five-a-day and is rich in cholesterol lowering mono-unsaturated fat and packed with antioxidant vitamin E.
1 tbsp Mayonnaise (15ml) contains: 108 kcals, 11.9g fat, 0.9g sat fat and 0.2g sugars
A quarter of an avocado (35g) contains: 68 kcal, 6.9g fat, 1.6g sat fat, 0.2g sugars and 1.6g fibre
8. SWAP: Piña colada cocktails for spiced pineapple mule
They’re a delicious fruity summery drink — perfect for sipping while hanging by the pool.
But if you’ve got the option to make it at home, swap the creamy original for a lower calorie option.
Pina Coladas Cocktail made with Bacardi, coconut cream, and pineapple juice, contain: 245 kcals, 18.6g sugars, 6.3g fat, 5.1g saturates
Spiced Pineapple Mule, made with Captain Morgan’s spiced rum, pineapple juice, diet ginger beer, 2 dashes angostura bitter, contains 143 calories
9. SWAP: White long grain rice for cauliflower rice
This easy swap is a bit like zucchini spaghetti. The cauliflower rice gives the same texture as the white long grain rice but with a lot less calories.
Cauliflower is also a lower GI food and a great source of fibre, potassium, folate and vitamin C, Dr Bond says.
150g (size of a tennis ball) serving cooked white rice contains: 215 kcals, 0.6g fat, 0.1g sat fat and 0g sugars
150g serving cauliflower rice contains: 51 kcals, 1.4g fat, 0.3g sat fat and 3.8g sugars
10. SWAP: Ham and cheese sandwiches for poached salmon sandwiches
As the easy go-to finger food, sandwiches are almost unavoidable at parties and around lunchtime.
But if you’ve got the option of bringing your own, ditch the ham and cheese for a poached salmon and watercress filling instead.
And despite a recent study suggesting white bread is just as healthy as brown, Dr Bond says stick to the wholemeal.
She added: “Cut down on fat, sat fat, salt and boost gut health fibre, plus packing a omega-3 punch for heart and brain health with the salmon sandwiches.”
Two ham and cheese sandwiches on white bread contains: 466kcals, 21.6g fat, 10.7g sat fat, 3.4g sugars, 2.13g salt and 2.2g fibre
Poached salmon and watercress on brown bread contains: 353kcals, 12g fat, 1.5g sat fat, 3.6g sugars, 0.8g salt and 3.8g fibre
11. SWAP: Mashed potatoes for mashed cauliflour
It’s perhaps one of the best sides when you go to the pub. But a serving (one cup) of mashed potato clocks up 116 calories alone.
Sub out the spuds of a cauliflour alternative — which offer almost a day’s worth of vitamin C and just 27 calories per cup.
12. SWAP: Brioche buns for sourdough bread
Sourdough contains over 60 per cent less fat and 80 per cent less saturated fat than brioche bread.
Dr Bond adds: “It’s a low GI compared to white brioche bread, so will help you feel fuller for longer, meaning you will eat less — a good choice if you are trying to lose weight.
“The acid in the sourdough breaks down some of the starches making it easier to digest.
“Watch out though, it is still bread of course, so control your portions and pay attention to what you serve it with.
“To keep calories down further, choose a medium — rather than a thick — sliced loaf.”
White brioche bun (68g) contains: 186kcals, 3.9g fat, 1.8g sat fat, 4.4g sugars and 0.4g salt
Sourdough (80g/ 1/5 loaf) contains: 190kcals, 1.4g fat, 0.2g sat fat, 1.9g sugars, 0.7g salt
13. SWAP: Granola for porridge
The wintry morning call for a filling breakfast.
A 40g serving of cooked oats contains just 143 calories, 3 grams of fat and 3.7g sugar. Sprinkling 10 fresh blueberries onto your porridge adds natural sweetness for just 8 calories.
Meanwhile, a 45g serving of Jordans Crunchy Oat Granola with berries is 192 calories, contains 6.1g of fat and 7.7g of sugar.
14. SWAP: Taramasalata for tomato salsa
Dips can be a bit of a minefield when it comes to knowing where to dunk your snacks.
Why not swap a creamy Greek taramasalata for a fresh, healthy tomato salsa for a snip of the calories and fat content.
And think about what you’re dipping in there too — switching tortilla chips for carrot batons make it a super healthy snack.
A quarter pot (50g) of taramasalata contains: 258 kcals, 26.3g fat, 1.8g sat fat, 0.8g sugars and 0.6g salt.
Tortilla chips (40g): 199 kcals, 10.4g fat, 1.0g sat fat, 1.0g sugars, 0.56g salt, fibre 2.7g
Total = 457 kcals 36.7g fat, 2.8g sat fat
A quarter pot (50g) of tomato salsa contains: 22 kcals, 0.8g fat, 0.1g sat fat, 2.3g sugars, 0.3g salt and 0.6g fibre
Carrot batons (2 med carrots /134g) contains: 57 kcals, 0.5g fat, 0.1g sat fat, 9.3g sugars, 5.2g fibre and 0.1g salt
Total = 79 kcals, 1.3g fat, 0.2g sat fat, 5.8g fibre
15. SWAP: Chips for a handful of walnuts
This one might be slightly controversial as the chips are both lower in calories and fat than the walnuts.
But 83 per cent of the fats they contain is the heart-healthy polyunsaturated and mono-unsaturated fat, that help benefit in reducing cholesterol levels in the blood.
Dr Bond says: “Walnuts contain a powerhouse of nutrients essential for good health.
“Walnuts have a low GI and provide fibre and protein, three ingredients that help us feel fuller for longer.
“And studies are showing that not all of the fat and in turn calories in nuts is absorbed.
“Even the texture may help to boost satiety: they’re crunchy, so take some effort to eat.
“Unlike crisps, walnuts — like most nuts, walnuts provide a wide range of nutrients, but they contain a good source of plant omega-3 fatty acids.
“Walnuts are a low GI food, which means they provide a slow, steady, release of energy, and are rich in manganese and copper that are needed for energy production and can help prevent tiredness and fatigue by transporting iron in the body.”
Crisps 25g packet contains: 132 kcals, 8g fat, 0.7g sat fat, 0.1g sugars
30g handful walnuts contains: 206 kcals, 20.6g fat, 2.3g sat fat, 0.8g sugars
This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permissionPearls on a String
Volume 2
Chapter 22: Invasion
City of Vale Outskirts
Late Sunday Evening
Raye Rhosin was having an incredibly poor evening.
It began with the interruption of her sleep, something that the normally reticent Wolf Faunus girl took very seriously, caused by the wailing of sirens that indicated an emergency throughout Beacon and Vale. It continued with the constant complaining of her teammate Ivory who valued her sleep even more highly. The white-haired girl was irritable at the best of times, which to be fair was rather uncharacteristic for a Fox Faunus such as herself, but that evening she practically bit off her partner Sepia's head when she got in her way of changing out of her sleepwear. At least their team leader, Indie, managed to step in and quell any further argument with her usual subtle but firm style.
And then it culminated right where Team IRIS now found itself, defending one of the many gates leading into the city of Vale against a horde of Grimm.
Which in and of itself shouldn't have been much of an obstacle for the third-year students, even as sleep-deprived as they were. After all, they'd managed to get up to the doubles round in the Vytal Festival this year.
If only it weren't for the damnable aberrations they faced.
"Sepia?" she called out anxiously. The Wolf Faunus was currently occupied sending shards of stone at an approaching group of Beowolves, but her friend was at her back, watching for the return of those green glowing monsters.
"Nothing yet, Raye!" the brunette replied tersely.
With a grunt of effort, she sent another barrage of ice spears raining down from the sky upon the seething mass of Grimm. They'd been at this for almost a half hour now without relief, but the ranks were finally beginning to thin. Which was good, because even as skilled a Dust Mage as she was, if she didn't get a break soon she'd be spent.
A Creep raced in at her from the side, and she flicked her closed fan Silverlight at it crossly. The dust-laced weapon served as a wand for her in this form, and took little effort to send a quick bolt of lightning out to blast the offending creature to tiny little bits.
Raye took a quick second to evaluate her other teammates. Her team leader, Indie, was easy enough to pick out in the semi-darkness. Though her dark red leather armor was fairly invisible even to her Faunus eyes, her shoulder-length blonde hair and white battle skirt stood out like beacons. And then there were the trails of explosions she left behind her as she danced through the ranks of approaching Grimm, the red dust in her nunchucks leaving a trail of fiery destruction. Fortunately for Raye's partner, her semblance granted her immunity to the effects of red dust, which led to her prodigious use of it. Much to the consternation of her teammates, who tended to give her a wide berth when she fought.
Out on the other flank, Ivory was only visible by virtue of her tousled white hair floating disembodied over the dark mass of her brown cloak, the tips of her Wolf ears poking up attentively. She'd converted her dual pistols into their short blade forms and was doing a dance of her own, just as deadly as Indie but with fewer explosions.
Sepia's sudden warning shout interrupted her survey as she called for her to hit the dirt. Having had enough close calls already, Raye quickly obliged, diving to the ground and rolling to the side.
A flash of green soared overhead, the ear-shattering howl from the Gryffon kicking up debris where she'd just been. Sepia stood her ground stubbornly, her rifle to her shoulder as she sent several rounds into the creature's hide before it soared off again.
"Dust damn it all!" the brunette girl barked out irritably, her long braided hair bristling behind her as she strode over to help Raye to her feet. "Why does it feel like I'm not even tickling those bastards?"
The Wolf Faunus sighed, brushing the dirt off of her red knee-length dress. "Maybe we should switch, you taking on the regular Grimm and me on overwatch. I could give them a decent surprise on their next run."
So far only three of the surreal creatures, their veins pulsing green under their dark feathers, had showed up in their area. They seemed to remain stubbornly fixated on the group of huntresses-in-training, as if it was their mission to bring them down rather than attack the gate itself.
Sepia growled in annoyance as she twisted her rifle, converting it into a spear, and slipped her buckler over her forearm. "Yeah, it's worth a try. Maybe I can take out my frustrations on some regular Grimm for a change. If Indie and Ivory leave me any, that is…"
Raye smiled at her normally reserved friend. "You know Indie really gets into killing Grimm, soon as she starts cutting loose with the red dust…"
"...She won't stop till she runs out," Sepia smiled back. "Yeah, I know. Oh, hey! An Ursa! Be right back, hon…"
The Dust Mage chuckled lightly as Sepia raced forward to meet the charging Ursa, her spear held before her like a lance. She took several steps back and returned her gaze to the sky once more, looking for those annoyingly persistent Gryffons.
For large, green-glowing, flying creatures, they're surprisingly stealthy…
Finally she spotted them, the sight causing her heart to sink down into her boots.
All three were converging on her position in an uncanny sort of coordination, from three different angles.
With a low growl that harkened back to her Faunus heritage, Raye whipped her folded fan toward the right-most one, sending a ball of flame outward. Then she spun, swinging out at the middle one with a shower of razor-sharp ice crystals. For the last one, she decided to rely on her powerhouse attack, and thrust upwards to hurl a large boulder at her target.
The incoming Gryffons on her flanks each dodged her attacks, much to her chagrin, though the one in the middle let out an agonized shriek as the shards of ice tore through it, sending it careening down into the ground to impact with a crash that shook the ground.
As the other two continued to bore in, Raye quickly erected a barrier of ice and stone around her. Against one of them, it might have held, but with two simultaneous roars the green-glowing Grimm managed to shatter her protective shield and send her flying backwards.
Dust dammit! she thought in exasperation as she rolled back to her feet. How can these creatures act this coordinated?
She turned about in a circle, trying to discern where they'd gone, but her senses were ringing from the auditory attack, leaving her disoriented and confused.
Sepia's panicked scream diverted her attention to directly overhead, but it was far too late for her to react. Both Gryffons were diving straight down at her, claws and beaks extended, and all she could do was stare at her impending doom.
But just as she began to wonder if there would be anything recognizable left of her corpse for identification, a pair of thunderous reports sounded. The high-caliber gunshots impacted on the heads of both Grimm, sending them off-course to smash to the ground several feet in front of the bewildered Wolf Faunus.
The impact caused Raye to lose her footing again, leaving her stunned and on her back once more.
Only this time, she was looking up into a familiar and friendly pair of pale ice-blue eyes.
"Team Pearl at your service," the dusky girl above her smiled, her lightly-accented and musical voice laden with humor. "No charge this time, but we do accept tips."
"Lustre," she sighed with a grin. "Thank Oum, you're a sight for sore eyes." Raye accepted the offer of a helping hand to regain her footing and looked around the clearing to assess the current situation.
Two of Lustre's teammates, the Cat Faunus and the short blue-haired girl, were already engaged alongside Sepia and Ivory to clean up the remaining Grimm on the ground. What were their names? Oh, that's right, Evie and Beryl. I think they're dating now? Eh, I'll ask Lustre about it later.
The leader of Team PERL was hard to mistake, being the subject of rampant rumors around Beacon from her capture and subsequent rescue. The word on what had happened to her in between was varied and outlandish, but everyone who came in contact with the lanky blonde could tell that she'd been changed by it.
Though it would be difficult to imagine so right now as she stood attentively beside the chestnut-haired girl with the large-caliber sniper rifle still held to her shoulder, searching for targets of opportunity.
"Er, thank you, Pip," the Wolf Faunus began hesitantly. "I appreciate the save."
The blonde flashed her a quick smile, her coral eyes twinkling with a humor that hadn't been seen since her return to Beacon. "All part of the service, ma'am," she snarked.
"Be that as it may," Indie stated as she walked up, her now-inert nunchucks slung negligently across her shoulder. "We owe you guys a dinner or something for bailing our asses out."
"I would never turn down an offer of free food," Lustre commented mildly.
Pip snorted humorously. "So long as it would melt the face of a normal mortal," she quipped.
Raye joined Lustre in her laughter, knowing full well her friend's propensity for spicy food. "Well, maybe we can find a restaurant in town that can satisfy," the brunette Wolf Faunus said.
"Done deal," Pip replied with a grin. "We'll hold you to that, soon as we kill off all these enhanced Grimm."
"What's up with those, do you guys know?" Indie broke in, her brow furrowed. She had her eyes on the four combined members of IRIS and PERL who were still battling the remaining Grimm in their area, though they had things well in hand. "Why were they glowing green? And how could they do that, y'know… roar of theirs? That was in no way normal…"
Pip and Lustre shared a knowing glance. "No, it's not natural at all," the blonde stated quietly. "But let's clean up first and then go rest, they set up a bivouac in the square just inside the gate here with some refreshments. We'll tell you about what's going on…"
City of Vale
Early Monday Morning
The sun was just beginning to crest over the horizon, illuminating several weary faces inside the wide boulevard that Lustre found herself encamped within. It had been a very long night, made even more onerous by the lack of any sleep whatsoever by her team.
The silver-haired girl glanced around at her friends with weary eyes. Both Evie and Beryl were slumped over together, sitting on the ground and propped up against a storefront. They'd been quietly snoring for some time now, and by unspoken agreement she and Pip had decided to leave them be.
Speaking of her team leader, the blonde was currently sitting with Indie from Team IRIS, their heads together as they brainstormed anything that might give them an advantage over these strange new enhanced Grimm that kept popping up now. The glowing monsters were aggressively testing the defenses of Vale, and if the reports from the vid screen set up nearby were true, the same could be said in the other three kingdoms as well.
They just never seemed to end. When one red-glowing Nevermore was felled, usually after inflicting hideous losses, a pack of speed-enhanced Beowolves would charge in.
Lustre glanced aside at the other three members of the team she was friends with. Both Raye and Ivory were resting with their eyes closed, sitting against the same storefront as Beryl and Evie, though neither Faunus girl looked to be truly sleeping, merely recharging their aura. Raye especially, as a Dust Mage, was running quite low on energy.
Sepia, meanwhile, had removed her dark brown leather armor chestpiece and attached cuisse, revealing her red tights and corset, in order to perform some quick repairs. The brunette's long hair was coming out of its braid, small tendrils of hair floating about her head unnoticed, while her buckler and spear lay at her side within reach.
With a groan, Lustre levered herself up and off of the crate she sat on so that she might approach the younger member of the friendly team. Sepia had been accepted into Beacon a year early due to her promising academic attributes and skill with her weapons.
"How are you doing, dear?' she asked softly as she shuffled over. "Can I get you anything?"
Sepia looked up with a smile, her lilac eyes warm and inviting. "Nah, thanks hon, I'm good. Wouldn't mind the company, though."
She smiled and nodded, easing herself onto another crate nearby. "Was your armor damaged?" she asked curiously.
"Just got a strap loosened when a Beowolf hit me on my blind side," Sepia shrugged. "It happens with leather armor, but I'll take the maneuverability over wearing clunky metal like your teammates." She glanced over with a wry grin. "Still don't know how you manage to melee without getting yourself whacked more often."
"I am simply too fast to be hit," Lustre replied smugly. "Well. Usually," she amended, thinking back to their fight with Leech just last evening.
Both of their heads whipped around at a loud screeching that echoed over the walls. A veteran hunter team was now guarding the gate, allowing the Beacon students some rest, but they still eyed the skies above cautiously before returning to their conversation.
"So everything that Pip talked about..." Sepia murmured, working a buckle back onto a newly tightened strap. "The dust-infused Grimm, and then what they did to her… How are you guys handling that so far?"
Lustre shrugged. "As best we can. Together and as a family."
The brunette laughed softly. "Yeah, you guys are like the closest-knit team I've ever seen. Seriously, I would give my left boob for a team like that."
Lustre raised an eyebrow humorously. "I thought you and your team got along well enough? And, furthermore… Why your left boob, specifically?"
Sepia snickered as she pulled her armor over her head. "Yeah, we all get along, |
— its lies, torture, atrocities and collusion with authoritarian governments against their own people — behind all the talk of “peace” and “freedom” is the method of promoting anarchism. But equally deserving of credit, in helping us further the cause of anarchy, are Major Fein himself and everyone else involved in the Manning show trial.
The charges leveled against Manning, and the lengths to which they have gone to have their vengeance against him, have done more than a thousand anarchist tracts could do to show the fraudulent nature of so-called “representative democracy.”
The most serious charge against Manning was “aiding the enemy.” Although this was the sole charge of which military judge Denise Lind acquitted him, the fact that the entire executive branch brought its full force to bear in pushing such charges in the first place is significant. According to the Obama administration, Manning “indirectly” provided the enemy with classified information, by releasing it to be published in venues where he knew it would be accessible to the enemy.
Now, let’s stop to think about who this “enemy” might be. What kind of information did the leaked documents reveal? They revealed
war crimes by U.S. military forces, murdering civilians and journalists in cold blood;
torture by U.S. military personnel;
the corrupt dealings of U.S. State Department and other functionaries with the local authoritarian governments of the Middle East, including secret authorizations by local governments for the use of American drones to carry out extrajudicial killings on their own territory — facts that would have resulted in rioting in the streets.
I doubt any of this was surprising to al Qaeda. They almost certainly assumed it to be true. If exposing this stuff “aided” al Qaeda in any way, it did so only by giving them hard evidence of the truth to share with those who weren’t already aware of it — namely the publics of the Middle East, the U.S. and its allies, and the world. And this would be harmful to the interests of the U.S. government only to the extent that it was true — i.e., to the extent that it revealed to the allegedly sovereign people of the allegedly democratic United States the real nature of “their” government’s policy, or revealed to the people of the Middle East what kind of sham democracy the U.S. was promoting in their region.
The U.S. government fears an informed American people, and an informed world public opinion, far more than it ever feared al Qaeda. What we’ve called “representative democracy,” since the rise of universal suffrage in the West a century or so ago, has been an elaborate exercise in securing the outcome desired by ruling elites — preserving an intersecting alliance of corporate and state oligarchies — while maintaining the fiction of popular rule.
This ruling class has maintained its power mainly through what Edward Bernays called “manufacturing consent” — carefully restricting the range of alternatives on the table and shaping public consciousness to see that restricted range as exhaustive. The range is bounded, basically, by the preferences of the left and right wings of the corporate elite. It encompasses only measures consistent with, and which can largely be carried out by the people running, the present structure of power. Anything else is deemed “extremist” or “silly,” beyond the range of thought of Serious People.
The basic structural presuppositions of this system are justified in terms of inevitability and necessity — because it’s the only conceivable way of efficiently organizing things. For the American people, a decentralized and horizontally organized society without centralized state power, Fortune 500 corporations, giant banks and millionaire CEOs must be as unthinkable as an Animal Farm without a class of pigs (well fed on apples and milk, of course) to manage problems beyond the competence of mere lower animals. It requires distracting the public from any awareness that “another world is possible,” or that the present system exists to serve not the public, but rather the interests of those running things.
Manning committed the one unforgivable sin in a sham representative democracy: He let the “sovereign” people in on what “their” government is really doing, and whose interests it’s really serving. For that, the political class will never forgive him.
Citations to this article:http://jamesdjulia.com/item/1664-396/
The ZK-420S is an experimental Czech rifle that is virtually unknown today, but which was remarkably influential, bearing significant elements of the Garand and several other Czech designs, and influencing the M14 and Kalashnikov rifles. Originally designed by Josef Koucky in 1942, the plans were hurriedly dusted off and improved at the end of World War 2. With many nations looking at the possibility of adopted self-loading military rifles, Brno hoped to make export sales of the design.
The ZK420S uses the trigger mechanism of the M1 Garand and a gas operated rotating bolt action very similar to the Garand and AK rifles. It has a simple adjustable 3-position gas system, and a quick and simple disassembly procedure. It uses detachable box magazines (10 round, and not copied from an existing design) and was made in a variety of calibers for testing - including 8x57, 7x57, 7.5 Swiss, 6.5 Swedish, and.30-06. Examples were trialed or examined in the United States, Argentina, Israel, Ethiopia, England, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and elsewhere - this particular rifle is from the Norwegian trials.
In my opinion, it is an excellent rifle, and its failure to sell was probably due to price and the combination of tight budgets and cheap surplus war material in the late 1940s. It is handy, well balanced, and has a good magazine design and good sights. Recoil is comparable to the Garand. Ultimately the development program in Czechoslovakia would lead to the ZK-472 in 7.5x49mm, which would proceed to the 7.62x45mm in the vz.52 rifle.
http://www.patreon.com/ForgottenWeapons
Cool Forgotten Weapons merch! http://shop.bbtv.com/collections/forgotten-weaponsRonaldinho Gaúcho está decidido a não jogar mais futebol profissionalmente. As palavras ainda custam a cravar (como na entrevista do vídeo acima), mas o jogador deixou claro que a aposentadoria está iminente. Em Nova Orleans para acompanhar o All-Star Game da NBA, falou com a reportagem da TV Globo e do SporTV.com sobre o seu futuro e explicou que a ideia é entrar nos gramados novamente apenas para fazer o jogo de despedida.
Na verdade, um jogo só não. A intenção é fazer várias despedidas, com partidas pelos clubes que o craque atuou na carreira. A informação da aposentadoria e do planejamento para os jogos de despedida foi confirmada pela reportagem com pessoas próximas a Ronaldinho.
- Sem dúvida, é uma nova etapa. Surgiram alguns convites pra fazer três meses num clube, seis meses num outro. Mas ainda não é o que eu quero, acho que é nova etapa, ainda não defini se farei jogos de despedida, se vou fazer três meses em algum lugar pra encerrar, mas acredito que ficará mais pro jogo de despedida mesmo. Ainda não é definitivo, mas dentro de pouco tempo vou tomar uma decisão, vou fazer 37 anos já mês que vem, a idade chega pra todo mundo, graças a Deus, então agora é tomar um novo rumo - disse Gaúcho, nesta sexta-feira à noite em Nova Orleans, durante o Jogos das Celebridades da NBA, com a participação de Oscar Schmidt.
Ronaldinho, embaixador do Barcelona, está presente no All-Star na NBA em Nova Orleans (Foto: Globoesporte.com)
Desde o início de fevereiro, Ronaldinho fechou contrato para ser embaixador do Barcelona pelo mundo, participando de eventos institucionais em vários países, como agora nos Estados Unidos. Por ter jogado a maior parte da carreira no clube catalão, o craque brasileiro deve ter uma de suas despedidas por lá.
- Recebi vários convites. Sei lá, ainda vamos sentar para programar, se vai ser um jogo de despedida em cada clube que joguei. Então, vai vir algo tão bacana pra encerrar bonito - afirmou.
Questionado se já está pensando na falta que vai sentir do futebol, Ronaldinho demonstrou que já está cansado da rotina de atleta profissional. Além disso, a busca por motivação é mais um fator que pesa em sua decisão.
- Um dia eu vou sentir falta. Hoje, depois de tantos anos, a rotina que é mais difícil, viagem todo final de semana, duas vezes por semana, treinamento todo dia, essa rotina que cansa. A falta de sonhos, objetivos, conforme a gente vai conquistando tudo que sonhou, buscar novos objetivos é muito complicado, então, isso tudo que vai pesando. Vamos ver aí o que vai fazer no futuro - explicou o meia-atacante.
Ronaldinho não joga desde 2015, quando teve breve passagem pelo Fluminense. Já em clima de despedida, ele deixou palavras de agradecimento aos torcedores que tanto o apoiaram durante a brilhante carreira.
- Só agradecer por tudo, o carinho em todo lugar do mundo que passo, sempre me tratam com respeito, muito carinho. Só quero agradecer, mesmo sem estar jogando eu recebo o mesmo carinho, então, isso que é o mais bonito.
01 FÃ DE BASQUETE
Ronaldinho Gaúcho, no All-Star Game da NBA (Foto: Tiago Leme / Globoesporte.com)
Estrela do futebol e estrela também entre os amantes do basquete. Ronaldinho Gaúcho está em New Orleans para acompanhar os eventos do All-Star Game da NBA, atuando como embaixador do Barcelona, e deve inclusive ter um encontro com Michael Jordan.
Nesta sexta-feira, ele assistiu ao Jogos das Celebridades em uma cadeira bem ao lado da quadra e foi bastante assediado por torcedores e jornalistas, enquanto via Oscar Schmidt "estrear" na liga americana aos 59 anos de idade.
- Minha relação é muito forte com o basquete, tenho muitos amigos jogando na NBA, no Brasil, em tudo que é lado. Então sempre gostei, e para mim está sendo a realização de um sonho, poder participar, estar aqui vivendo isso nesse final de semana. O Oscar é o ídolo dos ídolos, é emocionante ver ele aqui. Estou esperando a hora de encontrar com ele para tirar uma foto - afirmou Gaúcho.
Ronaldinho preferiu não arriscar um palpite sobre qual equipe será vencedora no domingo, o Leste de LeBron James ou o Oeste de Stephen Curry, e também deixou claro que é craque mesmo só com a bola nos pés, não com as mãos.
- Não tenho palpite, é só desfrutar mesmo. Vão estar os melhores ali, e ter essa chance de ver isso de perto é maravilhoso. Sou amante do esporte, mas (jogar basquete) não é o meu forte, não.From weekly Ocado deliveries to monthly book club gatherings and evenings at the theatre, everything about the lives of Paul and Meena Chivers epitomised middle-class respectability.
Teachers by profession, they attended church every Sunday, where they were popular members of the congregration but behind closed doors, at their neat, four-bedroom semi, in a picturesque town on the edge of the Cotswolds, however, a different scene played out.
There was violence, bullying and intimidation. A spouse being isolated from friends and family, having their confidence and self-respect destroyed, and even sanity doubted. It sounds like a grim storyline in a soap opera. Yet in the Chivers household, it was Paul who was the victim of domestic abuse.
Royal Navy Leading Seaman Simon Smith, who is six foot three, lost six pints of blood after his ex-wife Crystal plunged a knife twice into his back and once into his arm last year
For nine years Paul, a 47-year-old IT teacher, was scratched, punched and slapped by his 43-year-old wife. A special needs teacher at a secondary school, she showed compassion and patience with her young charges by day but, at home, her temper knew no bounds.
And Paul, out of shame and desperation to keep their family unit together for the sake of their young daughter, simply put up with it.
'To the outside world she presented a sweet, professional veneer, a smoke screen, and I went along with it because I worried about the consequences if I didn't,' recalls Paul.
It was only after a shocking burst of temper, which saw Meena swing a hairdryer at her husband, splitting his head open and causing a wound that required eight stitches in hospital, that he finally accepted he needed help.
Ironically, he was prompted by a phone call from their daughter's school - the 11-year-old had confided in her teachers about what she'd seen Mummy do to Daddy and the school got in touch.
'After that call I went to the police station to make a statement,' he says.
In April last year, Meena was sentenced to 16 months in prison after being found guilty of unlawful wounding and common assault by a jury at Swindon Crown Court.
Disturbingly, it seems domestic violence against men has become a very middle-class problem. As women work, earn - and in many cases drink - as much as their menfolk, the dominant force in many relationships is no longer male and some women are lashing out.
Simon on his wedding day in 2010 with his wife Crystal. She didn't become violent until 2011, when she told Simon that she had OCD and that if he left smear marks on a glass she would become violent
The number of women convicted of violence against a partner has increased six-fold over the past decade, from 806 in 2004/5 to 4,866 in 2014/15.
Mark Brooks, chairman of the Mankind Initiative, which runs a helpline for male victims of domestic violence, says the charity receives 1,500 calls a year, some of them from concerned mothers or sisters of abused men.
'Domestic abuse is no respecter of class or status,' says Mark. 'It crosses all social boundaries: we get calls from solicitors, bankers and GPs, as well as builders, dustmen and bus drivers.'
The evening Crystal stabbed Simon, as seen by the wound in his arm, above, the couple had attended a naval dinner and Crystal chanted in the taxi home 'I'm going to make it rain with pain'
After his wife stabbed him in the arm with a kitchen knife, Simon underwent a life-saving operation and lost six pints of blood
Earlier this month, solicitor's wife Sharon Edwards was jailed for life for murder after Manchester Crown Court heard how she regularly beat and belittled husband David, 51, before she stabbed him with a kitchen knife last August.
Edwards, 42, from Chorley, Lancashire, was said to have relied on the knowledge that her husband, whom she'd met a year earlier, would never hit back or call the police.
After his death, his body was found to be covered in 60 cuts and bruises.
There are many men, like me, who put up with abuse in the home because they're desperate to keep their families together
Paul has now divorced Meena and has custody of their daughter. He has taken out a restraining order preventing her from going near him or the family home. He still cannot believe he accepted the situation as long as he did.
'There are many men, like me, who put up with abuse in the home because they're desperate to keep their families together,' he explains.
The few family members and close friends he confided in frequently begged him to get out.
On the night of March 2, 2014, their domestic disharmony reached a very violent crescendo.
Paul was already in bed when Meena came into the room, determined to continue an argument that had begun earlier.
'She ripped a hairdryer out of a socket in the wall and repeatedly swung it at me by the flex, splitting my head open,' recalls Paul. 'There was so much blood, it was like a scene from a horror movie.'
Paul wrapped a towel round his head and drove himself to hospital, where he pretended he had banged his head on a kitchen cabinet. When he returned home he recalls how Meena, showing no remorse, got up to dress for work.
When he told her that he'd needed eight staples in his head, she flew into another fit of rage, and hit him around the back of the head with the cat's feeding bowl.
For nine years Paul Chivers, pictured, a 47-year-old IT teacher, was scratched, punched and slapped by his 43-year-old wife Meena
Later that day, Paul received a call from a member of staff at his daughter's school saying they were aware of what had happened and advised him to inform the police.
'I knew my life would change for the better taking that step, but turning everything you've come to know upside down is daunting.'
Yet according to Professor Kevin Browne, director of the centre for forensic and family psychology at the University of Nottingham medical school, Paul's situation is far from unique. He says that it is time society woke up to the reality. He says: 'In a third of all domestic violence cases the women are violent to the men, and the reason many men don't report it is because they fear not being believed.'
Another reason why violence is creeping into middle-class marriages could be, at least in part, due to the dramatic shift in women's position in society over the past half a century, with most now juggling work as well as family responsibilities, with the inevitable stress that entails, according to Professor Browne.
Meena beat Paul so badly with a hairdryer that he had to go to hospital. Their daughter told her school about what had happened, and Paul was able to report his wife
'Women are also more likely to suffer from alcohol abuse than in the past and that might be contributing to them becoming more violent, as it's a disinhibitor,' he says.
As 6ft 3in, Royal Navy Leading Seaman Simon Smith, can testify that masculinity and physical strength are no protection from domestic abuse.
His ex-wife Crystal, a probation officer, was jailed for nine years last August after she stabbed him in a drunken rage at the family home.
The Smiths married in October 2010 following an 18-month courtship and have a five-year- old daughter.
Although Simon was aware his wife had a nasty temper it wasn't until early 2011, when their daughter was a few months old, that she became violent towards him
Although Simon was aware his wife had a nasty temper it wasn't until early 2011, when their daughter was a few months old, that she became violent towards him. 'She told me she had OCD and if I left smear marks on a glass it would make her so angry she could become violent,' recalls Simon. 'She was very good at making me feel I deserved the things she did, so the next day I would apologise.
'I never hit her back. I would never hit a woman, no matter what.'
It is easy to see how Simon's perspective on the state of his marriage was further skewed as Crystal engineered his increasing alienation from his family, who knew nothing of the violence.
When he phoned his parents or siblings, Crystal would demand the call was on speaker-phone so that she could hear both sides of the conversation.
Simon was too ashamed to confide in friends. Nor did he contemplate leaving the family home in Gosport, Hampshire. Crystal threatened that she would make it 'as difficult as possible' for him to see their daughter, as well as laying claim to his pension.
Nothing could have prepared him for the events that unfolded after they attended a naval dinner on February 12 last year. Crystal, who was very drunk, was heard by a couple, with whom the Smiths shared a taxi home, chanting: 'I'm going to make it rain with pain.'
Ian McNicholl, 53, pictured, is also a victim of domestic violence. His partner, Michelle Williamson, 44, was sentenced to seven years for grievous bodily harm
Back home, after she punched and threw a knife block at Simon, he went to their bedroom to pack a bag, planning to spend the night on his ship, HMS Lancaster, and give her time to calm down.
However, Crystal crept upstairs after him with a kitchen knife, which she plunged twice into his back and once into his arm. Simon lost six pints of blood and underwent life-saving surgery in hospital.
He says: 'There's a perception that men are stronger to put up with it, but that doesn't allow for the psychological abuse.'
Ian McNicholl, 53, whose partner, Michelle Williamson, 44, was sentenced to seven years for grievous bodily harm, knows all about psychological torture.
Michelle fractured Ian's skull, cheekbones and nose, cracked three of his robs and branded his chest with cigarettes, pictured, along with other acts of violence
Having told him she had brothers involved in organised crime - something he later discovered was untrue - who would kill him if he tried to leave her, Williamson subjected Ian, from Lincolnshire, to 15 months of abuse.
She fractured his skull, cheekbones and nose and cracked three of his ribs as well as pouring boiling water from a kettle into his lap, shoving a lighted cigarette up his nose, spraying bleach into his eyes and branding his arm with a steam iron. By May 2008, Ian, who started dating Williamson in October 2006, was virtually a prisoner in his own home, having lost contact with friends and family and neglected his business training NHS staff.
Standing 5ft 10in tall and of solid build, it seems astonishing that 5ft 1in, size 8 Williamson could wield such control. Ian's saviour was a neighbour who alerted police after seeing his facial injuries, sustained during Michelle's final attack, with a metal bar and a hammer, back in spring 2008.
Ian's partner branded his arm with an arm, the imprint of which can clearly be seen here
'She'd told me that if the police turned up to tell them that I'd been attacked due to gambling debts, which is what I did,' recalls Ian. 'But the officer, who saw I also had many old injuries, took me outside to the police van.
'He said, 'Is the person who hurt you still inside your house?'
'I whispered 'Yes' and then collapsed in the back of the van. I couldn't believe it was all over.' Ian was taken to hospital and then, shockingly, later dropped at a hostel for the homeless as there are no refuges for male victims of domestic violence.
Williamson, who had been training to be a drugs counsellor, was arrested and bailed to the home Ian owned, where she had been living with him, while he was forced to live in a hostel.
After being convicted, Williamson served the first half of her seven-year sentence in prison and has spent the past three-and-a-half years out on licence.
Ian, now an ambassador for the Mankind Initiative, says: 'I'm a victim of a crime and no longer ashamed to talk about what happened to me.
'As I've discovered to my cost, either gender can be a victim or perpetrator of domestic abuse.'
And as the number of women convicted of this violent crime continues to escalate, could it be time we all thought beyond the stereotype of the battered wife?DETROIT, MI - MLive is teaming up with LiveNation for a contest to win tickets to see
at Detroit's Fillmore Theatre on Sept. 12.
Readers can enter to win one of two sets of two tickets by posting a comment at the bottom of this story that includes either their favorite Queens of the Stone Age song or their favorite queen. Comments must be added by June 15. See contest rules at the bottom of this story.
The alt-rockers are coming through Detroit to support a new album, "… Like Clockwork," which was released this month on Matador Records. The album returns the band to its early days of its hit "No One Knows" on "Songs for the Deaf." Clockwork features Josh Homme - the only permanent member of the band - reuniting with Foo Fighters' and Nirvana's Dave Grohl and collaborating with Elton John.
The album got stellar reviews from rock critics. Consequence of Sound and Time Magazine calls it "heroic," while the Sydney Morning Herald calls it a "mature work that builds on past achievements rather than repeating the past because this might sell records."
Queens of the Stone Age are in the midst of a worldwide tour that comes to Detroit Sept. 12. Tickets for the Fillmore show go on sale Wednesday, June 12. You can text QUEENS to 404040 for a pre-sale password.
Want a chance to win tickets to the show? Post your favorite Queens of the Stone Age song, or your favorite queen, in the comments below to enter into a drawing for one of two sets of two tickets.
Contest Rules
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. To enter and for full rules, go here. Starts June 11, 2013 8:00 am EST and ends 11:59 PM ET June 15, 2013. Open to legal residents of the 50 United States/D.C. 13 years or older, except employees of Sponsor, their immediate families and those living in the same household. Odds of winning depend on the number of entries received. Void outside the 50 United States/D.C. and where prohibited. A.R.V. of prize or prizes $80.00: Sponsor: MLive Media Group.
Queens of the Stone Age's "No One Knows":
The band's new album, "... Like Clockwork":Story highlights Ahmadinejad was known for his fiery foreign policy rhetoric while president
He served two terms in office, during which he pushed forward Iran's nuclear program
(CNN) Iran's conservative former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has registered to run in the country's presidential elections in May, according to state media.
The news is unexpected, as Ahmadinejad was instructed last September by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei not to run.
This could set up a contest pitting Ahmadinejad, known for his hardline views, against the incumbent President Hassan Rouhani, who has pursued a more moderate path since winning the 2013 election.
On Tuesday, the first day of the five-day registration process, 126 people -- including six women -- registered as candidates, state news agency IRNA reported. Rouhani hasn't yet registered, but is widely expected to do so.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani gives a press conference in the capital Tehran on April 10, 2017.
Ahmadinejad, who was president from 2005 to 2013, registered at the Interior Ministry alongside his former senior aides Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei and Hamid Baghaei, according to Mehr news agency.
Read MoreGovernments have long tinkered with time zones for political purposes, and at the other extreme from Russia stands China. After Mao and the Communists seized power in 1949, they tried to cement control by mandating one countrywide time zone.
Everyone in China is supposed to live on Beijing time, even though the country is wide enough to have as many as four or five time zones.
Nobody is seriously promoting the idea of a single time zone for Russia, which might lead to all sorts of absurdities (breakfast in the middle of the night in the Far East). But when President Dmitri A. Medvedev suggested last month that the country should contemplate scaling back the zones, he appeared to be offering support for proposals from senior officials in the Far East to trim the system by a few hours.
Mr. Medvedev emphasized that the government had not made a decision yet. But he indicated that revamping the time zones could play an important role in the push to modernize Russia’s economy.
Gennady I. Lazarev, a prominent Vladivostok academic who is a proponent of the change, said in an interview that Russia should undertake an experiment, shifting the Far East closer to Moscow by one hour, waiting a year to allow people to adapt, then moving another hour closer. Further changes would be more drastic but should be evaluated, he said.
Photo
“If the time differences were less, then Russia would be perceived by people as a more compact, more manageable place,” said Mr. Lazarev, who is also a governing party member of the regional legislature.
Mr. Lazarev said he believed that the Far East was already two hours off what he referred to as the correct biological time — meaning the time most appropriate for the human body’s internal clock.
Advertisement Continue reading the main story
The current system does have a crazy-quilt feel. For example, when it is noon in Vladivostok, it is 10 a.m. just over the border in China. In Tokyo, it is 11 a.m., even though Tokyo is farther east than Vladivostok.
Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You will receive emails containing news content, updates and promotions from The New York Times. You may opt-out at any time. You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters.
Still, proposals to modify the time zones have stirred deep suspicions, especially in the Far East and Siberia, where people have long resented Moscow, much the way people in places like Idaho distrust the goings-on in Washington.
The Far East has a weak economy and a sparse and shrinking population. Residents there often complain about the lack of federal support.
Andrei Gordeyev, 25, an illustrator in Khabarovsk, the second most populous city in the Far East, said that by raising the issue of reducing the time zones, Mr. Medvedev was “throwing dust in our eyes,” an expression that implies an attempt to impress someone with something that in truth is of little value.
“They can say, ‘Oh, we are doing this to help the economy out there,’ ” Mr. Gordeyev said. “But the reality is that if they really want to help us, there are a lot of other, more significant things that they can do.” Others worried that shifting the time closer to Moscow might assist business and government but would hurt people’s well-being, forcing them to spend more of their waking hours in the dark. That factor is already critical in winter, when at the worst there are just a handful of daylight hours.
“We have to look at this from a biological standpoint, how it is going to affect health,” said Yekaterina Degtyareva, 27, a personnel manager who lives in Novosibirsk, the most populous city in Siberia, and often travels to the Far East and Moscow. “If it is going to be a centralized, so-called totalitarian decision, then nothing good will come of it.”
In his remarks last month, Mr. Medvedev mentioned that while the 11 time zones were often portrayed as “a vivid symbol of our country’s greatness,” that notion might need to be discarded.
Perhaps not, said Elia Kabanov, 26, director of a public relations agency in Novosibirsk.
“Eleven time zones — it is an endearing feature of Russia, part of our national idea, if you would,” Mr. Kabanov said. “It is something that distinguishes us from China or the U.S.A., and something that we need to preserve for future generations.”
But Mr. Vodyanitsky, the owner of the fish processing factory in the Far East, said the situation was increasingly untenable. He said the time difference not only caused inefficiencies, but also gave rise to estrangement between parts of Russia.
He said he regularly received calls at his office in the middle of the night from people in Moscow. “They have no idea that we are seven hours ahead in Vladivostok,” he said. “And they get outraged that I don’t answer my phone. They say, ‘How come you people are not working? What are you, lazy?’ ”Story highlights Tanya Selvaratnam wrote the book "The Big Lie" about the "reality of the biological clock"
Despite what celeb magazines suggest, it's harder to get pregnant after age 35, she says
Selvaratnam: "We are the guinea pig generation for testing the limits of our fertility"
Blame it on the baby bump and our pop cultural infatuation with celebrity, but today, regular women have yet another reason to feel inadequate: motherhood.
In the past decade, for the celebrity set, babies have become as fashionable as Birkin bags. The media has fueled the fertility frenzy by outing every pregnant, or potentially pregnant, Hollywood starlet. But then there's more -- with every aspect of a celeb mom's glamorized pregnancy reported, from excessive weight gain to dramatic post-partum weight loss, regular women are fed a distorted depiction of pregnancy.
But perhaps nothing does a tragic disservice to women more than the media's coverage of those over-35 celebrities who seem to easily get pregnant whenever they choose, writes Tanya Selvaratnam in her new book, " The Big Lie: Motherhood, Feminism and the Reality of the Biological Clock."
"For the celebrity set, babies have become as fashionable as Birkin bags," Wendy Sachs writes.
"One of the reasons I wrote the book was because I was frustrated by the conflicting messages and information out there," Selvaratnam said. "We see celebrities having kids seemingly without any problems and we have no idea what they went through. We see the end result, but not the struggle."
Ironically, motherhood has never been so chic at a time when so many women are struggling to get pregnant. The number of women between age 40 and 44 who remain childless has doubled in a generation; in 1976 it was one out of 10, by 2006 it was one in five, according to the U.S. Census
In Selvaratnam's deeply personal and provocative book, she shares her own journey of three miscarriages, multiple IVF treatments, cancer and the ultimate toll it took on her marriage. She explores the impact of delayed motherhood and the bad information that women receive, not only from aspirational celebrity images, but also from their own doctors.
Selvaratnam writes that after her first miscarriage at 37 years old, her OB-GYN told her that she still "had time" to get pregnant. So instead of rushing to a fertility center, she waited, and that was a serious mistake.
The "Big Lie," she writes is that women can do what they want on their own timetables. They can delay motherhood until they are emotionally and financially ready, secure in their careers and have found that perfect partner and if they have trouble getting pregnant, modern medicine will miraculously give them a child.
Forty may be the new 30, but our ovaries have not gotten the same makeover. Even with all the advances in reproductive technology, our eggs have a finite shelf life and the odds of having a child over 40 years old are shockingly slim.
According to the Southern California Center for Reproductive Medicine, a woman in her 20s has a 20-25% chance of conceiving naturally per menstrual cycle. In her early 30s, the chance of pregnancy is 15% per cycle. After 35, the odds of pregnancy without medical intervention are at 10%. After 40, that number falls to 5%, and women over 45 have a 1% chance of conception.
JUST WATCHED Tiny miracle after massive heartbreak Replay More Videos... MUST WATCH Tiny miracle after massive heartbreak 01:46
JUST WATCHED Having a family when there's infertility Replay More Videos... MUST WATCH Having a family when there's infertility 03:12
JUST WATCHED Family adopts embryos, gets a surprise Replay More Videos... MUST WATCH Family adopts embryos, gets a surprise 01:50
The number of childless women in the United States today is growing. According to a Pew study conducted in 2008, about 18% of women in the United States don't have children by the end of their childbearing years. In 2008, there were 1.9 million childless women between 40 and 44, compared with 580,000 in 1976.
From the Pew report: "Among older women, ages 40-44, there are equal numbers of women who are childless by choice and those who would like children but cannot have them, according to an analysis of data from the National Survey of Family Growth."
Perhaps one of the greatest myths today is the ability of science to step in and make babies for women at virtually any age. Selvaratnam says that we see the success stories, but rarely hear about the huge numbers of failed attempts. A 2009 report on Assisted Reproductive Technologies, or ARTs, by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the single most important factor affecting the chances of a successful pregnancy through ARTs is a woman's age. Selvaratnam reports that at age 40, the chance is 18.7%; at 42, it's 10%; at 44, it's only 2.9%.
"We are the guinea pig generation for testing the limits of our fertility, or our chances of having a child. The shock and the lack of preparation when you're not prepared and the pressure women feel in general about our reproductive selves adds to the shame women feel when they can't get pregnant," Selvaratnam said.
She also argues that feminism may have misled Gen X women by avoiding the topic of motherhood and biology. The trend of delaying motherhood was meant to empower women, but ironically it may have boomeranged, leaving scores of women infertile and desperate to have a baby. Selvaratnam believes that we need to reset the conversation and |
hammer.
In another attempt to escape, charging documents say the woman ran to the bathroom. Mahe followed her in and hit her with a metal bar.
When two missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints happened to knock on the door, police say Mahe was scared off and ran away with his girlfriend's phone. Officers found his girlfriend with several abrasions and bruises on her body.
When KSL went to the girlfriend's house to try to find her, we found a man there instead. He told us his name was Paul Raymond and said the woman who lived there wasn't home and he didn't know anything about an attack at the house.
We pulled up a prior booking photo of Mahe and realized the man at the house was him. We called police, who went to the house a short time later but didn't find Mahe.
"Either it was the male and he got spooked because he knew the police were looking for him, or it was somebody who looked like him and just happened to be gone," said Salt Lake City police Sgt. Robyn Snyder.
A warrant has been issued for Mahe's arrest. Snyder says police will keep a close eye on the house in case he returns. She says detectives also have other addresses where they believe Mahe could be.
When caught, Mahe faces charges of aggravated assault, unlawful detention and theft.
-----
Story compiled with contributions from Anne Forester and Paul Nelson.Human Centipede glass pipe
I think it’s safe to assume that pulling this human centipede pipe out at your next pot party will guarantee that you will get to smoke your stash all by yourself.
While there are sadly no shortages of human centipede homages, this glass pipe appears to be a one-off so consider your hopes in owning one officially dashed according to its maker, Dustin Yunker.
In all honestly, does anyone want to get stoned so badly that they would toke up by putting their lips on the “end” of this pipe (or the front because I’m not entirely sure how this bizarre pipe works)? The answer is of course someone would because, weed. Over the course of my life I’ve but a lot of stupid things in my mouth (and so have you), but this pipe isn’t getting added to the list of things I’m currently working through with my therapist. For now, anyway.Anders Kjærgaard and Frank Pedersen, officers in the Danish military, were out on routine patrol using an unusual form of transport – a dog sled. Suddenly, they hit a stretch of soft snow while traveling across a frozen fjord in Northeast Greenland. The men were navigating a 160-mile route they had traversed several times before. Only this trip, in January, came after the warmest year on record near the North Pole.
Within seconds, the sled dogs sank to their chests in an enclosing tomb of gelid slush. Mr. Kjærgaard and Mr. Pedersen quickly started unloading supplies to lighten the load. Water seeped into their insulated boots. They knew they had to work fast to avoid getting frostbite.
After half the weight had been removed, the men packed down a path in the snow for the dogs. The team heaved and clawed for traction. Slowly, they proceeded a half mile, then stopped. The men removed the remaining weight from the sledge, turned the team around, and retrieved the supplies left behind. They did this for two days – back and forth, back and forth, occasionally stopping to change into dry boots, socks, and clothes. Finally, they reached solid land.
“That was a bad day at the office,” says Kjærgaard. “A hard discipline, one of the worst things I’ve ever experienced up here. But there’s no one there to help you, and your body knows that as well. You just have to continue.”
Denver David Robinson Sledge Patrol Sirius candidates line up for a test in the winter survival course – a 62-mile ‘march’ on cross-country skis.
While most soldiers around the world worry about the dangers of war, members of Denmark’s unique Sledge Patrol Sirius face a different set of challenges – cryogenic winds, quaggy glaciers, frostbite, and polar bears.
The territory they monitor is wild, inhospitable, desolate – no place for humans. In late November the sun slides below the horizon and doesn’t rise again until the end of January. During the long polar night unforgiving winds lash the vast and vacant expanses. Temperatures plummet to 40 degrees below zero and lower. Not even the Kalaallit (Greenlanders) come to this area they refer to as Tunu, the back. In the entire region, which is more than four times the size of the United Kingdom, fewer than 30 people live at any given time. Twelve of these are the men who make up one of the world’s most unusual military units – an elite force that has become increasingly important as the world’s industrialized powers rush to gain a toehold at the top of the world.
• • •
Since 1953 the Sirius Patrol has operated under its original mandate – to enforce Denmark’s sovereignty in this territory that lies entirely above the Arctic Circle. The unit’s origins can be traced to a decree issued in 1933 by the League of Nations’ Permanent Court of International Justice, which settled a longstanding dispute between Norway and Denmark over which country could claim Greenland. The court ruled in Denmark’s favor but required it to maintain a continual presence in Northeast Greenland thereafter.
In 1974, the area – now about 375,000 square miles, roughly one-quarter of the island country – was designated the Northeast Greenland National Park, making it the world’s largest and northernmost protected wilderness. Since then the patrol’s duties have expanded to include policing the park, supporting visiting scientists and researchers, and helping a small but growing number of tourists.
But their primary mission, and the one for which they are most celebrated, is to patrol the 8,900-mile coastline – a task that even today is best achieved by dog sled.
Since the demise of the cold war, this has been a relatively innocuous exercise – just the Sirius men and their dogs pitted against the formidable elements. (And they are all men – women are invited to apply but none has in the history of the sledge patrol.) However, as the region becomes a new nexus of geopolitical tension, their policing authority has taken on greater urgency. The United States, Russia, and much of the developed world, including non-Arctic nations such as South Korea, Japan, Italy, and China, want access to sea lanes that are eventually expected to open each summer in the Arctic Ocean.
These and other countries, including Germany, India, and Brazil, are also vying for a claim to the region’s vast cache of oil, gas, and mineral wealth. Warming temperatures and developments in technology may open opportunities for exploration and extraction of the nation’s resources that have long proved economically elusive. Meanwhile, each year more scientists arrive to study the meteorological significance of Greenland’s climate and massive retreating ice sheet.
Tourism, too, is on the rise as the country increasingly becomes a destination for kayakers, climbers, cyclists, and other adventurers seeking access to some of the world’s least trammeled mountains and pristine waterways.
Developments in energy and tourism are potentially good for Greenland’s overall economy and drive for full independence from Denmark. The former colony gained home rule status in 1979 and greater autonomy through the Act on Greenland Self-Government in 2009, yet remains heavily subsidized by Copenhagen. But such developments have put new pressure on the 12 Sirius patrolmen who function as the region’s sole police and military force.
Denver David Robinson Anders Kjærgaard, commanding officer of Sledge Patrol Sirius, and Rufus Gifford, US ambassador to Denmark, travel across the frozen Kong Oscar Fjord with the dogs of Sledge Team 7.
In February, the US Embassy in Copenhagen arranged a diplomatic mission to Northeast Greenland, led by the American ambassador to Denmark, Rufus Gifford. Embassy officials offered me the opportunity to tag along. I gathered up my warmest clothes and set out for the Danish air base in Aalborg, where I was instructed to meet the ambassador for the trip north.
Greenland has become increasingly important to Mr. Gifford’s work since the US became the chair of the eight-nation Arctic Council in 2015. Sirius commanders had decided that the best way for Gifford to better understand the region was to take him out on the ice with the men and their dogs.
“The international community – and certainly the US and Denmark – has an interest in keeping this part of the world as safe and pristine as possible,” Gifford tells me on the flight from Aalborg to Mestersvig, a military outpost on the southern shore of Northeast Greenland National Park. “If there are economic opportunities, we are not going to close our eyes to that. We can pursue economic possibilities in an environmentally responsible way. [The US and Denmark] will work with the government of Greenland to see whether or not there are potential opportunities for mining and drilling.”
I strike up a conversation with 1st Lt. Anders Sejersen, seated across the aisle. Dressed in Army fatigues, squared-jawed and fit, Sejersen is unmistakably Nordic and speaks in the measured words of a man well inured to silence. Like most Danes, he grew up hearing stories about the nationally revered Arctic dog-sled unit. But it wasn’t something he’d considered for himself until after he was already in the military. “I was enrolled in a course with officers from Sirius. They talked so much about the unit that it sparked my interest,” he says. “After the course, I began thinking about Sirius, reading up on it, and so on – then I knew.”
Sejersen served as a Sirius officer from 2005 to 2007. In 2012, he returned as the unit’s leader. Today he is based at the Joint Arctic Command headquarters in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, where he oversees Sirius’s land operations. I ask Sejersen what drew him to Greenland initially and still intrigues him today.
“The nature impresses me a lot. I still remember the first time I landed up here – it was amazing to see the mountains, the ice, everything.” He looks out the window of the Danish Air Force Gulfstream and turns back to me, his eyes suddenly alight. He motions for me to look for myself.
Below, icebergs the size of frigates are locked in place and cast quarter-mile shadows across the glinting ice. Our plane passes over serrated mountain peaks and circles Mestersvig. From the air, the station looks like an architect’s scale model in the immense landscape, just a handful of low-lying buildings and cargo containers half buried in snow. As we descend, I notice eight men standing in formation along the landing strip – members of the Sirius Patrol.
Denver David Robinson Jens Bonde lifts a sled dog into a plane for a flight to the tip of northern Greenland. Snowmobiles often malfunction in the cold, but Greenland dogs can famously withstand subzero temperatures.
Hours after my arrival, I go to the station canteen, where 12 young men, all new applicants to the unit, are busy in the kitchen or setting the table for dinner. Eight of the cadets are applying to join the patrol and four hope to become station specialists, providing support for the dog-sled teams.
The men have been in Greenland for nearly a month to complete their winter survival course, a component of the patrol’s training program called forskole (preparatory school). The forskole takes place annually and includes courses as varied as engine mechanics, advanced first aid, radio and communications, firefighting, shooting, basic dentistry, carpentry, and even – or especially – cooking and sewing. Since the officers will often be away on long patrols, it is important that they be well trained to meet any eventuality.
Yet they have to learn far more than how to darn socks and pull a tooth. The men must also endure a three-day survival trek into the wilderness, which begins by jumping into freezing seawater through a hole blown into the five-foot-thick ice by dynamite. As the instructors and a medical doctor keep watch, each man has to swim to the edge of the opening, pull himself from the freezing slush, strip naked, and change into dry clothes. From there the recruits march into the mountains to dig snow caves for shelter and build huts from blocks they carve from the snow. Each is given seven ounces of chocolate as his only sustenance for the duration of the exercise.
I sit down with Sgt. Frederik Oxlund, the current leader of the forskole. In July Oxlund will replace Kjærgaard as the commander of the Sirius Patrol. Beside him sits 1st Class Sgt. Jens Bonde, a former Sirius patrol officer who is in Mestersvig to help oversee the cadets’ training. Oxlund, copper-haired and thoughtful, explains that most of the forskole’s sessions require that the men work as a team or in pairs. This prepares them for their time on the ice, which begins in early November and extends into June. During that span, six teams, each composed of two men with 11 to 13 dogs, patrol as many as 40 miles a day of the park’s coastline. They scout the coves and capes of the park’s fjords, sleeping most often on the ice in simple cloth tents with no insulation.
They are equipped with radios, a satellite telephone, compasses, and maps. But like the wooden sleds the men fashion by hand, the unit relies on technology that hasn’t changed greatly from its earliest days, simply because most high-tech devices and fabrics cannot be relied upon in the extreme cold. A snowmobile’s engine can malfunction easily while the ancient Kalaallit Qimmiat (Greenland dog) is suited to withstand subzero temperatures. Wool has proved to make better base layers than polypropylene and other “miracle” synthetic blends. Even the guns the men carry are a modified relic from World War I, the US Army-made M1917 Enfield. The 100-year-old bolt-action rifle turns out to be the most effective way for the officers to protect themselves from polar bears. More sophisticated guns jam in the cold.
“The first year, one is a trainee and everything is exciting,” Oxlund tells me. “The winter course prepares the trainee, helps adapt him to the cold.” A new recruit is paired with an officer who has at least one year of experience on the ice. “Then the next year, he’s the lead and has the responsibility of the apprentice.”
Until recently the Danish military required that the men be single. Although the restriction has been somewhat loosened, candidates, as one officer puts it, must “have their family relations in order” – returning to Denmark is not an option during the 26-month tour in Greenland.
The men spend up to five months on the ice without a break. They do everything together. “You go out with your partner, who you think you know, but you’re only starting to know him,” Bonde says. “When you’re out there, it’s more or less like a marriage, because you get very close. You know how your partner takes his coffee and so on.” But that doesn’t necessarily mean that the two will end up being good friends. “That [only happens] if you’re good at letting one another in. Sometimes it goes well, and other times it’s just like a marriage [in which partners] say only good morning and good night.”
Nevertheless, Oxlund adds, “We’re still professional soldiers. You may go three months without talking. That doesn’t matter. We make it work.”
Amid the unforgiving conditions, the men learn to focus on what’s directly in front of them. Inattention can lead to accidents and possibly death. They learn something else, perhaps their most valuable lesson – that the survival of one depends on the survival of the other. Time on the ice hacks away at the illusion of separation; detachment proves impossible.
“Everything becomes routine,” says Oxlund. “It’s just work. It’s pretty much the coolest thing ever.”
Lars Rindom, a brawny, russet-bearded station specialist seated beside me, agrees. “There’s a lot of work. We work all the time, even Sundays which are supposed to be days off,” he says. “But when you do something you like, it’s like a holiday. Here we have clean snow. It’s the same as a beach.”
Denver David Robinson Diaphanous northern lights undulate across the sky above Mestersvig Station in Northeast Greenland National Park.
The next morning Bonde and I travel by snowmobile to visit Gifford and Kjærgaard, who had already gone out with Sledge Team 7, on the frozen plate of Kong Oscar Fjord. At 24 degrees below zero, the rush of cold air needles the wool balaclava drawn over my head and stings my face. I huddle behind the shield of Bonde’s hunched frame as he drives. I look down, considering the ice beneath us. I’d listened to the officers’ stories and knew that the sea ice in February is nearly five feet thick in most places and carries almost whatever it is given – men and dogs, packed sleds, even Twin Otter airplanes fitted with ski runners – but my doubt, ingrained by cautionary tales, persists. The hardened surface over which we are gliding is a meteorologically produced illusion, constantly shifting, and now threatened by increasingly unpredictable weather patterns.
At 8 a.m., it is still dark, but far across the ice a bright band of red-gold illuminates the sharp peaks of Traill Ø, signaling that the sun – which gains 20 minutes a day over the darkness at this latitude – will soon rise. The cold is shocking. “If your fingers start to go numb, swing your arms until the blood shakes back down into your hands,” Bonde had instructed before we’d set out from Mestersvig. “The cold sneaks up on you. You have to stay focused.” I windmill my arms, but my fingers continue to burn.
Bonde stops the snowmobile. He scans the horizon for Sledge Team 7. Over the muffled thrum of the engine, there is no sound, no movement, not even wind. We are alone, immeasurably dwarfed in the enormous silence and indifferent landscape, a realization that suddenly feels freeing and oddly comforting. For a moment I understand and envy the men of Sirius.
Then, a scintillating arrow of light arcs through the darkness, dips, and disappears. “There,” Bonde says and angles quickly in the direction of the fallen flare. The men’s campsite comes into view. Their tent, lit from within by a lantern, looks like a gold luminary flickering on the darkened plain. The dogs are asleep, curled into tight puffs of fur, until they hear the snowmobile’s engine. They jump up and bark, jerking at their leads. Kjærgaard watches us approach.
When we pull up, he smiles. “Come inside. I’ve made coffee.”
Denver David Robinson Jens Bonde checks in with a patrol team, something officers at Mestersvig Station do twice a day when the sledge teams are on the ice. They sometimes read letters to the men, who may not return for months.
Inside, Gifford sits on top of his sleeping bag. He is clearly tired and cold, but he’s also beaming. “I had less than an hour of sleep, and even that was interrupted. I kept waking up because my feet were so cold – but what a night! Did you see the northern lights in Mestersvig?” he asks. Kjærgaard and Gifford had sat out on the ice with the dogs and watched as the tendrils of green light undulated across the night sky.
At 6 feet, 4 inches, Kjærgaard has the stature and shoulder span of Thor, the mythical hammer-wielding Viking god. In the faint light, he appears impervious to the great cold, despite a small coin of roughened red skin on his upper left cheek – a remnant of a bout of frostbite in 2010 that had been reactivated during a sledge trip three days before.
“I’ve stopped resisting the cold,” he claims as he hands me a cup of steaming coffee. “Bad weather comes and you wonder why you’re here, but then that passes. Here, you just work all the time. Suddenly half a year is gone.”
Kjærgaard dropped out of university when he first applied to the patrol in 2008. After serving with Sirius from 2009 to 2011, he returned to Denmark, where he finished his master’s in psychology. He worked for a year. But, like Sejersen, a longing for Greenland burned within him. “It was so very strong,” he tells us. “I needed to come back.” So, Kjærgaard returned on a two-year contract, first as the head instructor of the forskole and then the unit’s leader.
In his 3-1/2 years in one of Earth’s last unpopulated areas, Kjærgaard has witnessed an influx of visitors. “It’s feeling more crowded. There’s a lot of focus on the Arctic now,” he says. “Each summer, as soon as the ships can sail, tourists come. It’s a hot topic, because what could be done if they hit an iceberg? We couldn’t do anything. We’re 12 men. We have two boats.”
He and the other patrolmen are frontline witnesses to changes in the region’s environment. Kjærgaard says that it may still be too soon to say if recent climate changes are permanent. Yet the Danish Meteorological Institute announced in mid-April that almost 12 percent of the Greenland ice sheet was already covered with a layer of meltwater – a month earlier than the agency had ever seen meltwater on that scale. Given his recent ordeal with soft snow and slush in the heart of winter, Kjærgaard acknowledges that something is happening.
“Fifteen years ago, sledge teams had to be back from their tours on the ice by mid-June. Nowadays, we need to be back by the beginning of June,” he says. “This could imply that the ice is melting earlier, that the great ice is diminishing. So we will encounter more polar bears each year.”
The great sea ice that encircles North and Northeast Greenland is the traditional hunting ground for polar bears. Earlier and longer thaws mean that the bruins must come on land to forage. “Last year we had to kill two, which is not normal,” he says. I ask Kjærgaard why he came to Greenland in the first place and longed for it when he left. “The job is a challenge. When you are faced with such challenges, you learn a lot about yourself,” he says. “And when you lie in a snow cave with six other guys with nothing to eat, you learn a lot about others. The team becomes a family. I don’t think of it as work. Ninety percent of us would likely do this without being paid.”
“What comes next for you?” Gifford asks.
Get the Monitor Stories you care about delivered to your inbox. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy
“I don’t know. You either love it or hate it up here,” he replies. “I love it. For now, though, this is it with Sirius for me.”
Kjærgaard finishes his coffee and looks up. “The sun’s coming. Shouldn’t we get going?”Writing a 2D Platform Game in Nim with SDL2
Japanese Translation
In this article we’re going to write a simple 2D platform game. You can also consider this as a tutorial for game development with SDL2 in Nim.
We will read in user input, display graphics and a tile map, and simulate simple 2D physics with collision detection and handling. Afterwards we will implement simple camera movement and game logic. To display some information we will render texts and develop a caching mechanism for said text rendering.
The final result will be a binary file that requires only SDL2 and can be easily distributed, perfect for games. If you’re on Linux we will also present a simple way to cross-compile Nim programs for Windows.
For the sake of simplicity we’re going to use the familiar graphics from DDNet and Teeworlds, with the end result of this tutorial looking like this:
We’re going to follow along with the development throughout this article with illustrative images and videos, but the best way to learn is if you follow along yourself by implementing the steps from this article. The code is purposefully kept simple and easy to extend so that you can play around with it and try out all kinds of changes to get an intuitive understanding. At the end of every section there is a link to its full source code.
The iterations of the code of this article and the final result are available in a repository on GitHub. The resulting binaries can be downloaded here: Win64, Win32, Linux x86_64, Linux x86
Preliminaries
For this post we require:
On a unixoid system like Linux or Mac OS X the installation looks something like this:
# Debian / Ubuntu $ sudo apt-get install git libsdl2-dev libsdl2-image-dev libsdl2-ttf-dev # Arch Linux $ pacman -S git sdl2 sdl2_image sdl2_ttf # Homebrew on OS X $ brew install git sdl2 sdl2_image sdl2_ttf # FreeBSD $ pkg install git sdl2 sdl2_image sdl2_ttf $ wget http://nim-lang.org/download/nim-0.14.2.tar.xz $ tar xvf nim-0.14.2.tar.xz $ cd nim-0.14.2 $ make -j4 $ echo 'export PATH=$HOME/nim-0.14.2/bin:$PATH' >> ~/.profile $ source ~/.profile $ git clone https://github.com/nim-lang/nimble.git $ cd nimble $ nim -d:release c -r src/nimble install $ echo 'export PATH=$HOME/.nimble/bin:$PATH' >> ~/.profile $ source ~/.profile $ nimble install sdl2 strfmt
Note that you also need a C compiler on your system, preferably GCC or Clang.
Instead of compiling Nim and Nimble from source code you could also use your package manager to install Nim and Nimble if they’re available in a recent version.
For setting up SDL2 on other platforms more extensive guides exist, as do for Nim and nimble.
1. First Running Program
If you have seen SDL2 programs written in C or C++ before, you will notice that what we’re doing in Nim is very similar. Actually Nim’s SDL2 wrapper is just a thin layer wrapping the original SDL2 interface from C. This has the advantage that what you learn from any SDL2 tutorial is applicable, but the disadvantage is that you end up with a bit more boilerplate than with a more high-level Nim library.
We start with exactly this boilerplate to initialize our window:
import sdl2 type SDLException = object of Exception template sdlFailIf ( cond : typed, reason : string ) = if cond : raise SDLException. newException ( reason & ", SDL error: " & $ getError ()) proc main = sdlFailIf ( not sdl2. init ( INIT_VIDEO or INIT_TIMER or INIT_EVENTS )): "SDL2 initialization failed" # defer blocks get called at the end of the procedure, even if an # exception has been thrown defer : sdl2. quit () sdlFailIf ( not setHint ( "SDL_RENDER_SCALE_QUALITY", "2" )): "Linear texture filtering could not be enabled" let window = createWindow ( title = "Our own 2D platformer", x = SDL_WINDOWPOS_CENTERED, y = SDL_WINDOWPOS_CENTERED, w = 1280, h = 720, flags = SDL_WINDOW_SHOWN ) sdlFailIf window. isNil : "Window could not be created" defer : window. destroy () let renderer = window. createRenderer ( index = - 1, flags = Renderer_Accelerated or Renderer_PresentVsync ) sdlFailIf renderer. isNil : "Renderer could not be created" defer : renderer. destroy () # Set the default color to use for drawing renderer. setDrawColor ( r = 110, g = 132, b = 174 ) # Game loop, draws each frame while true : # Draw over all drawings of the last frame with the default # color renderer. clear () # Show the result on screen renderer. present () main ()
We introduced an sdlFailIf template that checks a condition and if the condition is true, raises an SDLException with additional error information from SDL. In the main proc we initialize SDL2, and create a regular window and an accelerated 2D renderer. Error handling is done with the sdlFailIf proc that we introduced.
For now the game loop just clears the window and draws it every frame. If you have VSync enabled and your screen is set to 60 Hz the loop will be executed 60 times per second.
We can compile and run in the same step by executing nim -r c platformer, assuming you called the file platformer.nim. To compile with optimizations use nim -d:release -r c platformer. The result is a simple one-colored window:
We can exit our small program by pressing Ctrl-C in the terminal window. Unfortunately we can’t exit it in the game window itself yet, so let’s fix that.
Full code for section 1
2. User Input
First let’s add an Input type to store all the inputs we want to support, and store an array of Inputs in our game state object:
type Input {. pure.} = enum none, left, right, jump, restart, quit Game = ref object inputs : array [ Input, bool ] renderer : RendererPtr
By choosing a ref type for the Game state type we have an easy way to prevent accidentally creating copies of it. By default only the garbage collected pointer to our Game object is passed around. The inputs field is an array mapping from Input to bool, signifying which input is currently pressed ( true ) or not ( false ). Creating a new game state object is trivial, we just create a new heap object for now and assign the SDL2 renderer that we will need later:
proc newGame ( renderer : RendererPtr ): Game = new result result. renderer = renderer
We don’t need to initialize the inputs field in any way as everything is initialized to binary null by default, which is exactly what we want: Every input is set to off in the start. If we didn’t initialize the renderer field it would be a null pointer and we would get into trouble if we accidentally dereference it.
The next thing we need is a procedure that maps keyboard scan codes to our recognized inputs:
proc toInput ( key : Scancode ): Input = case key of SDL_SCANCODE_A : Input. left of SDL_SCANCODE_D : Input. right of SDL_SCANCODE_SPACE : Input. jump of SDL_SCANCODE_R : Input. restart of SDL_SCANCODE_Q : Input. quit else : Input. none
Note that toInput returns Input.none for all undefined cases. We will use this behaviour to ignore unused keyboard inputs without the need for a branch in our code. You could easily recognize multiple scan codes to map to a single input.
We modify the game loop to react to keyboard inputs by calling our new handleInput proc. We also split out the rendering itself to keep the separation of concerns clear in the main proc:
proc handleInput ( game : Game ) = var event = defaultEvent while pollEvent ( event ): case event. kind of QuitEvent : game. inputs [ Input. quit ] = true of KeyDown : game. inputs [ event. key. keysym. scancode. toInput ] = true of KeyUp : game. inputs [ event. key. keysym. scancode. toInput ] = false else : discard proc render ( game : Game ) = # Draw over all drawings of the last frame with the default color game. renderer. clear () # Show the result on screen game. renderer. present () var game = newGame ( renderer ) # Game loop, draws each frame while not game. inputs [ Input. quit ] : game. handleInput () game. render ()
Now we can either press q or use the close button on the window to close the game. Other kinds of user input are just stored in the inputs array for now and we will be able to use it later.
Note that the inputs array is intentionally a simple array, so that access to it is as performant as can be. If we used a hash table or some other data structure such a guarantee would not be that easy to make. Simplicity can often be beneficial and make it easier to understand what is going on in the system you’re developing.
Full code for section 2
3. Displaying Graphics
If we want to do something of interest with those user inputs we need to start displaying something other than a blue sky.
We extend our game state object to also store the player texture as well as the current position and velocity, for which we use the basic2d module:
import basic2d type Player = ref object texture : TexturePtr pos : Point2d vel : Vector2d Game = ref object inputs : array [ Input, bool ] renderer : RendererPtr player : Player camera : Vector2d
We’re going to use Teeworlds’ default tee graphic for our player:
You can save this file as player.png to follow along. If you feel funny you can also select one of hundreds of skins from the DDNet Skin Database, for example:
Don’t forget to call your player graphic player.png if you want to use an alternative one.
First we have to load the player graphic, whichever one you decided to use, in our definition of newGame and initialize the Game and Player data structures:
import sdl2 / image proc restartPlayer ( player : Player ) = player. pos = point2d ( 170, 500 ) player. vel = vector2d ( 0, 0 ) proc newPlayer ( texture : TexturePtr ): Player = new result result. texture = texture result. restartPlayer () proc newGame ( renderer : RendererPtr ): Game = new result result. renderer = renderer result. player = newPlayer ( renderer. loadTexture ( "player.png" ))
restartPlayer is used to reset the player to its start position. The loadTexture procedure loads the PNG image into memory as an SDL2 texture that we can store in the Game object.
We also shouldn’t forget to initialize the SDL2 image module in our main proc, similarly to the SDL2 initialization:
const imgFlags : cint = IMG_INIT_PNG sdlFailIf ( image. init ( imgFlags )!= imgFlags ): "SDL2 Image initialization failed" defer : image. quit ()
We only need support for PNG files, otherwise we could also add JPEG files with const imgFlags: cint = IMG_INIT_PNG or IMG_INIT_JPG.
Next our task is to put this together nicely. Of course the intention of the flexible player images is that parts of the body can move independently, but for the sake of simplicity we will put them into fixed positions. A simple addition would be to make the feet move in a rotating motion depending on the horizontal position of the player. Another addition would be to make the eyes follow the mouse cursor.
proc renderTee ( renderer : RendererPtr, texture : TexturePtr, pos : Point2d ) = let x = pos. x. cint y = pos. y. cint var bodyParts : array [ 8, tuple [ source, dest : Rect, flip : cint ]] = [ ( rect ( 192, 64, 64, 32 ), rect ( x - 60, y, 96, 48 ), SDL_FLIP_NONE ), # back feet shadow ( rect ( 96, 0, 96, 96 ), rect ( x - 48, y - 48, 96, 96 ), SDL_FLIP_NONE ), # body shadow ( rect ( 192, 64, 64, 32 ), rect ( x - 36, y, 96, 48 ), SDL_FLIP_NONE ), # front feet shadow ( rect ( 192, 32, 64, 32 ), rect ( x - 60, y, 96, 48 ), SDL_FLIP_NONE ), # back feet ( rect ( 0, 0, 96, 96 ), rect ( x - 48, y - 48, 96, 96 ), SDL_FLIP_NONE ), # body ( rect ( 192, 32, 64, 32 ), rect ( x - 36, y, 96, 48 ), SDL_FLIP_NONE ), # front feet ( rect ( 64, 96, 32, 32 ), rect ( x - 18, y - 21, 36, 36 ), SDL_FLIP_NONE ), # left eye ( rect ( 64, 96, 32, 32 ), rect ( x - 6, y - 21, 36, 36 ), SDL_FLIP_HORIZONTAL ) # right eye ] for part in bodyParts. mitems : renderer. copyEx ( texture, part. source, part. dest, angle = 0.0, center = nil, flip = part. flip )
The exact numbers are not so important, they are just how the player is meant to be put together. With renderTee we define which body part is drawn at which position and in which order. Finally each of these body parts is drawn with the SDL2 renderer using copyEx.
Now drawing the tee in our game loop is simply a call to renderTee away:
proc render ( game : Game ) = # Draw over all drawings of the last frame with the default color game. renderer. clear () # Actual drawing here game. renderer. renderTee ( game. player. texture, game. player. pos - game. camera ) # Show the result on screen game. renderer. present ()
Finally we have some visual progress again, look at the player floating in the sky:
Full code for section 3
4. Tile Map
Now that we have a working rendering system for the player, we need a map to play in. This requires us to store a texture as well as a list of tiles:
type Map = ref object texture : TexturePtr width, height : int tiles : seq [ uint8 ] Game = ref object inputs : array [ Input, bool ] renderer : RendererPtr player : Player map : Map camera : Vector2d
Each tile is defined to be a uint8, which means a value between 0 and 255 inclusively. Conveniently the tileset graphic for from Teeworlds have 16 × 16 = 256 tiles. We will use the grass tileset:
Download and save this image as grass.png |
be a financial burden, straining schools and emergency rooms and forcing an expansion of the welfare state. Heritage has kept up that drumbeat to this day. The math usually used to make the case that undocumented migrants are a net loss to the United States is fairly simple: subtract the cost of the public services they use from the taxes they pay.
What’s missing from the calculations is the value that their labor contributes to the US economy, a good part of which is uncompensated. I asked Suresh Naidu, an economist at Columbia University, how one might tally the difference between what undocumented Central American and Mexican workers get paid and what they would get paid if they enjoyed full equality of rights. Using the wage penalty undocumented migrants face as a benchmark (which is a lower end, given that extensive undocumented participation might lower sectoral wages for everyone), here are the steps he laid out:
1. Find the aggregate undocumented wages paid in the major sectors where undocumented workers are employed, in agriculture, construction, domestic.
2. Figure out how much their wages were depressed as a result of being undocumented. One way of doing this is to look at Reagan’s 1986 reform. Rough estimates suggest that undocumented worker wages are between 6 and 24 percent lower than they would be otherwise. In other words, if we take these figures as a baseline, that means undocumented workers would be getting paid 6 and 24 percent more than they are if they were documented–that differential is either captured as profit by their employers or passed on to consumers as savings.
3. Cumulate that percentage (that is, how much wages are depressed as a result of being undocumented) of aggregate wages over the number of years that undocumented workers are in the United States.
4. Voilà, that would be your reparations bill.
A Pew survey from 2009 gives that median income for migrant workers as $36,000 dollars. With 11 million undocumented migrants, 8.3 million of them in the work force for an average duration of fourteen years, and adjusting for inflation, Naidu came up with between $22,000 (based on the lower percentage of depressed wages and inflation) and $101,000 (the higher percentage) owed to each undocumented resident.
Keep in mind that these numbers don’t include out-and-out wage theft, which is high among undocumented workers. {snip}
{snip}
Were African-Americans and undocumented Latinos to join together and collectively demand compensation for unremunerated work, the force would be exponentially more powerful, revealing the way black and brown, each in their own way, continue to represent an existential threat to the ongoing slaver-settler-colonial fantasy life that passes, for many, as patriotism in this country.
Original Article
Share ThisCastlevania: Order of Ecclesia[a] is a platform-adventure game and the third Nintendo DS installment of the Castlevania franchise. Directed by Akihiro Minakata, with long time producer Koji Igarashi returning. It is the last action-adventure Castlevania game that Igarashi produced. The plot involves Shanoa, who is part of an organization set to defeat Dracula after the Belmont clan has vanished.
Gameplay [ edit ]
The player-character Shanoa can acquire glyphs, the abilities of defeated enemies.
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia is a two dimensional action-adventure game, featuring adventure and role-playing video game elements such as the ability to equip armor and cast spells. A new combat system called the "Glyph System" allows the player's character, Shanoa, to collect icons called "Glyph symbols", which she can acquire by defeating enemies or conquering challenges. These symbols can be equipped to her arms and back, allowing her to perform special powers and skills. There are over 100 different Glyphs the player can wield, such as weapon and magic glyphs. Glyphs use MP (Magic Points) to work, and once the MP gauge is depleted, the player must stop attacking to allow it to recharge. The player can also use a special Glyph Union technique, which calls a more powerful attack based on the glyphs equipped. The Union attacks consume the Heart Points gauge, a feature that was absent in Portrait of Ruin. There are also certain Glyphs which can be used to solve some puzzles.[6]
Many different types of locales can be visited in the game, including forests, mountains, and oceans. There are a total of 20 locations, with an overworld map used to traverse between them. Besides fighting enemies and moving on from one location to next, there are also a number of side quests for the player to solve. After completing a quest, the player will receive a prize in return. If the player finishes the game, new features will become available to the player, including sound test, hard mode, boss rush mode and Albus mode, with an alternate playable character. It also features online play, allowing the player to trade items with other players or go head-to-head in a versus mode.[6] The game also makes use of the DS-to-Wii connectivity with Castlevania Judgment, which unlocks content in both games.[7] Order of Ecclesia is the first canonical game in the series in which the Vampire Killer whip does not appear in any form.
Plot [ edit ]
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia takes place after Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, sometime in the 1800s, right after the era of Richter Belmont. As the Belmont Clan had vanished by that time, several organizations are created in order to research countermeasures against Dracula and his eventual return. Among these organizations, the most promising was the Order of Ecclesia, who created a triad of magical glyphs based on Dracula's power, named "Dominus." Shanoa is a member chosen by the order's leader, Barlowe, as the human vessel for Dominus. As the ritual begins, the Dominus glyphs (Anger, Hatred, Agony) are stolen by Shanoa's colleague Albus, and Shanoa loses her memories and emotions. She goes to retrieve them, unaware of his true intentions.
In her pursuit, Shanoa arrives in the deserted Wygol Village and finds out that Albus kidnapped its inhabitants, brought them to different hidden locations, and imprisoned them. As Shanoa rescues them throughout the game, she learns that Albus captured them to perform some kind of experiment on them which involved taking samples of their blood. On two occasions, Shanoa tracks down Albus, who willingly gives her two of the Dominus glyphs. When she finds him to be possessed by the power of the third glyph, she is forced to fight him. After killing Albus, his mind and soul are absorbed by Shanoa together with the last Dominus glyph. Albus explains that his true intentions were to find a way to defeat Dracula without Shanoa using Dominus, as he knew that it would kill her if she used it. Her lost memories and emotions were actually taken by Dominus, and not Albus, as Barlowe had told Shanoa. He also reveals that the reason he experimented on the villagers was because they were the last descendants of the Belmont Clan, and he believed their blood would have the power to help him control Dominus without it consuming him.
Confronting Barlowe after learning the truth, Shanoa learns that his true objective is to bring Dracula back to life, using Shanoa as a sacrifice. After Barlowe is defeated in a fight, he offers his own life to revive Dracula, and Dracula's castle appears. Eventually confronting Dracula, Shanoa successfully defeats him using Dominus, seemingly at the cost of her own life. However, Albus appears and reveals that only a single soul has to be offered. He sacrifices his own soul in Shanoa's place, but not before he restores her memories and emotions and asks her to smile for him. The castle crumbles, and Shanoa escapes.
Development [ edit ]
The game was made by the team who developed Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin[8] along with Igarashi.[9] In a Wired interview, Igarashi said, "We're doing another Nintendo DS version. There hasn't been an official announcement, but we're doing it... we want people to enjoy the PSP version Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles, and afterwards we're announcing it. So, please wait a little bit".[9] On January 25, 2008 a group of "leaked" screenshots from a DS Castlevania game that also showed Wii connectivity appeared. In response, Igarashi didn't give a direct answer if this was even the same game or said it was an official Konami product—he told IGN that "Konami doesn't comment on rumor or speculation."[10] Eventually, it was confirmed by a later update that these were screenshots from Order of Ecclesia.[11]
Reception [ edit ]
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia received "favorable" reviews according to video game review aggregator Metacritic. Shane Bettenhausen called it a cross between Symphony of the Night and Simon's Quest, noting that the high difficulty level was balanced by the role-playing elements. Bettenhausen also commented about the quality of the game, despite the length, noting there are "3 or 4 levels of things to find." He concluded his experience with the game stating "It's all action-RPG oriented Castlevania at its best".[23] He later awarded the game an A- for 1Up.com, stating that it "can still breathe new life into this long-running, often self-cannibalizing franchise."[14] Game Informer's Tim Turi praised its gameplay and called it his favourite portable Castlevania title.[24] Edge Magazine UK gave the game a score of 6 out of 10, criticizing the excessive side quests. They wrote, "It is a shame that Konami so overinflates the experience through early chores".[15] Game Revolution wrote positively of the combat, but felt that it was overall a weaker title compared to Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow and the entries released on the Game Boy Advance.[25]
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia was awarded Best Nintendo DS Game by GameTrailers.com in their 2008 video game awards.[26] It was also awarded the Best Platform Game for the Nintendo DS from IGN.[27] It was also nominated for several other Nintendo DS-specific awards, including Best Graphics Technology,[28] Best Original Score[29] and Game of the Year. However, following the nominations it won none of the awards.[30]
Initial sales of the game in Japan were reported at 19,000 copies sold during its first week.[31]
Notes [ edit ]
^ Akumajō Dracula: Ubawareta Kokuin ( 悪魔城ドラキュラ 奪われた刻印, Akumajō Dorakyura Ubawareta Kokuin, lit. Devil's Castle Dracula: The Stolen Seal) [5] Known in Japan asCreative Feature: The Artwork of Audrey Kawasaki
Audrey Kawasaki is a Los Angeles-based painter who is influenced by both manga comics and art nouveau. She uses oil and graphite to create beautiful, seductive and melancholy characters on natural grain wood panels as well as canvas and other mediums.
Her Japanese heritage, sharp attention to detail and contradictory style establish a sense innocence and eroticism.
Audrey has had many shows and exhibits all over the world in the past few years, the most recent being at Merry Karnowsky Gallery in L.A which will run through August 27th (170 S. La Brea Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90036).
Her current work centers round the ideas of finding one’s calm amidst a world of disorder, turmoil and frenzy. The young female character she depicts feels the intense energy of rushing and dashing through our modern world while beautifully, seductively finding her balance of calm & peace. The movement of Audrey’s pieces always pushing & pulling both literally & metaphorically, till one loses oneself in the process. Her sharp controlled lines conveying the possibility of the control & steadiness she seeks.”
– Merry Karnowksy Gallery
Gallery
Connect
You can contact Audrey at [email protected], follow on Twitter at @AudreyKawasaki and on Facebook at facebook.com/audreykawasaki.Get the biggest daily stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email
BIRDS of prey have been pinching pants and socks from skinny-dippers to build their nests.
The red kites make their swoops when swimmers peel off to take a dip at a popular bathing spot near Glen Esk.
Unsuspecting swimmers had been left baffled by the disappearance of their underwear.
But a gamekeeper found the evidence in the birds’ nest – a selection of socks and a pair of navy underpants.
Dave Clement, head keeper at the Gannochy Estate in Angus, said: “Our trainee gamekeeper discovered the nest and we rang the RSPB to have the red kites ringed and tagged.
“What was really interesting was to see socks and underwear from a popular swimming spot actually in the nest and the surrounding trees.
“It was like the kites were cleaning up the glen.”
More wildlife news
(Image: Cascade)
Two red kite chicks were discovered in the new nest, showing that the clever insulating tactic has paid off.
It isn’t the first time kleptomaniac animals have made the headlines.
In 2012, a Bedfordshire cat became a minor celebrity after stealing clothes and other items from neighbours.
Denis stole underwear, shoes, shirts and paintbrushes – anything he could get his
pesky paws on.
His owner Lesley Newman, of Luton, said at the time: “He will come to my side of the bed and scream until I acknowledge what he has brought in. It’s like, ‘Hello, I’ve brought you a present’.’”
Another cat, Naughty Norris, prowled the Bedminster area of Bristol, bringing home
everything from sports bras and boxer shorts to dishcloths and sausages.
His embarrassed owner Richard Windsor had to write apologetic notes to neighbours explaining Norris’s behaviour and inviting them to reclaim their missing items.
A hungry badger-turned-housebreaker was caught on camera recently sneaking into
a house to help itself to a Bakewell tart in Midhurst, Sussex.
The badger realised it had an audience and made a sharp exit through the kitchen catflap.
But the sweet-toothed creature was not deterred from coming back on subsequent nights, forcing the resident to lock his catflap.Announcing the Alexa Prize Roadshow
The Alexa Prize is hitting the road and coming to a city near you! If you’re a university student or faculty member you can learn more about where we’re going and how you can participate by visiting our 2019 roadshow page for more details. This is an especially great opportunity for students/teams who have never considered applying to the Alexa Prize.
The Alexa Prize
The Alexa Prize Socialbot Grand Challenge 3, a multimillion-dollar university challenge to advance human-computer interaction, will begin accepting applications on March 4, 2019. Competing teams will create socialbots that can converse coherently and engagingly with humans on a range of current events and popular topics such as entertainment, sports, politics, technology, and fashion. Selected university teams will receive a $250,000 research grant, Alexa-enabled devices, free Amazon Web Services (AWS) to support their development efforts, and access to other tools, data, and Alexa team support.
Applications must be submitted by May 14, 2019 and will be reviewed and evaluated based on: potential scientific contribution to the field, technical merit of the approach, novelty of the idea, and the team’s ability to execute against their plan.
Bookmark this page and check back here for application details and other resources to guide you through the process. If you’d like to receive notifications, or have questions about the Alexa Prize, please contact us.
Learn more about the 2018 finalists’ journeyHe is orthodox in his theology, but in choosing him, Benedict passed over other candidates who are equally conservative but more confrontational with priests, parishioners and politicians who question church teaching.
Answering his first round of questions on Monday, Archbishop Dolan, who is tall and burly with an open, ruddy face, rarely veered into specifics. He offered praise for his predecessor, who has been criticized by some parents and parishioners for closing parishes and parochial schools in the face of a budget deficit.
Archbishop Dolan said he had been told by Cardinal Egan that the archdiocese was now in “great shape” financially, and blurted out, “There’s no intention to close any Catholic school in the archdiocese.” Then he quickly glanced at Cardinal Egan and asked, “Am I in trouble?”
He said he would reach out to priests, many of whom say they find Cardinal Egan removed and imperious. “Our priests are on the front lines of an important ministry, so I’m here to help them,” Archbishop Dolan said. “I’m their servant, I work for them, and I need them more than ever.”
Msgr. Thomas J. Shelley, a priest and a historian at Fordham University, said that many priests in New York watched the news conference, and that “the people I talk to are all very pleased.
“He comes across as very intelligent and gregarious and a happy person, someone that’s comfortable with people,” said Monsignor Shelley, who has known the archbishop for 25 years. “He gives religion a good name.”
When it comes to dealing with politicians who vote in favor of abortion rights, Archbishop Dolan said he would rather persuade them through “engagement” and “trusting dialogue,” rather than confrontation. He is not one of the small but vocal minority of American bishops who favor denying communion to Catholic politicians who support the right to abortion.
Advertisement Continue reading the main story
(In fact, later in the day, he said he had received congratulatory phone calls from President Obama and from Gov. David A. Paterson and other New York politicians.)
At the news conference, he sidestepped a question about his position on a bill before the New York Legislature that would temporarily lift the statute of limitations to allow more victims of sexual abuse to file lawsuits. Similar bills passed in other states have led to a flood of litigation and public revelations about the extent of clergy sexual abuse. The New York State Catholic Conference has lobbied against it. Archbishop Dolan said the issue was a matter of “such delicacy and precision that I’m going to have to study that one hard.”
In Milwaukee, where he has served for seven years, Archbishop Dolan has disappointed advocates for victims of sexual abuse, who accuse him of failing to find and remove all offenders from the ministry — though they acknowledge that he was one of few bishops to make public a list of abusive priests.
The archbishop has never studied or lived in New York, and does not speak much Spanish, the mother tongue of one-third of the roughly 2.5 million Catholics in the Archdiocese of New York. At the news conference, he said he was “still trying to learn,” but knew enough to celebrate the Mass and “give a rather childlike homily.”
Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You will receive emails containing news content, updates and promotions from The New York Times. You may opt-out at any time. You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters.
The number of Hispanic Catholics in New York is growing rapidly as new immigrants from Latin America fill the pews being vacated by other groups.
The Rev. Tony Hernandez, pastor of Transfiguration Church in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, said that while some Latinos had been hoping for a Hispanic archbishop, the choice of Archbishop Dolan is good for New York. “I think most important is they choose someone who is a pastoral person, and Archbishop Dolan from my experience has a strong pastoral side to him,” said Father Hernandez, who says he has known Archbishop Dolan since 2000.
The New York archdiocese, while ethnically diverse, is still dominated in many ways by Catholics of Irish ancestry. As an Irish-American, Archbishop Dolan takes the helm from a long chain of cardinals whose roots were almost exclusively in Ireland.
“It’s about who’s in the pipeline,” said Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo, a professor emeritus at Brooklyn College and a scholar on Latino Catholicism. “The further back you go, the more the Irish controlled everything, and it takes 40 years to get as far as he did. The only hope we have is for the people coming into the seminary now to start being chosen for the same sort of pipeline.”
The archdiocese, the nation’s second largest after Los Angeles, encompasses three New York City boroughs — Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island — as well as seven counties stretching as far north as the Catskills.
Advertisement Continue reading the main story
It has undergone huge shifts in recent decades: Many Catholics who once lived in cities have moved to the suburbs. The pews in some Manhattan parishes now are nearly empty, while some in Rockland are overflowing. And though New York is better off than most dioceses in its ratio of priests to parishioners, priests are aging and retiring far more quickly than new seminarians are signing up to take their place.
Cardinal Egan, who is 76, said at the news conference that his “greatest sadness” was that the archdiocese did not produce more vocations to the priesthood.
The cardinal focused on the business and financial duties of his office, erasing what he says was a $48 million budget gap left by his predecessor, Cardinal John J. O’Connor. To do it, he closed many parishes and schools, but also excelled at fund-raising.
On Monday, the New York branch of Voice of the Faithful, a Catholic reform group, called on Archbishop Dolan to re-evaluate three Manhattan parish closings ordered by Cardinal Egan: Our Lady Queen of Angels in East Harlem, Mary Help of Christians on East 12th Street and Our Lady of Vilnius in SoHo.
At St. Patrick’s Cathedral, both men celebrated the 8 a.m. Mass before a congregation that was larger than usual.
As he was leaving the Mass, Paul Murray, 26, the music director at Church of the Holy Family in Manhattan, said, “It’s great news for the archdiocese.
“We need a shepherd,” he said, then quickly added, “And we also need to show our gratitude to Cardinal Egan.”
Late in the afternoon, Archbishop Dolan visited St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers, which will graduate only three students this year to be ordained as priests in the New York archdiocese.
Archbishop Dolan said that increasing vocations was his “first mandate.” Asked his strategy, he said, “Happiness attracts.”I Love Your Lifestyle are five friends from Malmö/Gothenburg, Sweden, and for the last few years they've been making some of the best pop-punk tinged Count Your Lucky Stars brand of emo that doesn't feature someone who used to be in Snowing.
We're premiering "Oh, Twisted Me" from their new LP We Go Way Back, due out on February 29 via Dog Knights Records - who we previously named one of the best labels in the UK, so you can trust them to come through with the goods. Blending the temperamental moods of Meet Me in St Louis with the melodic sensibilities of Algernon Cadwallader and a chorus that wouldn't sound out of place on a Say Anything album, "Oh, Twisted Me" is basically four minutes of all your formative influences at once. Plus, if there's one thing to get you dreaming of t-shirt weather it's a well-placed guitar line that harmonises with the vocals.
Listen below.
We Go Way Back is available to pre-order via Dog Knights Records now.
I Love Your Lifestyle are touring Europe with Playlounge and Care in March. Full dates below.Mr. Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, and House Republicans diverge on some legislative issues — notably what to do about Chinese currency manipulation, an issue that has become a centerpiece of the Romney campaign. And that could further highlight the differences within the Republican Party.
In 1999, as House Republicans grappled with far more modest spending cuts, George W. Bush was able to underscore his claim to “compassionate conservatism” by denouncing House efforts. “I don’t think they ought to balance their budget on the backs of the poor,” he said.
Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri, a Republican House leader at the time, recalled that as a “defining moment” for the Bush campaign — one that blindsided Republicans. As Mr. Romney’s designated liaison to Congressional Republicans, Mr. Blunt said that one of his jobs was to make sure no one is surprised like that again.
Photo
In the past two weeks, he has set up meetings between Mr. Romney’s policy shop and key representatives and staff. They included a meeting between Mr. Romney and Mr. Ryan, as well as one between the Romney staff and the Republican Study Committee, a group of the most conservative House members.
“There will be issues where the governor needs to steer his own course, no doubt about that,” Mr. Blunt said. “My biggest interest is that they have all the information they need to have.”
Congress returns this week after a two-week recess, the first time it will convene since Mr. Romney emerged as the presumed nominee. Both chambers are expected to move quickly to take up a variety of fiscal measures, with the Republican-controlled House voting on small-business tax cuts and beginning planning sessions on a tax overhaul. The Senate, controlled by Democrats, will bring to the floor the so-called Buffett Rule, which would raise the minimum effective tax rate for the wealthy.
Undoubtedly, House Speaker John A. Boehner and Representative Eric Cantor, the majority leader, will move mountains to make sure House Republicans and the Romney campaign speak and act in lockstep toward the greater goal of defeating President Obama in November and retaining the House. At the same time, Mr. Obama has shown a desire to take advantage of the public’s low regard for Congress by likening Mr. Romney’s agenda to that of House Republicans.
Advertisement Continue reading the main story
But Mr. Romney may learn the lesson that has been imparted to Mr. Boehner throughout the 112th Congress — that the most conservative members will steer their own course, and loudly.
Freshmen as well as veteran members of the Republican Study Committee, led by Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, have shown no hesitation to buck the leadership. And Mr. Romney has even less leverage with them.
Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You will receive emails containing news content, updates and promotions from The New York Times. You may opt-out at any time. You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters.
Still, party leaders insist that House Republicans and Mr. Romney are united on issues that matter most. “On the big issues — spending, taxes, what we do with the deficit — I just don’t see much difference,” said Representative Tom Cole of Oklahoma, a member of the Republican leadership, “and more importantly, I don’t see an escape.”
Indeed, most Congressional Republicans feel certain that the key issues of the campaign will be employment, the economy, the budget deficit and the health care law, matters in which there is little light between Mr. Romney and most Republicans.
“We have led and will continue to lead,” Representative Lou Barletta of Pennsylvania said of House Republicans.
Photo
“Now I believe Governor Romney will have his own ideas and will use his own experience to form his message,” said Mr. Barletta, who supported Rick Santorum. “But we all do agree that President Obama’s policies have failed, and we will all rally around that.”
But that budget plan leaves little room for Mr. Romney to stray on any proposal that could cost additional money. Both Mr. Romney and House Republicans plan to increase spending on defense, and both have promised to cut tax rates and slash the deficit.
That means sharp cuts to domestic spending. The Ryan plan would cut domestic programs under Congress’s discretion, including education, law enforcement and health research — by 25 percent over 10 years compared with spending if programs were allowed to grow with inflation, or 21 percent below spending caps agreed to in July by Mr. Obama and Congress.
Having taken that politically risky course, Republicans are going to make sure their nominee does not leave them hanging.
Advertisement Continue reading the main story
“If there was to be a difference of opinion on this, then I think I would make my feelings known,” said Representative Tim Griffin, Mr. Romney’s Arkansas campaign chairman. “I would say, ‘Wait, what are you doing?’ If he says something I disagree with, that’s his right, but I am going to say I disagree.”
A campaign spokeswoman, Andrea Saul, said in a statement: “Mitt Romney is in this race to turn the economy around and get Americans back to work, and he will need the help of Congress to do that. Governor Romney will welcome the help of Congress to enact his agenda and get the country back on track.”
But disagreements have already begun to develop. On Wednesday, the Romney camp said the candidate had no problem with a Democratic law making it easier for women to sue in equal pay cases — though House Republicans had denounced it as a trial lawyers’ bonanza.
Mr. Romney said one of his priorities as president would be to deal with China ’s currency manipulation in a manner similar to the one outlined in a bill written by Senator Sherrod Brown, Democrat of Ohio, co-sponsored by Senator Lindsey E. Graham, Republican of South Carolina, and passed by the Senate last year.
However, House leaders have no intention of bringing that bill — which would order the Commerce Department to impose tough tariffs on certain Chinese goods, to the floor this year — and Mr. Boehner has referred to the measure as “dangerous.”This community is focused on Decentralised Peer-to-Peer Trade (DP2PT). The goal is to share experiences, advice, and tools for growing this space as we believe that it will be the next generation of e-commerce. Network with buyers and sellers to share your experiences in a quest to discover what DP2PT networks can offer for you. We will invite speakers and developers of the open-source tools so that your feedback can be heard. Come and discover the beauty of open and free trade!
The OpenBazaar open-source project provides the first usable example of a decentralised peer-to-peer marketplace. Its current popularity in the Bitcoin community leads us to believe that it will be the market leader in this space. This group allows people to discuss best practises for using OpenBazaar, but we are open to discussing other networks such as BitMarkets, SafeMarket, and Shadow Project.
There are many benefits to OpenBazaar. By using Bitcoin for payments and dispute mediation, OpenBazaar reduces fee overheads associates with payment processors and e-commerce platforms. Sellers who make their living on narrow profit margins have the most to benefit. Sellers are also protected from payment fraud and buyers get discounted prices without the need to expose their identity.
OpenBazaar London will meet to discuss this emerging technology and is aimed at everyone pursuing low friction trade. Prior knowledge of Bitcoin is not required to make OpenBazaar work for your business.
This Meetup group is run by the team behind Duo Search, the fast OpenBazaar search engine (https://duosear.ch).June 22, 2009
"PEOPLE ARE being kept alive." It was one of the first things that John Ging, the director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Gaza told us.
It's a pretty accurate description of the conditions in Gaza, four months after the end of Israel's Operation Cast Lead, which left 1,400 dead, over 5,000 wounded and at least 40,000 homeless. People are being kept alive--and that's about all.
Four months after the cease-fire, not a brick has been rebuilt in Gaza. Thousands of buildings--from the Palestinian parliament building (heavily damaged) and presidential residence (obliterated), to the Islamic University, the American School, Al Quds Hospital (hit with white phosphorus) and thousands of homes, shops, factories and police stations--stand exactly as they were on January 18, the last day of the war.
This is not due to a lack of money or resources. As John Ging pointed out, millions of dollars of aid has been pledged to Gaza from governments and NGOs around the world. But Israel's medieval siege of Gaza keeps out everything but the most subsistence level of food and medicine. The result is that while you won't find mass starvation in Gaza, you won't find any semblance of normal existence either.
The American School in Gaza was destroyed during Israel's onslaught (Laura Durkay | SW)
Our delegation--65 American and international activists representing 10 nationalities and 18 U.S. states--traveled to Gaza from May 30 to June 4 to witness the destruction from what Palestinians call "the last war," and to deliver aid to some of Gaza's children, who make up more than half of the 1.5 million residents of this tiny, besieged piece of land, less than half the size of New York City.
We chose to deliver toys, art supplies and playground equipment after hearing that Israel had turned away a UNICEF shipment of these items in March, claiming that they were not a "humanitarian necessity."
EVERYWHERE WE went in Gaza, two things stood out to us: on the one hand, the deliberate, calculated and intentional brutality of the war and the Israeli occupation and siege; and on the other, the incredible generosity, kindness and determination of ordinary Palestinian people.
In some places, the level of destruction was mind-numbing: Izbet Abd Rabbo, in the north, where every house has been mined and collapsed; Abasan, so close to the border with Israel that our UNRWA guides refused to let us out of the bus (it's awful to see them so afraid on their own land); Khoza'a and Sufa nearby, where we walked among indistinguishable piles of rubble, each of which used to be someone's home.
What you can do Laura Durkay has written more stories and posted photos of her trip to Gaza at her Laura on the Left Coast blog. For more on Code Pink's past and future delegations to Gaza and around the world, visit the Code Pink Web site. The organization Viva Palestina U.S. is leading a convoy to Gaza this summer; it will leave on July 4. See the Viva Palestina Web site for information, or telephone 773-226-2742.
We quickly learned that although there is supposedly a cease-fire in effect, "cease-fire" is a relative term in Gaza--and it means that Palestinians are to cease firing while Israel does what it wants.
Driving along the coast road from Rafah to Gaza City, we could clearly see Israeli gunboats on the horizon. During the day, they harass and shoot at fishermen trying to make a living in Gaza's waters, and at night, they sail close to shore and shell the coastline.
Shelling, machine-gun fire and drones flying overhead are a nightly occurrence. In just one of the five nights that we were in Gaza, five refugee camps were shelled, with one person (a mother in her 20s) killed and six others wounded.
Even in places that were spared pulverization by tanks and F-16s, the grinding weight of the siege is palpable. When we arrived at Al Shifa Hospital, the largest hospital in Gaza, the first thing the director did was apologize for the stifling heat--the hospital had no electricity, and their generators lack the capacity to run both the emergency medical equipment and the air conditioning.
The main building at Al Shifa also lacks a working elevator, since parts for every conceivable piece of machinery are impossible to obtain. Patients' family members must carry them up the stairs.
We were shown a room full of dialysis supplies, many of the boxes dented from rough handling by Israeli inspectors. This is one day's supply, we were told, and there are no reserves. Often, the hospital receives medical supplies that are deliberately damaged or that expired while being held up at the crossings too long.
Most of the buildings at Al Shifa are crumbling and dilapidated, but one is shiny and new: a pristine oncology and radiation therapy center paid for by a Saudi prince. But it sits empty and unused--the material needed to run the radiation machines is not allowed in.
Because no society can possibly function on what Israel legally allows into Gaza, people have found ways to compensate--most notably, with a booming smuggling trade that operates via the hundreds of tunnels, most 50 feet deep and up to a kilometer long, that run under the border with Egypt.
Remember the generators at Al Shifa Hospital? One hundred percent of the fuel to run them comes through these tunnels--along with numerous everyday goods, from produce, bottled water and packaged foods to small appliances, computers and auto parts.
We visited the tunnels on our last day in Gaza and were shocked to discover that they are not hidden at all--in fact, they're quite out in the open, with people (including many children and teenagers) working in them in broad daylight.
The tunnels get bombed on a regular basis, but seeing how clearly visible they are, the obvious question we had was: Why doesn't Israel bomb every single one?
It wasn't until we took a minute to think like occupiers that we understood. Bomb all the tunnels, enforce starvation, and you risk mass revolt. Bomb just enough to keep those who work in the tunnels afraid for their lives at every moment, to keep the risk--and by association, the prices--high, and you have the perfect recipe for collective punishment. I can't think of a better definition of terrorism than that.
GIVEN THE incredible privation and danger that passes for daily life in Gaza, it wouldn't have surprised me to find bitterness, anger, even hatred toward Americans since the U.S. government funds and arms Israel to the teeth. But we were continually stunned by the overwhelming friendliness, hospitality and generosity shown to us by every single Gaza resident we met.
Many Gazans speak excellent English, but even those who don't seem to know one word: "Welcome." I lost track of the number of people--from the mayor of Rafah to the many incredibly dedicated members of the UNRWA staff who |
, is just a publication. And, you know, they cover stories like you cover stories. Now, they are certainly a much more conservative paper, to put it mildly, than The New York Times. But Breitbart really is a news organization that’s become quite successful, and it’s got readers and it does cover subjects that are on the right, but it covers subjects on the left also. I mean it’s a pretty big, it’s a pretty big thing. And he helped build it into a pretty successful news organization.
Now, I’ll tell you what, I know him very well. I will say this, and I will say this, if I thought that strongly, if I thought that he was doing anything, or had any ideas that were different than the ideas that you would think, I would ask him very politely to leave. But in the meantime, I think he’s been treated very unfairly.
Advertisement Continue reading the main story
It’s very interesting ’cause a lot of people are coming to his defense right now.
PRIEBUS: We have never experienced a single episode of any of those accusations. It’s been the total opposite. It’s been a great team, and it’s just not there. And what the president-elect is saying is 100 percent true.
[cross talk]
TRUMP: And by the way, if you see something or get something where you feel that I’m wrong, and you have some info — I would love to hear it. You can call me, Arthur can call me, I would love to hear. The only one who can’t call me is Maureen [Dowd, opinion columnist]. She treats me too rough.
I don’t know what happened to Maureen! She was so good, Gail [Collins, opinion columnist]. For years she was so good.
[cross talk]
SULZBERGER: As we all say about Maureen, it’s not your fault, it’s just your turn.
[laughter]
ROSS DOUTHAT, opinion columnist: I have a slightly different, but somewhat Steve Bannon-related question, I guess. It’s about the future of the Republican Party. You started out here talking about winning in so many states where no Republican has won in decades, especially Midwestern Rust Belt states. And I think many people think that one of the reasons you won was that you deliberately campaigned as a different kind of Republican. You had different things to say on trade, entitlements, foreign policy, even your daughter Ivanka’s child care plan was sort of distinctive. And now you’re in a situation where you’re governing and staffing up an administration with a Republican Party whose leaders, and Reince, may differ with me a little on this, but don’t always see eye-to-eye on those views.
TRUMP: Although right now they’re loving me.
[laughter]
UNKNOWN: Well, right now they are.
[cross talk]
TRUMP: Paul Ryan right now loves me, Mitch McConnell loves me, it’s amazing how winning can change things. I’ve liked Chuck Schumer for a long time. I’ve actually, I’ve raised a lot of money for Chuck and given him a lot of money over the years. I think I was the first person that ever contributed to Chuck Schumer. I had a Brooklyn office, a little office, in a little apartment building in Brooklyn in Sheepshead Bay where I worked with my father.
And Chuck Schumer came in and I gave him, I believe, I don’t know if he’s willing to admit this, but I believe it was his first campaign contribution, $500. But Chuck Schumer’s a good guy. I think we’ll get along very well.
Advertisement Continue reading the main story
DOUTHAT: I guess that’s my question is, how much do you expect to be able to both run an administration and negotiate with a Republican-led Congress as a different kind of Republican. And do you worry that you’ll wake up three years from now and go back to campaigning in the Rust Belt and people will say, well, he governed more like Paul Ryan than like Donald Trump.
TRUMP: No, I don’t worry about that. ’Cause I didn’t need to do this. I was telling Arthur before: ‘Arthur I didn’t need to do this. I’m doing this to do a good job.’ That’s what I want to do, and I think that what happened in the Rust Belt, they call it the Rust Belt for a reason. If you go through it, you look back 20 years, they didn’t used to call it the Rust Belt. You pass factory after factory after factory that’s empty and rusting. Rust is the good part, ’cause they’re worse than rusting, they’re falling down. No, I wouldn’t sacrifice that. To me more important is taking care of the people that really have proven to be, to love Donald Trump, as opposed to the political people. And frankly if the political people don’t take care of these people, they’re not going to win and you’re going to end up with maybe a total different kind of government than what you’re looking at right now. These people are really angry. They’re smart, they’re workers, and they’re angry. I call them the forgotten men and women. And I use that in speeches, I say they’re the forgotten people — they were totally forgotten. And we’re going to bring jobs back. We’re going to bring jobs back, big league. I’ve spoken to so many companies already, I say, don’t plan on moving your company, ’cause you’re not going to be able to move your company and sell us your product. You think you’re going to just sell it across what will be a strong border, you know at least we’re going to have a border. But just don’t plan on it.
And I’ll tell you, I believe, and you’ll hear announcements over the next couple of months, but I believe I’ve talked numerous comp — in four-minute conversations with top people — numerous companies that have, leaving, or potentially leaving our country with thousands of jobs.
FRIEDMAN: Are you worried, though, that those companies will keep their factories here, but the jobs will be replaced by robots?
TRUMP: They will, and we’ll make the robots too.
[laughter]
TRUMP: It’s a big thing, we’ll make the robots too. Right now we don’t make the robots. We don’t make anything. But we’re going to, I mean, look, robotics is becoming very big and we’re going to do that. We’re going to have more factories. We can’t lose 70,000 factories. Just can’t do it. We’re going to start making things.
I was honored yesterday, I got a call from Bill Gates, great call, we had a great conversation, I got a call from Tim Cook at Apple, and I said, ‘Tim, you know one of the things that will be a real achievement for me is when I get Apple to build a big plant in the United States, or many big plants in the United States, where instead of going to China, and going to Vietnam, and going to the places that you go to, you’re making your product right here.’ He said, ‘I understand that.’ I said: ‘I think we’ll create the incentives for you, and I think you’re going to do it. We’re going for a very large tax cut for corporations, which you’ll be happy about.’ But we’re going for big tax cuts, we have to get rid of regulations, regulations are making it impossible. Whether you’re liberal or conservative, I mean I could sit down and show you regulations that anybody would agree are ridiculous. It’s gotten to be a free-for-all. And companies can’t, they can’t even start up, they can’t expand, they’re choking.
I tell you, one thing I would say, so, I’m giving a big tax cut and I’m giving big regulation cuts, and I’ve seen all of the small business owners over the United States, and all of the big business owners, I’ve met so many people. They are more excited about the regulation cut than about the tax cut. And I would’ve never said that’s possible, because the tax cut’s going to be substantial. You know we have companies leaving our country because the taxes are too high. But they’re leaving also because of the regulations. And I would say, of the two, and I would not have thought this, regulation cuts, substantial regulation cuts, are more important than, and more enthusiastically supported, than even the big tax cuts.
UNKNOWN: Mr. President-elect, I wanted to ask you, there was a conference this past weekend in Washington of people who pledged their allegiance to Nazism.
TRUMP: Boy, you are really into this stuff, huh?
PRIEBUS: I think we answered that one right off the bat.
UNKNOWN: Are you going to condemn them?
TRUMP: Of course I did, of course I did.
PRIEBUS: He already did.
UNKNOWN: Are you going to do it right now?
TRUMP: Oh, I see, maybe you weren’t here. Sure. Would you like me to do it here? I’ll do it here. Of course I condemn. I disavow and condemn.
SULZBERGER: We’ll go with that. I’d like to move to infrastructure, apologies, and then we’ll go back. Because a lot of the investment you are talking about, a lot of the jobs you are talking about — is infrastructure going to be the core of your first few years?
TRUMP: No, it’s not the core, but it’s an important factor. We’re going for a lot of things, between taxes, between regulations, between health care replacement, we’re going to talk repeal and replace. ’Cause health care is — you know people are paying a 100 percent increase and they’re not even getting anything, the deductibles are so high, you have deductibles $16,000. So they’re paying all of this money and they don’t even get health care. So it’s very important. So there are a lot of things. But infrastructure, Arthur, is going to be a part of it.
SULZBERGER: It’s part of jobs, isn’t it?
TRUMP: I don’t even think it’s a big part of it. It’s going to be a big number but I think I am doing things that are more important than infrastructure, but infrastructure is still a part of it, and we’re talking about a very large-scale infrastructure bill. And that’s not a very Republican thing — I didn’t even know that, frankly.
SULZBERGER: It worked for Franklin Roosevelt.
TRUMP: It didn’t work for Obama because unfortunately they didn’t spend the money last time on infrastructure. They spent it on a lot of other things. You know, nobody can find out where that last — you know, from a few years ago — where that money went. And we’re going to make sure it is spent on infrastructure and roads and highways. I have a friend, he’s a big trucker, one of the biggest. And he orders these incredible trucks, the best, I won’t mention the name but it’s a certain truck company that makes — they call them the Rolls-Royce of trucks. You know, the most expensive trucks. And he calls me up about two months ago and he goes, ‘Man, I’m going to buy the cheapest trucks I can buy.’ And I said, ‘Why?’ and — you know, and this is the biggest guy — he goes, ‘My trucks are coming back, they’re going from New York to California and they’re all busted up. The highways are in such bad shape, they’re hitting potholes, they’re hitting everything.’ He said, ‘I’m not buying these trucks anymore, I’m going to buy the cheapest stuff and the strongest tires I can get.’ That’s the exact expression he used, ‘the cheapest trucks and the strongest tires.’
We’re hitting so many bad points, we, you know, I said, ‘So tell me, you’ve been doing this how long?’ 45 years. He built it over 45 years. I said, ‘Have you ever seen it like this?’ He said, ‘The roads have never been like this.’ It’s an interesting …
BAQUET: What did, what did, I’m curious what Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan said when you said, ‘I’m going to launch a multibillion-dollar infrastructure program.’ Are they reluctant to spend that?
TRUMP: Honestly right now …
DOUTHAT: Trillion. Trillion, I think, was the figure.
BAQUET: Because they would be in the wing of the Republican Party that would say, ‘That’s great, but you’re not going to be able to do that and balance the budget.’
TRUMP: Let’s see if I get it done. Right now they’re in love with me. O.K.? Four weeks ago they weren’t in love with me. Don’t forget — if I read The New York Times, and you don’t have to put this on the record — it can be if you want, you might not want …
SULZBERGER: You say if, but you do …
TRUMP: Well, I do read it. Unfortunately. I would have lived about 20 years longer if I didn’t.
SULZBERGER: There’s Nixon’s quote right there if you’d love to reread it —
TRUMP: I know. But when you look at the different, all the newspapers, I was going to lose the presidency, I was going to take the House with me, and the Senate had no chance. It was going to be the biggest humiliation in the history of politics in this country. And instead I won the presidency, easily, and I mean easily — you look at those states, I had states where I won by 30 and 40 points. I won the presidency easily, I helped numerous senators — in fact the only senators that didn’t get elected were two — one up in New Hampshire who refused to say that she was going to vote for me, who by the way would love a job in the administration and I said, ‘No, thank you.’ That’s on the record. This is where I’m different than a politician — I know what to say, I just believe it’s sort of interesting.
She’d love to have a job in the administration, I said, ‘No, thank you.’ She refused to vote for me. And a senator in Nevada who frankly said, he endorsed me then he unendorsed me, and he went down like a lead balloon. And then they called me before the race and said they wanted me to endorse him and do a big thing and I said, ‘No thank you, good luck.’ You know, let’s see what happens. I said, off the record, I hope you lose. Off the record. He was! He was up by 10 points — you know who I’m talking about.
So, others — if you look at Missouri, [Senator Roy] Blunt, he was down five points a few days before the election, he called for help, I gave him help, and I think I was up like over 30 points in Missouri. I was leading by a massive amount, 28 points. I gave him help and he ended up winning by four points or something. I brought a number of them. Pennsylvania, brought over the finish line. Let’s see, we brought Johnson, in, you know, that was a good one. We brought him over the line in Wisconsin. Winning Wisconsin was big stuff, that’s something that …
FRIEDMAN: Mr. President-elect, I came …
TRUMP: So right now I’m in very good shape, but
FRIEDMAN: I came here thinking you’d be awed and overwhelmed by this job, but I feel like you are getting very comfortable with it.
TRUMP: I feel comfortable. I feel comfortable. I am awed by the job, as anybody would be, but I honestly, Tom, I feel so comfortable and you know it would be, to me, a great achievement if I could come back here in a year or two years and say — and have a lot of the folks here say, ‘You’ve done a great job.’ And I don’t mean just a conservative job, ’cause I’m not talking conservative. I mean just, we’ve done a good job.
SHEAR: To follow up on Matt, after you met with President Obama, he described you to folks as — that you seemed overwhelmed by what he told you. So I wonder if you are overwhelmed by the magnitude of the job that you’re about to inherit and if you can tell us anything more about that conversation with the president and the apparently subsequent conversations that you’ve had on the phone since then. And then maybe talk a little bit about foreign policy, that’s something we haven’t touched on here, and whether or not you believe in the kind of world order — a world order led by America in terms of having this country underwrite the security and the free markets of the world, which have been in place for decades.
TRUMP: Sure. I had a great meeting with President Obama. I never met him before. I really liked him a lot. The meeting was supposed to be 10 minutes, 15 minutes max, because there were a lot of people waiting outside, for both of us. And it ended up being — you were there — I guess an hour-and-a-half meeting, close. And it was a great chemistry. I think if he said overwhelmed, I don’t think he meant that in a bad way. I think he meant that it is a very overwhelming job. But I’m not overwhelmed by it. You can do things and fix it, I think he meant it that way. He said very nice things after the meeting and I said very nice things about him. I really enjoyed my meeting with him. We have — you know, we come from different sides of the equation, but it’s nevertheless something that — I didn’t know if I’d like him. I probably thought that maybe I wouldn’t, but I did, I did like him. I really enjoyed him a lot. I’ve spoken to him since the meeting.
Photo The motorcade of Mr. Trump after the meeting. Credit Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
SHEAR: What did you say to him?
TRUMP: Just a basic conversation.
I think he’s looking to do absolutely the right thing for the country in terms of transition and I really, I’m telling you, we had a meeting, Arthur, that went for an hour and a half that could have gone for three or four hours. It was a great — it was just a very good meeting.
UNKNOWN: Sort of like this meeting.
[cross talk, laughter]
TRUMP: He told me what he thought his, what the biggest problems of the country were, which I don’t think I should reveal, I don’t mind if he reveals them. But I was actually surprised a little bit. But he told me the problems, he told me things that he considered assets, but he did tell me what he thought were the biggest problems, in particular one problem that he thought was a big problem for the country, which I’d rather have you ask him. But I really found the meeting to be very good. And I hope we can have a good — I mean, it doesn’t mean we’re going to agree on everything, but I hope that we will have a great long-term relationship. I really liked him a lot and I’m a little bit surprised I’m telling you that I really liked him a lot.
Let’s go foreign policy, sure. Sure.
FRIEDMAN: What do you see as America’s role in the world? Do you believe that the role …
TRUMP: That’s such a big question.
FRIEDMAN: The role that we played for 50 years as kind of the global balancer, paying more for things because they were in our ultimate interest, one hears from you, I sense, is really shrinking that role.
TRUMP: I don’t think we should be a nation builder. I think we’ve tried that. I happen to think that going into Iraq was perhaps … I mean you could say maybe we could have settled the civil war, O.K.? I think going into Iraq was one of the great mistakes in the history of our country. I think getting out of it — I think we got out of it wrong, then lots of bad things happened, including the formation of ISIS. We could have gotten out of it differently.
FRIEDMAN: NATO, Russia?
TRUMP: I think going in was a terrible, terrible mistake. Syria, we have to solve that problem because we are going to just keep fighting, fighting forever. I have a different view on Syria than everybody else. Well, not everybody else, but then a lot of people. I had to listen to [Senator] Lindsey Graham, who, give me a break. I had to listen to Lindsey Graham talk about, you know, attacking Syria and attacking, you know, and it’s like you’re now attacking Russia, you’re attacking Iran, you’re attacking. And what are we getting? We’re getting — and what are we getting? And I have some very definitive, I have some very strong ideas on Syria. I think what’s happened is a horrible, horrible thing. To look at the deaths, and I’m not just talking deaths on our side, which are horrible, but the deaths — I mean you look at these cities, Arthur, where they’re totally, they’re rubble, massive areas, and they say two people were injured. No, thousands of people have died. O.K. And I think it’s a shame. And ideally we can get — do something with Syria. I spoke to Putin, as you know, he called me, essentially …
UNKNOWN: How do you see that relationship?
TRUMP: Essentially everybody called me, all of the major leaders, and most of them I’ve spoken to.
FRIEDMAN: Will you have a reset with Russia?
TRUMP: I wouldn’t use that term after what happened, you know, previously. I think — I would love to be able to get along with Russia and I think they’d like to be able to get along with us. It’s in our mutual interest. And I don’t go in with any preconceived notion, but I will tell you, I would say — when they used to say, during the campaign, Donald Trump loves Putin, Putin loves Donald Trump, I said, huh, wouldn’t it be nice, I’d say this in front of thousands of people, wouldn’t it be nice to actually report what they said, wouldn’t it be nice if we actually got along with Russia, wouldn’t it be nice if we went after ISIS together, which is, by the way, aside from being dangerous, it’s very expensive, and ISIS shouldn’t have been even allowed to form, and the people will stand up and give me a massive hand. You know they thought it was bad that I was getting along with Putin or that I believe strongly if we can get along with Russia that’s a positive thing. It is a great thing that we can get along with not only Russia but that we get along with other countries.
JOSEPH KAHN, managing editor: On Syria, would you mind, you said you have a very strong idea about what to do with the Syria conflict, can you describe that for us?
TRUMP: I can only say this: We have to end that craziness that’s going on in Syria. One of the things that was told to me — can I say this off the record, or is everything on the record?
SULZBERGER: No, if you want to …
TRUMP: I don’t want to violate, I don’t want to violate a …
SULZBERGER: If you want to go off the record, we have agreed you can go off the record. Ladies and gentlemen, we are off the record for this moment.
[Trump speaks off the record.]
TRUMP: Now we can go back on.
SULZBERGER: I’m going to play the cop here. We’ve got only two and a half minutes left, because they have a hard stop at 2. And by the way, I want to thank you again, on behalf of all of us …
TRUMP: Thank you.
SULZBERGER: … for this meeting, and really I mean that. We are back on the record. Maggie, you get the last question.
TRUMP: Is he a tough boss, folks? Is he tough?
HABERMAN: I have two questions, very, very quickly. One is your vice president-elect left open the idea of returning to waterboarding. You talked about that on the campaign trail. I’m hoping you can talk about how you view torture at this point, and also what are you hoping that Jared Kushner will do in your administration and will you bring him in formally?
TRUMP: O.K., O.K. So, I didn’t hear the second question.
HABERMAN: Jared Kushner. What will Jared Kushner’s role be in your administration?
TRUMP: Oh. Maybe nothing. Because I don’t want to have people saying ‘conflict.’ Even though the president of the United States — I hope whoever is writing this story, it’s written fairly — the president of the United States is allowed to have whatever conflicts he wants — he or she wants. But I don’t want to go by that. Jared’s a very smart guy. He’s a very good guy. The people that know him, he’s a quality person and I think he can be very helpful. I would love to be able to be the one that made peace with Israel and the Palestinians. I would love that, that would be such a great achievement. Because nobody’s been able to do it.
HABERMAN: Do you think he can be part of that?
TRUMP: Well, I think he’d be very good at it. I mean he knows it so well. He knows the region, knows the people, knows the players. I would love to be — and you can put that down in a list of many things that I’d like to be able to do. Now a lot of people tell me, really great people tell me, that it’s impossible, you can’t do it. I’ve had a lot of, actually, great Israeli businesspeople tell me, you can’t do that, it’s impossible. I disagree, I think you can make peace. I think people are tired now of being shot, killed. At some point, when do they come? I think we can do that. I have reason to believe I can do that.
HABERMAN: And on torture? Where are you — and waterboarding?
TRUMP: So, I met with General Mattis, who is a very respected guy. In fact, I met with a number of other generals, they say he’s the finest there is. He is being seriously, seriously considered for secretary of defense, which is — I think it’s time maybe, it’s time for a general. Look at what’s going on. We don’t win, we can’t beat anybody, we don’t win anymore. At anything. We don’t win on the border, we don’t win with trade, we certainly don’t win with the military. General Mattis is a strong, highly dignified man. I met with him at length and I asked him that question. I said, what do you think of waterboarding? He said — I was surprised — he said, ‘I’ve never found it to be useful.’ He said, ‘I’ve always found, give me a pack of cigarettes and a couple of beers and I do better with that than I do with torture.’ And I was very impressed by that answer. I was surprised, because he’s known as being like the toughest guy. And when he said that, I’m not saying it changed my man. Look, we have people that are chopping off heads and drowning people in steel cages and we’re not allowed to waterboard. But I’ll tell you what, I was impressed by that answer. It certainly does not — it’s not going to make the kind of a difference that maybe a lot of people think. If it’s so important to the American people, I would go for it. I would be guided by that. But General Mattis found it to be very less important, much less important than I thought he would say. I thought he would say — you know he’s known as Mad Dog Mattis, right? Mad Dog for a reason. I thought he’d say ‘It’s phenomenal, don’t lose it.’ He actually said, ‘No, give me some cigarettes and some drinks, and we’ll do better.’
SULZBERGER: So, I, with apologies, I’m going to go to our C.E.O., Mark Thompson, for the last, last question.
TRUMP: Very powerful man …
MARK THOMPSON: Thank you, and it’s a really short one, but after all the talk about libel and libel laws, are you committed to the First Amendment to the Constitution?
TRUMP: Oh, I was hoping he wasn’t going to say that. I think you’ll be happy. I think you’ll be happy. Actually, somebody said to me on that, they said, ‘You know, it’s a great idea, softening up those laws, but you may get sued a lot more.’ I said, ‘You know, you’re right, I never thought about that.’ I said, ‘You know, I have to start thinking about that.’ So, I, I think you’ll be O.K. I think you’re going to be fine.
SULZBERGER: Well, thank you very much for this. Really appreciate this.
TRUMP: Thank you all, very much, it’s a great honor. I will say, The Times is, it’s a great, great American jewel. A world jewel. And I hope we can all get along. We’re looking for the same thing, and I hope we can all get along well.Macy's Beauty Shop
When you’re looking to add to your beauty collection, choose from an array of makeup, skin care and perfume products that will leave you feeling and looking your best. Beauty products for men and women are available in a variety of forms. For example, grooming kits and colognes are the perfect addition to any man’s rotation of personal care items, while makeup palettes and rejuvenating facial moisturizers are essential to every woman’s bathroom counter.
Looking to change up your skin care regimen? Revitalize your skin with facial cleansers, pore-minimizing toners and serums that will leave your face looking healthy and youthful. Conclude with refreshing, wrinkle-resisting moisturizer, followed by a light application of foundation to smooth and even out the appearance of any blemishes or skin color inconsistencies. Skin firming doesn’t stop at your face. You can also choose from an array of skin tightening creams for the neck and body designed to improve elasticity and texture. Taking preventive skin care measures now means effortless beauty later!
No makeup collection is complete without eye shadows suited to your skin tone. Accent the shades with eyeliner that highlights your natural eye shape or gives an embellished, yet glamorous flourish. Primer potions ensure that your eye shadow lasts all day long, while oil-clearing solutions are an ideal base for any makeup application.
Don’t forget to stock up on brush sets and makeup holders for fast, easy storage. Whether you’re looking for eyebrow brushes, blending brushes or eye shading brushes, you won’t lose any of your makeup tools with a convenient, fashionable makeup bag.
Maintaining healthy, sleek hair is easy when you have the right hair care appliances. No matter what hairstyle you’re aiming for, get the look you want with the right blow dryer, hair straightener or curling iron.
The ideal scent awaits when you browse through the vast collection of designer perfumes and colognes, as well as celebrity fragrances—because no beauty regimen is complete without the final spritz of your favorite aroma!
Whatever you may be searching for when it comes to beauty and personal care, shop Macy’s for all your favorite brands!In this episode Chris and Laura are talking about one of their favorite things ever: COWBOY BEBOP!
The episode covers Cowboy Bebop's themes, character arcs, and just why it's so, so good. If you haven't seen it... First of all, how dare you. Second of all, go watch it, then come back and listen to this! You'll be treated to a life changing theme song remix by Chris if you do.
SHOW NOTES
ESSENTIAL BEBOP AKA BEBOP ABRIDGED:
2. Stray Dog Strut
3. Honky Tonk Women
5. Ballad of Fallen Angels
9. Jamming With Edward
10. Ganymede Elegy
12. Jupiter Jazz Pt. 1
13. Jupter Jazz Pt. 2
15. My Funny Valentine
16. Black Dog Serenade
18. Speak Like a Child
20. Pierrot le Fou
24. Hard Luck Woman
25. Real Folk Blues Pt. 1
26. Real Folk Blues Pt. 2
GALLERYUniversity of Bristol Cabot Institute researchers and their colleagues today published research that further documents the unprecedented rate of environmental change occurring today, compared to that which occurred during natural events in Earth’s history.
The research, published online on 4 January in Nature Geoscience reconstructs the changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide (pCO 2 ) during a global environmental change event that occurred about 120 Million years ago. New geochemical data provide evidence that pCO 2 increased in response to volcanic outgassing and remained high for around 1.5-2 million years, until enhanced organic matter burial in an oxygen-poor ocean caused a return to original levels.
Lead author Dr David Naafs explained: ‘Past records of climate change must be well characterised if we want to understand how it affected or will affect ecosystems. It has been suggested that the event we studied is a suitable analogue to what is happening today due to human activity and that a rapid increase in pCO 2 caused ocean acidification and a biological crisis amongst a group of calcifying marine algae. Our work confirms that there was a large increase in pCO 2. The change, however, appears to have been far slower than that of today, taking place over hundreds of thousands of years, rather than the centuries over which human activity is increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. So despite earlier claims, our research indicates that it is extremely unlikely that widespread surface ocean acidification occurred during this event.’
The observation that yet another putative ‘rapid’ geological event is occurring perhaps a thousand times slower than today and not associated with widespread surface ocean acidification has been the focus of much recent research at the University of Bristol. Co-author Professor Daniela Schmidt, who was also a Lead Author on the IPCC WGII report on Ocean systems, emphasised that today’s finding builds on one of the IPCC’s key conclusions: that the rate of environmental change occurring today is largely unprecedented in Earth history. She said, ‘This is another example that the current rate of environmental change has few if any precedents in Earth history, and this has big implications for thinking about both past and future change.’
The research was possible due to the exceptional Spanish section that the team analysed. Co-author Professor José Manuel Castro of the University of Jaen adds, ‘The sediments at Cau accumulated very rapidly resulting in an expanded section. This allowed the high resolution multidisciplinary analysis that are the basis for this important study.’
Senior Author and Director of the University’s Cabot Institute, Professor Rich Pancost, added, ‘We often use the geological record to help us test or expand our understanding of climate change, for example, determining the sensitivity of Earth’s temperature to higher CO 2 levels. But testing the risks associated with the pace of modern environmental change is proving problematic, due to a lack of similar rapid changes in the geological past. Consequently, these risks, in this case to the marine ecosystems on which so many of us depend, remain associated with profound uncertainty. Decreasing CO 2 emissions, as recently agreed in Paris, will be necessary to avoid these risks.’
Paper:
‘Gradual and sustained carbon dioxide release during Aptian Oceanic Anoxic Event 1a’ by David Naafs et al in Nature Geoscience.Everybody loves an audience—even crickets.
A new study shows that the insects change their aggressive behavior when they know other crickets are watching, the first time this phenomenon has been observed in any invertebrate. Mammals, birds, and fish are all known to be influenced by others.
In recent experiments, male crickets fighting in an arena acted more violently—and upon winning, were more jubilant—when other male or female crickets were in the audience. (See National Geographic's bug videos.)
Found worldwide, crickets live in communities defined by conflicts between individuals, usually to gain access to territories, resources, and mates.
But most previous research has focused on the fighters themselves, without placing them in the social networks in which they live.
Watch a video of a cricket fight and victory dance (around 45 seconds).
Now, the new study reveals that cricket behavior "is much more complex than we give them credit for," said study leader Lauren Fitzsimmons, a biologist at the University of Windsor in Ontario, Canada, and a postdoctoral research fellow with the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
Robert Matthews, a professor emeritus of entomology at the University of Georgia who was not involved in the study, said, "It's an area that should have been looked at long ago.
"Contests don't occur in isolation," he said. "They always are in a social context."
Taking the Stage
For their experiments, Fitzsimmons—then a Ph.D. student at Carleton University—and advisor Sue Bertram caught male and female crickets from local fields and reared their offspring in isolation in the laboratory. The team then put pairs of either wild-caught males or laboratory-raised males in a small arena at separate times, which always led to fights.
In a glass-separated viewing area adjacent to the arena, the scientists set up experiments with three audience situations: a male watching and listening to a fight, a female watching and listening to a fight, or no audience. The lab-raised male fighters had a lab-raised audience, and the wild crickets had a wild-caught audience. (See pictures of the world's deadliest animal battles.)
The researchers then videotaped each fight and played them back in slow motion, noting the aggression and overall behavior of the males in the three separate audience situations.
When males battle, they touch antennae, push each other with their jaws, bite, and grapple. The winner then shakes his body vigorously and rubs his wings together to make a distinctive song, similar to "a touchdown dance with football players," said Fitzsimmons, whose study appears July 9 in the journal Biology Letters.
The results showed that all the males fought more violently, and put on more grandiose |
debate, the Pentagon’s persistent efforts to box Obama in to the one option that the senior military leaders wanted to pursue.
At the beginning, all the major players agree that one goal should be to “defeat” the Taliban. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, says he needs at least 40,000 more troops to do that. After a few meetings, everyone realizes this goal is impossible, so they change it to “degrade” the Taliban so that at some point the Afghan security forces can take the lead in handling the threat.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asks McChrystal if he could get by with fewer than 40,000 extra troops, given this less demanding mission. McChrystal replies, “No.” Gen. James Jones, Obama’s national security adviser (and one of Woodward’s hero-sources), complains afterward that Obama could decide to protect just two Quonset huts in Afghanistan, and the brass would still ask for 40,000 more troops.
This rings true. A former senior Pentagon official told me in the 1970s that James Schlesinger, then Richard Nixon’s secretary of defense, asked the chief of naval operations to prepare a study of how many aircraft carriers the Navy would need if the president decided the United States should no longer defend the Indian Ocean. At the time, the Navy had 13 aircraft carriers, two of which patrolled the Indian Ocean. After a few weeks, the top admiral gave Schlesinger the study. Its conclusion: The Navy would still need 13 carriers.
In Woodward’s account, even after Obama decided to send 30,000 more troops, the Pentagon kept coming back with plans involving 40,000. Even after he decided not to pursue an all-out counterinsurgency campaign, the Pentagon kept coming back with plans involving just that.
Obama also kept asking his generals for more options to consider. They were playing the old trick of giving the president three pseudo-options—two that were clearly unacceptable (in this case, 80,000 more troops for full counterinsurgency and 10,000 troops just to train Afghan soldiers) and the one in the middle that they wanted (40,000 more troops). They never gave him another option. When Gen. James “Hoss” Cartwright, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, drew up a compromise plan involving 20,000 troops (believing the president had a right to see a wide span of options, even if the military didn’t agree with them), Mullen forbade him from taking it outside the Pentagon. Obama never saw it.
In the end, Woodward reveals, Obama devised his own alternative strategy and personally wrote out its terms in a six-page, single-spaced memo that he made his top civilian and military advisers read and sign on to. (Woodward reprints the memo in the back of the book.)
This, by the way, is why Obama needed to hold those 10 national-security meetings before making his final decision on an Afghan war strategy. He wasn’t “dithering,” as Dick Cheney and other Republicans complained. Each meeting raised new questions, and the top military officers were sent back to answer them. This strategic review, Woodward writes, marked “one of the rare examples in recent American history where a president had fully understood the contours of a national-security decision.”
There are two implications here. First, presidents need to be smart; they have to ask lots of questions; they can’t just let the officers roll them, like George W. Bush did. But second, because Obama fully grasped the underlying issues of the decisions on Afghanistan, this really is “Obama’s war.”
The tragedy is that, for all the intelligent thinking and meticulous strategizing, the war may well be unwinnable, by any definition of that term, for reasons beyond Obama’s—or Petraeus’ or Mullen’s or any American’s—control.
Throughout the book, Woodward’s favored figures—Gen. Jones, Derek Harvey (a dedicated Defense Intelligence Agency officer stationed in Afghanistan), and especially Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute (Bush’s “war czar” who was kept on by Obama for his continuity and intelligence)—keep warning those around them that the war looks futile.
There are two elements to the U.S. strategy: fighting the Taliban and providing protection to the Afghan people, on behalf of—and in order to build political support for—the Afghan government. However, these prescient characters keep warning that as long as Pakistan provides safe haven to the Taliban insurgents in the mountains along the country’s border, there is no way to defeat, or seriously degrade, the Taliban. And as long as Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s government is grossly corrupt and distrusted by his own people, there’s no way to build support for him, either.
In this sense, the internal struggle over whether to go with a counterterrorist strategy or a population-centric counterinsurgency strategy is beside the point. The conditions for success aren’t present for either.
Throughout the story, Obama seems to realize this, but he’s also convinced that the stakes are too high to warrant pulling out. If the Taliban take over large chunks of Afghanistan, al-Qaida could return. Or, if that doesn’t happen, an unstable Afghanistan would likely destabilize Pakistan, which, given its toxic combination of radical jihadists and a nuclear arsenal, could endanger the region or the world.
At the same time, Obama knows, from his first intelligence briefing and several to follow, that the cheap option—relying on a handful of commandos and airstrikes fired by unmanned drones—won’t work; you need troops on the ground to build confidence among the people, who will then provide intelligence on where the drones should go.
So he’s stuck. There’s also a hidden trap in a key passage of his six-page memo on the new strategy: “This approach is not fully resourced counterinsurgency or nation-building, but a narrower approach tied more tightly to the core goal of disrupting, dismantling and eventually defeating al Qaeda and preventing al Qaeda’s return to safe haven in Afghanistan or Pakistan.”
The trap is that, to the thinking of the counterinsurgency advocates—Petraeus, Mullen, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates—this “narrower” goal can be accomplished only by a certain amount of nation-building. Woodward notes that while the White House politicos saw the strategic review as a case of Obama asserting civilian authority, the military brass came away pleased that they got pretty much everything they wanted.
Still, the quandary remains, and certainly Petraeus and Gates see it: how to accomplish the mission with a border so porous and an Afghan president so illegitimate in the eyes of his own people.
Here’s where Woodward, wittingly or not, sets down a potential solution. He describes a meeting in early May 2010, where the anti-escalation group in the White House—Lt. Gen. Lute, deputy national security adviser Thomas Donilon, Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, and Vice President Joe Biden—are discussing some new intelligence suggesting that many Taliban leaders were feeling the pressures of an eight-year war, tiring of their exile in the “safe havens” across the border, where they live under the thumb of their sponsors in Pakistan’s intelligence service.
The counterinsurgency advocates saw the way out as “clear, hold, build and transfer”—clear the insurgents from a town or province, hold it so that the government can bring in essential services and thus build loyalty among the people, then transfer security to the Afghan army and police. “Maybe there was an end run,” Woodward writes, summarizing the Biden-Lute group’s thinking, “getting some Taliban to reconcile, to break with al Qaeda and provide a bridge back into Afghanistan.”
Though Woodward doesn’t say so, this “end run” has always been a part of Petraeus’ plan, and Obama’s too. Both have said many times that the war will end with a settlement, not a victory or surrender, though Petraeus in particular has stressed that the Taliban aren’t likely to make a deal as long as they think they’re winning, so we have to rack up some tactical or political victories first—which leads back to the enduring quandary: How does that happen? How do we get out of there?
Just this week, Petraeus told reporters that very high-level Taliban leaders have been reaching out to Karzai for reconciliation. What brought this on? Is this real? Or is it exaggerated by wishful thinking, brought on by a desire to quell growing doubts about this war, doubts that will be heightened, no doubt, by this book’s publication?
At one point in the book, Lute tells Obama that, given all the unlikely preconditions for success, the strategy he’s about to choose isn’t so much a “calculated risk” as a “gamble.” A gamble may be all that Obama and his team—and, by implication, the rest of us—have. Sometimes gambles pay off, sometimes not. Stay tuned for Obama’s Wars, Volume 2.
Become a fan of Slate on Facebook. Follow Slate and the Slate Foreign Desk on Twitter.CHICAGO, IL — On Election Day just over a week ago, as this city’s reporters and editors focused on whether the incumbent mayor with ties to the White House would win big or be forced into a historic run-off, an out-of-town newspaper produced a startling account of alleged abuse at a police facility called Homan Square.
The blockbuster story, published in The Guardian and written by Brooklyn-based journalist Spencer Ackerman, described the warehouse as the “domestic equivalent of a CIA black site,” where secretive police units operate and detainees are “disappeared,” with no access to lawyers or relatives and no immediate record of their whereabouts.
With its comparisons to war-on-terror practices and allegations of police brutality, the story landed big on the internet, with well more than 100,000 social shares and write-ups across the Web. The one place it didn’t get much traction: Chicago media.
The city’s two main dailies, the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times, quickly reported that city police denied any wrongdoing in pieces that offered little original reporting. The CBS affiliate in Chicago also reported the police denial. The local papers and TV stations have since covered protests from groups demanding that the facility be shuttered.
But more than a week after the initial story, local enterprise reporting remains scant. The most notable examples are a few oddly framed stories, from the Tribune and public radio station WBEZ, suggesting that the focus on Homan Square is misplaced and that, according to local defense attorneys, abusive detentions and interrogations may actually be routine and widespread. If true, that would seem to be worth digging into—but the local coverage, especially in the Tribune, put as much emphasis on possible overreach by The Guardian as it did on police abuse.
For some local media observers, it has been a discouraging week, if not entirely unexpected.
Sign up for weekly emails from the United States Project
“I’ve seen it before,” said Susy Schultz, president of Chicago’s Community Media Workshop. “Instead of jumping on a big story, the Chicago press corps will rally to take it down because missing it is embarrassing to the hometown reporters… [E]go gets in the way of good issue reporting.”
Steve Rhodes, publisher of the The Beachwood Reporter, a local media and politics site that devoted a lengthy podcast to the story, offered an even harsher critique. The past week has been one of the “most disheartening episodes in local media malfeasance that I can recall in my 23 years in Chicago,” he said. In a column today, he again pressed his colleagues in the media to take a harder look.
At the same time, not everyone was wowed by the initial Guardian report, which hung big claims on a relatively small circle of sources. Timothy J. McNulty, a former Chicago Tribune reporter who is now the co-director of the National Security Journalism Initiative at Northwestern University, said the story’s bluster might have raised questions about its credibility. “It was overblown to call it a black site,” he said.
“But,” he added, “the local media certainly have a responsibility to check it out as they would any story that came along this way.”
That has not yet happened in any sustained or serious way, even as The Guardian has continued to report on the story.
Meanwhile, one of the first publications to pick up and advance the Guardian coverage was The Intercept, a New York-based investigative news site. Juan Thompson, a former WBEZ producer who also wrote for DNAInfo in Chicago before moving to New York, wrote up the Guardian story when it broke. Two days later, after spotting a tip on Twitter, he delivered his own exclusive, an interview with a computer analyst who recounted his time at Homan Square after being picked up in a drug-related case that was later thrown out. (The Intercept is backed by Pierre Omidyar, who also supports a foundation that is a major supporter of CJR’s United States Project.)
In an interview, Thompson noted that there has been some pushback from Chicago media to The Guardian’s depiction of Homan Square—a building that is familiar to local police reporters—as a secretive site. “That’s not the point—[the point is] what’s going on in the site,” he said.
“It’s Chicago,” Thompson added. “The PD there has a notorious and nasty history of terrorizing and brutalizing people. I think it’s important.”
In fairness to the local media, the troubled history of Chicago law enforcement is known in large part due to coverage here. The Tribune and Sun-Times, with other local news organizations, including the alt-weekly Chicago Reader, relentlessly covered the torture and abuse under former Lt. Commander Jon Burge. The Tribune has done significant work on wrongful convictions, with the fallout—in terms of litigation and freed prisoners—prompting scores of follow-up stories. And in 2012, the Tribune even reported allegations that police had “disappeared” a group of NATO protestors and misled the public about it—a case that was at the center of the Guardian’s first Homan Square story. (Craig Newman, managing editor of the Sun-Times, declined to comment for this story. So did reporters I reached out to at both local papers. An editor at the Tribune did not respond to requests for comment.)
And the initial slow response may be about timing: Election Day, when the Guardian article landed, turned out to be a huge story itself. In a surprise outcome, Mayor Rahm Emanuel was forced into a run-off next month against Jesus G. Garcia, the first time in the city’s history an incumbent has faced that prospect.
But that doesn’t explain the limited coverage in the week that followed, or the odd way in which the Guardian’s coverage is treated in local accounts. Some Chicago news accounts have taken pains to note the Homan Square story came from a British publication, though the author, Ackerman, is an American. That would seem to be a way for local outlets to signal that they aren’t impressed–but whatever the difference in emphasis or dispute over certain facts, the local coverage hasn’t debunked the idea that there may be serious problems in police practices. And there is clearly an audience eager to learn more about what’s happening here.
“Even if there are flaws in the reporting of this story, which is the current theme, all of the Chicago media should be jumping on this aggressively to find out what is and isn’t true,” said Schultz, of the Community Media Workshop.
In other words, there is plenty of reporting left to do. Much of the coverage so far, in both local and national media, has focused on the accounts of defense lawyers and people under arrest. Even reading closely, it can be hard to get a handle on how pervasive the alleged police abuse was, or is. There are questions to pin down about how official policy has changed and how it is enforced, about how arrestee records are generated and what the logs show, and about how or whether we can vet the city’s assurances that everything is being done properly. Tracy Siska of the Chicago Justice Project–who was one of The Guardian’s sources, and is a vocal critic of local media–outlined some of these questions in an op-ed for Crain’s Chicago Business on Tuesday.
Reached by telephone in New York, The Guardian’s Ackerman didn’t especially want to engage in a meta-media debate.
“I really like the reporting to speak for me,” he said. “I hope it will inspire aggressive local reporting on this really important subject, that it doesn’t just become The Guardian versus the Chicago media. This really is about a story critical to Chicago citizenry.”
Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today
Jackie Spinner is CJR’s correspondent for Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Wisconsin. She is an associate journalism professor at Columbia College Chicago and a former staff writer for The Washington Post. Follow her on Twitter @jackiespinner.Every American corporation, from the largest conglomerate to the smallest firm, should ask itself right now: Will we do business with the Trump administration to further its most extreme, draconian goals? Or will we resist?
This question is perhaps most important for the country’s tech companies, which are particularly valuable partners for a budding authoritarian. The Intercept contacted nine of the most prominent such firms, from Facebook to Booz Allen Hamilton, to ask if they would sell their services to help create a national Muslim registry, an idea recently resurfaced by Donald Trump’s transition team. Only Twitter said no.
Shortly after the election, IBM CEO Ginni Rometty wrote a personal letter to President-elect Trump in which she offered her congratulations, and more importantly, the services of her company. The six different areas she identified as potential business opportunities between a Trump White House and IBM were all inoffensive and more or less mundane, but showed a disturbing willingness to sell technology to a man with open interest in the ways in which technology can be abused: Mosque surveillance, a “virtual wall” with Mexico, shutting down portions of the internet on command, and so forth. Trump’s anti-civil liberty agenda, half-baked and vague as it is, would largely be an engineering project, one that would almost certainly rely on some help from the private sector. It may be asking too much to demand that companies that have long contracted with the federal government stop doing so altogether; indeed, this would probably cause as much harm and disruption to good public projects as it would help stop the sinister ones.
But the proposed “Muslim registry,” whether it be a computerized list of people from two dozen predominately Muslim nations who enter the country (as revealed in Kris Kobach’s fatuously exposed Homeland Security agenda) or a list of all Muslims in the U.S., is both morally appalling and effectively pointless. In November 2015, asked by a reporter if the country should create “a database or system that tracks Muslims in this country,” Trump replied, “There should be a lot of systems … beyond databases. I mean, we should have a lot of systems.” The New York Times reported that Trump added he “would certainly implement that — absolutely.” At a rally later that week, he told the crowd, “So the database — I said yeah, that’s all right, fine.” The next day, George Stephanopoulos asked Trump, “Are you unequivocally now ruling out a database on all Muslims?” Trump replied, “No, not at all.” Although Trump attempted to walk back these comments during the campaign, a registry of some form is now back on the table, at least as far as Kobach is concerned.
Even on a purely hypothetical basis, such a project would provide American technology companies an easy line to draw in the sand — pushing back against any effort to track individuals purely (or essentially) on the basis of their religious beliefs doesn’t take much in the way of courage or conviction, even by the thin standards of corporate America. We’d also be remiss in assuming no company would ever tie itself to such a nakedly evil undertaking: IBM famously helped Nazi Germany computerize the Holocaust. (IBM has downplayed its logistical role in the Holocaust, claiming in a 2001 statement that “most [relevant] documents were destroyed or lost during the war.”)
With all this in mind, we contacted nine different American firms in the business of technology, broadly defined, with the following question: “Would [name of company], if solicited by the Trump administration, sell any goods, services, information, or consulting of any kind to help facilitate the creation of a national Muslim registry, a project which has been floated tentatively by the president-elect’s transition team?”
After two weeks of calls and emails, only three companies provided an answer, and only one said it would not participate in such a project. A complete tally is below.
Facebook: No answer.
Twitter: “No,” and a link to this blog post, which states as company policy a prohibition against the use, by outside developers, of “Twitter data for surveillance purposes. Period.”
Microsoft: “We’re not going to talk about hypotheticals at this point,” and a link to a company blog post that states that “we’re committed to promoting not just diversity among all the men and women who work here, but … inclusive culture” and that “it will remain important for those in government and the tech sector to continue to work together to strike a balance that protects privacy and public safety in what remains a dangerous time.”
Google: No answer.
Apple: No answer.
IBM: No answer.
Booz Allen Hamilton: Declined to comment.
SRA International: No answer.
CGI: No answer.
This isn’t to say that the companies that didn’t reply to a request for comment or declined that request are tacitly endorsing the Trump agenda in general or a Muslim registry in particular. Still, it’s asking very little of today’s tech companies to prompt them to go on record as unwilling to help create a federal list of Muslims — or so one would very much hope.
“Any technology company should resist a government request for assistance that targets a customer on the basis of race, religion, or national origin,” said ACLU attorney Ben Wizner when asked about the social and ethical obligation of these companies to fight, in some capacity, a project like the Muslim registry.
Should any of the above companies wish to expand their answer (or non-answer), this post will be updated accordingly.
Updated: December 19, 2016
Since publication, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, and Google have all stated on the record that they would not help the Trump administration build a national Muslim registry.Willie Nelson & Family will headline the House of Blues New Orleans on Sunday, January 8.
The 83-year-old Texas country music legend last performed in Louisiana back in March when he took the stage in Shreveport and Baton Rouge. His last New Orleans show—also at the House of Blues—took place in March of 2014, and he headlined Jazz Fest the year before that.
Nelson’s upcoming New Orleans concert will find him joined by his longtime touring band, Family, a group that features his sister, pianist Bobbie Nelson, as well as drummers Paul English and Billy English, harmonica player Mickey Raphael, and bassist Kevin Smith.
Nelson continues to perform regularly these days, but he’s focused on other ventures too. His new book, Pretty Paper: A Christmas Tale, was released last week (the story derives its title from the name of his 1979 Christmas album). The famously pot-friendly musician is also working on launching his own brand of marijuana—-Willie’s Reserve—in states that have legalized the plant.
Tickets will go on sale to the general public at 10am on Friday, November 4 via Ticketmaster.Republican donors with links to several presidential candidates – as well as a prominent GOP operative – are pooling their resources in a new effort to go after Donald Trump and keep the party’s presidential front-runner from winning the nomination.
The most recent bid is a reported “guerrilla campaign” led by a group called Trump Card LLC and run by Liz Mair, former communications official for the Republican National Committee.
The group’s goal, according to The Wall Street Journal, is to collect money from anonymous donors to “defeat and destroy” Trump, who has essentially led the GOP presidential field since declaring his candidacy this summer.
Further, the super PAC supporting fellow GOP candidate and Ohio Gov. John Kasich is planning to air attack ads against Trump in New Hampshire. And, in a sign of the project’s appeal among donors, it is starting to get funding from donors backing candidates other than Kasich.
Fox News has learned that, as of Sunday, 10 new donors pledged money to the group, New Day for America, since a report Thursday on the super PAC’s plans.
The group confirmed most of those donors are supporting other candidates, including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. Among them, California donor Jeffrey Le Sage told Reuters, which first reported on the new donations, that he wants to help “stand up to Donald Trump.”
Le Sage, a Bush donor, confirmed to Fox News that he donated to the pro-Kasich group.
Some in the so-called Republican establishment and GOP “donor class” fear the party will lose the general election if Trump wins the nomination, arguing his comments and views are alienating Hispanic and black voters.
The relationship between old guard Republicans and Trump, the billionaire, first-time candidate, has been rocky from the start.
Trump’s laments about being treated unfairly by the Republican National Committee and his threats to mount an independent candidacy eventually led him to sign a pledge stating he wouldn’t run as an independent and would support the nominee if he lost.
However, after news broke about the concerted effort to undermine him, Trump hinted he might consider breaking away.
“We'll see what happens,” he said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.” “I have to be treated fairly. … If I’m treated fairly, I’m fine.”
The anti-Trump effort comes as he continues to dominate the polls. The latest Fox News poll showed him with a record 28 percent support from primary voters.
In addition to the pro-Kasich and Trump Card groups, the super PAC associated with the fiscal conservative Club for Growth is trying to raise money to resume anti-Trump ads, after running a reported $1 million worth earlier this year in Iowa.
Trump Card, which would not have to disclose donors, wants $250,000 from the other GOP presidential campaigns to run anti-Trump TV, radio and web ads and to pitch opposition research to local stations in early-voting states.
Mair, who also used to work for the Scott Walker presidential campaign, wrote, “In the absence of our efforts, Trump is exceedingly unlikely to implode or be forced out of the race,” according to a memo obtained by The Journal.
“The stark reality is that unless something dramatic and unconventional is done, Trump will be the Republican nominee and Hillary Clinton will become president,” Mair continued.
Trump has threatened to sue New Day for America and reportedly said through a spokesman that Mair “worked for Scott Walker and lost her job -- who can blame her?”
Fox News’ Jessica O'Hara contributed to this report.Artist: Émilie Brout & Maxime Marion
Exhibition title: Deliverance
Venue: Steve Turner, Los Angeles, US
Date: June 17 – July 22, 2017
Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and Steve Turner, Los Angeles
Steve Turner is pleased to present Deliverance, a solo exhibition by the Paris-based collaborative duo of Émilie Brout & Maxime Marion featuring video, painting and sculpture that highlight the nexus of nature and new technology.
Among other works, they will present Lightning Ride, a video that consists of Youtube clips of taser training sessions that have been modified frame by frame with a computer-generated oil painting effect. Oasis Max Life is a floral arrangement made of smartphones and tablets displaying gif animations of plant cartoons sprouting from a block of floral arrangement foam. There also will be a painting (oil on smartphone) that depicts a floral scene found on Instagram over which the artists directly painted.
Brout and Marion (b. 1984 and 1982, Lorraine, France) studied at the École Nationale Supérieure d’Art et de Design de Nancy, the Ecole Superieure d’Art d’Aix en Provence and the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs de Paris. Since 2008 they have been collaborating on new media works that widely use content appropriated from the web and that explore the relationship between the digital and physical. Their work was included in the Moscow Biennale; ADIAF Triennale, Villeurbanne (2016) and numerous group exhibitions and screenings including those at OCAT Shenzhen (2016), Seongnam Art Center (2015) and Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2014). They have had solo exhibitions at 22,48m2, Paris (2013, 2015, 2017). They live and work in Paris.
Émilie Brout & Maxime Marion, Deliverance, 2017, Steve Turner, Los Angeles
Émilie Brout & Maxime Marion, Deliverance, 2017, Steve Turner, Los Angeles
Émilie Brout & Maxime Marion, Deliverance, 2017, Steve Turner, Los Angeles
Émilie Brout & Maxime Marion, Deliverance, 2017, Steve Turner, Los Angeles
Émilie Brout & Maxime Marion, Deliverance, 2017, Steve Turner, Los Angeles
Émilie Brout & Maxime Marion, Deliverance, 2017, Steve Turner, Los Angeles
Émilie Brout & Maxime Marion, Deliverance, 2017, Steve Turner, Los Angeles
Émilie Brout & Maxime Marion, Chien-loup, 2017, Camouflage hunting jackets, straps, 149 3/4 x 31 1/2 x 11 3/4 inches (380.4 x 80 x 29.8 cm)
Émilie Brout & Maxime Marion, Chien-loup, 2017, Camouflage hunting jackets, straps, 149 3/4 x 31 1/2 x 11 3/4 inches (380.4 x 80 x 29.8 cm)
Émilie Brout & Maxime Marion, Chien-loup, 2017, Camouflage hunting jackets, straps, 149 3/4 x 31 1/2 x 11 3/4 inches (380.4 x 80 x 29.8 cm)
Émilie Brout & Maxime Marion, Chien-loup, 2017, Camouflage hunting jackets, straps, 149 3/4 x 31 1/2 x 11 3/4 inches (380.4 x 80 x 29.8 cm)
Émilie Brout & Maxime Marion, Oasis Max Life, 2016, Tablet computers in floral foam, steel pedestal Edition, 59 x 15 3/4 x 15 3/4 inches (149.9 x 40 x 40 cm)
Émilie Brout & Maxime Marion, Oasis Max Life, 2016, Tablet computers in floral foam, steel pedestal Edition, 59 x 15 3/4 x 15 3/4 inches (149.9 x 40 x 40 cm)
Émilie Brout & Maxime Marion, Lightning Ride, 2017, HD Video, Length: 7 minutes 40 seconds
Émilie Brout & Maxime Marion, ♥Paintings (wheresaddie), 2017, Oil on smart-phone, 5 1/2 x 6 1/2 x 1/2 inches (14 x 16.5 x 1.3 cm)
Émilie Brout & Maxime Marion, Denim #4, 2017, Vacuum packed jeans, tablet wall mount, 9 1/2 x 10 x 5 1/2 inches (24.1 x 25.4 x 14 cm)
Émilie Brout & Maxime Marion, Denim #5, 2017, Vacuum packed jeans, tablet wall mount, 9 1/2 x 10 x 5 inches (24.1 x 25.4 x 12.7 cm)
Émilie Brout & Maxime Marion, Return of the Broken Screens (Samsung Galaxy Tab 2), 2016 Broken found tablet, video, 7 1/2 x 4 3/4 x 1/2 inches (19.1 x 12.1 x 1.3 cm)
Émilie Brout & Maxime Marion, Return of the Broken Screens (Motorola Moto G), 2016, Broken found smart-phone, video, 5 x 2 1/2 x 1/2 inches (12.7 x 6.4 x 1.3 cm)
Émilie Brout & Maxime Marion, Return of the Broken Screens (ASUS ZenFone 2), 2016, Broken found smart-phone, video, 6 x 3 x 1/2 inches (15.2 x 7.6 x 1.3 cm)
Émilie Brout & Maxime Marion, Return of the Broken Screens (Samsung Trend Lite), 2016, Broken found smart-phone, video, 4 3/4 x 2 1/4 x 1/2 inches (12.1 x 5.7 x 1.3 cm)How Git Encourages Open Source Contribution
Zef Hemel Blocked Unblock Follow Following Jul 14, 2010
It is almost exactly 10 years ago that I released my first piece of open source software. The name of the project was [YaBB](http://www.yabbforum.com) and it was the first open source bulletin board/forum software written in Perl. Really — Perl? Yeah, that was the lingua franca of the web at that time — [CGI](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Gateway_Interface) baby!
A few months after YaBB’s initial release the team of contributors grew to about a dozen or so people. Our main collaboration tool was the YaBB software itself and e-mail. We did not use a version control system (who knew how to use CVS anyway). The main “repository” of source code was my hard drive, or even the FTP where the YaBB website was hosted. Some people had “commit” access i.e. had the FTP username and password and they contributed by directly uploading their changed files straight to the FTP — any changes were live immediately. Once in a while we would make a release (in the beginning about a few times a day, later less frequently).
Outsiders could contribute by submitting patches to us, or send us modified files via e-mail. But frankly, that did not happen often. The barrier to contribute was pretty high. People essentially had to be invited to join the team and get FTP access to contribute. Looking back, I think this greatly reduced the amount of outside contributions. And in case you were wondering, the project is still around — not very popular anymore, it seems — but its successor [SMF](http://simplemachines.org/) seems to be doing pretty well.
Later on, as a _consumer_ of open source software I encountered this issue from the other end. Even if a project did use a version control system, like CVS or subversion, it was mostly useful to stay up to date with developments of the project team — the people with commit access. If I made any changes myself, there was no light-weight way to contribute them back. Sure, I could make a patch and send it by e-mail, but that’s a lot of hassle. Who does that? In effect, my changes only lived on my hard drive and ultimately disappeared when cleaning stuff up, after I didn’t need them anymore.
About a year ago I started to use [Git](http://git-scm.com), a _distributed_ version control system. That means that, rather than having a centralized source repository, every developer keeps his or her own repository locally. Locally, but maybe also remotely someplace, so that others can access it. For open source, a popular place to host such remote repositories is [GitHub](http://www.github.com). I host [a number](http://github.com/zefhemel) of repositories at github myself.
__So, how does “git encourage open source contribution” then?__ Well, in Git, forking a project is a very common thing to do. Effectively, as soon as you _clone_ a repository (a “checkout” in subversion-speak), you keep your own copy locally. You can commit to that copy as much as you want, create branch, tags etc. Effectively you have now created a fork of the project, which you can _push_ (upload) to your own project repository, on GitHub for instance. As an example, let’s consider [persistence.js](http://github.com/zefhemel/persistencejs) — my Javascript ORM library. According to GitHub, [there are currently 7 forks](http://github.com/zefhemel/persistencejs/network/members) of this project. The main one lives at, but there’s another one at, and yet another one at. That is, there are 7 people who made changes locally and pushed them to their own GitHub project repository.
__So, what would you _fork_ a project for, is that like a hostile take-over?__ Not really. People usually do it if they found some kind of bug, or want to add some kind of feature and publish those changes (or they want to [port the whole thing to Coffeescript](http://github.com/eegg/orm.js), lord knows why). They can do that by simply forking and pushing it to GitHub. If they want, the can send me a _pull request_, which is a request for me to pull in _their_ changes into _my_ repository, these changes can be merged into my main repository. I say _main_ repository, but there is really no such thing.
__So, does that actually work?__ Yes, it turns out that, indeed, it does. In the case of persistence.js, people have contributed bug fixes and the `persistence.migrations.js` plug-in (to handle changes in your data model) has been contributed by a “stranger”. With stranger I mean somebody who did not request to be “part of the team” (there’s not really a team), or to get commit access to anything. Just a somebody that happens to use persistence.js, and needed this plug-in. I have contributed fixes to a couple of projects started by others as well, such as [nodejs-mysql-native](http://github.com/sidorares/nodejs-mysql-native), [TouchScroll](http://github.com/davidaurelio/TouchScroll) and [congomongo](http://github.com/somnium/congomongo). Doing so was a breeze.
If your open source project is still running on subversion — or lord forbid, CVS — and you feel you do not get a lot of outside contributions, Git (or Mercurial for that matter) is definitely something to consider |
.
It wasn’t his first time, either. The man, identified only as “James”, said he would “purchase the face value of coins of £20, £50 and £100 and max out [his] credit card.” Then he would take the coins to a branch of HSBC Bank and redeem them.
This seemed to work, until it didn’t.
For while James was making deposits, the bank was seeking guidance from the Royal Mint on what to do with these precious metal commemorative coins – coins that, while advertised as “legal tender”, were not intended for circulation.
An image purporting to be correspondence from Royal Mint regional director of sales Cheryl Morgan, dated January 5, 2016 and printed on Royal Mint letterhead, was posted on the This Is Money website. It seems to explain the mint’s position on redemption – however the letter does NOT contain a signature.
Dear XXXXXXX, Commemorative Coins Further to discussions with a number of members I am writing to confirm the process for anyone wishing to redeem commemorative £20, £50 & £100 coins. The coins are issued for commemorative purposes only and are not intended to be used as cash. Members should not accept the coins at bank branches and customers who wish to return the coins should be referred to the Royal Mint. We will accept the coins returned in their original packaging along with proof of purchase. Grateful if you could inform members accordingly. Yours Sincerely, Cheryl Morgan
Regional Director of Sales
Presumably acting on the Mint’s guidance, HSBC refused the coins – but only after a teller had initially accepted them.
Fortunately for James (but maybe not so much for his preferred bank branch), he unloaded 210 of the coins before being told that the remaining 80 would not be accepted.
At the time of this writing, 80 £100 pound commemorative coins, if convertible to circulating money, would have a value of US$11,303, with an intrinsic value of approximately $2,441.60.
What is Legal Tender, Exactly?
A country’s government is empowered to enact its own guidelines as to what constitutes legal tender and what practical limitations apply to those rules within its sovereign territory.
In the United States, for instance, all “[U.S.] coins and currency (including Federal reserve notes and circulating notes of Federal reserve banks and national banks) are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues”, while “…foreign gold or silver coins are not legal tender for debts.”[1]
This means that a U.S. American Silver Eagle or $10 Olympics gold coin can be used as legal payment up to and including its face value. U.S. law does not provide for additional value to be ascribed to coins that are intrinsically more valuable than their face value.
In Canada, legal tender “refers to the money approved [by the government] for paying debts.”[2] Unlike in the United States, Canada limits the legal tender of coins based on denomination.
And while Canada has no laws compelling businesses or banks to accept any form of currency as payment (the two parties of a transaction must agree on the payment method), when it comes to Canada’s commemorative coins–which, like the Royal Mint’s UK commemoratives, are struck as collectibles and not circulating money–“arrangements are in place with Canada’s major financial institutions to help customers redeem their face value coins, if they cannot directly return them to the Mint.”
So says Alex Reeves, senior manager of the Royal Canadian Mint’s Communications Department.
But the Royal Mint of the United Kingdom offers a much more nuanced definition of legal tender.
From the Royal Mint’s website:
Legal tender has a very narrow and technical meaning in the settlement of debts. It means that a debtor cannot successfully be sued for non-payment if he pays into court in legal tender. It does not mean that any ordinary transaction has to take place in legal tender or only within the amount denominated by the legislation. Both parties are free to agree to accept any form of payment whether legal tender or otherwise according to their wishes. In order to comply with the very strict rules governing an actual legal tender it is necessary, for example, actually to offer the exact amount due because no change can be demanded.
In addition, the Royal Mint provides the following guidelines for the maximum legal tender of each of the coin denominations that it strikes:
£100 – for any amount
£50 – for any amount
£20 – for any amount
£5 (Crown) – for any amount
£2 – for any amount
£1 – for any amount
50p – for any amount not exceeding £10
25p (Crown) – for any amount not exceeding £10
20p – for any amount not exceeding £10
10p – for any amount not exceeding £5
5p – for any amount not exceeding £5
2p – for any amount not exceeding 20p
1p – for any amount not exceeding 20p
It is interesting to note that the coin denominations of £20, £50 and £100 are all special commemorative issues, and not struck for general circulation. Yet, according to the Royal Mint, coins in these denominations have unlimited legal tender status.
Up until January 2016, there was no mention made on the Royal Mint’s website regarding limitations to the legal tender status of collector coins.
But on January 10, five days after the purported letter from the Royal Mint that advised banks not to accept collector coins, the Mint updated their Legal Tender Guidelines, adding the following language about certain denominations of collector coins:
In practice this means that although the face-value UK coins in denominations of £5, £20, £50 and £100 are approved as legal tender, they have been designed as limited edition collectables or gifts and will not be entering general circulation. As such, UK shops and banks are not obliged to accept them in return for goods and services.
And…
We receive a lot of enquiries about face-value coins (including £5 crowns, £20, £50 and £100 coins) and their legal tender status. Each issue is authorised by Royal Proclamation in accordance with the requirements laid down by the Coinage Act 1971. This means that in common with coins in general circulation these coins have legal tender status. Please note that whilst the coins are legal tender, banks are not obliged to accept the coins. The Royal Mint cannot accept returns of such coins outside of the 14 days return policy[3].
The new language is convoluted but seems to say that businesses, banks, and even the government are under no obligation to accept the coins at face value under any circumstances. It makes no mention of the Mint’s possible role in advising these companies and institutions not to accept the coins in the first place.
Beyond that, by emphasizing the limits on its return policy (which, of course, any responsible retailer should have in place and state plainly), the Royal Mint is making it clear that it is not offering to redeem the coins as legal tender but will instead grant refunds for these collectible items as retail consumer goods.
Pages for individual coins for sale on the website were updated as well.
The description for the 2015 Longest Reigning Monarch UK £20 Fine Silver Coin was changed from “A coin worth its intrinsic value – £20 for £20” to “This coin has been designed to be a limited edition collectable or gift and will not be entering general circulation. As such, UK shops and banks will not accept it…”
The same goes for the Buckingham Palace 2015 UK £100 Fine Silver Coin and the Britannia 2015 £50 Fine Silver Coin, among others.
Why It Matters
Without getting into its defining physical characteristics, a “coin” as such is a monetary instrument issued under the authority of a government. If you’re using it in the sovereign territory of the issuing government, then a coin has historically been backed by the force of law as a method of payment for debt obligations.
In other words, most people would reasonably believe that a coin by definition has what is understood as legal tender status. You can spend them.
Nevertheless, the Royal Mint suggests that this commonly-accepted aspect of coinage applies solely to coins struck for general circulation. It assumes a special, quasi-legal space for commemorative issues that allows the government to market the material as legal tender–going so far as to stamp widely-understood legal tender denominations on the coins themselves–and then recuse itself, after the fact, of the debt obligation once the issue is released. All without notifying the public (including potential buyers in a secondary market) or allowing an exchange window.
Under normal circumstances the differing assumptions of the Mint and its consumer base wouldn’t be an issue, as the typical Royal Mint collector coin costs several times more than its face value and a rational individual may not find the idea of using it as money in a third-party commercial transaction an attractive proposition.
Consider the forthcoming Beatrix Potter silver 50p coin that the Mint is offering for £55 and marketing as the “first and only official UK coin to celebrate Jemima Puddle-Duck”. It contains eight grams of silver, which is worth approximately £2.34 at the time of writing.
Or the 2016 Great Fire of London cupro-nickel £2 coin featuring the delightful edge engraving “THE WHOLE CITY IN DREADFUL FLAMES”. That coin costs £10.
Spending either one of these is an inefficient way to rid yourself of these novelty coins.
But that wouldn’t necessarily be the case for the Royal Mint’s larger denomination coins, offered to collectors at face value. Frankly, the redemption of these coins should have been expected; in a thin secondary market, dealers and collectors would be just as likely to cash them in as sit on the inventory looking for a buyer.
Dealers in the U.S. CoinWeek spoke to concerning these higher denomination coins suggested they would only buy the coins at below face value. And based on the Royal Mint’s publicly-stated position on the matter, we imagine that the same will hold true eventually in the UK as well.
The legal tender status of numismatic items is a major reason why collectors purchase coins from the world’s national mints. The Royal Mint would know this simply by looking at the volume of business they do in legal tender coinage compared to the sales figures for medals, tokens, and all the other non-coin material.
Furthermore, in the case of the 293 £100 coins, the Mint did not have to honor that order. According to the WayBack Machine, the Mint had imposed a strict limit of 10 coins per household on the issue. That limit was later lifted.
And while Gresham’s Law (bad money chases good out of the market) would see to it that collector coins containing silver would get scooped up by hoarders, it would appear that the Royal Mint has tried to find a new application of the 45-year-old Coin Act to justify the fact that it can strike these souvenir trinkets at will, market them to loyal customers as real coins and then, through backdoor channels, instruct banks not to accept them at face value.
Collectors deserve and should expect better. The Royal Mint has let them down.
Editor’s Note: In preparation for this article, CoinWeek reached out to the Royal Mint for comment. As of press time, we have not received an official response. We do, however, expect to receive one later in the week. CoinWeek will post the Mint’s response as soon as it arrives.
Notes
[1] 31 U.S. Code § 5103 – Legal tender
[2] Currency Act. R.S.C., 1985, c. C-52: http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-52/page-1.html
[3] https://web.archive.org/web/20160110170431/http://www.royalmint.com/aboutus/policies-and-guidelines/legal-tender-guidelines
Sources
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-3390519/I-buy-Royal-Mint-commemorative-coins-bulk-credit-card-gain-airmiles-cash-bank-s-refusing-accept-them.html
http://www.royalmint.com/aboutus/policies-and-guidelines/legal-tender-guidelines
Buckingham Palace £100 Silver Coins Currently Available on eBayDespite France’s long and often rigid tradition of church-state separation, a strict form of secularism known as “laïcité,” the French working calendar is dotted with several national holidays based on Christian festivals.
That state of affairs has for years angered strict secularists and atheists, as well as Muslims, Jews and members of other religious faiths, whose holidays are not similarly recognized by the French state.
This week, a senior French official reignited the debate by suggesting that two Christian festivals should be struck of the calendar of public holidays and replaced by one Muslim and one Jewish festival.
Her views have sparked a firestorm of controversy in France, with one Muslim leader condemning the idea as akin to “Stealing from Peter to give to Mohammed.”
'Why not a holiday for Sikhs and Freemasons, too?'
Dounia Bouzar, newly appointed to the National Observatory on Secularism, mooted the plan in an interview with Challenges magazine on Monday.
“At the moment, every French person celebrates Christmas, and I think our public holidays should include one Jewish festival and one Muslim festival,” she said.
Rather than simply adding those dates on to the list of public holidays, however, the anthropologist insisted: “We must replace two Christian festivals with Yom Kippur and Eid.”
Catholic priest and journalist, Fr. Stéphane Le Messin, for his part, rejected the idea out of hand.
“Christianity is an integral part of French culture,” he told The Local. “Yes, there have been Jews in France for many years, and Muslims as well, though to a lesser extent, but the difference is that these religions are not an important part of French history, in the way that Christianity is,” he added.
“Also, the majority of French people are Christians. If we added Jewish and Muslim holidays, why not a day off for Sikh festivals, or a national holiday for Freemasons?”
SEE ALSO: OPINION - 'FRENCH WORKERS NEED THEIR PUBLIC HOLIDAYS'
'Robbing Peter to pay Mohammed'
Bouzar’s idea has also received criticism from the Muslim community. said the Muslim and Jewish festivals should be added to the Christian ones, rather than replace them.
“It’s totally normal to consider other [religious] communities, but we should simply add these two festivals, and not replace any,” Abdellah Zekri, president of France’s Observatory against Islamophobia, told French daily Le Figaro.
“Otherwise, people will say, ‘They want to rob Peter to pay Mohammed,’” he concluded.
Students and workers can already take a day off for religious festivals
French Jewish groups have voiced their opposition to the idea to add Yom Kippur to the calendar of national holidays.
Elie Petit, vice-president of UEJF (French Union of Jewish Students), a group which actively opposes anti-semitism and racism in French society, was pragmatic in his view of the proposal.
“There’s just no great need or demand from within the Jewish community, or wider society, to change the current system of public holidays,” he told The Local.
“We don’t consider it discrimination that there are Christian national holidays – France is a secular country but with a long Christian history, so it’s natural that the state would acknowledge that heritage in certain ways,” he added.
“In any case, students and workers in France are already entitled by law to take days off for their own individual religious festivals, so we don’t see any reason to change things,” he concluded.
Since the controversy erupted over her statements this week, Bouzar has backed down somewhat.
“It was just a thought, not an actual proposal,” she told Le Figaro on Thursday. Bouzar claimed that radical Islamists in France were feeding off a widespread feeling of alienation and marginalisation among French Muslims, and that recognizing a Muslim holiday could undermine radical recruitment.
“So I said to myself that giving Jewish and Muslim festivals a symbolic place [in the French calendar] could be one way to pull the rug from under the feet [of sectarianism].”
Is it unfair to have Christian holidays, but not Jewish or Muslim ones? Join the conversation in the comments section below.
Don't miss debates like this - join us on Facebook and TwitterTens of thousands of Rohingya are fleeing for their lives as the Burmese military engages in a scorched earth policy against Rohingya civilians. My organisation, Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, has confirmed more than 1,000 deaths so far, but the figure is probably much higher. More than 10,000 homes have been burned or destroyed, as have shops and businesses. The military is systematically going from village to village, looting and destroying everything. They leave nothing behind. There is nothing for Rohingya to return to.
The question I am asked over and over again by my Rohingya brothers and sisters in Burma is, how can this be allowed to happen again?
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, has described what is happening now in Rakhine State, Burma as predicted and preventable. History is repeating itself, but on a more horrific scale.
Last October, attacks on police stations by a new armed Rohingya organisation, now calling itself the Arakan (Arakan is another name used for Rakhine State) Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), triggered a major military operation in which hundreds were killed, villages were destroyed, and mass rape of Rohingya women took place. The United Nations described what took place as possible crimes against humanity, and the Human Rights Council established a Fact Finding Mission to investigate. The government of Burma is refusing to allow them into the country.
It was always feared that more attacks by ARSA would lead to a new offensive by the military, and that is what happened on August 25. As in 2016, the military offensive is not targeting ARSA, it is targeting civilians, with mass killings of civilians and destruction of civilian property.
We had hope that when a new government led by Aung San Suu Kyi came to power in 2016, things would change. Instead, she kept all the laws and policies which oppress us in place. She even kept in place restrictions on aid to Rohingya living in camps since their homes were destroyed by attacks in 2012. Those restrictions kill children and leave others stunted and malnourished.
READ MORE: Rohingya - 'Even a baby was not spared by the army'
One positive step by the government was the establishment of a commission chaired by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. However, it excluded any Rohingya from being members and had a limited mandate, not being allowed to look at human rights violations last week. At times, it seemed like a delaying tactic and was used as an excuse by the government for delays in changing policy and refusing to allow in the UN investigators. Last week, it did put forward some positive proposals, which the government accepted.
The situation of the Rohingya in Burma can be resolved if the political will is there. It won't be easy but it can be done.
However, at the same time as Aung San Suu Kyi was talking about implementing the recommendations, her office and government were doing the opposite of what the report recommended, using social media and state media to whip up fears and tensions against Rohingya. Her government has even gone so far as to imply the UN and other international aid agencies are helping what the government called "extremist Bengali terrorists". Stirring up pre-existing allegations some Rakhine nationalists have made in this way puts aid workers at risk of attacks and risks stopping delivery of life-saving aid to vulnerable people, including tens of thousands of children.
When the military launched its operation against us in October 2016 instead of trying to protect us, Aung San Suu Kyi's government launched a propaganda offensive defending the military and denying human rights violations were happening. Flashing "Fake Rape" signs were on her Facebook page and website. The UN later confirmed the most horrific details of mass rape of Rohingya women.
Aung San Suu Kyi used to be our only hope for changing policies and attitudes towards the Rohingya. With that hope gone, we looked towards the international community for help, but they also failed us.
Despite the establishment in March of the investigation by the UN into possible crimes against humanity committed by the Burmese military against Rohingya, and possible crimes against humanity and war crimes against other ethnic groups, no pressure has been put on the military. In fact, the opposite has happened.
OPINION: Regional actors should take a stand against Myanmar
In Europe and Asia, Min Aung Hlaing, the head of the military, is given red carpet treatment as an honoured guest. The EU has an arms embargo against Burma, but European companies are still supplying the military with other equipment.
As the international community is trying to sell him equipment instead of trying to prosecute him for violating international law, it is no surprise that he has now confidently ordered a new offensive against my people. Within Burma, Aung San Suu Kyi protects him. He knows he can act with impunity and my people pay the price.
As this new military offensive continues we will start to get many more horrific eye-witness testimonies of atrocities committed by the military - of rape, torture, babies and children being killed. All, as the UN human rights head has said, were preventable.
A major change in approach is needed by the international community if we are ever going to stop this cycle of violence against the Rohingya. The government of Burma needs to be told that international support and finance is conditional on a major change in policy towards the Rohingya. Propaganda and incitement of hatred and violence against Rohingya must stop, discriminatory laws and policies must go, the recommendations of Kofi Annan's commission must be implemented immediately and in full.
Policy must change towards the military must change as well. A visa ban should be in place for military personnel, instead of red carpet visits. There must be engagement, but it must be critical engagement on human rights and democracy, no more training and cooperation between militaries. Sanctions should be considered against military owned companies. When the UN fact-finding mission makes its report in March next year, its recommendations to hold those responsible for violence accountable, and ending impunity, must be acted upon.
The situation of the Rohingya in Burma can be resolved if the political will is there. It won't be easy but it can be done. The only alternative to action is letting us be killed. Letting Rohingya be killed has been the approach of the international community so far. There is no sign of that changing.
Tun Khin is the current president of Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, which has been a leading voice for Rohingya people around the world. He has briefed officials on the continuing human rights violations committed against Rohingya populations in the US Congress and State Department, British Parliament, Swedish Parliament, European Union Parliament and Commission, the UN Indigenous Forum in NY and the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.Ridesharing has finally been approved within the state of California. Today, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) officially recognized companies like Lyft, Sidecar, and Uber as "New Online Enabled Transportation Services" or "Transportation Networked Companies" (TNCs), approving a set of 28 rules and regulations for these entities. The move will allow ridesharing companies to continue operating around the state without fear of further government action against them.
So in short, smartphone-driven pickups are here to stay.
Since the introduction of ridesharing companies in 2012, California’s transportation regulator has consistently scrutinized the practice. By late 2012, CPUC slapped three firms with a cease-and-desist. Next came fines, which didn’t do much to stop the companies’ operations. So in December 2012, the CPUC seemed amenable to changing the rules as a way to legitimize these businesses.
And on Thursday, the CPUC formally approved that 76-page proposal (PDF) to legitimize ridesharing companies through regulations such as:
Among other requirements established in this decision, we require each TNC (not the individual drivers) to obtain a permit from the California Public Utilities Commission (Commission), require criminal background checks for each driver, establish a driver training program, implement a zero-tolerance policy on drugs and alcohol, and require insurance coverage as detailed below.
That new insurance will require a minimum of $1 million per incident worthy of coverage and a 19-point car inspection.
Previously, ridesharing companies did have some safety precautions in place. I briefly became a Lyft and SideCar driver in July 2012 and had to undergo a background check for both companies. The new regulations will certainly standardize that process across the board.
On its Twitter account, Lyft said Thursday that it was “excited for this historic decision.”
“Our decision emphasizes safety as a primary objective while fostering the development of this nascent industry,” said Commissioner Mark J. Ferron in a statement (PDF). “We have specified our expectations for the attributes of insurance. Now the insurance market will determine the best approach to ensure that there is coverage for passengers, drivers, and third parties at all times while these vehicles are operating on a commercial basis.”Police: Father admits to punching infant to death when she wouldn't stop crying
A Pennsylvania father is facing charges in connection with his 4-month-old daughter's death.Police responded to a home in the 500 block of Osage Road in Mt. Lebanon on Sunday at approximately 12:24 p.m. for reports of an unresponsive child.The child was taken to the hospital where she was later pronounced dead. An autopsy revealed she died from blunt force trauma and her death has been ruled a homicide.According to police, the girl's father, Joseph Gazzam, 30, is accused of being responsible for the injuries she suffered. Police say on Sunday he told them he fell asleep with the baby and that she fell out of bed. When doctors examined the infant's injuries and determined that was impossible, police say Gazzam changed his story. According to the criminal complaint, Gazzam recalled her being "fussy" and said she wouldn't stop crying. That's when police say he stated he punched her twice in the head, punched her in the stomach and punched her in the back. The baby's injuries included: Fractured left humerusBrain BleedLacerated heart vesselLacerated left kidneyLiver contusionMultiple contusions to the back and headHemorrhage behind the eyes3 posterior ribs fracturedAccording to court documents, the child's mother was at work when the incident happened. Gazzam is charged with homicide, recklessly endangering another person and endangering the welfare of a child.He is being held in the Allegheny County Jail.
A Pennsylvania father is facing charges in connection with his 4-month-old daughter's death.
Police responded to a home in the 500 block of Osage Road in Mt. Lebanon on Sunday at approximately 12:24 p.m. for reports of an unresponsive child.
Advertisement
The child was taken to the hospital where she was later pronounced dead. An autopsy revealed she died from blunt force trauma and her death has been ruled a homicide.
According to police, the girl's father, Joseph Gazzam, 30, is accused of being responsible for the injuries she suffered.
Police say on Sunday he told them he fell asleep with the baby and that she fell out of bed. When doctors examined the infant's injuries and determined that was impossible, police say Gazzam changed his story.
According to the criminal complaint, Gazzam recalled her being "fussy" and said she wouldn't stop crying. That's when police say he stated he punched her twice in the head, punched her in the stomach and punched her in the back.
The baby's injuries included:
Fractured left humerus
Brain Bleed
Lacerated heart vessel
Lacerated left kidney
Liver contusion
Multiple contusions to the back and head
Hemorrhage behind the eyes
3 posterior ribs fractured
According to court documents, the child's mother was at work when the incident happened.
Gazzam is charged with homicide, recklessly endangering another person and endangering the welfare of a child.
He is being held in the Allegheny County Jail.
AlertMeTune into any of the Democratic debates and you'll hear a lot about income inequality but very little about the issue that is (depending upon the economist you talk to) one of the driving factors behind today's major symptoms of inequality: rising rents, lack of affordable housing, and the fact that home ownership is now at its lowest point in decades.
Peruse the transcripts from the last debate in Milwaukee: Hillary Clinton talked a lot about how she'd like to discuss housing but never actually got around to it. Bernie Sanders said nothing. Ditto for this week's CNN town hall.
Yet round up any random group of Miamians who are struggling or feeling financially stressed, and one of the first issues to come up would likely be rent. As study after study after analysis after factoid after ranking tells us, out-of-control rent is a major issue in Miami, and though it's particularly pronounced here, it's a problem in most major cities in the country as well.It is still a tough time to be young and looking for work in the United States. With the steady destruction of blue collar industries with living wages, many have to pursue a college degree for any chance at becoming middle class. Yet higher education has become a debt plagued mess where students have to enter selective schools or pick in demand degrees to have any fighting chance in the economy. The rest go into deep debt for what is now worthless paper. Yet it is understandable for young Americans to take this risk given the weak prospects in the market for those without a college education. The recent jobs reports are more proof of the great divide that is happening in our nation based on age. Since 2009, the economy has lost about 2.7 million jobs for those between the ages of 16 to 55. However, the offset has come from adding 4 million jobs in the age range of 55 to 69. Welcome to the American Gerontocracy.
The young and old divide when it comes to jobs
There was a startling chart that I saw over the last week. It shows added jobs based on two age segments:
Practically all job growth has occurred in the 55 and higher age range. Keep in mind where wealth is concentrated in this country. Young Americans are largely broke and many are massively in debt:
Source: CNN Money
Americans under the age of 35 have a median net worth of $3,600. What are you going to do with $3,600? This is not going to buy any political favors where most of our representatives in Congress are millionaires. The voice of many young Americans are lost in the political battles that play out. So the continuing growth in jobs is largely not helping them out while many are pushed into pursuing college degrees that are becoming more and more expensive.
There are very few avenues to making it into the middle class without a college education. The facts highlight this trend. Yet keep in mind what is happening. Many of the more affordable state schools are becoming incredibly competitive to get into courtesy of their lower price point. Costs have soared at state schools as state budgets have collapsed. Most cannot get in but they still want to get an education. So they go into the for-profit market or private market where the cost of college can range from $20,000 to $50,000 per year. Yet the quality of education amongst these schools can go from a worthless piece of paper to having name recognition but no higher chance of landing a decent job.
Data highlights this trend:
“This is probably one of the more telling charts. Since 2000 average tuition and fees at public institutions has gone up by 72 percent while earnings for those with a college degree between 25 and 34 has fallen by 14.7 percent. This is the age group that is carrying the heaviest burden of the $1 trillion in outstanding student loan debt.”
But back to that net worth chart. The median net worth of those 65 and older has gone up to a median of $170,494. Adjusting for inflation, older Americans are much better off than they were in the 1980s while younger Americans are much poorer. Yet the media fails to account for all these changes and rarely highlights this important change. This is why in the recent fiscal debates the politicians were careful not to touch Social Security while at the same time acknowledging that many 20 to 30 year old Americans are likely to see major cuts in this program.
You see these issues playing out in places like Greece, Spain, and Japan where an older entrenched system is catering to the needs of wealth and is largely ignoring their younger populations. This is why there is little major talk on the hill about the absurd $1 trillion and more in student debt and the massive defaults we are now seeing. Virtually every other sector of debt is contracting while student debt is ballooning. This is why we are seeing a clash of generations occurring.
For the moment however, the irony is, that older Americans are doing slightly better than young Americans but at a cost. Many older Americans have little wealth as well and the zero interest rate policy of the Fed is crushing fixed income investments. Higher home prices because of low rates hurt first time home buyers (young Americans) but help boost the bottom line of older Americans that currently own homes. It is unfortunate that this is the situation we now find ourselves in but it is important to look at the numbers more carefully. It is still a tough employment market for young Americans.
If you enjoyed this post click here to subscribe to a complete feed and stay up to date with today’s challenging market!Esports. The idea itself is almost laughable to many: “Esports? What is that, nerds in a closet trying to beat each other at Tetris? They should go outside and get a tan, right guys?”
Put the Bud Light down and listen to me: There was once a time when esports was a joke of a concept. Those days are gone. Esports is now no laughing matter as companies that cater to gamers are joining a cast of A-list brands in sponsoring massive competitive leagues around the world that are sporting five and six figure prize pools.
All of that cash for people who wear bulky headsets and beat their keyboards hundreds of times per minute? Yeah, there are gamers out there that are richer than you. You like that? If you don’t, you can blame Intel, LG, and a few other billion dollar companies for helping to grow their paychecks by buying title sponsorships to the biggest esports events.
At the very forefront of the esports world is an American company called, fittingly, Major League Gaming, or MLG. MLG runs massive events, often called, somewhat anachronistically, LANs, all around the United States. These are no small affairs: The most recent MLG attracted 15,000 live spectators, 1,300 competitors, and around half a million people from 164 countries who tuned into the live streams of the event.
At peak, over 117,000 people were concurrently watching the weekend of madness that MLG hosted. And they do it a half-dozen times per year.
And Major League Gaming itself is no joke: The company has raised $56 million and makes its bread through advertising deals with companies like Dr. Pepper and other consumer giants, while charging for premium digital video streams and spectator passes. The company took on another $10 million invest last December to help fuel its continued growth.
A Korean esports event
Over the past year, esports has hit a new plane of growth, and currently sits in the cross-hairs of attention because a new game has exploded onto the scene, eclipsing the old warhorses of gaming. This single game has by itself caused a massive boom in viewership and interest that has allowed professional gaming to reach new heights. Please say hello to Starcraft 2.
If you have never heard the word ‘starcraft’ before, allow me to give you a brief history: 13 years ago, or roughly five decades in technology time, a game called Starcraft was released by software giant Blizzard. It would eventually become the most enduring esport of all time, with professional leagues that continue to this day abroad and at home. That is changing at last however, as Starcraft 2 has begun to steal the thunder of its predecessor. Starcraft, if you need an analogy, is the NFL of video games. In South Korea, leagues for the original Starcraft game are shown on television, and the top players are treated celebrities, with salaries to match their status. Live matches rival Metallica concerts in terms of sheer attendance.
Starcraft 2 is the sequel to Starcraft, and its release in July of 2010 marked a turning point in esports. Popular around the world, Starcraft 2 has spurred the creation of more tournaments and teams than can be counted. Starcraft 2 is quickly becoming the soccer of the esports world: beloved everywhere.
Money has followed the excitement. Teams are locking down sponsors, and even individual players are accepting corporate money to sport gear and logos for different events. The boom has been large enough that a cottage commentary industry has grown up alongside of Starcraft 2, with live shows that discuss the week’s happenings attracting thousands of viewers every night of the week. One of the most popular hosts of such content, Marcus ‘djWHEAT’ Graham has been around the block in esports. He’s been commentating on matches and hosting shows for years, and recently relaunched his stable of programming under the OneMoreGame.tv moniker, replete with new corporate sponsors and a roster of top guests and co-hosts.
We caught up with Marcus, ahem, djWHEAT, and asked him if the release of Starcraft 2 signified that esports had essentially ‘made it.’ He was bullish, but conservative, having seen the business cycle work its force in esports before.
TNW:
As a noted pillar in the esports community, do you feel a sort of vindication now that professional gaming has, in the eyes of many, come into its own?
djWHEAT:
No. Why? Because I’ve been doing this since 1999, [and I’ve] seen “magical” years in the past. Whether it was the prize purses, gaming on TV, or huge global events, each of these years made it seems like, “FINALLY IT’S HAPPENING,” when in reality it was just another stepping stone on the long journey to success. This might be a pessimistic look at things, but for me… it’s motivating. Our work isn’t done. We cannot sit back and let things run on cruise control, because we’ll end up being another “magical year” in Pro-Gaming. We need to embrace the massive success that pro-gaming is seeing right now and WORK HARDER THAN EVER to really make it “come into its own”. We need to support the players, the teams, the sponsors, and the organizations who are putting everything on the line to make this activity explode. I’m very happy to see success, but as I mentioned, this only motivates me to work harder, and make sure that the last |
al., 2010), is a disease with a disproportionate burden on males, it is important to recognize that the absolute incidence of TBI among females is significant across all age groups. Females aged 0–4 experience TBI at an annual rate of 1,218 per 100,000; and in women 75 years and older, the incidence equalizes with males at 932 per 100,000 (Faul et al., 2010). Further, although still controversial, the literature indicates that female gender may represent a risk factor for worse outcome subsequent to TBI. This may be particularly true in postmenopausal women no longer benefiting from the neuroprotective effects of estrogen and progesterone (Farace and Alves, 2000). At present, it is unknown whether TBI will differentially affect glymphatic function in females versus males and what impact this will have on the rate of biomarker clearance to the peripheral blood. Although beyond the scope of this study, answering this question will be an important area of future inquiry.It was shortly after 8:15 p.m. on Tuesday evening when Bruno Bleckmann, a professor of ancient history at the University of Düsseldorf, stepped in front of the waiting journalists. He quickly strode up to the microphone to deliver his statement. A faculty board, Bleckmann said, had arrived at the decision to declare German Education Minister Annette Schavan's Ph.D. thesis "invalid and to revoke her doctor title."
Based on an internal university analysis of Schavan's doctoral thesis, which she submitted in 1980, and on her own statement regarding her work, the committee voted 12 to 2 to invalidate her academic title, Bleckmann said. There was one abstention. "As a doctoral candidate, she systematically and deliberately presented intellectual efforts throughout her entire dissertation that were not her own," Bleckmann said. Large sections of the work, he continued, had been taken from elsewhere without adequate attribution. As such, she was guilty of "intentional deception through plagiarism."
The announcement is the worst possible outcome for Schavan. The very suspicion that she had plagiarized parts of her dissertation had "hit her hard," as she said last year. Allegations that parts of her dissertation were not consistent with academic standards were first raised last spring and were hardened in October when a blogger released detailed findings of citation shortcomings he had found in the education minister's dissertation. She has consistently denied the charges, admitting merely to "oversights." Immediately after Bleckmann finished delivering his statement, Schavan's lawyer released a statement indicating that the minister planned to file a legal challenge to the revocation of her dissertation at a Düsseldorf court. "There was no cheating involved," the statement read.
But a significant majority of the university committee disagree. Bleckmann said that the board did not believe it was necessary to commission an external evaluation of Schavan's dissertation, as the minister and her supporters had repeatedly demanded.
'Accepted Guidelines'
Bleckmann also rejected Schavan's argument that conventions regarding citations were different at the time when she wrote her dissertation. He said that the board's decision was not a "projection of today's standards back in time." He pointed out that even at the time there were "accepted guidelines" that explained how to correctly cite passages taken from secondary sources. One version of those guidelines had even been published by her Ph.D. advisor, it was recently revealed.
Bleckmann noted that the board, in deciding how to penalize the errors committed by Schavan, considered the fact that, were the doctor title revoked, the minister would be left without a degree. But, he added, "the degree and the extent of the sections determined to have been plagiarized" in addition to the "public interest in the protection and fidelity" of the process of earning academic degrees were also significant criteria.
Schavan's lawyers argue that the entire process was "error ridden" and "materially illegal." They claim that the extent of the erroneously cited passages does not justify the revocation of the minister's doctor title.
Schavan is now faced with the prospect of losing her position on Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet. It wouldn't be the first time that a German cabinet minister was forced to resign after losing a doctor title. Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg stepped down in the spring of 2011 after it was determined that he had plagiarized large sections of his Ph.D. thesis. Already, demands have been made for Schavan to resign from her party by the Greens, the Left Party and the Pirate Party.
Schavan herself learned of the university's decision thousands of kilometers away in Pretoria. Political talks in South Africa had long been planned and she elected to make the trip despite the impending decision from University of Düsseldorf. The statement from her lawyers had clearly been prepared before she left. The message is clear: Schavan intends to continue fighting to hold on to her degree.Video games often use violence uncritically in order to entertain the audience, but the lack of insight into carnage is nothing compared to the art form’s complete disregard for the complexities and joy that come from sexual relationships. Most games have barely moved past the "if you have sex, you’re about to die" trope of horror films.
Sex in games is almost exclusively used to give players, who are assumed to be male, something to ogle at between blood baths. The last place I expected a more realistic, and often touching, view of sex was the latest Wolfenstein game.
Humans being
One of the best things that Wolfenstein adds to the over-packed run-and-gun genre is the addition of scenes that show what these people do between missions to end the Nazi rule. They decorate their rooms, they play musical instruments and they connect to each other and the world in which they live. There are hints they try to find fleeting moments of contentment, even during a seemingly unwinnable war.
There is a scene that takes place inside a train that shows a Nazi official putting our hero through a sort of Aryan litmus test. If he passes, he lives. If he somehow betrays "impurities" in his blood? Well, there's a reason the gun is there. These people are in power, they’re used to being in power and they can kill anyone they want, whenever they want, for any reason.
B.J. finds himself completely at the mercy of the situation, and if they decide to end his life there is nothing he can do about it. It's a rare moment where a video game hero's agency is removed completely. The Nazi characters' first reaction, to play with that fear as if it were a toy, is scarier than almost any scene of graphic violence in the game. B.J. returns to his cabin shaken and belittled.
Anya Oliwa, B.J's companion for the train ride, is also dealing with her world coming to an end, and the loss of the people she cared about. The two characters are stuck in a train car, moving through the night towards a future that’s almost certain to contain their death. There is one bed.
"Do you mind sharing?" she asks.
What comes next isn’t over the top; the camera doesn’t zoom into the nudity so you feel like a voyeur. The situation doesn’t feel forced, it’s simply a matter of two people who share a common goal connecting in a world where neither of them have anything left to lose.
Their lives are meaningless in this new world order, and they have both recently been reminded of this in terrible ways. The idea that they would reach for something, or someone, to reconnect themselves to their inherent humanity makes all the sense in the world. This look at sex as something that can be used as a method of connection, and perhaps as a healing act, is exceedingly rare.
The fact the woman in the story initiates it, and is then not punished for it, makes the situation a rarity in pop culture as a whole.
There is a second moment in the game where a character walks in on the two characters having sex, and asks them to at least try to be a bit quieter. It’s played for laughs, and again the goal doesn’t seem to be titillation. Everyone involved in the scene seems to be more amused by the situation than anything else.
The new couple is spending a lot of time having loud, enjoyable sex, and there’s little privacy to be had in their safe house. So of course people are going to be both amused and annoyed by the situation.
The fact that sex is happening in the safe house, and often enough for people to find it funny, is almost seen as something worth celebrating. It’s a win for the resistance; people are finding each other and taking pleasure in each other’s bodies.
If the first instance of sex in the game highlights how physical intimacy can be a way to connect and heal, this moment underlines the fact that sex between consenting adults can be fun. We so rarely see people simply enjoying the act of sex in pop culture that having it presented in this way seems downright progressive for games.
Wolfenstein plays with many heavy topics, including concentration camps and eugenics, but it shows a pleasantly light touch when it comes to sex. We need more of this in gaming.…We need conspiracy of institutions to fight looters
In this interview with Professor Patrice Lumumba, a former Director of Anti-Corruption Commission in Kenya and the Director of the Kenya School of Law, he discusses the challenges of fighting corruption. Lumumba, who was on Channels Television, expresses the hope that with a sustenance of the momentum in President Muhammadu Buhari’s fight against corruption, the dividends of a corrupt-free society would be there for all to benefit.
Excerpts:
Have you had to deal with the challenge of people giving different interpretations to corruption?
I think people just try to rationalise corruption but we all know what corruption is. If you are driving on the road and you pay a policeman money to avoid prosecution, that is petty corruption. If you are in public office and you use that office for private gain, we know that is corruption. So, it is in an attempt to give a veneer of legality to corruption that we pretend we do not know what corruption is but we do.
We know the people who are thieves even in our traditional societies, and we also know that those people who are taking things that dosn’t belong to them are engaging in corruption.
I am of the view that in many African societies we pretend not to know the obvious because we have embraced things that have undermined our very being as Africans.
You’ve severally said there is a difference between fighting corruption for real and just being seen to be fighting corruption. What recently did you mean?
What I was saying is very simple. In many African countries, we create many institutions but we don’t really want those institutions to do anything. For example, many African countries are signatories to the United Nations’ Charter on Anti-corruption and the African Convention on the Prevention and Combating of Corruption, but what we do is to simply sign those documents but we don’t believe in them.
Therefore, when one is appointed into office, one is supposed to earn one’s salary and one is supposed to fight petty corruption but the moment you begin to close-in where it hurts most, particularly among the political class, then you hear them begin to say that this man is going too far, coming too close to us. The net effect, therefore, is that we corrupt out entire political space and one of the most important things that we must know is that when the entire political system is corrupt, a country can never be liberated from corruption.
I give an example in the recent past – the Panama Papers. The President of Iceland resigned mainly because of the allegation that he had something to do with it. Contrast that with South Africa, where there is a finding that the President is engaged in activities which amount to corruption and the President sees nothing wrong with it, his supporters see nothing wrong with it.
I give the South African example because it is very prominent but you can talk about this instances in almost all African countries with only few exceptions and that is why African countries are groaning under this weight. This is because you have a bunch of thieves in charge of our national resources. Corruption undermines the security of a nation and if we don’t deal with it it will deal with us.
How do you relate what is happening in Tanzania, where the President is leading the fight against corruption, to the type of approach you want to see?
Even before the Tanzanian example, we had a leader in Botswana, who has been able to demonstrate, with the support of the people, the benefits that accrue to a nation when its people choose the path of rectitude. There was a President in Namibia too. Recently, everyone has been enamoured by the zeal of President Magufulli of Tanzania. It is early days yet to give a judgment whether he is succeeding or not, but one thing you must admit is that he has telegraphed his message of anti-corruption and we hope he will remain on that course and then recruit others to support him in the fight against corruption.
One of the most dangerous things in Africa today, even if you are the President of a nation, is to declare that you are going to fight corruption. It is such a big enterprise that there would be no shortage of individuals who would want to liquidate you or to eliminate you altogether because corruption is a big industry – people pay school fees, people enjoy the big life on the basis of corruption so that those who have declared themselves to be in the fore-front of the fight against corruption, like President Magufulli and your own President Muhammadu Buhari must know that they are on the line of fire and can be eliminated anytime.
You have said that even those who are corrupt know they are engaging in corruption and those who do not engage in corruption accommodate it. With this, how successful do you think we can fight corruption in Africa?
You know it is not going to be easy.
What I view as the impediment against anti-corruption fight is that there is a sense in which in many African countries we have even ethnicised corruption. So that if an individual who is corrupt is arrested in a multi-ethnic nation like Nigeria or Kenya or the Democratic Republic of Congo, he or she would recruit people from his ethnic group to say ‘yes, he is a thief, but he is our thief’. So, if we are to fight corruption successfully, the political leadership in Africa must, in the nature of things, demonstrate that impunity would not be tolerated.
And I think it is not easy but it can be done. Why do I think that it can be done? Look at this country Nigeria, during the short period that Nuhu Ribadu was the head of the anti-graft agency and President Obasanjo was on his side, the fight against corruption was moving apace. For President Buhari, he campaigned on the promise that he would fight corruption, he was embraced by many Nigerians and, though, it is early days, it is hoped that he would continue along this trajectory.
In Tanzania, we can see the unanimity and zeal with which the people have embraced President Magufulli; but it is not going to be easy. The dividends of a corrupt-free society are so obvious that if we don’t embrace them and understand them, then we are not getting it right. The bulk of the people in Africa, particularly in political leadership, have their lives based on a corrupt foundation and they do not want to let it go.
How would you suggest leaders handle criticism, especially those fighting corruption when accused of ethnicising or politicising it?
I think what one must do is, in a manner of speaking, to be sensitive to the realities of the moment. But the truth is that thieves are thieves. It doesn’t matter where you start from – a thief is a thief. When you start with a political party, that is the beginning and you must start somewhere and this idea of apportioning blames and saying that it is only one side that is being dealt with is not an issue. The question that we must ask is a basic question: Have you been engaged in a corrupt activity? If we catch you, we deal with you according to the dictates of the law.
And in the fight against corruption, it is very incumbent on those who are in political leadership to ensure that nobody is treated like a sacred cow. One of the things that we must not lose sight of in Africa is that African countries are very fragile – talking about democracy. But in a country such as Nigeria, which is multi-ethnic – we may deny for all we want but there are Igbos, Yoruba’s, Ibibios, Hausas; and in Kenya, whether we like it or not, there are Kambas, Kikuyus and that is the reality of Africa and it is a reality that cannot be wished away because we are still in the process of trying to strengthen the state and that is why one has to be sensitive.
What type of impression do you get about young people’s approach to the fight against corruption?
You know, there was a time when I believed, naively of course, that the next generation would be a generation that would be slightly better than my generation but, all things being constant, the younger generation, in my view, is even more dangerous to Africa. This is so because they have learned from the older generation and remember the old saying that when mother cow is chewing cord, the baby cow is watching very keenly.
The next generation of Africans are watching very keenly to have the opportunity to steal. A recent survey in Kenya demonstrated that over 40% of young people think that there is nothing wrong with corruption. In fact, the only thing that they think is wrong is to be arrested and the only thing that you must do is to avoid being arrested. And I’m quite certain that if a survey is conducted today among Nigerian youths, many young Nigerians would love to be in a situation where they can steal. So some people condemn corruption some times not because they hate it but because they are yet to have the opportunity to be corrupt.
It is not going to be easy except we go back and ask ourselves as Africans what indeed we must do.What we must do is to create a new African, an African who has integrity, that is honest and that can only be done if we are focused on the fight against corruption.
Some people who could not be jailed in their own countries are being kept in prison in Europe. There are cases of some politicians in Kenya whose properties have been confiscated in the United Kingdom but nothing happened to them in Kenya. In other words, there is a sense in which we in Africa condone and encourage thieves; and in any event, in many African countries, most of those who are elected into public office are thieves. And when you elect thieves into public office, then you can rest assured that nothing would happen when they get to public office.
What must we do to engage this rebirth?
Is something wrong with our education system? Is something wrong with our value system? I remember a country like Hong Kong which had a major problem with corruption. A decision was made by the leadership that they had to clean up the system and cleaning up the system meant looking at the electoral process, the education system and all the values of the society and then re-engineer the house whereby a new Nigerian would emerge with integrity. It must be a question of going back to the basics because we still respect people who work hard. If, for instance, somebody was a goat thief in rural Nigeria, he or she would not be respected.
But the thief who is stealing billions from the federal reserves in Abuja is respected. In other words, if we steal money from the Federal Government, that is not bad; but if we steal somebody’s goat, we condemn that. We must ensure that things of the 21st century and the things that we relate to our lives are equated so that we see a thief as a thief.
How does the media come in here?
The media is sometimes complicit. Some African media celebrate thieves sometimes deliberately and sometimes unwittingly.My view is that the media has the responsibility to give the oxygen of publicity to men and women who say the right things.
This forum, for instance, gives me the opportunity to highlight some of the things that I think are critical to the fight against corruption.The tragedy in Africa is that in some cases, these thieves own the media and when they own the media, they set the agenda. So, how do we encourage the media not to engage in self-censorship? I am very happy that in the last few days of my being in Nigeria, I have seen that the media is vibrant.
The media must be encouraged to expose the thieves in our society. The only problem is that the shelf-life of the exposure is so short. We mention the thief today and by tomorrow we are discussing something else. And the next thing is that the thief has received a national honour.
What has been your experience with the law; how easy has it been?
It is not easy at all.
There was a time when I believed that the judiciary would be the last bastion in the fight against corruption but the corrupt have a way of ensuring that they have a way of corrupting the entire system. I remember when I was in charge of anti-corruption in Kenya, one government minister told me, ‘Take me to court, you are wasting my time; in any event I’m going to corrupt the judges’ (I do not know whether he did), but at the end of the day, he was acquitted.
And when you have a judiciary which itself has been compromised, then the fight would not be as easy as it should be. It is, therefore, critical that all arms of government must be reading from the same page.I have said this, even controversially at one time, that in the fight against corruption, there must be a conspiracy of institutions.
The judiciary should read from the same page as all the institutions that are involved in the investigation and prosecution and they must look at corruption more critically. It is not easy to fight corruption but it requires political will and it requires the citizenry to be mobilised fully against it. Africa has no shortage of good laws. In Africa, we have all the laws that we need except one law: The law that says we should obey the other laws.
This can be done.I never thought I’d start a column talking about Fancy Bears, but here we are.
So, it seems like every day is TUEsday at Team Sky, eh?
The Fancy Bears hack of the WADA database revealed that Bradley Wiggins had a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) which allowed him to take injections of triamcinolone, also known as Kenacort, which by all accounts is a very powerful cortisone treatment. So, does that make him a doper?
It’s complicated.
Really, it’s a gray area. Sometimes it seems like this all comes down to which teams have the craftiest doctors — or which teams decided not to join the MPCC.
[The Mouvement Pour un Cyclisme Crédible was created in 2007 by a voluntary group of pro teams. The MPCC implemented a test for cortisol levels in 2009 and requested that the UCI and WADA ban the use of corticosteroids, agreeing that riders from member teams with a low cortisol level would voluntarily abstain from competition.]
If you’re really all for clean sport, then why would you not join the MPCC? Then you see this, and you think, “Ah, that’s why they don’t want to join.”
Wiggins won the Tour in 2012 and that was a result I wanted to have faith in. Now, I think he was kind of a puppet, just told what to do and when to do it. I think he did the same thing with his training, just so he didn’t have to think about it.
I see these TUEs as a loophole, and it’s something a lot of teams, including Sky, have exploited. They have not broken any rule, so you can’t call Wiggins a drug cheat. Unfortunately, you also have to ask the question: who is the guy at the UCI signing off on this? Back then, it was Mario Zorzoli, and now he’s gone; just disappeared off the face of the earth apparently.
For me, it’s all very disappointing.
In case you’re wondering: yes, I’ve had a TUE in the past, for exercise-induced asthma. I had two attacks. I remember the first time, at a race, in spring, in Spain. My heart rate was 180bpm and I was barely putting out 270 watts. I couldn’t breathe, and it was so fucking scary. Another rider was with me, and said, “I know what’s happening, you’re having an asthma attack.” He had a Ventolin inhaler, but said, “I can’t give this to you, you need to get a TUE.”
So I went to a clinic, had histamines introduced at various levels while on an Exercycle, and next thing I knew, I had a TUE for salbutamol. That was about seven or eight years ago. You used to have to get one for a simple inhaler, for exercise-induced asthma. Then inhalers got taken off the TUE list. So since then, I’ve never had a TUE. Honestly, if I’m injured or unwell enough to need steroids to carry on, I’m definitely not riding, let alone racing my bike.
Of course, no one is going to strip Wiggins of his Tour title, or any other results. So the real question is, what good can come out of all this controversy?
Sky mentioned that, moving forward, it would be fully transparent and reveal all its riders’ TUEs. But WADA shot that down, citing doctor-patient confidentiality. So where do you draw the line? I don’t have the answers.
I don’t doubt that Wiggins has allergies. I know guys who have seen him miserable, just all snotted up, to the point they fixed it, first with an inhaler, and then with the most powerful drug possible.
I’ve never taken Kenacort, but from what I have heard, it’s just rocket fuel. All of my injuries have involved me ending up in the hospital. I can only take it from guys I’ve spoken with, how good it is. Supposedly it makes you bionic. It strips down any muscle you’re not using, and any fat you have is used as energy. Your arms waste away, your legs become lean; the muscles you do use become all muscle, no fat.
I can remember when Team Sky first launched, and Dave Brailsford and Shane Sutton said, “We won’t cheat. We’ll push it to the blue line, we’ll take it to the edge, but we won’t cheat.” But who even knows how strong cortisone is? Unless you’ve taken it, and been in the peloton, how could you know? And how fucked up is the UCI, or WADA, that a three-doctor panel just says no worries, take this right before a Grand Tour?
My feeling is that if you’re taking something as strong as what Wiggins was taking, you shouldn’t be able to race your bike. Maybe it’s okay out of competition, but the strength of that drug, to start the Tour de France on it … And then who knows, maybe he takes a tiny amount, halfway through the Tour. He would still only turn up positive with this Kenacort, and can always say, “Hey, we’ve got a TUE, that’s just the remnants from an injection a few weeks ago.” I mean, how closely are they checking the levels, when you have a TUE?
I’ve heard about this, with some of the Classics riders. They’ll pull out, a week or so before a big race, say they have a knee injury, or a sore ankle, or bronchitis, get a TUE for cortisone, get an injection, and then take a little more just before the race. If they get tested, they just say, “Eight days ago, I took something, and I have a TUE.” It’s the same sort of thing. Three days before the Tour de France? I mean, come on.
The Vuelta
The Vuelta has been over for a while now, but there were a few things that happened that are worth mentioning.
First off, the unmarked pole that took out Steven Kruijswijk. Once again: unacceptable. The last time we saw something like this was at Pais Vasco, last year. That’s Spain: “Mañana, mañana. Nah, they won’t hit that.” That just seems to be the Spanish mentality. At least that’s the feeling I get. If you can’t protect the riders from injury, you shouldn’t have a race, especially not a Grand Tour.
That brings up the topic of when finish-line barriers should be used. The amount of pushing from spectators is getting ridiculous. In the grupetto, guys know how to ask for a push in four languages — and that’s just the grupetto. When it comes to the GC guys, it can make a real difference. If you’ve got guys like Froome and Contador battling, and the Spanish fans are giving Contador pushes up a massively steep climb, and they are at a similar level, at a certain point it really becomes unfair. It happens, but the cameras don’t focus on it. I think the barriers should start 3km out — that’s when the race starts on a mountain.
As for the dangerous finishes — what can the riders do? It’s gotten so much more competitive these days. There used to be massive variances in form, nowadays everyone knows how to train, how to eat right, everyone is on a good level, everyone has the legs to fight for every corner. Gone are the days when Cipollini used to sit up, stretch his arms wide, and say, “Piano” on an uphill start. Those days are long gone.
Then you have the stage at the Vuelta where the grupetto knowingly missed the time cut. That pissed me off. I have raced every Grand Tour to make the time cut. Those guys just said, “Hey, we’re over two-thirds of the peloton, let’s just roll home.” I’ve battled time cuts so many times in my career, to watch that, it’s like, come on guys, you’re just taking the piss.
I know it’s a 150km stage, but you still race full gas. That’s what annoyed me the most; it wasn’t missing it by a minute, or five minutes, or whatever. This was 110 riders, and these guys were 30 minutes outside the time cut. Maybe the 15 days prior were so hard, they just needed a rest day.
I’ve been in the grupetto, and guys start asking, “We’re going to get time cut, what should we do?” You ride the mountains, you take the descents fast, and you roll the flats, because they will time cut you. Sometimes the grupetto actually does the final climb faster than the group in front of them because they think they might be cut. That’s how it works.
The next day at the Vuelta, Daniele Bennati (Tinkoff) — who had finished within the time cut — attacked inside the final kilometre, but was caught and passed by a bunch of guys who had finished 40 minutes back. And if I were him, I’d be understandably pissed off.
Doha Worlds
The season’s almost over, and the last, big race is the world championships in Doha, Qatar. It’s a strange place to have the Worlds, yes. I think there may be a few camels watching, and maybe a few sheiks, but that’s about it. But hey, money talks. Let’s not kid ourselves; pro cycling is a business.
I think the course will be fine, and will produce a worthy winner. I personally think it’s great that it’s a sprinter’s course for Worlds. It’s good to have a specific sprinter’s course every so often, and a climber’s course every so often. I think it’s great to change it up. Otherwise, if it’s always an “all-rounders” course, you always have the same riders — Valverde, Sagan, Gerrans — on the podium at Worlds every year.
The big question was what the Germans would do, with Greipel, Kittel, and Degenkolb — three solid sprinters on the same team. They’ve gone with Greipel over Kittel as the leader, and I think that’s the right call. Greipel is the proven athlete. Yes, Kittel is one of the fastest sprinters in the world, but Worlds is not a Tour de France stage. There’s not one team that sets up for a bunch sprint; it’s not an average of 200 watts for six hours.
At Worlds, the race starts at 200km, and for the last 70km it will be full gas. If it’s a straight-line sprint, after 180km, sure, Kittel wins. But this is not that type of race, it’s 270km, there will be heat, and crosswinds, and I’m not even confident it’s going to be much of a sprint if there’s wind.
Beyond the Germans, I think Alexander Kristoff and the Norwegians will be very dangerous, due to the distance. It’s a good course for those big strong guys, guys like Tom Boonen, but they could also suffer with the heat. The heat doesn’t affect smaller riders the same way, so you could look at a guy like Nacer Bouhanni. He’s always dangerous.
“Nacer Bouhanni is always dangerous” could be interpreted a few different ways — and rightfully so. Sometimes, you see him in a field sprint, and you say to yourself, “Mate, you can’t sprint like that”. Now, is he actually going to cause bodily harm to other sprinters? Not normally, no. It may cost them the win, but then he gets disqualified for irregular sprinting. I think the sprinters know what they are doing; they are ready for that flick.
If you want to see some dangerous sprinting, watch some of the old track cycling clips from the 1980s and 90s. I mean, Bouahnni weighs, what, 45 kilos? Can you imagine him trying to move Kittel in a sprint? He may chop the line, but then he gets relegated. He’s a bit reckless. He doesn’t sprint straight, and when he is relegated and complains, he’s just wasting his breath. If that happened at 3km to go, for sure it would cause massive carnage, but you don’t often see massive crashes within the guys fighting for first, second, and third.
Rider transfers
With the season ending, all the talk turns toward next year — rider transfers, new teams, et cetera.
One of the new teams is led by the prince of Bahrain, who is accused of torturing people who have been locked up for dissenting against his family’s government. I really don’t even know what to say about that — you wouldn’t want to turn up to team camp in poor condition, would you? Once again, money talks. Once again, pro cycling is a business.
Same old, same old, people out there are just looking out for themselves. I mean, why would Nibali go to this team? Are he and the prince best mates? Why not sign with an Italian team? Probably because this guy is paying him three times the money. Shocker.
And it’s time to say goodbye to the Tinkoff team. I think we all saw that happening four years ago. Oleg lost interest. He spent a lot of money, and had his fun, so there’s no surprise at all. People get sick of dumping in 15-20 million euros a year; it gets boring after a while.
To me, the biggest transfers are around the Bora team. That says that German cycling is taking step forward again. Okay, it’s Peter Sagan and his mates — there’s what, at least seven guys from Tinkoff headed to Bora? Still, it’s a good sign for German cycling.
It seems like there was a bit of a mix up with Tony Martin. He said no to Etixx, because he thought he was going to Bora, and they said, ‘Hang on, no, we can’t afford you.” But then he couldn’t come back to Etixx. So all of a sudden you see Tony pull out on the Champs Elysees at the end of the Tour. He said it was knee pain, but I think it was just his way to say, “Fuck you” to Patrick Lefevre.
What a year Sagan has had as world champion — what a credit to the world championship jersey. He’s carried on to be a fantastic world champ. He seems like a freak of nature, like cycling’s too easy for him, like he could have picked up any sport, and he would have been word champ. He just fell upon cycling, starting with mountain biking, and he’s still good at that. He’s just a freak of nature.
Of course, there’s suspicion everywhere — how can someone be that much better than everyone else? Training these days has gone to another level, but everyone knows it. It’s not a secret. For someone to be so much better, of course you start asking, what’s he up to? What’s he do that’s so different?
It was the same with Sky, how did they become gurus of cycling? It’s the same with track cycling at the Olympics, with Team GB. Every four years they come out and dominate. A year earlier they were not even close to as good. What just happened? But there’s just no proof.
Maybe when we have more transparency around TUEs, you may find out, you may see a few less results, certain riders not wining as often.
Until then, I guess we’ll be left wondering if every day is TUEsday.While the data from the survey is still being compiled, she said, Ms. Bara expects the number of children under 5 who died to total 120. “I would say 100 of them for sure were due to cold weather — despite our help,” she said. “Nobody saw it coming.” That worked out to a mortality rate of 2.5 per 10,000 children per day, establishing it as a full-fledged humanitarian disaster, she said.
An example was the Parwan-e-Se camp, not far from downtown Kabul, where camp leaders last February reported two deaths of children from the cold, but on Wednesday said the final total had been eight, according to Abdul Samad, the camp representative. Two died in a hospital, but the other six died in the camp, he said. “One of them was my own granddaughter,” he said. One of the smaller camps, Parwan-e-Se is home to 100 families, about 600 to 700 residents, he said.
On Wednesday, Ms. Amos, who is on a three-day visit to Afghanistan, toured that camp, largely mud huts in a former vacant lot, walking between |
part of the story: what matters is that he inhabits the character the notes suggest, and, through his trumpet, finds a truth in the music only the greatest artists could ever have located.
5. Yesterdays (Live at the Plugged Nickel)
There was a constant churn of collaborators through the early 60s but, with the recruitment of long-time target Wayne Shorter as the eventual replacement for Coltrane on sax in September 1964, Davis finally had what many have described as the greatest group in jazz history. That appraisal may do the “second great quintet” – Davis, Shorter, bassist Ron Carter, drummer Tony Williams and pianist Herbie Hancock – an injustice: they’re clearly one of the finest bands ever assembled, in any genre of music.
By the end of 1965, the new quintet were more than familiar with their leader’s counter-intuitive mindset, and keen to take him out of the comfort zone of a live repertoire that stuck to standards and ignored the adventurous new material they had been recording. Before a December residency at the Plugged Nickel in Chicago, and behind Davis’s back, Williams – barely out of his teens – suggested to Carter, Shorter and Hancock that from the first note of the first set they should play the opposite of what tradition, convention and their leader’s improvisations implied. The four musicians agreed, and didn’t waver even when, on arrival at the venue, they found out that the shows were being recorded by Columbia. The first night wasn’t taped – Davis was arguing with the label – but seven sets from the next two nights were.
Over the course of these performances, released in full in the mid-1990s as the box set The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel, you can hear the band as they work out ways to become even greater than the considerable sum of their parts. It’s hard to pick a single moment to represent the combination of genius and madness all five were channelling, but by the third night, when Davis has begun to understand what was going on, the group found a way of combining the outre adventurousness of Ornette Coleman’s and Coltrane’s bands of the time with the sharp-suited cool Davis had made a visual and audible trademark. An unexpected roll through Jerome Kern’s Yesterdays from the last set finds the group in total command of this new way of working.
6. Freedom Jazz Dance (Evolution of the Groove)
The album the quintet cut during the first studio visit after the Plugged Nickel shows, Miles Smiles, wrings every last drop of creativity out of a band relishing newly unleashed senses of purpose and possibility. The sessions were quick: a few minutes’ rehearsal, then one live take. The recordings crackle with risk-taking, and it’s difficult not to get swept away by the infectious sense of unshackled creativity every player brought to the table. The way Freedom Jazz Dance emerged from the mists is particularly fascinating. The initial run-throughs (released last year on an absorbing box set, also called Freedom Jazz Dance) show Carter struggling to hear the tune anew, having played on its original recording with Eddie Harris a few weeks earlier. After he finds a fresh heartbeat, ideas quickly take shape, but it isn’t until Davis suggests to Williams that he play triplets on every beat (“I can’t play it that fast!” the drummer complains, yet barely a minute later is doing so) that the last piece of the puzzle falls in to place. Davis comes in early but they keep going, Shorter’s and Hancock’s solos conversationally addressing the questions Davis had posed in his opening bars, Carter and Williams achieving what ought to be impossible by keeping the bedrock solid while ensuring it constantly moves and changes.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Miles Davis in 1985. Photograph: Everett/Rex/Shutterstock
The quintet dissolved following Carter’s departure and there was never really a constant, consistent Davis studio band afterwards. The British guitarist John McLaughlin’s appearance in the studio for the sessions that became the 1969 album In a Silent Way was unplanned: he was in New York to start work with Lifetime, Tony Williams’ new band, and was invited to the studio by Davis the night before. They weren’t familiar with the material, and the version of the title track that ended up on the album is effectively the sound of the musicians gently and carefully feeling their way through the complicated melody. The results – almost unbearably fragile, and feeling all the more precious for the sense that it could all fall apart at any second – are astounding. It’s a piece of rare and intense beauty, infused with both a wonder and a gradually unfolding understanding that seem to have been as real and unexpected for those playing as they are for the listener. Miraculously, it retains this sense of revelation every time you play it. Taking advantage of every development available – from amplified instruments to multitrack recording and postproduction techniques that anticipate sampling – Davis was taking his own ideas and music through the doorways technology and culture had newly opened.
Bitches Brew was the record to really scare the jazz purists away: a chaotic, crowded, often cacophonous double LP, it was as extreme as Davis had got. That he was accused of “selling out” at the moment he pushed his music to the limits of listenability probably says more about his detractors than it does about the man or his creative output. The Jimi Hendrix influence is often cited as reaching its apogee on this track, with the title’s nod to Voodoo Child; but in truth, this is Miles, the native son of East St Louis, going back down the Mississippi to reconnect anew with his blues roots. The album version differs dramatically from the one the live band had been playing, and not just because twice as many musicians had been assembled for the session. It’s slower, anchored by a simple drum track played by Don Alias, who had been brought in to play congas: he’d heard a rhythm on a visit to New Orleans and felt it would fit this track better than the one the two drummers (Jack DeJohnette and Lenny White) had tried on earlier, aborted takes. Note, too, that title: Davis isn’t stalking or hunting his prey, hiding in the undergrowth ready to pounce – he’s out there in the open, letting his quarry know that he’s on its tail. That sense of fearless indomitability is there in every note of what is, even in a career brimming with standout moments, a notably thrilling and strident performance.
From the point where Hancock first used an electric keyboard on a quintet session, detractors had been complaining that Davis was making rock music. Among the many problems with that view was: if In a Silent Way was “rock”, what on earth was Bitches Brew? Davis was operating beyond genres, pigeonholes and categorisations. He’d been using the slogan “Directions in music” on his album sleeves for years. He remained, as the 1957 album title put it, Miles Ahead.
Yet in the first half of 1970, Davis finally made a rock album. A Tribute to Jack Johnson was released in a muddle and failed to replicate the impact of Bitches Brew – partly, its maker intimated, because it was the soundtrack to a film about the controversial black heavyweight boxing champion and was suppressed by those who still felt threatened by the thought of black success in a white-dominated world. There were only two tracks, both Teo Macero-edited patchworks, both clocking in more than 25 minutes – but there’s no arguing with the music. Again, the session relied on accident and happenstance. Herbie Hancock wasn’t supposed to be there – he only dropped in to the studio on his way home from the shops. The basic boogie riff that kicks the record off wasn’t what they’d planned to record: it was just McLaughlin, bassist Michael Henderson (a teenager Davis had stolen from Stevie Wonder’s band) and drummer Billy Cobham jamming while they waited for Miles to get ready.
In the control room, Davis heard the warmup and told Macero to run the tape: Hancock set down his groceries and was ushered to the Hammond organ stool. Davis left the control room to prowl the studio, waiting to hear where he could fit in: after couple of minutes, McLaughlin changed chord but Henderson didn’t, and Davis took his opportunity. His first note is the only one that features in both chords, its blast from his trumpet resolving the tension of the apparent mistake with a moment of astonishing musical acuity and insight. Davis proceeds to solo for the next eight minutes, some of the strongest, most strident playing of his life: as if the simple format of the rolling blues-based stomp had freed him from the uncertainties and doubts that often made his playing so emotional, yet could sometimes leave him sounding tentative. By the time McLaughlin quotes Sly and the Family Stone’s Sing a Simple Song, the track has taken us off into another galaxy of sound and imagination.
10. Prelude
Influenced by everything from funk bands to avant garde classical composers, Davis’s ensemble became ever less bound to the past, even as its reliance on grooves and cyclical riffs (particularly from the rhythm section) re-emphasised its debts to blues. But whatever this new music was, it certainly wasn’t pop.
Evidence of what his mid-70s band were up to exists in several supersized portions, doled out across three official live albums and a slew of bootlegs. Nothing sounded like what this septet were up to back then, and nothing has sounded like it since. The first track on Agharta, recorded in Osaka in February 1975, is a 35-minute collision of ideas, structures and sounds given the title Prelude on the record (but which is, in effect, a medley that includes the tracks Tatu and Maiysha as well as Agharta Prelude), that is among the most singular musical moments of the 20th century. Themes and moods are built and destroyed; ideas are assayed, discussed between the instruments, then rejected, only to be replaced by something else. It’s as if the ceaseless quest for something new, the defining characteristic of his creative life, had intensified as Davis found himself skating ever closer to the edge. Though Davis continued to record, this marked the end of the parts of the journey that took him furthest and deepest into the great musical unknown.Alex Goodlett/Getty Images
Jose Reynoso, the manager of Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, wants to see his man take on Manny Pacquiao, should the 25-year-old beat Amir Khan in his upcoming bout.
The Mexican fighter is set to go up against the Brit on May 7 in Las Vegas in one of the biggest fights of the year so far, while Pacquiao will face Timothy Bradley on Saturday for the third time in his career.
Should they both win, Reynoso thinks a showdown between the two illustrious fighters could be on the cards, although he’s not looking past Khan yet, per ESPN Deportes (h/t Miguel Rivera of BoxingScene.com):
Obviously we would be interested in a big fight like that with Pacquiao. He's been one of the best fighters of recent times, and it would be a big fight, but as always we will not disrespect [Khan] by [looking to the future with Pacquiao]. Our first priority is [Khan] and that's the fighter we are preparing for.
Julian Finney/Getty Images
Alvarez is one of the biggest names in boxing at the moment, and after winning against Miguel Cotto in his last bout, he is set for some massive fights this year. The announcement of a showdown with Khan came as a surprise, although it’s a spectacle that has captured the imagination of many, even if Canelo is a big favourite for victory.
It’s been anticipated that he would fight middleweight king Gennady Golovkin, should he get past the Bolton puncher, although it’s clear the prospect of Pacquiao is something they’re interested in, too.
The FightNights.com Twitter feed thinks Pacquiao has what it takes to cause the Mexican superstar problems:
Of course, plenty needs to come off for this fight to happen, and perhaps it’s something we’ll hear more about should these two get through their respective battles in the weeks to come. The difference in styles, with Canelo’s power and durability up against Pacquiao’s hand speed and work rate, would make for an intriguing fight.
ROBYN BECK/Getty Images
However, it seems unlikely. Pacquiao has stated that this fight with Bradley—in which he’ll be seeking to take a 2-1 advantage in the trilogy—is likely to be his last, per Rivera. Still, as James Robson of the Manchester Evening News noted, he’s still a man in demand:
Key figures have suggested the chance for a Canelo-Pacquiao showdown has passed, too. “I heard Bob Arum wanted to talk to me about making Pacquiao-Canelo, but hey, I think that train has already left the station,” said Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya recently, per Carlos Boogs of BoxingScene.com.
Alex Goodlett/Getty Images
Pacquiao has had a wonderful career, and while another fight with Bradley is considered by some to be an underwhelming end to it, few would begrudge the 37-year-old for hanging up the gloves. However, he’s battled back from surgery on his shoulder for this upcoming bout, and you wonder whether he would have done so with just one fight against a familiar opponent in mind.
A showdown with Canelo would be a massive occasion and a fascinating bout. But the youngster is a man who seems to be on a collision course with Golovkin, and that's a fight that’d appeal to the boxing stratosphere just as much. As De la Hoya suggested, it seems as though the time for these two fighters to go toe-to-toe may have come and gone.This was posted Tuesday, December 6, 2016 by Rodney Ho on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
Last week, Breitbart posted a story with this enticing red meat headline for climate change deniers: "Global Temperatures Plunge. Icy Silence from Climate Alarmists."
It even used video from Atlanta-based Weather.com to prove its point. (IBM now owns the website and it's technically separate from the Weather Channel cable network. But IBM licenses the Weather Channel name so it can use it as well. Totally confusing.)
Today, Weather.com icily responded with this headline: "Note to Breitbart: Earth is not cooling, climate change is real and please stop using our video to mislead Americans."
Though we would prefer to focus on our usual coverage of weather and climate science, in this case we felt it important to add our two cents — especially because a video clip from weather.com (La Niña in Pacific Affects Weather in New England) was prominently featured at the top of the Breitbart article. Breitbart had the legal right to use this clip as part of a content-sharing agreement with another company, but there should be no assumption that The Weather Company endorses the article associated with it.
The Weather Channel said Breitbart "cherry picked" a single item out of context to build a misleading case that the climate is not getting warmer due to man-made causes, that scientists are just making this stuff up.
The story then goes point by point over the Breitbart story, noting various falsehoods. After a strong El Nino event, temperatures do drop, the Weather Channel said. But this alone is not indicative that the climate as a whole is getting cooler. 2016 is now considered the warmest on record and 2015 the second warmest, according to climate scientist Zeke Hausfather.
And it ended with this: "Finally, to our friends at Breitbart: The next time you write a climate change article and need fact checking help, please call. We're here for you. I'm sure we both agree this topic is too important to get wrong."
Breitbart as of this writing has not responded.A historically black church in Charlotte rallying behind Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is getting national attention.
Church members at Antioch Road to Glory International Ministries know Sunday's event may set them apart from traditional political ideologies in the black community but they feel what they are doing is what's best for their community.
Katrina Rodgers, the daughter of the church's founder and who grew up through the church's 38-year history, said she believes initiatives Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has supported have hurt the black community the church serves.
>> Read more trending stories
“It had a rippling effect,” Rodgers said. “Not only did the prison population increase but it brought about division in our homes.”
The church will hold a town hall Sunday with headliners such as Trump's daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, and former “The Apprentice” star Omarosa.
Supporting Trump will help working blacks, church members said.
“Providing jobs would automatically have a rippling effect on the economy which would have effects on crime rates which would have its effect on families,” Rodger said.
Rodgers said she knows the move isn't popular and the church has already been ridiculed for its stance.
“This is what we feel in our hearts of hearts that is right for us to do so we're moving forward on that,” Rodgers said.
Regardless of political viewpoint, the church invites anyone interested to attend.
During the town hall, which starts at noon in NoDa, the floor will be opened for discussion about the presidential election.IT’S a Christmas miracle.
NFL rookie Marshon Lattimore pulled off one of the most spectacular catches of the year while playing for the New Orleans Saints in their clash against the Atlanta Falcons.
The 21-year-old was able to intercept the ball after diving to tackle Falcons wide receiver Marvin Hall.
Hall was running to catch a pass but fumbled it, leaving it falling through the air above Lattimore who was flat on his stomach.
The Saints young gun was able to miraculously clench the ball between his *ahem* legs and secured the ball.
“It’s the best interception I’ve ever had,” he said after the game. “I must be living right.
“I saw the ball pop up, but I was mad because I fell down and I could have easily intercepted it off the tip,” Lattimore said. “I felt it on the back of my leg and everybody tried to come grab it. I did a little leg curl and it was there.”
Saints star Marcus Williams was the closest man to the action and said he’d never seen anything of the sort throughout his time as a footballer.
“I’ve never seen one like that before,” Williams said. “I knew it didn’t hit the ground. When we saw the ball like that, all of us were trying to grab it. Big play. Momentum-changer right before halftime.”
Saints linebacker Craig Robertson was also in disbelief.
“It was a huge play. It’s rare because a lot of times on a play like that the ball rolls off the back and falls on the ground,” he said.
Fans around the world were quick to dub the bizarre moment a “butt-ception” as Twitter exploded.
That has to be one of the most bizarre interceptions I've ever seen. That ball landed on Lattimore's backside and never hit the ground. That's the rookie's fifth INT if it counts. #ATLvsNO — Matt Tabeek (@MatthewTabeek) December 24, 2017
Play stands. The Buttception is born, courtesy of Marshon Lattimore. — Herbie Teope (@HerbieTeope) December 24, 2017
If you call it the butt-pick instead of butt-ception you're doing internet wrong — Or Moyal (@OrMoyal) December 24, 2017
Marshon Lattimore caught a dang football with his butt. Don't ever undervalue an Ohio State education — Luke Zimmermann (@lukezim) December 24, 2017French President François Hollande on Friday scrambled to contain the damage from a series of embarrassing remarks he made in a tell-all book, a day after the lengthy tome was published.
ADVERTISING Read more
The Socialist president said he "deeply regretted" criticism that upset senior lawyers and judges in a book written by Le Monde journalists Gérard Davet and Fabrice Lhomme, who were granted a staggering 61 private interviews with him over the course of four years.
Meanwhile, Hollande’s political allies openly questioned the necessity and purpose of the book, with the French president even waving any rights to review or edit the book.
French judges, footballers and an ex-girlfriend hit back over explosive Hollande book https://t.co/yGznoI4VhL pic.twitter.com/COMGwnKEF0 — FRANCE 24 (@FRANCE24) October 13, 2016
In the 672-page book, which has all of France talking, he describes the justice system as "a cowardly institution" and accused senior judges of simply "keeping their heads down".
However, the president has vehemently insisted his comments have been misinterpreted.
"I deeply regret what has been taken as an insult by judges, whose courage and devotion to their difficult work I admire every day," Hollande said in a letter to the country's top magistrate on Friday.
In the book he also levels censure at his “obsessively jealousy” former partner Valérie Trierweiler, calling her “an unhappy woman”, and France’s national football team, who he skewers as wealthy, “ill-mannered kids”.
‘Not good for politics’
The behind-the-scenes book titled “A President Should Not Say That” (in French, "Un président ne devrait pas dire ça"), instantly handed ammunition to his opponents.
Right-wing presidential candidates referred to the Socialist leader’s shocking remarks during a debate on prime time TV on Thursday, saying they were proof that Hollande is unfit to be president.
Even Hollande’s prime minister, Manuel Valls, admitted he had “taken stock of the consequences” of the remarks about judges.
“All these discussions, they’re not good for politics and for democracy,” Valls, who was forced to comment on the fallout during a trip to Canada, said.
Needs to explain
The book has severely damaged Hollande’s credibility just seven months before the French presidential elections in which he is widely expected to seek a second term.
The speaker of the National Assembly, Socialist lawmaker Claude Bartolone, questioned the president’s desire and ability to run for re-election.
“A president should not confess so many things,” Bartolone said, adding the he thinks Hollande owes his supporters an explanation, so they can “see if he really wants to be a [presidential] candidate.”
Socialist Party leader Jean-Christophe Cambadelis said he was convinced Hollande wanted to stand for re-election but acknowledged that he was "not making things easy for himself."
A junior minister openly suggested that leftist former economy minister Arnaud Montebourg, who quit the government over a disagreement with the president, would beat Hollande for the Socialist presidential nomination.
Montebourg is widely viewed as a maverick, but higher education minister Thierry Mandon said Wednesday: "He can beat (Hollande) because with the way French political life is breaking up... anything is possible."
The Socialist has suffered some of the lowest approval ratings of a post-war president after four years clouded by stubbornly high unemployment and a series of devastating terror attacks.<< Top 10 Puns of All Time |
Top 10 Puns of all time
The butcher backed up into the meat grinder and got a little behind in his work.
What’s the definition of a will? (It’s a dead giveaway).
She used to have a boyfriend with a wooden leg, but she broke it off.
Show me a piano falling down a mineshaft and I’ll show you A-flat minor.
I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me.
Two silk worms had a race. They ended up in a tie.
Seven days without a pun makes one weak.
When an actress saw her first strands of gray hair she thought she’d dye.
A scientist doing a large experiment with liquid chemicals was trying to solve a problem when he fell in and became part of the solution.
If you leave alphabet soup on the stove and go out, it could spell disaster.
When they bought a water bed, the couple started to drift apart.
A three legged dog walks into a saloon in the Old West. He slides up to the bar and announces: “I’m looking for the man who shot my paw.”
A small boy swallowed some coins and was taken to a hospital. When his grandmother telephoned to ask how he was a nurse said ‘No change yet’.
Did you hear about the guy who sent ten puns to friends, in the hope that at least one of the puns would make them laugh. Unfortunately, no pun in ten did.
To write with a broken pencil is pointless.
Police were called to a daycare where a three-year-old was resisting a rest.
When fish are in schools they sometimes take debate.
What did the grape say when it got stepped on? Nothing – but it let out a little whine.
A criminal’s best asset is his lie ability.
Be true to your teeth, or they will be false to you.
If you give some managers an inch they think they’re a ruler.
She was only a whisky maker but he loved her still.
The optician fell into the lens grinding machine and made a spectacle of himself.
Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
Gravity is studied a lot because it’s a very attractive field.
Old lawyers never die they just lose their appeal.
Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.
When women enter middle age, it gives men a pause.
Prison walls are never built to scale.
The man who fell into an upholstery machine is fully recovered.
If you don’t pay your exorcist you get repossessed.
There was a guy who was fired from the orange juice factory for
lack of concentration.
We were so poor when I was growing up we couldn’t even afford to pay attention.
I used to be a tap dancer until I fell in the sink.
When the smog lifts in Los Angeles, U C L A.
Atheism is a non-prophet organization.
The poet had written better poems, but he’d also written verse.
Santa’s helpers are subordinate clauses.
There was a ghost at the hotel, so they called for an inn spectre.
Ancient orators tended to Babylon.
The short fortune-teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.
You didn’t hear about the three big holes in the ground? Well, well, well.
A backwards poet writes inverse.
It was raining cats and dogs. There were poodles all over the road.
When chemists die, we barium.
You feel stuck with your debt if you can’t budge it.
Page Topic: Funny Puns
<< Top 10 Puns of All Time |
Comments
COMMENT (Not all comments are approved, including rude comments and those with strong language).
Section: Best Funny Puns
<< Top 10 Puns of All Time |Samsung's rapidly approaching fourth-generation Galaxy S handset may have just made its video debut, courtesy of a hands-on overview from the same source as yesterday's purported leaked pictures. While it remains impossible to be sure that this is the Galaxy S 4, we are indeed looking at a real, functional device, bearing all the usual hallmarks of Samsung design. It appears to have a 5-inch display, with a thinner bezel than the Galaxy S III (conflicting with Samsung's own teaser image from today), and the user interface is unmistakably Samsung's TouchWiz — recognizable by the interminable series of bloops confirming every tap.
The mischievous author of the video plays an Apple promo for the iPad mini in the background, poking fun at the fractious and highly competitive relationship between the Cupertino company and its South Korean rival. He also gives a couple of extra hints, exposing the device's back and revealing what looks like a pair of SIM card slots, and also running through its bootup animation where we see the China Unicom logo.
Yet another enormous Samsung phone
There's the distinct possibility that what's on show here is one of Samsung's Duos variants — which tend to be popular in markets like China and are usually a little thicker than the standard handset — so the final GS4 design could still differ. Nonetheless, if there's any legitimacy to this leak, it suggests Samsung's confident about its current design language and doesn't feel any pressing need to change it up dramatically.Get the biggest daily stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email
Actor Michael Sheen has spoken of the day the Manic Street Preachers brought him to tears.
The Hollywood star is one of the band’s most famous fans and made his revelation writing the foreword for a new book of photographs of the band from rock photographer Kevin Cummins.
In the book, Assassinated Beauty: Photographs of the Manic Street Preachers published by Faber and Faber this month, Sheen said: “I remember once driving back to London from Wales, and as I crossed the Severn Bridge, A Design for Life was playing and I was just weeping.
“It’s ridiculously nationalistic, but there was something so incredibly moving about that song, and the meaning that it had for me and particularly crossing the Severn Bridge to leave Wales. That just cemented my relationship with the Manics. At that point they went very deep into me.”
The 45-year-old said his eyes were opened to the band when he first saw them on TV and the effect was immediate.
“I first became aware of the Manics when I saw them on Top of the Pops wearing balaclavas during their ‘terrorist chic’ period.
“At the time, I felt like I’d missed out somehow because I was too young for punk. It made me feel guilty, that somehow I wasn’t a proper teenager because I’d never been a punk.
Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8 Cancel Play now
“So when I saw Manic Street Preachers on Top of the Pops, they just jumped out at me. They seemed so sure of themselves; so confident.
“The more I discovered about them, the more I liked them. Their political consciousness was reminiscent of the ‘70s ska movement – The Specials especially.
“Then there was the glam make-up, the gender ambiguity, with the anarchic edge of punk. So they had everything I’d grown up with all in one package... and they were Welsh.
“There were probably only four people in Newport who were into the things the Manics were into so of course they had to become a band. They were naturally drawn to one another.
“I’ve always been interested in philosophy and iconic figures within politics, but coming from Port Talbot I didn’t know anybody else who was into that,” he added.
“So when I started to get to know this band who came from a tough working-class area and yet had a gender-confrontational thing going on – trashy, provocative and sexual – at the same time as having a political consciousness and an awareness of iconoclastic style, they filled that gap for me immeasurably.”
The Masters Of Sex star remembered vividly the first time their paths crossed.
“It was years before I met them. I remember walking down Chiswick High Street when I was back from America for a few days.
“It was St David’s Day and I had my young daughter with me. As I walked along, I heard a voice behind me going, ‘Oi, Sheeny,’ and I turned around and it was James Dean Bradfield.
“It seemed perfect that it was St David’s Day. I had a quick chat with James and then we carried on, and I remember feeling incredibly proud to be able to say to my daughter, ‘That’s a rock star’.”
The actor said he was stunned by the images in the book – especially the striking images of Richey Edwards, who would have just turned 47.
“It’s extraordinary when you look at some of the early pictures in this book where Nicky and Richey are obviously doing what they’d always dreamt of doing.
“That awareness of the image, of how you engage with the camera. And you can see Sean and James watching, admiring. But there’s always something slightly isolated about Richey.
“There’s already something that’s both incredibly present and absent about him in terms of his relationship with the rest of the band.
“Presumably that dialogue between the other three and him became even more intense after Richey disappeared.”
Sheen said he was overjoyed when the Manics, who will play a sold-out headline show at Cardiff Castle next year, agreed to take part in his hugely ambitious and celebrated staging of The Passion in Port Talbot in 2011.
“It was so perfect that the Manics were a part of it, because everything they represented was what I was trying to do in that production.
“The naivety of it. The awareness of boundaries between performers and audience and stripping this down into something communal, something that is connected both to the past and traditions but also looking ahead to the future.
“Standing up for something and saying you have to fight for it. And the moment when the Manics came out to perform – it’s bringing me to tears, I’m welling up thinking about it... for the curtains to go back in the working men’s club and for them to start playing – I’ll never forget it.”
Assassinated Beauty: Photographs of the Manic Street Preachers is published by Faber & Faber and available now.He also told the audience not to be quiet while filming at the Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey, tabloids reports claimed.
According to the Sun, Evans said: “Talk among yourselves. Jesus Christ! Can you all hear me?”
It was hoped that filming of the first episode could take place “as live”, in just an hour, with Evans joking that the show’s old hosts - Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May - had been slower.
But in the end, fluffed lines, relocating audience members for different shots and retakes meant it reportedly took more than four hours to film the programme.
The presenters are said to have been in good spirits, with Evans even alluding to the incident that led to Clarkson’s departure.
Evans is said to have joked as he introduced the owners of his local curry house that he was “not allowed” to mention the catering on the show.
Clarkson’s contract with the BBC was not renewed last year after a “fracas” with a producer, which allegedly saw the host punch Oisin Tymon in a row over food.Alexis Sanchez training hard is nothing new. Arsenal having fitness worries about Alexis Sanchez whilst he’s away with Chile is nothing new. Now the two have combined themselves and with Arsenal fretting over Sanchez’s ankle, the player himself is going ‘full throttle’ in Chile training, report La Tercera.
At the weekend Arsene Wenger said Sanchez’s ankle was in a ‘terrible state’ after the West Brom match, but did point out that if there was no ligament damage he should be able to play for Chile during the current international break.
La Tercera explain that long after Chile training had ended for the day on Monday, Sanchez continued on the pitch, giving it his all. His teammates were walking around the national camp in their own clothes, enjoying some hours off, but La Tercera ‘Alexis Sanchez does not care’ and works to his own routine.
There’s no fitness worry over the Arsenal player as far as Chile are concerned, and he’s seemed in top condition and very happy to be training as much as an hour after everyone has stopped.
Unless Sanchez is bionic, which is a distinct possibility, there doesn’t appear to be any ligament damage for Arsenal to worry about.Stephen Colbert is currently CBS’s top choice to replace longtime late-night icon David Letterman, who announced his retirement Thursday, website Mashable reported.
Multiple sources told Mashable that the comedian has “engaged with network executives” on the matter. While a number of well-known personalities are being considered, Mashable says Mr. Colbert is the “front-and-center candidate.”
CBS meanwhile, has remained tight-lipped about their top choice for the late-night slot.
“We’re not commenting on any rumors or speculation about succession,” the network told Mashable.
Comedy Central, the home of the current Colbert Report, has also not yet commented.
Stephen Colbert is one choice that has been floated to replace Mr. Letterman. Other popular picks include his fellow Comedy Central host John Stewart; current CBS late night host Craig Ferguson, who’s show follows Mr. Letterman’s; day-time talk show host Ellen DeGeneres; Conan O’Brien, who briefly hosted NBC’s The Tonight Show; and indeed some have even suggested ousted Tonight Show host Jay Leno as Mr. Letterman’s successor.
Mr. Letterman’s announcement brings an end to a more than 30-year long career in late-night broadcasting.
“We don’t have the timing of this precisely down, it will be at least a year or so,” he said during his Late Show. “But at some time in the not too distant future — 2015, for the love of God — Paul [Shaffer, the show’s bandleader] and I will be wrapping things up.
Copyright © 2019 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.Riot in Isla Vista - Deltopia - Live Shot
ISLA VISTA, Calif. - A 17-year old teenager from the Los Angeles area is suspected of the asault that led to the riot in Isla Vista Saturday night. When it was over, six law enforcement officers were hurt, 18 people were arrested, and the entire community began a debate over what happened in the community that sits alongside UC-Santa Barbara.
The teen's name was not released, but the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department believes he is the one who struck a UCSB police officer in the head with a backpack full of alochol bottles. That officer received 20 stitches in the head, but is expected to make a full recovery.
The incident escalated into an all-out melee with thousands of people in the streets of Isla Vista. Eventually, police used rubber bullets, tear gas and wore riot gear in order to clear the streets and restore order.
While dozens of people were arrested during the daylight hours of the Deltopia event, the real trouble started about 8 p.m. Saturday night as sheriff's deputies responded to two stabbings on Camino Del Sur. Two people were taken to the hospital. Their injuries are unknown.
About 9:30 p.m., the UCSB police officer was hit in the head with the backpack full of liquor bottles. Another Santa Barbara County Sheriff's deputy who responded to help was also hurt as he was hit in the head with a brick.
A news release from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department reported approximately 26 people transported to local hospitals for treatment of injuries related to the evening's melee.
The Sheriff's Department declared an "un |
public figures (the sentiment score ranged from William Shatner to Osama Bin Laden), airlines, police departments, and welfare programs (the full chart is at the bottom of this post).
Schweitzer used text mining to pick out positive and negative words from the tweets (and manually added terms including brokedown, wtf, scam, epicfail, pervy, and unsuck). Machine learning helped spot things like parody accounts and unusually frequent tweeters. Schweitzer and her graduate students also analyzed some 5,000 tweets by hand, to ensure they lined up with the computer system’s interpretations. Reasons for complaint included delays, facilities, staff conduct, public mismanagement, and the class, race, and gender of other riders.
Here’s the funny thing: The transit system’s scores don’t line up with service quality (judged by on-time performance). But the unsurprising fact that public griping doesn’t necessarily match reality doesn’t make the data useless. Because Schweitzer did find one factor that predicts “mean sentiment”—the way the transit agencies themselves behave on Twitter.
Tweets from the people running subways and buses in New York, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and other cities weren’t included in the data set, but Schweitzer took them into consideration, and found they matter a great deal. Some agencies use Twitter to pump out impersonal blasts announcing service disruptions. Others make the effort to respond to user complaints and interact with them. That second approach, it turns out, makes a major difference in how the agency is perceived online. “Transit companies that respond to other social media users have statistically more favorable opinions expressed about the transit agency for just about every measure I considered,” Schweitzer writes.
The clearest example is provided by Philadelphia’s SEPTA, which in late 2011 started a @SEPTA_SOCIAL account for dialog with riders. After one year, Schweitzer found, its score went from -0.3 to nearly 0 (on a scale from -1 to 1). That’s a 70 percent improvement.
So what’s the takeaway? If you’re looking for a low investment way to improve your public image on Twitter, use Twitter as a tool for conversation, not one-way communication. It may seem that someone complaining to 18 followers that their train is late doesn’t matter, but Schweitzer makes the point that social media does influence broader public perceptions.
“If planners seek to support strong public transit systems as a key element in building equitable and sustainable communities, they should encourage positive public sentiment about the service, in part by encouraging public transit agencies to use interactive social media approaches.”
Or, you know, make the trains run on time.Two Big Finish Doctor Who stories are coming forward to September, while one title moves back to October...
We're delighted to announce that the release of the limited vinyl edition of fan-favourite Eighth Doctor story Doctor Who - The Chimes of Midnight has been brought forward to September - to Thursday 15th September to be precise. The set contains the original story told across six sides, with a fourth disc containing a brand new documentary which talks to many of the people who ensured that Christmas wouldn't be Christmas... Ever again:
Doctor Who - The Chimes of Midnight Ltd Vinyl Edition is limited to 500 copies, and can still be pre-ordered for £79, with copies of this four heavy-vinyl-pressing disc set in gorgeous new packaging from designer Tom Webster being especially couried to your door!
Doctor Who - The Chimes of Midnight will be available from the Big Finish stand at Swansea's Regenerations convention on the 24th and 25th September, and also at Dimensions in Newcastle, where Robert Shearman will be our signing guest on Saturday and Sunday (8-9th October). Please let us know ASAP at [email protected] if you would like us to reserve you a copy for purchase (at the pre-order price) at either of these events, so we can make sure we have enough stock on hand.
Coming later this month will be October's Doctor Who - Doom Coalition Series 3, which swaps places with Doctor Who - The War Doctor 3: Agents of Chaos following some issues with disc mastering. We apologise to anyone wanting to see the War Doctor in September action, but rest assured the release should be out in early October.In several articles and speeches since at least 2004 (“Trapped in the ruins”, The Guardian, 20 March 2004), and especially in the commotion provoked by Girish Karnad’s speech in Mumbai (autumn 2012), William Dalrymple has condemned Nobel prize winner V.S. Naipaul for writing that the Vijayanagar empire was a Hindu bastion besieged by Muslim states.
The famous writer has taken the ruins of vast Vijayanagar as illustration of how Hinduism is a “wounded civilization”, viz. wounded by Islam. Dalrymple’s counter-arguments against this conflictual view of Indian history consist in bits of Islamic influence in the Vijayanagar kings’ court life, such as Hindu courtiers wearing Muslim dress, Hindu armies adopting techniques borrowed from the Muslims, styles of palace architecture and the Persian nomenclature of political functions; and conversely, elements of Hinduism in Muslims courts and households, e.g. the Muslim festival of Muharram looking like the Kumbha Mela of the Hindus.
Secularism and Vijayanagar
As is all too common in Nehruvian-secularist discourse, Dalrymple’s analysis of the role of Islam in India stands out by its superficiality. Whenever a Hindu temple or a Muslim festival is found to employ personnel belonging to the opposite religion, secular journalists go gaga and report on this victory of syncretism over religious orthodoxy. Secular historians including Dalrymple do likewise about religious cross-pollination in the past.
It is true that Hindus are eager to integrate foreign elements from their surroundings, from Hellenistic astrology (now mis-termed “Vedic astrology”) in the past to the English language and American consumerism today. So Hindu courts adopted styles and terminology from their Muslim counterparts. They even enlisted Muslim mercenaries in their armies, so “secular” were they.
We could say that Hindus are multicultural at heart, or open-minded. But that quality didn’t get rewarded, except with a betrayal by their Muslim regiments during the battle of Talikota (1565): they defected to the enemy, in which they recognized fellow-Muslims. When the chips were down, Hindu open-mindedness and syncretism were powerless against their heartfelt belief in Islamic solidarity. In September 2012, Dalrymple went to Hyderabad to praise the city and its erstwhile Muslim dynasty as a centre of Hindu-Muslim syncretism; but fact is that after Partition, the ruler of Hyderabad opted for Pakistan, against multicultural India. When the chips are down, secular superficiality is no match for hard-headed orthodoxy.
Muslims too sometimes adopted Hindu elements. However, it would be unhistorical to assume a symmetry with what the Hindus did. Hindus really adopted foreign elements, but most Muslims largely just retained Hindu elements which had always been part of their culture and which lingered on after conversion. Thus, the Pakistanis held it against the Bengalis in their artificial Muslim state (1947-71) that their language was very Sanskritic, not using the Arabic script, and that their womenfolk “still” wore saris and no veils. The Bengali Muslims did this not because they had “adopted” elements from Hinduism, but because they had retained many elements from the Hindu culture of their forefathers. “Pakistan” means the “land of the pure”, i.e. those who have overcome the taints of Paganism, the very syncretism which Dalrymple celebrates. Maybe it is in the fitness of things that a historian should sing paeans to this religious syncretism for, as far as Islam is concerned, it is a thing of the past.
A second difference between Hindus and Muslims practicing syncretism is that in the case of Muslims, this practice was in spite of their religion, due to a hasty (and therefore incomplete) conversion under duress and a lack of sufficient policing by proper Islamic authorities. If, as claimed by Dalrymple, a Sultan of Bijapur venerated both goddess Saraswati and prophet Mohammed, it only proves that he hadn’t interiorized Mohammed’s strictures against idolatry yet. In more recent times, though, this condition has largely been remedied. Secular journalists now have to search hard for cases of Muslims caught doing Hindu things, for such Muslims become rare. Modern methods of education and social control have wiped out most traces of Hinduism. Thus, since their independence, the Bengali Muslims have made great strides in de-hinduizing themselves, as by widely adopting proper Islamic dress codes. The Tabligh (“propaganda”) movement as well as informal efforts by clerics everywhere have gone a long way to “islamize the Muslims”, i.e. to destroy all remnants of Hinduism still lingering among them.
Hindu Iconoclasm?
Another unhistorical item in the secular view of Islam in India is the total absence of an Islamic prehistory outside India. Yet, all Muslims know about this history to some extent and base their laws and actions upon it. In particular, they know about Mohammed’s career in Arabia and seek to replicate it, from wearing “the beard of the Prophet” to emulating his campaigns against Paganism.
Dalrymple, like all Nehruvians, makes much of the work of the American Marxist historian Richard Eaton. This man is famous for saying that the Muslims have indeed destroyed many Hindu temples (thousands, according to his very incomplete list, though grouped as the oft-quoted “eighty”), but that they based themselves for this conduct on Hindu precedent. Indeed, he has found a handful of cases of Hindu conquerors “looting” temples belonging to the defeated kings, typically abducting the main idol to install it in their own capital.
This implies a very superficial equating between stealing an idol (but leaving the worship of the god concerned intact, and even continuing it in another temple) and destroying temples as a way of humiliating and ultimately destroying their religion itself. But we already said that secularists are superficial. However, he forgets to tell his readers that he has found no case at all of a Muslim temple-destroyer citing these alleged Hindu precedents. If they try to justify their conduct, it is by citing Mohammed’s Arab precedents. The most famous case is the Kaaba in Mecca, where the Prophet and his nephew Ali destroyed 360 idols with their own hands. What the Muslims did to Vijayanagar was only an imitation of what the Prophet had done so many times in Arabia, only on a much larger scale.
From historians like Eaton and Dalrymple, we expect a more international view of history than what they offer in their account of Islamic destructions in India. They try to confine their explanations to one country, whereas Islam is globalist par excellence. By contrast, Naipaul does reckon with international cultural processes, in particular the impact of Islam among the converted peoples, not only in South but also in West and Southeast Asia. He observes that they have been estranged from themselves, alienated from their roots, and therefore suffering from a neurosis.
So, Naipaul is right and Dalrymple wrong in their respective assessments of the role of Islam in India. Yet, in one respect, Naipaul is indeed mistaken. In his books Among the Believers and Beyond Belief, he analyses the impact of Islam among the non-Arab converts, but assumes that for Arabs, Islam is more natural. True, the Arabs did not have to adopt a foreign language for religious purposes, they did not have to sacrifice their own national traditions in name-giving; but otherwise they too had to adopt a religion that wasn’t theirs. The Arabs were Pagans who worshipped many gods and tolerated many religions (Jews, Zoroastrians, various Christian Churches) in their midst. Mohammed made it his life’s work to destroy their multicultural society and replace it with a homogeneous Islamic one. Not exactly the syncretism which Dalrymple waxes so eloquent about.
Colonial “Orientalism?”
Did Muslims “contribute” to Indian culture, as Dalrymple claims? Here too, we should distinguish between what Islam enjoins and what people who happen to be Muslims do. Thus, he says that Muslims contributed to Indian music. I am quite illiterate on art history, but I’ll take his word for it. However, if they did, they did it is spite of Islam, and not because of it. Mohammed closed his ears not to hear the music, and orthodox rulers like Aurangzeb and Ayatollah Khomeini issued measures against it. Likewise, the Moghul school of painting shows that human beings are inexorably fond of visual art, but does not disprove that Islam frowns on it.
Also, while some tourists fall for the Taj Mahal, which Naipaul so dislikes, the Indo-Saracenic architecture extant does not nullify the destruction of many more beautiful buildings which could have attracted far more tourists. In what sense is it a “contribution” anyway? Rather than filling a void, it is at best a replacement of existing Hindu architecture with new Muslim architecture. Similarly, if no Muslim music (or rather, music by Muslims) had entered India, then native Hindu music would have flourished more, and who is Dalrymple to say that Hindu music is inferior?
Another discursive strategy of the secularists, applied here by Dalrymple, is to blame the colonial view of history. Naipaul is said to be inspired by colonial Orientalists and to merely repeat their findings. This plays on the strong anti-Westernism among Indians. But it is factually incorrect: Naipaul cites earlier sources (e.g. Dalrymple omits Ibn Battuta, the Moroccan traveler who only described witnessed Sultanate cruelty to the Hindus with his own eyes) as well as the findings of contemporaneous archaeologists. Moreover, even the colonial historians only repeat what older native sources tell them. The destruction of Vijayanagar is a historical fact and an event that took place with no colonizers around. Unless you mean the Muslim rulers.
Negationism
In the West, we are familiar with the phenomenon of Holocaust negationism. While most people firmly disbelieve the negationists, some will at least appreciate their character: they are making a lot of financial, social and professional sacrifices for their beliefs. The ostracism they suffer is fierce. Even those who are skeptical of their position agree that negationists at least have the courage of their conviction.
In India, and increasingly also in the West and in international institutions, we are faced with a similar phenomenon, viz. Jihad negationism. This is the denial of aggression and atrocities motivated by Islam. Among the differences, we note those in social position of the deniers and those in the contents of the denial. Jihad deniers are not marginals who have sacrificed a career to their convictions, on the contrary; they serve their careers greatly by uttering the politically palatable “truth”. In India, any zero can become a celebrity overnight by publishing a condemnation of the “communalists” and taking a stand for Jihad denial and history distortion. The universities are full of them, while people who stand by genuine history are kept out. Like Jawaharlal Nehru, most of these negationists hold forth on the higher humbug (as historian Paul Johnson observed) and declare themselves “secular”.
Whereas the Holocaust lasted only four years and took place in war circumstances and largely in secret (historians are still troubled over the absence of an order by Adolf Hitler for the Holocaust, a fact which gives a handle to the deniers), Jihad started during the life of Mohammed and continues till today, entirely openly, proudly testified by the perpetrators themselves. From the biography and the biographical collections of the Prophet (Sira, Ahadith) through medieval chronicles and travel diaries down to the farewell letters or videos left by hundreds of suicide terrorists today, there are literally thousands of sources by Muslims attesting that Islam made them do it. But whereas I take Muslims seriously and believe them at their word when they explain their motivation, some people overrule this manifold testimony and decide that the Muslims concerned meant something else.
The most favoured explanation is that British colonialism and now American imperialism inflicted poverty on them and this made them do it, though they clothed it in Islamic discourse. You see, the billionaire Osama bin Laden, whose family has a long-standing friendship with the Bush family, was so poor that he saw no option but to hijack some airplanes and fly them into the World Trade Center. What else was he to do? And Mohammed, way back in the 7th century, already the ruler of Medina and much of the Arabian peninsula, just had to have his critics murdered or, as soon as he could afford it, formally executed. He had to take hostages and permit his men to rape them; nay, he just had to force the Jewish woman Rayhana into concubinage after murdering her relatives. If you don’t like what he did, blame Britain and America. Their colonialism and imperialism made him do it! Under the colonial dispensation which didn’t exist yet, he Muslim troops who were paid by the Vijayanagar emperor had no other option but to betray their employer and side with his opponents who, just by coincidence, happened to be Muslim as well. And if you don’t believe this, the secularists will come up with another story.
Conclusion
India is experiencing a regime of history denial. In this sense, the West is more and more becoming like India. There are some old professors of Islam or religion (and I know a few) who hold the historical view, viz. that Mohammed (if he existed at all) was mentally afflicted, that Islam consists of a manifold folie à deux (“madness with two”, where a wife supports and increasingly shares her husband’s self-delusion), and that it always was a political religion which spread by destroying other religions. But among the younger professors, it is hard to find any who are so forthright. There is a demand for reassurance about Islam, and universities only recruit personnel who provide that.
Indeed, many teach false history in good faith, thinking that untruth about the past in this case is defensible because it fosters better interreligious relations in the present. Some even believe their own stories, just like the layman who is meant to lap them up. Such is also my impression of William Dalrymple.Hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants could receive health care coverage from their employers under the bills winding their way through Congress, despite President Obama’s explicit pledge that illegal immigrants would not benefit.
The House bill mandates, and the Senate bill strongly encourages, businesses to extend health care coverage to all employees. But the bills do not have exemptions to screen out illegal immigrants, who usually obtain jobs by using false identities and are indistinguishable from legal workers.
A rough estimate by the Center for Immigration Studies suggests that the practical effect of the mandates would be that about 1 million illegal immigrants could obtain health insurance coverage through their employers.
Democrats who wrote the House bill said that employer coverage for illegal immigrants is not intentional, but rather the outcome of people breaking the law.
TWT RELATED STORIES:
• Medicare fraudsters rake in billions
• Grayson’s Senate filibuster petition faulted
• Fed’s withdrawal from housing threatens growth
“It’s possible an employee could deceive an employer with a fraudulent document, just as under current law, to gain employment, just as it’s possible for all sorts of criminal activity to occur, and why we have law enforcement,” said Nadeam Elshami, a spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, who wrote the final House bill.
Republicans said that loopholes in the bill could allow coverage to just about any illegal immigrant who wants to cheat the system.
“This is a complete cover-all-the-gaps federal health insurance for illegals, whether it be under Medicaid, the refundable tax credit or whether it be under their employers who would not be able to verify their employers unless we fix E-Verify,” said Rep. Steve King of Iowa, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee’s immigration subcommittee.
How to deal with immigrants, both legal and illegal, remains one of the thorniest issues in the health care debate. In his address to a joint session of Congress in September, Mr. Obama specifically challenged Republicans who said his plans would extend coverage to illegal immigrants.
“This, too, is false — the reforms I’m proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally,” Mr. Obama said.
That statement elicited an outburst of “You lie” from Rep. Joe Wilson, South Carolina Republican.
Most of the focus has been on whether the bills in the House and Senate go far enough to screen out illegal immigrants applying for public benefits. The Senate bill is generally considered to have stronger provisions than the House version to exclude participation by illegal immigrants.
The employer mandate could play a major role in coverage for illegal immigrants, but the effect has not been widely understood.
Steven A. Camarota, research director for the Center for Immigration Studies, said about 6.5 million illegal immigrants work in the United States, though nearly half do so off the books and wouldn’t be counted for purposes of employer-sponsored health insurance.
Of those who work on the books, about 2.3 million already have insurance through their employers. That leaves at least 1 million who would need insurance and could obtain it from an employer under the proposed mandates.
“It’s definitely significant,” Mr. Camarota said.
Democrats said their bill doesn’t change eligibility for benefits for illegal immigrants but it does change laws on who must provide insurance. Any employer with a payroll higher than $500,000 would be required to provide insurance for employees.
The House bill offers tax credits for two years to help small businesses provide insurance, including businesses that hire illegal immigrants.
But Mr. Elshami said businesses are already prohibited from hiring of illegal immigrants.
The Senate bill is more complex. It would urge companies to provide insurance, then penalize them for each employee who applies for credits for the health care exchange.
Jim Manley, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, said the bill includes a screening process to keep illegal immigrants from getting credits in the health care exchange. But even illegal immigrants would be counted in the penalty against employers, so companies would be paying for having hired them.
“In this scenario, an employer would have to provide a responsibility payment for an undocumented worker. But that undocumented worker wouldn’t be getting coverage through the exchange,” Mr. Manley said.
Robert Rector, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, called the debate “an absolute charade” because Mr. Obama and Democratic leaders have signaled their intent to try to pass a bill legalizing illegal immigrants next year.
Once their legal status is secured, Congress would have to decide their eligibility for public benefits. Democrats have been pushing for broad inclusion, and their health care proposals give equal treatment to legal immigrants and citizens.
Republicans say the government should do more to push for a legal work force in the first place.
“If it was not bad enough that illegal immigrants take jobs that rightfully belong to citizens and legal immigrants, now they will get health care benefits that should go to Americans,” said Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee. “If they were not in the country, we wouldn’t have to worry about emergency room or health insurance costs at all. And Americans would have these jobs.”
A Congressional Research Service report notes that the House Democrats’ bill does not expressly prohibit illegal immigrants from getting health insurance and, in fact, would mandate that they obtain insurance if they meet the “substantial presence test.”
That test calculates U.S. residency based on the number of days per year a person is in the country.
Copyright © 2019 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.Growth is a complicated business. Over the centuries, economists have not only been divided over how to make it come about, but over whether it is really a good thing in the first place. On the one hand, we want to live comfortable existences free of struggle, but then again many of us would prioritise greater social equality or preserving the environment over endless economic enrichment. As we shudder through the collective hangover, growth for growth's sake now finds itself under fresh scrutiny.
Ironically it is in affluent Germany, the only place in Europe that currently seems to have any hope of economic growth, where the consensus on the intrinsic value of growth is most sceptical. A recent survey commissioned by Bertelsmann Stiftung found that eight out of ten Germans crave a new economic order. The number of Germans who see growth as very important was down 14% compared with two years ago. The proportion of Germans who highly value money and possessions also dropped. Nearly two-thirds disagreed with the idea that a higher income could increase their quality of life. Many Germans now value protection of the environment over material prosperity, according to the findings.
Academic research seems very much in line with the popular mood: German thinkers are increasingly publishing work, which denounces growth and touts drastic alternative economic policies. One of the more high-profile members of this movement is Niko Paech from the University of Oldenburg, who recently published a controversial new book called Liberation from Affluence, in which he lambasts growth, argues that societies need to shrink their economies, and calls for an embrace of self-sufficiency models and regional exchange. His policies for the ideal society include a 20-hour week, the introduction of regional currencies, and decommissioning large development projects such as motorways and airports.
Reinhard Loske is another member of the so-called "post-growth" movement. In Where Now With the Growth Question? he advocates the formation of innovative transition towns featuring social banking, taxation according to environmental consumption rather than labour, and an enforced basic income. Meanwhile, conservationist Angelika Zahrnt, in her co-edited book on a post-growth economy, rallies for less paid work and more free time for the workforce.
Many adherents to this burgeoning academic bloc can barely conceal their contempt for the financial architecture underlying the German economy and those of other western countries. To them, the modern financial sector is responsible for the current economic downturn, and in need of complete overhaul. They include economic commentator Thomas Jorberg, who has argued for a ban on financial services that don't service the real economy and claims that banks should only be allowed to partake in activities that address basic human needs.
Some of these ideas seem far-fetched. But they have received a genuine hearing in Germany: a review of the books by Paech and Loske was published in the leading national newspaper Zeit earlier in September with the title: Frau Merkel, lesen Sie diese Bücher ("Frau Merkel, read these books").
Perhaps a convergence of two factors helps to explain this shift. First, the financial crisis may have made some Germans more wary of growth as an ultimate end goal for a country. Second, their relative wealth gives Germans the luxury of security, and that security in turn makes them more likely to indulge in postmaterialist musings.
This idea fits neatly within the theories of the modern father of post-materialism, Ronald Inglehart. Writing in the 1970s, Inglehart argued that prosperity alone would ensure that humanity's values would gradually shift from materialism to postmateralist values like autonomy and self-expression. It also chimes with common sense: is it not natural that Germans, who are more likely to have steady jobs and can pay the mortgage, are less concerned with economic enrichment than Greeks who struggle to find a job?
Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell, the controversial author Edward Abbey once said. That might seem like a rather brutal declaration. But since the financial crisis, it seems many Germans, both exposed to crisis and isolated from the worst effects, would be tempted to agree.This invention by Romanian inventor Henri Coanda was in the works as early as 1905 - an experimental attempt featuring a ducted fan engine. The aircraft was showcased to the public during the 2nd International Aeronautical Exhibition (Paris) in 1910 at a time when developments in aviation were of considerable interest. For its time, the Coanda-1910 aircraft was something of a unique specimen for it featured no propeller for its propulsion system - a common quality of all early powered aircraft. Instead, the Coanda-1910 aircraft showcased a piston engine driving a multi-blade centrifugal blower for its propulsion. Unfortunately for the Coanda-1910, the world of aviation remained quite content with the growing power and capabilities of the gas-powered piston-driven propeller aircraft to which the Coanda entry fell into obscurity in a short amount of time. Coanda claimed to have achieved flight with his creation even before jet technology achieved widespread interest or development. Many publications gloss over Coanda's contributions to the field of jet-powered flight while others are in support of him and his invention(s). Despite its flimsy appearance, the Coanda-1910 utilized many traditional aircraft components - wing mainplanes sat over and under a tubular fuselage (biplane arrangement), a front-mounted engine, and a finned tail unit. The Coanda utilized a "sesquiplane" wing layout with the lower wing span shorter than that of the top unit. The engine was mounted at the extreme front of the very slim fuselage, the latter constructed mostly of wood covered over in fabric. Exposed support struts and cabling, common to all aircraft of this period, were also used where appropriate. The pilot's position was behind the engine in an open-air cockpit offering little protection from the elements. The wheeled undercarriage was fixed and under the forward mass with a tail skid at rear. The tail unit utilized a cruciform fin arrangement.
This invention by Romanian inventor Henri Coanda was in the works as early as 1905 - an experimental attempt featuring a ducted fan engine. The aircraft was showcased to the public during the 2nd International Aeronautical Exhibition (Paris) in 1910 at a time when developments in aviation were of considerable interest. For its time, the Coanda-1910 aircraft was something of a unique specimen for it featured no propeller for its propulsion system - a common quality of all early powered aircraft. Instead, the Coanda-1910 aircraft showcased a piston engine driving a multi-blade centrifugal blower for its propulsion. Unfortunately for the Coanda-1910, the world of aviation remained quite content with the growing power and capabilities of the gas-powered piston-driven propeller aircraft to which the Coanda entry fell into obscurity in a short amount of time. Coanda claimed to have achieved flight with his creation even before jet technology achieved widespread interest or development. Many publications gloss over Coanda's contributions to the field of jet-powered flight while others are in support of him and his invention(s). Despite its flimsy appearance, the Coanda-1910 utilized many traditional aircraft components - wing mainplanes sat over and under a tubular fuselage (biplane arrangement), a front-mounted engine, and a finned tail unit. The Coanda utilized a "sesquiplane" wing layout with the lower wing span shorter than that of the top unit. The engine was mounted at the extreme front of the very slim fuselage, the latter constructed mostly of wood covered over in fabric. Exposed support struts and cabling, common to all aircraft of this period, were also used where appropriate. The pilot's position was behind the engine in an open-air cockpit offering little protection from the elements. The wheeled undercarriage was fixed and under the forward mass with a tail skid at rear. The tail unit utilized a cruciform fin arrangement.Eco-conscious living is a big topic of conversation these days, and one of the easiest ways to partake is to eat less meat. Cutting back on meat consumption means less carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide emissions; it can also save water during these drought-stricken times, as nearly half of the water used in America goes toward animal agriculture. Not in the mood for fake meat? Fear not–we’ve got plenty of other meal ideas for you that go beyond the mock meat burger. Here are 13 recipes that draw inspiration from around the world.
1. Vegetarian Pelau-Stuffed Peppers
Pelau is a pilaf made with coconut milk that hails from Trinidad. It’s usually made with chicken, but tastes just as good meatless when filled with the goodness of black-eyed-peas and butternut squash. Get our Vegetarian Pelau-Stuffed Peppers recipe.
2. Thai Red Curry with Kabocha Squash
This one-pot meal boasts all of the flavors of a traditional Thai red curry, but only takes a little over an hour, thanks to the use of prepared curry paste. Get our Thai Red Curry with Kabocha Squash recipe.
3. Chiles Rellenos
Before America had jalapeño poppers, Pueblans had chiles rellenos: roasted poblano peppers stuffed with melted cheese, coated with an egg batter and fried until crispy. Get our Chiles Rellenos recipe.
4. Japchae
Japchae–translucent sweet potato noodles stir-fried with spinach, carrots, onion, and garlic in a sweet soy and sesame sauce–is straight-up Korean comfort food. Get our Japchae recipe.
5. Chole Masala
This saucy, spiced chickpea dish, which makes a lovely meal with yogurt and rice, is easy and approachable, even for those who are completely new to South Asian cooking. Get our Chole (Chana) Masala recipe.
6. Gumbo Z’herbes
This smothered greens dish, which is known for being a great way to use up leftover greens, may sound less than glamorous, but it proved to be more popular in our test kitchen than any of our meat-filled gumbos. Get our Gumbo Z’herbes recipe.
7. Lentil Hummus Wrap with Pomegranate Molasses
The key to a great vegetarian wrap is layers of flavor; start with cumin- and coriander-spiced vegetables, then pile on lemony red lentil hummus and pomegranate molasses. Get our Lentil Hummus Wrap with Pomegranate Molasses recipe.
8. Steamed Vegetable Dumplings
These slightly chewy steamed Chinese dumplings are made with a stuffing of spinach, carrot, mushrooms, and pressed tofu that’s stir-fried first before assembling. Get our Steamed Vegetable Dumplings recipe.
9. Luchen Kugel
This satisfying and rich kugel is made with skim milk, low-fat cheese, and reduced-fat sour cream, so it’s healthier than most, but still guaranteed to pass muster with even the most discriminating bubbes. Get our Luchen Kugel recipe.
10. Aloo Gobi
To make the Indian classic aloo gobi, start by browning diced potatoes, then sprinkle in aromatics like mustard seeds, ginger, garlic, and turmeric. Add cauliflower, and steam the entire thing until it’s fragrant. Serve it with a pat of butter and freshly-steamed rice. Get our Aloo Gobi recipe.
11. Jai
Jai is a Buddhist vegetarian stew that’s traditionally served on the first day of Chinese New Year for good luck. It’s labor- and time-intensive, but the payoff is a dazzling dish that’s both complex in flavor and good for you. Get our Jai recipe.
12. Cacio e Pepe
If you have a box of pasta and Pecorino cheese at home, then you’re mere minutes away from tucking into a platter of cacio e pepe pasta, a dish that embodies Italian simplicity at its finest. Get our Cacio e Pepe recipe.
13. Kale and Mushroom Stroganoff
Don’t knock a beef-free stroganoff until you’ve tried our vegetarian version, made with dried porcinis and sautéed creminis for a lavishly meaty flavor. Get our Kale and Mushroom Stroganoff recipe.Prompted by yesterday’s post about Miloš Zeman, our Dutch correspondent H. Numan sends this essay on the parallels between the late Roman Empire and the twilight of the modern European Empire Union.
All Roads Lead to the Fall of the Roman Empire
by H. Numan
You all know how the Roman Empire ended up?
I’m pretty sure of that. It’s still in the curriculum. Entire libraries have been written about why it ended up as it did. However, there is a very direct good cause why the Roman Empire all of a sudden collapsed. And almost nobody knows about it. This is the mismanaged refugee crisis of the fourth century, culminating in the Battle of Adrianople.
Let me start of by giving you the investment banker’s warning: “Results obtained in the past are no guarantee for the future.” Historians know this to be very wrong: “Results obtained in the past are a very good indication for the future!” But with one proviso: history often repeats itself, but never in the same way.
In the year 375 AD nobody had an inkling what lay in the future. The Roman Empire had survived the tumultuous third century, in which emperors were murdered at a rate of one every few years. A series of strong emperors set the empire back on its track again. But… there were a few rumblings outside empire. Nothing to worry about, really, as only barbarians lived outside the empire. Who cares what barbarians do amongst each other? The newcomers were the Huns.
Now, to understand the situation correctly you have to know that the Roman Empire was much more multicultural than we are today. The Romans weren’t racists at all. They had a number of emperors from Spain and North Africa. It didn’t matter to them where you were born. What mattered was how you behaved. Learn Latin or Greek, good manners and dress appropriately, and you were a Roman citizen. A lot of top officers and officials were of barbarian origin.
It seemed the empire was back on track once again. But the empire by now was stretched to the very limits of what was humanly possible. It need so much military power to survive; it had changed from an empire with an army into an army with an empire. The empire was split in two: the Western empire and the Eastern (later Byzantine) empire. The most important reason for that was to shorten the line of command and to reduce (in vain) possible coups by governors.
Let me explain that: it wasn’t necessary to shorten communication lines. The Romans had an excellent mail system that rivaled the Pony Express. A message could be answered within 10-14 days. Marching an army was a different matter. Most barbarian raids occurred on the Rhine and Danube borders of the empire, so it was simply a good idea to set up the imperial HQ as close as possible to the action. The capital was where the emperor decided to live. Which was for example Trier or Aachen for the Western empire and Constantinople for the Eastern |
Keller and José Bové jointly for the European Green Party and Alexis Tsipras for the Party of the European Left.
Turnout has dropped consistently every year since the first election, and from 1999 it has been below 50%. In 2007 both Bulgaria and Romania elected their MEPs in by-elections, having joined at the beginning of 2007. The Bulgarian and Romanian elections saw two of the lowest turnouts for European elections, just 28.6%[89] and 28.3% respectively.[90]
In England, Scotland and Wales, EP elections were originally held for a constituency MEP on a first-past-the-post basis. In 1999 the system was changed to a form of PR where a large group of candidates would stand for a post within a very large regional constituency.[91] One could vote for a party, but not a candidate (unless that party had a single candidate).
Proceedings [ edit ]
The hemicycle in Brussels.
Each year the activities of the Parliament cycle between committee weeks where reports are discussed in committees and interparliamentary delegations meet, political group weeks for members to discuss work within their political groups and session weeks where members spend 3½ days in Strasbourg for part-sessions. In addition six 2-day part-sessions are organised in Brussels throughout the year. Four weeks are allocated as constituency week to allow members to do exclusively constituency work. Finally there are no meetings planned during the summer weeks.[92] The Parliament has the power to meet without being convened by another authority. Its meetings are partly controlled by the treaties but are otherwise up to Parliament according to its own "Rules of Procedure" (the regulations governing the parliament).[93]
During sessions, members may speak after being called on by the President. Members of the Council or Commission may also attend and speak in debates.[94][95] Partly due to the need for translation, and the politics of consensus in the chamber, debates tend to be calmer and more polite than, say, the Westminster system.[96] Voting is conducted primarily by a show of hands, that may be checked on request by electronic voting.[97] Votes of MEPs are not recorded in either case, however; that only occurs when there is a roll-call ballot. This is required for the final votes on legislation and also whenever a political group or 30 MEPs request it. The number of roll-call votes has increased with time. Votes can also be a completely secret ballot (for example, when the president is elected).[98][99] All recorded votes, along with minutes and legislation, are recorded in the Official Journal of the European Union and can be accessed online.[100] Votes usually do not follow a debate, but rather they are grouped with other due votes on specific occasions, usually at noon on Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Thursdays. This is because the length of the vote is unpredictable and if it continues for longer than allocated it can disrupt other debates and meetings later in the day.[101]
Members are arranged in a hemicycle according to their political groups (in the Common Assembly, prior to 1958, members sat alphabetically[102]) who are ordered mainly by left to right, but some smaller groups are placed towards the outer ring of the Parliament. All desks are equipped with microphones, headphones for translation and electronic voting equipment. The leaders of the groups sit on the front benches at the centre, and in the very centre is a podium for guest speakers. The remaining half of the circular chamber is primarily composed of the raised area where the President and staff sit. Further benches are provided between the sides of this area and the MEPs, these are taken up by the Council on the far left and the Commission on the far right. Both the Brussels and Strasbourg hemicycle roughly follow this layout with only minor differences.[103] The hemicycle design is a compromise between the different Parliamentary systems. The British-based system has the different groups directly facing each other while the French-based system is a semicircle (and the traditional German system had all members in rows facing a rostrum for speeches). Although the design is mainly based on a semicircle, the opposite ends of the spectrum do still face each other.[102] With access to the chamber limited, entrance is controlled by ushers who aid MEPs in the chamber (for example in delivering documents). The ushers can also occasionally act as a form of police in enforcing the President, for example in ejecting an MEP who is disrupting the session (although this is rare). The first head of protocol in the Parliament was French, so many of the duties in the Parliament are based on the French model first developed following the French Revolution. The 180 ushers are highly visible in the Parliament, dressed in black tails and wearing a silver chain, and are recruited in the same manner as the European civil service. The President is allocated a personal usher.[104]
President and organisation [ edit ]
The President is essentially the speaker of the Parliament and presides over the plenary when it is in session. The President's signature is required for all acts adopted by co-decision, including the EU budget. The President is also responsible for representing the Parliament externally, including in legal matters, and for the application of the rules of procedure. He or she is elected for two-and-a-half-year terms, meaning two elections per parliamentary term.[105][106] The President is currently Antonio Tajani MEP of the EPP.
In most countries, the protocol of the head of state comes before all others; however, in the EU the Parliament is listed as the first institution, and hence the protocol of its president comes before any other European, or national, protocol. The gifts given to numerous visiting dignitaries depend upon the President. President Josep Borrell MEP of Spain gave his counterparts a crystal cup created by an artist from Barcelona who had engraved upon it parts of the Charter of Fundamental Rights among other things.[9]
A number of notable figures have been President of the Parliament and its predecessors. The first President was Paul-Henri Spaak MEP,[107] one of the founding fathers of the Union. Other founding fathers include Alcide de Gasperi MEP and Robert Schuman MEP. The two female Presidents were Simone Veil MEP in 1979 (first President of the elected Parliament) and Nicole Fontaine MEP in 1999, both Frenchwomen.[108] The previous president, Jerzy Buzek was the first East-Central European to lead an EU institution, a former Prime Minister of Poland who rose out of the Solidarity movement in Poland that helped overthrow communism in the Eastern Bloc.[109]
During the election of a President, the previous President (or, if unable to, one of the previous Vice-Presidents) presides over the chamber.[110] Prior to 2009, the oldest member fulfilled this role[111] but the rule was changed to prevent far-right French MEP Jean-Marie Le Pen taking the chair.[110]
Below the President, there are 14 Vice-Presidents who chair debates when the President is not in the chamber. There are a number of other bodies and posts responsible for the running of parliament besides these speakers. The two main bodies are the Bureau, which is responsible for budgetary and administration issues, and the Conference of Presidents which is a governing body composed of the presidents of each of the parliament's political groups. Looking after the financial and administrative interests of members are five Quaestors.
As of 2014, the European Parliament budget was EUR 1.756 billion.[112] A 2008 report on the Parliament's finances highlighted certain overspending and miss-payments. Despite some MEPs calling for the report to be published, Parliamentary authorities had refused until an MEP broke confidentiality and leaked it.[113]
Committees and delegations [ edit ]
These "relocation boxes" of the European Parliament, called "cantines", are ready to be transported from Brussels to Strasbourg where a plenary session will take place. Each month, the EP moves back and forth to meet the EU obligation to hold meetings also in France.
The Parliament has 20 Standing Committees consisting of 25 to 73 MEPs each (reflecting the political make-up of the whole Parliament) including a chair, a bureau and secretariat. They meet twice a month in public to draw up, amend to adopt legislative proposals and reports to be presented to the plenary.[114] The rapporteurs for a committee are supposed to present the view of the committee, although notably this has not always been the case. In the events leading to the resignation of the Santer Commission, the rapporteur went against the Budgetary Control Committee's narrow vote to discharge the budget, and urged the Parliament to reject it.[30]
Committees can also set up sub-committees (e.g. the Subcommittee on Human Rights) and temporary committees to deal with a specific topic (e.g. on extraordinary rendition). The chairs of the Committees co-ordinate their work through the "Conference of Committee Chairmen".[114] When co-decision was introduced it increased the Parliament's powers in a number of areas, but most notably those covered by the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety. Previously this committee was considered by MEPs as a "Cinderella committee"; however, as it gained a new importance, it became more professional and rigorous, attracting increasing attention to its work.[22]
A Committee room in the Parliament
The nature of the committees differ from their national counterparts as, although smaller in comparison to those of the United States Congress, the European Parliament's committees are unusually large by European standards with between eight and twelve dedicated members of staff and three to four support staff. Considerable administration, archives and research resources are also at the disposal of the whole Parliament when needed.[48]
Delegations of the Parliament are formed in a similar manner and are responsible for relations with Parliaments outside the EU. There are 34 delegations made up of around 15 MEPs, chairpersons of the delegations also cooperate in a conference like the committee chairs do. They include "Interparliamentary delegations" (maintain relations with Parliament outside the EU), "joint parliamentary committees" (maintaining relations with parliaments of states which are candidates or associates of the EU), the delegation to the ACP EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly and the delegation to the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly.[114] MEPs also participate in other international activities such as the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly, the Transatlantic Legislators' Dialogue and through election observation in third countries.[115]
Interpreting booths in the hemicycle simultaneously interpret debates between 24 languages
Intergroups [ edit ]
The Intergroups in the European Parliament are informal fora which gather MEPs from various political groups around any topic. They do not express the view of the European Parliament. They serve a double purpose: to address a topic which is transversal to several committees and in a less formal manner. Their daily secretariat can be run either through the office of MEPs or through interest groups, be them corporate lobbies or NGOs. The favored access to MEPs which the organization running the secretariat enjoys can be one explanation to the multiplication of Intergroups in the 1990s.[116] They are now strictly regulated and financial support, direct or otherwise (via Secretariat staff, for example) must be officially specified in a declaration of financial interests.[117] Also Intergroups are established or renewed at the beginning of each legislature through a specific process. Indeed, the proposal for the constitution or renewal of an Intergroup must be supported by at least 3 political groups whose support is limited to a specific number of proposals in proportion to their size (for example, for the legislature 2014-2019, the EPP or S&D political groups could support 22 proposals whereas the Greens/EFA or the EFDD political groups only 7).[118]
Translation and interpretation [ edit ]
Speakers in the European Parliament are entitled to speak in any of the 24 official languages of the European Union, ranging from French and German to Maltese and Irish. Simultaneous interpreting is offered in all plenary sessions, and all final texts of legislation are translated. With twenty-four languages, the European Parliament is the most multilingual parliament in the world[119] and the biggest employer of interpreters in the world (employing 350 full-time and 400 free-lancers when there is higher demand).[120] Citizens may also address the Parliament in Basque, Catalan, Valencian and Galician.[121]
Usually a language is translated from a foreign tongue into a translator's native tongue. Due to the large number of languages, some being minor ones, since 1995 interpreting is sometimes done the opposite way, out of an interpreter's native tongue (the "retour" system). In addition, a speech in a minor language may be interpreted through a third language for lack of interpreters ("relay" interpreting) —for example, when interpreting out of Estonian into Maltese.[120] Due to the complexity of the issues, interpretation is not word for word. Instead, interpreters have to convey the political meaning of a speech, regardless of their own views. This requires detailed understanding of the politics and terms of the Parliament, involving a great deal of preparation beforehand (e.g. reading the documents in question). Difficulty can often arise when MEPs use profanities, jokes and word play or speak too fast.[120]
While some see speaking their native language as an important part of their identity, and can speak more fluently in debates, interpretation and its cost has been criticised by some. A 2006 report by Alexander Stubb MEP highlighted that by only using English, French and German costs could be reduced from €118,000 per day (for 21 languages then—Romanian, Bulgarian and Croatian having not yet been included) to €8,900 per day.[122] Some see the ideal single language as being English due to its widespread usage, although there has been a small-scale campaign to make French the reference language for all legal texts, on the basis of an argument that it is more clear and precise for legal purposes.[123]
Because the proceedings are translated into all of the official EU languages, they have been used to make a multilingual corpus known as Europarl. It is widely used to train statistical machine translation systems.[124]
Annual costs [ edit ]
According to the European Parliament website, the annual parliament budget for 2016 was €1.838 billion.[125] The main cost categories were:
34% - staff, interpretation and translation costs
24% - information policy, IT, telecommunications
23% - MEPs' salaries, expenses, travel, offices and staff
13% - buildings
6% - political group activities
According to a European Parliament study prepared in 2013, the Strasbourg seat costs an extra €103 million over maintaining a single location and according to the Court of Auditors an additional €5 million is related to travel expenses caused by having two seats.[126]
As a comparison, the German lower house of parliament (Bundestag) is estimated to cost €517 million in total for 2018, for a parliament with 709 members.[127] The British House of Commons reported total annual costs in 2016-2017 of £249 million (€279 million). It had 650 seats.[128]
According to The Economist, the European Parliament costs more than the British, French and German parliaments combined. A quarter of the costs is estimated to be related to translation and interpretation costs (c. €460 million) and the double seats are estimated to add an additional €180 million a year.[129] For a like-for-like comparison, these two cost blocks can be excluded. The resulting costs of c. €1.2 billion a year are still more than double the German Bundestag's costs or more than four times the costs of the British House of Commons.
On 2 July 2018, MEPs rejected proposals to tighten the rules around the General Expenditure Allowance (GEA)[130], which "is a controversial €4,416 per month payment that MEPs are given to cover office and other expenses, but they are not required to provide any evidence of how the money is spent"[131].
Seat [ edit ]
The Parliament is based in three different cities with numerous buildings. A protocol attached to the Treaty of Amsterdam requires that 12 plenary sessions be held in Strasbourg (none in August but two in September), which is the Parliament's official seat, while extra part sessions as well as committee meetings are held in Brussels. Luxembourg hosts the Secretariat of the European Parliament. The European Parliament is the only assembly in the world with more than one meeting place and one of the few that does not have the power to decide its own location.[132]
The Strasbourg seat is seen as a symbol of reconciliation between France and Germany, the Strasbourg region having been fought over by the two countries in the past. However, the cost and inconvenience of having two seats is questioned. While Strasbourg is the official seat, and sits alongside the Council of Europe,[133] Brussels is home to nearly all other major EU institutions, with the majority of Parliament's work being carried out there. Critics have described the two-seat arrangement as a "travelling circus",[134] and there is a strong movement to establish Brussels as the sole seat. This is because the other political institutions (the Commission, Council and European Council) are located there, and hence Brussels is treated as the 'capital' of the EU. This movement has received strong backing from numerous figures, including the Commission First-Vice President who stated that "something that was once a very positive symbol of the EU reuniting France and Germany has now become a negative symbol—of wasting money, bureaucracy and the insanity of the Brussels institutions".[135] The Green Party has also noted the environmental cost in a study led by Jean Lambert MEP and Caroline Lucas MEP; in addition to the extra 200 million euro spent on the extra seat, there are over 20,268 tonnes of additional carbon dioxide, undermining any environmental stance of the institution and the Union.[134] The campaign is further backed by a million-strong online petition started by Cecilia Malmström MEP.[136] In August 2014, an assessment by the European Court of Auditors calculated that relocating the Strasbourg seat of the European Parliament to Brussels would save €113.8 million per year.[137] In 2006, there were allegations of irregularities in the charges made by the city of Strasbourg on buildings the Parliament rented, thus further harming the case for the Strasbourg seat.[138]
Most MEPs prefer Brussels as a single base.[139] A poll of MEPs found 89% of the respondents wanting a single seat, and 81% preferring Brussels.[140] Another, more academic, survey found 68% support.[14] In July 2011, an absolute majority of MEPs voted in favour of a single seat.[141] In early 2011, the Parliament voted to scrap one of the Strasbourg sessions by holding two within a single week.[142] The mayor of Strasbourg officially reacted by stating "we will counter-attack by upturning the adversary's strength to our own profit, as a judoka would do."[143] However, as Parliament's seat is now fixed by the treaties, it can only be changed by the Council acting unanimously, meaning that France could veto any move.[132] The former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has stated that the Strasbourg seat is "non-negotiable", and that France has no intention of surrendering the only EU Institution on French soil.[144] Given France's declared intention to veto any relocation to Brussels, some MEPs have advocated civil disobedience by refusing to take part in the monthly exodus to Strasbourg.[145][146][147]
Channels of dialogue, information, and communication with European civil society [ edit ]
Over the last few years, European institutions have committed to promoting transparency, openness, and the availability of information about their work.[148] In particular, transparency is regarded as pivotal to the action of European institutions and a general principle of EU law, to be applied to the activities of EU institutions in order to strengthen the Union's democratic foundation.[149] The general principles of openness and transparency are reaffirmed in the articles 8 A, point 3 and 10.3 of the Treaty of Lisbon and the Maastricht Treaty respectively, stating that "every citizen shall have the right to participate in the democratic life of the Union. Decisions shall be taken as openly and as closely as possible to the citizen".[150][151] Furthermore, both treaties acknowledge the value of dialogue between citizens, representative associations, civil society, and European institutions.[150][151]
Dialogue with religious and non-confessional organisations [ edit ]
Article 17 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) lays the juridical foundation for an open, transparent dialogue between European institutions and churches, religious associations, and non-confessional and philosophical organisations.[152] In July 2014, in the beginning of the 8th term, then President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz tasked Antonio Tajani, then Vice-President, with implementing the dialogue with the religious and confessional organisations included in article 17.[153] In this framework, the European Parliament hosts high-level conferences on inter-religious dialogue, also with focus on current issues and in relation with parliamentary works.[152]
European Parliament Mediator for International Parental Child Abduction [ edit ]
The chair of European Parliament Mediator for International Parental Child Abduction was established in 1987 by initiative of British politician and MEP Charles Henry Plumb, with the goal of helping minor children of international couples victim of parental abduction. The Mediator finds negotiated solutions in the higher interest of the minor when said minor is abducted by a parent following separation of the couple, regardless whether married or unmarried.[154][155] Since its institution, the chair has been held by Mairead McGuinness (since 2014), Roberta Angelilli (2009-2014), Evelyne Gebhardt (2004-2009), Mary Banotti (1995-2004), and Marie-Claude Vayssade (1987-1994).[155] The Mediator's main task is to assist parents in finding a solution in the minor's best interest through mediation, i.e. a form of controversy resolution alternative to lawsuit. The Mediator is activated by request of a citizen and, after evaluating the request, starts a mediation process aimed at reaching an agreement. Once subscribed by both parties and the Mediator, the agreement is official. The nature of the agreement is that of a private contract between parties.[155] In defining the agreement, the European Parliament offers the parties the juridical support necessary to reach a sound, lawful agreement based on legality and equity. The agreement can be ratified by the competent national courts and can also lay the foundation for consensual separation or divorce.[155]
European Parliamentary Research Service [ edit ]
The European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) is the European Parliament's in-house research department and think tank. It provides Members of the European Parliament – and, where appropriate, parliamentary committees – with independent, objective and authoritative analysis of, and research on, policy issues relating to the European Union, in order to assist them in their parliamentary work. It is also designed to increase Members' and EP committees' capacity to scrutinise and oversee the European Commission and other EU executive bodies.
EPRS aims to provide a comprehensive range of products and services, backed by specialist internal expertise and knowledge sources in all policy fields, so empowering Members and committees through knowledge and contributing to the Parliament's effectiveness and influence as an institution. In undertaking this work, the EPRS supports and promotes parliamentary outreach to the wider public, including dialogue with relevant stakeholders in the EU’s system of multi-level governance. All publications by EPRS are publicly available on the EP Think Tank platform.[156][157]
Eurobarometer of the European Parliament [ edit ]
The European Parliament periodically commissions opinion polls and studies on public opinion trends in Member States to survey perceptions and expectations of citizens about its work and the overall activities of the European Union. Topics include citizens' perception of the European Parliament's role, their knowledge of the institution, their sense of belonging in the European Union, opinions on European elections and European integration, identity, citizenship, political values, but also on current issues such as climate change, current economy and politics, etc.. Eurobarometer analyses seek to provide an overall picture of national situations, regional specificities, socio-demographic cleavages, and historical trends.[158][159]
Prizes [ edit ]
Annually, the European Parliament awards four prizes to individuals and organisations that distinguished themselves in the areas of human rights, film, youth projects, and European participation and citizenship.
Sakharov Prize [ edit ]
With the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, created in 1998, the European Parliament supports human rights by awarding individuals that contribute to promoting human rights worldwide, thus raising awareness on human rights violations. Priorities include: protection of human rights and fundamental liberties, with particular focus on freedom of expression; protection of minority rights; compliance with international law; and development of democracy and authentic rule of law.[160][161]
European Charlemagne Youth Prize [ edit ]
The European Charlemagne Youth Prize seeks to encourage youth participation in the European integration process. It is awarded by the European Parliament and the Foundation of the International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen to youth projects aimed at nurturing common European identity and European citizenship.[160]
European Citizens' Prize [ edit ]
The European Citizens' Prize is awarded by the European Parliament to activities and actions carried out by citizens and associations to promote integration between the citizens of EU member states and transnational cooperation projects in the EU.[160]
LUX Prize [ edit ]
Since 2007, the LUX Prize is awarded by the European Parliament to films dealing with current topics of public European interest that encourage reflection on Europe and its future. Over time, the Lux Prize has become a prestigious cinema award which supports European film and production also outside the EU.[162]
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]
Further reading [ edit ]
Coordinates:Control Groups allow you to understand which marketing campaigns are most successful
As a marketer you will spend valuable time and resources on the campaigns you deploy, ensuring they are optimized for your users. Having spent days preparing the latest marketing campaigns, you want them to reach all of the intended recipients, so you have the greatest chance to generate more revenue. However, ‘spray and pray’ marketing isn’t the most effective way to interact with your users.
It is important to measure the effectivity of your campaigns and understand which interactions resonate most with your users. Without targeted marketing interactions you will not be able to measure how successful your campaigns are. For long term marketing success understanding the effectivity of your interactions is more valuable than short term gains in revenue. This article will explain the necessity for introducing control groups into your marketing campaigns, and how you can gain a deeper understanding of your user’s behavior.
What is a control group and why is it important?
Control groups are critical for determining the effectiveness of any marketing campaign. A control group is a section of the segment of users you are targeting with a campaign which you determine will not receive the marketing campaign. The users who are chosen to be in the control group are randomly selected to ensure the validity of the results. This is important to acquire an objective measure of the impact which your marketing campaign has on your users. When measuring the success of the marketing campaigns you will measure the difference in responses between the control group and the rest of the segment, as opposed to your full user base.
Personally exempting a percentage of your users from the marketing campaign you worked hard to create can be a hard pill to swallow, as this equates to a loss in potential revenue, but control groups are necessary for the long term success of your marketing strategy. Effective marketing strategies incorporate control groups for a reason. If your control group, the users who did not receive the marketing campaign, respond similarly to those who did, then you can assume that the campaign you deployed was ineffective.
Adjusting the control groups for your company
Although utilising control groups can be an effective method for gaining an understanding of your users, measures need to be taken to ensure that they are optimized for each campaign.
The percentage of users in each control group must be relative to the amount of users which you are targeting for each campaign. If you are targeting a marketing campaign to a segment of 10,000 users, then a control group of 5% would be sufficient. With this particular scenario, 500 users would be large enough to obtain reliable information about the success of your campaign.
If you are deploying a campaign to a smaller amount of users, say 1000, then the percentage of users in your control group would need to be larger so you can garner substantial results. Conversely, if you are deploying a campaign to a large amount of your users, then the % of users in your control group can be smaller. It’s all relative.
In addition to this, you also need to take into account the expected response rate of the marketing campaign you are deploying. If you expect a high response rate then the control group can be smaller, and vice versa.
Understanding statistical significance in your marketing experiments is also vital in measuring how successful they are. For example, if you find that 5% of the users who received the marketing campaign purchased something, and 4.7% of the users who did not receive the campaign purchased something, it is unclear if these are significant results. In light of this, you will need a significance test. It adds authority to your results and allows you to understand the true value of your marketing interaction.
Such a significance test needs to be done with every control group, so you can compare the two outcomes of the marketing experiment. Depending on the parameters, significance tests offer a 95% or 99% certainty that the two sets of results are different. It is critical to note that significance tests can also fail if you cannot establish any real differences in the two outcomes. If the significance test fails, you cannot be sure that your marketing campaign has any positive effect.
Are Control Groups necessary for every campaign?
Control groups are necessary for gaining insights on your users reactions to your marketing campaigns, but they aren’t necessary for every campaign. If you were to incorporate a control group for every marketing campaign, this would amount to a sizeable percentage of potential revenue which is being missed for each interaction, lowering the overall ROI.
If you are incorporating control groups into your marketing strategy and you have a successful experiment, then you can remove the control group and deploy that marketing campaign to everyone in the segment. It is important to then reinstate the control group every so often, to ensure that the insights gained still remain true.
How do goedle.io utilise control groups for your company?
If your company is running multiple marketing campaigns every month then the level of analysis required to ensure you are incorporating relevant users into your control groups can be a difficult task.
Utilizing software which can automate this process is a valuable tool for the success of your marketing efforts. goedle.io segments your users into easily targetable groups for your marketing campaigns, ensuring that your interactions with your users are personalized. We then introduce the necessary control groups into your marketing campaigns for you, ensuring that you get the most understanding and insight from each campaign. We take care of the analysis side, so that you can focus on creating a successful campaign.
We also provide analysis from every campaign you deploy with a control group, allowing you to learn what the best way to interact with your users is. goedle.io monitor your control groups, ensuring that they always have the right percentage of users for effective analysis. We will remove your control groups when necessary, and reinstate them at a relevant time to ensure the information regarding your campaigns remain true. In addition, we also provide helpful insights and tips to improve your marketing interactions. Eventually this will result in you having the perfect marketing campaign.
Want to know more about control groups and how they can increase the effectivity of your marketing efforts? Get in contact or schedule a demo with goedle.io now!An US version of “Good Doctor” will air this Fall on ABC. [Image: ABC]
By Yeo-Ri Kim, Research Intern, East-West Center in Washington. She is a Master’s candidate in Global Policy Studies at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, University of Texas.
Note : this article originally appeared in the East-West Center’s Asia Matters for America/America Matters for Asia initiative on August 10, 2017.
The first episode of ABC’s new drama “Somewhere Between,” based on the Korean drama “God’s gift,” aired on July 24, the first U.S. remake of a Korean drama. ABC further announced that an American version of “Good Doctor” — a Korean hit TV series — will be released this September.
With the growing popularity of Korean dramas, American and Korean media firms have invested in streaming Korean dramas and films to Americans. In July, major Korean broadcasters KBS, MBC, and SBS began to provide a new streaming service, Kocowa, in the United States. This April, the US-based streaming giant Netflix signed a deal with South Korean cable TV network JTBC to provide its famous dramas and variety shows to Netflix subscribers.
In terms of the media and entertainment (M&E) industry, South Korea has maintained a good trading relationship with the United States — the largest M&E market in the world. The US M&E export to South Korea increased from $393.11 million in 2014 to $465.67 million in 2016. Many Korean remakes of US TV series — such as the Saturday Night Live, Good Wife, and Criminal Minds — have drawn huge viewership.
Recently, U.S. media companies have turned their eyes to Korea — the world’s seventh largest content creator — by adopting Korean formats and collaborating with Korean artists. NBC’s TV series “Better Late Than Never,” which adopted a format from Korean hit variety show “Grandpas Over Flowers,” confirmed a renewal of its second season in September. Netflix has also collaborated with South Korean film director Bong Joon-ho in producing “Okja,” which was recently released on Netflix.In this case it’s not a child who was targeted in the raid, rather, the Prime Minister’s Principal Director:
(Source: SW Radio Africa)
A top lawyer, Beatrice Mtetwa, is being held by Harare police after she reacted to early morning raids leading to the arrest of Thabani Mpofu, Principal Director in Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s Office, a day after Zimbabweans voted in a constitutional referendum.
Thabani Mpofu, the Principal Director for Research and Development in Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s office, was taken from his home at 6am.
The police, led by Inspector Mirimbo from Law and Order Harare Central, later raided the Prime Minister’s office in Bath Road in Belgravia, leading to the arrest of feisty human rights lawyer. The police, who did not have a search warrant, are said to have been looking for shortwave radios. [Continue reading on SW Radio Africa’s website…]3 of 7
Jason Miller/Getty Images
EB: What’s the deal with Johnny Football? Manziel has been making headlines since his days at Texas A&M, and at the beginning of the year, it seemed like he might be a distraction. Now, with this most recent Twitter cell phone prank, it actually seems like he’s maturing. Is this like Aaron Rodgers sitting his first three years? When is Manziel going to play?
MJ: My opinion is that this is a strictly football decision based in two areas.
The first is that Manziel is being given time to learn the pro system. What’s not stressed enough is that he came from a system that ran just variants of four to five plays, none of which were of a style much utilized in the NFL. So this guy is being given time to learn a new system and learn how to play from the pocket.
The second is that as the Browns entered this season with a new system, a new scheme and a new coaching staff, sitting Manziel was going to help them win games.
Rookie quarterbacks tend to fail if you throw them into the starting role right away. Andrew Luck and Cam Newton are definite outliers. Starting Brian Hoyer over Johnny Manziel seemed the clear choice, from the beginning, to help the Browns win games. Simple as that.
JM: Additionally, I think that the quarterback the fans think he is is very different from the quarterback the front office thinks he is. The media seemed to think that Manziel was going to start right from the get-go, but I don’t that was ever the front office’s game plan.
Until Manziel can learn to be comfortable in the pocket, he’s a project.
MJ: His first option of running came too quick. Like a default setting.
JM: Yes. He needs to adapt to look to pass first and run second to be an NFL quarterback. Until then, I think watching and learning is good for him, and I think the front office thinks it’s good for him too. You don’t want to set up a rookie for failure. A new player is going to feel pressure no matter what. There’s no need to amplify that.
MJ: Remember, he sat out his first year at Texas A&M too. It’s not unprecedented. It’s what he had to do to transition from high school to college. And of course, there’s the question of maturity. Even that social media thing, which we loved, it came off as negative at first. It seems like he needed this time to mature. Not just on the field, but off the field too.
EB: What about the growth in the past five years of the run-first QB style in the NFL?
MJ: The two best young run-style quarterbacks are Russell Wilson and Colin Kaepernick. And even with them, you can certainly see a growth curve. They’re pulling back from looking to run first.
You hear from Browns camp that Manziel is still seeing only 50 percent of the field when looking to pass. And, he’s so slight, he might get hurt from running too much.
Those weren’t things we as fans were really “hearing” when the hype machine was active, but now, it’s something we can all pay attention to.
JM: Look, he’s a super-talented quarterback. But everyone who sees him in real life thinks he’s too small. And he’s even young for a rookie. So it’s a legitimate concern.
EB: Other touted run-first quarterbacks like Michael Vick and Robert Griffin III do seem to be susceptible to injury.
JM: The run is a weapon for a quarterback, but it can’t be your go-to. You have to be able to do other things.NOVEMBER 21, 2015. The Santiago Bernabéu was packed to the last man. For a semiternal period of 10 minutes, no incident of note had taken place during the latest instalment of the greatest gladiatorial contest on the planet, which isn’t, as of yet, Bruce Wayne vs. Clark Kent.
The home support was waiting with bated breath for that which was never delivered. Rather unceremoniously described as a voluptuous Iberian restaurant staff, Rafael Benítez had been coerced into shoehorning his constellation of Bale, Benzema, Ronaldo and James into the starting XI, a line-up that was characterised by an un-Benítez-like |
of where they fall on that spectrum, many residents’ misfortunes track with the city’s own.
Yuri Campos’s grandparents first arrived here as farm workers from Mexico 50 years ago. As the city grew from an agricultural town into what was, until recently, a rapidly expanding exurb, Ms. Campos’ family grew with it. She bought a house, had a son and opened a shop called Party Barn specializing in handmade piñatas. But these days few here have the means, or the will, for parties.
As the city stumbled into financial ruin, Ms. Campos, 30, and her family fell with it. By last November, the bank had foreclosed on her house and the homes of three other family members in town.
Ms. Campos started looking at rental listings in Southern California cities like Oxnard and Long Beach. One of her aunts decamped for Arizona.
Then in March, Ms. Campos was at a bar when a fight broke out and a man was shot and killed. When she tried to contact the police with information about what happened, she says no one at the Police Department would meet with her or call her back.
By the end of June, the city’s bankruptcy made national headlines and for the first time in her life, Ms. Campos began to feel something akin to shame.
“People will ask me, ‘Where are you from?’ ” she said. “Sometime I hesitate to say. I just feel like they’ll think I’m a violent person. They’ll look at me like I might hurt them.”About
Get a pencil, a blank sheet of paper, and draw a tree.
Sketch from memory only – no fair looking out the window or at another picture of a tree. Don’t rush, but don’t take more than five or ten minutes to complete –just draw a sketch, not a work of art.
What Does Your Tree Drawing Say About You?
The simple act of drawing a tree requires the human mind to make dozens of decisions as one goes about the task. Size, shape, roots, foliage, branches, and many other detail determinations are all quietly negotiated by the unconscious mind as the eyes and hands go about the job of doing as they are instructed. Chances are that the top-level conscious mind is just sitting back, letting a more autonomous subconscious, or unconscious, mind do all that heavy lifting of making sketch detail decisions and then passing those instructions on to the hand with the pencil. Through this exercise, the unconscious mind unwittingly reveals a treasure trove of information about itself. In much the same way that inadvertent body language can reveal a person's thoughts and feelings, clues about the tree artist’s ambitions, desires, character traits, attitudes, aptitudes, and more are all cleverly woven into the detail fabric of a tree drawing. This book helps you interpret and understand these clues.
Draw a tree, (before reading the book), and you have the opportunity to put yourself on the couch, as it were, and perform your own psychoanalysis. The truth of the matter is that you know yourself better than anyone else. With that level of self-understanding, you are able to analyze your drawing with an introspective, albeit slightly prejudiced, interpretation. Have your friends, family members or coworkers draw trees, and you can use what you learn in the book to exercise your newfound skill as a Recreational Psychoanalyst.
Why write this book?
The clever workings of the human mind have always intrigued me, particularly the role that the unconscious mind plays in our lives. I was first introduced to the fascinating world of tree drawing interpretation in the 1970s. Since then I’ve researched not only tree drawings, but also the hidden meanings of sketches, doodles, body language, and other involuntary personality expressions, as well as the methods psychiatric professionals use to understand the human mind.
Psychiatrists have developed what are known as projective tests to use as tools in clinical psychotherapy. Some of their favorite ones include word associations, picture arrangements, and inkblot interpretations. The idea of projective testing is to measure a patient’s response to ambiguous stimuli, presumably revealing hidden emotions and internal conflicts (many of which, if you believe the professionals, are the result of early childhood interaction with one’s own genitalia). Psychiatrists have put lots of information out there for the benefit of other psychiatrists in understanding the subconscious mind, but there is not much stuff out there that is useful for the layman, or Recreational Psychoanalyst. I have written this book to help fill that void, as well as for my own entertainment.
This exercise is a type of projective test, in that the ambiguous instruction is given to “draw a tree.” The theory, of course, is that the unconscious mind is "projecting" itself into the details of the sketch. How one chooses to carry out this task is the subject of the interpretation, and all is explained in the book. The book is not clinical, it is not sanctioned by the APA, interpretations are subjective, and there is no effort to apply anything learned from tree drawing interpretation towards any kind of psychotherapy. This book is strictly for fun, but perhaps you can use it to learn something about yourself, your family, your friends, or use its techniques as an icebreaker or as a group exercise.
Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalytic theory, is famous for his statement that, “Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.” By the same token, once everything is all said and done, a tree drawing is simply… a tree drawing.VOORHEES, N.J. — On a Saturday night in Victoriaville, Quebec, last October, the trajectory of Pascal Laberge’s third season in the QMJHL changed in a flash and not for the better.
Six minutes into the Tigres’ game against the Moncton Wildcats, Laberge was met by a thundering headshot from Zachary Malatesta as he gathered the puck at his own blue line.
Laberge lay barren on the ice while Victoriaville alternate captain James Phelan immediately jumped Malatesta, who was ejected and then suspended seven games.
“You try to avoid these concussions and when a player does a thing like that, it sure pisses you off a little bit,” Laberge said Friday at development camp at Flyers Skate Zone. “There’s always going to be some guys like that in hockey. It’s just that it happened to me.”
What happened to Laberge was a concussion that caused him to miss over a month before returning Nov. 25 for two games to only sit out another three games as symptoms returned.
Upon returning, Laberge labored to find the consistency and point production that led to the Flyers’ selecting him with the 36th overall pick in the 2016 NHL draft.
After his symptoms subsided enough for him to come back Dec. 8, the 19-year-old forward recorded seven points in eight games in the month. In January, he tallied six points in 10 games but was held pointless during six of those games. He finished the season with 32 points.
In 2015-16, his draft year, Laberge registered 68 points in 56 games for Victoriaville. His 32 points last season was one point more than his 2014-15 rookie campaign in the QMJHL.
He ended last season with an assist in each of the Tigres’ final three games and scooped up two more in four games during Victoriaville’s first-round postseason exit to Chicoutimi.
Regaining confidence was a barricade for Laberge following his return from his concussion, especially when going toward the boards. “You’re kind of shy to go there,” he said. He often played looking over his shoulder and said it took about two months for him to fully recover.
“The first month,” he said, “I couldn’t wake up. I had to sleep all day.”
By now, Laberge’s story is well known. In summer 2015, his stepmother was diagnosed with metastatic cancer and his father, prostate cancer. His stepmother died in September 2015. His dad had his prostate removed that fall. All while he was trying to get drafted.
Laberge fell to the Flyers in the second round despite being rated 28th among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting Bureau. Some saw him as a late first-rounder.
One of the traits the Flyers liked about Laberge when they drafted him last summer was his perseverance, how he dealt with his family situation and also still produced on the ice.
Character is something general manager Ron Hextall values greatly. When he talks about prospects, chiefly in regards of development camp, character is one detail he preaches.
How prospects deal with adversity — albeit on the ice or off it, both are true in Laberge’s case — can make them hungrier and better as a player and person, according to Hextall.
Hextall offered a guess: Last season, on the ice, was a first for Laberge. A young, talented kid who didn’t have his way, who took a step back in his development and wasn’t a star.
For someone his age, he has been through a lot off the ice. Last season, the concussion was just “another tough time.” It’s getting him stronger, he said.
“Sometimes with my friends,” Laberge said, “I feel a little bit older than them.”
In his second development camp, Laberge claims he’s back to normal, feels good and his concussion issues are in the past. He understands how last season went means the timetable for his path to the NHL has been pushed back because of the lost time.
Laberge wants to get back to “the real me” in 2017-18. With one more year of junior eligibility, he, barring any miracles, will spend another season in Victoriaville.
While Hextall’s been adamant about keeping a few spots open for prospects to earn during training camp in September, it’s a long shot to consider Laberge to be in that competition.
“We didn’t like what he went through,” Hextall said Friday. “We didn’t like, at times, the level he was playing to, which wasn’t at the level he’s capable of. But …
“You go through adversity like that as a young man, you learn from it. You become stronger. It’s like a team. Sometimes you have to lose to learn how to win.”
If there’s any one thing Laberge learned from last season, it’s …
“Next time,” he said, “I’ll lift my head.”Isn’t this a beautiful painting? My cousin did it for an assignment in college, it’s a copy of Matisse’s The Goldfish Bowl.
I’ve had for over ten years and although I have done nothing to physically alter it, I have ruined it. About a year ago I hung it in front of my treadmill so there could be something pleasant to look at while doing the monotonous walking and running. A couple of days ago I looked at those fish, those leaves, the meniscus on that bowl and knew that I couldn’t stand to see that painting another time.
While out shopping yesterday I found another great piece of art to ruin.
I am sure that smile will taunt me, maybe that is not a good choice? Perhaps I should have gone with something like “The Garden of Earthly Delights” by Hieronymus Bosch.
Click to zoom
Then I might be able to figure out whether the flowers are coming or going.
What do you think?
AdvertisementsSometimes it's hard to decide, should I eat an entire cherry pie? Or should I eat an entire french silk pie? Such questions usually end with me just eating half of each, and then the other two halves the next day. When you're just looking to eat 1 whole pie, but two different flavors, this split pie pan, aka the Split Decision Pie Pan, will certainly assist you on your short journey to pie heaven.
The split pie pan lets you make half a pie in 1 flavor, and the other half of the pie with a different flavor. How it works is, the pan comes in three separate pieces. An outer shell that keeps things in order, and two bottom pieces that either let you make a full sized pie, or two halves. When you want two separate pies, a center divider splits the two flavors so they won't touch while preparing or baking.
Not only great for splitting pie flavors, the split pie pan is also great for making different types of brownies, lasagnas or whatever else your little heart desires.
The double flavored pie pan is made using heavy duty non-stick metallic material, and measures 9 inches in diameter x 1.25 inches tall. An easy release function also allows for easy baking, serving, and cleanup.
Check out the Split Decision Pie Pan in action via the video below.Terror experts said the killing of a soldier in Woolwich was "likely to be the kind of attack we will see in the future" but the real danger lay in "stirring up anti-Muslim sentiments" in the UK.
Dr Christina Hellmich, an expert on al-Qaeda and international terrorism at the University of Reading, said: "If what we saw in Woolwich yesterday was indeed an Islamist-inspired attack, it bears much in common with the concept of the 'individualised jihad', which has been propagated by radical Islamists for many years.
"As I have said in the past, this is unfortunately likely to be the kind of attack we will see in the future.
"But while these attacks are truly awful, this does not indicate to me that we face a 'wave of terror'.
"The reality is that al-Qaeda, as an organised international movement, is a spent force.
"A seemingly random murder is truly horrific - but it is hardly the activity of an institution which wields genuine international power.
"Whether such activities become influential is largely down to the reaction of the rest of society.
"Calls for individualised jihad by individuals in their home countries is nothing new.
"Such ideas have been widely circulating since 2010 and fortunately few have taken it up.
"The odd people who do are the exception rather than the norm, and I do not see that changing in the wake of this event in London.
"The real danger lies in the emotions that this evokes in Britain, stirring up anti-Muslim sentiments, provoking fear, and adding apparent weight to the arguments of those who wish to implement ever more dramatic counter-terrorism measures."
Jeffrey DeMarco, lecturer and researcher in criminology at Kingston University, said the attack demonstrated the recent increase in "lone wolf" terrorism which could pose a risk for security services.
He said: "We have been seeing slowly but really most noticeably with Mumbai in 2008, this escalation and this frequent recurrence of the lone wolves who aren't part of the intricate terrorist cells or organisations, but who are trying to get to their own end game.
"These are individuals taking matters into their own hands.
"It's going to be quite difficult for local and national levels of security services.
"Mass casualties are not necessarily the endgame, the epidemic of fear can be just as damaging.
"Regardless of the venue, the perpetrator, or the modus operandi we reach an ultimate conclusion: Islamic jihadists.
"Full stop.
"They've killed someone, but they've also spread fear amongst the populace."
Matthew Henman, senior analyst at IHS Jane's Terrorism and Insurgency Centre (JTIC), said: "While it remains too early to definitively attribute a motive for the attack, Prime Minister David Cameron stated several hours after the incident that there were "strong indications" that it was terrorism-related.
"The potential militant Islamist angle was underlined by several aspects of the attack, firstly in that it appeared to specifically target a UK soldier near the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich, with the attackers making no attempt to attack any other person in the vicinity.
"The subsequent claim that the victim was killed specifically because he was a soldier may also indicate that the attack was pre-planned.
"The fact that the attackers made no attempt to flee the scene, combined with their interaction with bystanders, may indicate an effort to maximise publicity of the attack and to ensure that their message was recorded and publicised.
"Finally, the reported attempt to attack the police responders may well have been in the expectation that they would be shot dead, perhaps with the aim that they would thereby be considered martyrs within the wider militant Islamist community."Todd Humphreys, professors at the University of Texas, demonstrated that just using a cheap apparatus composed by a small antenna, an electronic GPS “spoofer” built in $3,000 and with a laptop, it is possible to exploit GPS vulnerability to obtain control of sophisticated navigation system aboard a 210-foot super-yacht in the Mediterranean Sea. The GPS expert, professors at the University of Texas, demonstrated that just using a cheap apparatus composed by a small antenna, an electronic GPS “” built in $3,000 and with a laptop, it is possible to exploitto obtain control of sophisticated navigation system aboard a 210-foot super-yacht in the Mediterranean Sea.
Humphreys demonstrated the exploit of a GPS vulnerability aboard the yacht “White Rose of Drachs” commanded by Capt. Andrew Schofield, the official and his crew were stunned by the effect of the attack.
drones hacking. The Assistant Professor of the University of Texas with his team has created the world’s most powerful GPS spoofer that was tested on GPS-based timing devices used in mobile phone transmitters. Humphreys is a famous GPS experts, we met him last year when we discussed about. The Assistant Professor of the University of Texas with his team has created the world’s most powerfulthat was tested on GPS-based timing devices used in mobile phone transmitters.
Humphreys reported the results of his experiment to the Foxnews explaining how his team exploited the GPS system of the vessel: “We injected our spoofing signals into its GPS antennas and we're basically able to control its navigation system with our spoofing signals,” 'Imagine shutting down a port. Imagine running a ship aground. These are the kinds of implications we're worried about." “For maritime traffic, there are big implications,” “You've got 90 percent of the world’s cargo going across the seas. Imagine shutting down a port. Imagine running a ship aground. These are the kinds of implications we're worried about.”
The concept is simple, the researchers provided counterfeit GPS signals to the yacht providing inaccurate information on its position to hijack it, potentially the attack could be used to disorient any vessel with serious consequences without victims notification.
Professor Humphreys and his team did a number of attacks and basically we on the bridge were absolutely unaware of any difference,” “I was gobsmacked -- but my entire deck team was similarly gobsmacked,” Schofield he told Captain Andrew Schofield was shocked by the results of the attack: “,” “” Schofield he told Fox News
hijack GPS systems of victims causing collisions or other damage. A collision of a cruise ship or an oil tanker would lead to devastating consequences in terms of loss of human lives and environmental impact, we have observed it the cases of the Costa Concordia and the Exxon Valdez. The scope of these attacks isof victims causing collisions or other damage. A collision of a cruise ship or an oil tanker would lead to devastating consequences in terms of loss of human lives and environmental impact, we have observed it the cases of the Costa Concordia and the Exxon Valdez.
GPS hacking is not limited to the maritime environment, same kind of attack could be conducted against You're actually moving about a kilometer off of your intended track in a parallel line and you could be running aground instead of going through the proper channel,” “Going after an expensive vessel on the seas and going after a commercial airliner has a lot of parallels,” Humphreys said. The impact ofis not limited to the maritime environment, same kind of attack could be conducted against aircrafts or any other system that use GPS technology: “,” Humphreys said.
The latest experiment conducted by Humphreys demonstrated the possibility to control victim’s GPS system exploiting the GPS vulnerability, not only to interfere with it.
“Before we couldn’t control the UAV. We could only push it off course. This time my students have designed a closed loop controller such that they can dictate the heading of this vessel even when the vessel wants to go a different direction,” Humphreys said.
GPS vulnerabilities, Humphreys was called before Congress to speak with officials from the FAA, CIA and Pentagon, but according the researcher the Department of Homeland Security still been “fumbling around in the dark” on GPS security, doing little to address the threat. The government is concerned by the possible exploitation of critical, Humphreys was called before Congress to speak with officials from the FAA, CIA and Pentagon, but according the researcher the Department of Homeland Security still been “” on GPS security, doing little to address the threat.
Texas Congressman Mike McCaul, chairman of the Homeland Security Committee expressed its concerns on the GPS security issues and remarked with Senators Coburn and Collins the necessity to address these critical threats.
“It's a very serious homeland security issue that we've asked the secretary to review and look at and she's never responded to my requests,” “The department seems to be thumbing its nose at it, saying it has no jurisdiction over this issue and not really showing any interest in this issue at all.”
It’s important to share information on possible effect of attacks against GPS systems, it could be too easy for the hackers to acquire a low cost appliance to cause serious damage, Schofield commented the results of the experiment with the following eloquent statements: “People need to know this kind of thing is possible with a relatively small budget and they can with a very simple system steer the ship off-course -- without the Captain knowing".Hazel Thompson for The New York Times
Sean Hoare, a former News of the World journalist who claimed that Andy Coulson, the tabloid’s former editor, knew about and encouraged phone hacking, was found dead on Monday, The Guardian reports.
According to the newspaper, Mr. Hoare, who “worked on The Sun and The News of the World with Coulson before being dismissed for drink and drugs problems,” was “said to have been found dead at his Watford home.”
Police officers in Watford, outside London, refused to confirm the dead man’s identity to The Guardian but said in a statement: “The death is currently being treated as unexplained, but not thought to be suspicious. Police investigations into this incident are ongoing.”
Laura Kuenssberg, The BBC’s chief political correspondent, reported on Twitter that Mr. Hoare’s death was “confirmed.”
Mr. Hoare told The New York Times in 2010 that Mr. Coulson was aware of phone hacking at The Sun and The News of the World, which are both owned by News Corporation’s British newspaper division.
Mr. Coulson, who was arrested last week in connection with a new police investigation into misconduct at The News of the World, has always denied that he knew about the phone hacking that went on when he was the tabloid’s editor.
As my colleagues Don Van Natta Jr., Jo Becker and Graham Bowley reported last September:
Sean Hoare, a former reporter and onetime close friend of Coulson’s, also recalled discussing hacking. The two men first worked together at The Sun, where, Hoare said, he played tape recordings of hacked messages for Coulson. At News of the World, Hoare said he continued to inform Coulson of his pursuits. Coulson “actively encouraged me to do it,” Hoare said. Hoare said he was fired during a period when he was struggling with drugs and alcohol.
In a subsequent interview, Mr. Hoare told The BBC that Mr. Coulson was “well aware” of phone hacking and “to deny it is a lie, is simply a lie.”
Hazel Thompson for The New York Times
In March, Mr. Hoare told The BBC that phone hacking was “endemic” at The News of the World
Just last week, Mr. Hoare told The Times that British police had used illicit cellphone tracking, known to News of the World journalists as “pinging,” to help them locate subjects.
As my colleagues John Burns and Jo Becker reported:
Under British law, the technology involved is restricted to law enforcement and security officials, requires case-by-case authorization and is used mainly for high-profile criminal cases and terrorism investigations, according to a former senior Scotland Yard official who requested anonymity so as to be able to speak candidly. According to Oliver Crofton, a cybersecurity specialist who works to protect high-profile clients from such invasive tactics, cellphones are constantly pinging off relay towers as they search for a network, enabling an individual’s location to be located within yards by checking the strength of the signal at three different towers…. A former show-business reporter for The News of the World, Sean Hoare, who was fired in 2005, said that when he worked there, pinging cost the paper nearly $500 on each occasion. He first found out how the practice worked, he said, when he was scrambling to find someone and was told that one of the news desk editors, Greg Miskiw, could help. Mr. Miskiw asked for the person’s cellphone number, and returned later with information showing the person’s precise location in Scotland, Mr. Hoare said. Mr. Miskiw, who faces questioning by police on a separate matter, did not return calls for comment.
Mr. Hoare also spoke to a Guardian reporter last week and said “that he had been injured the previous weekend while taking down a marquee erected for a children’s party. He said he had broken his nose and badly injured his foot when a relative accidentally struck him with a heavy pole from the marquee.”
In a Twitter tribute to Mr. Hoare, Don Van Natta reported that he had dinner with the whistle-blower last week: “He was ailing but defiant and funny. And no regrets. All-courage.”
RIP Sean Hoare. Jo Becker and I had dinner with him last Tues. night. He was ailing but defiant and funny. And no regrets. All-courage. Don Van Natta Jr.
DVNJr
Nick Davies, the Guardian journalist who first reported in 2009 that phone hacking had been much more widespread than an initial police investigation suggested, wrote of Mr. Hoare on Monday:
At a time when the reputation of News of the World journalists is at rock bottom, it needs to be said that the paper’s former show business correspondent Sean Hoare, who died on Monday, was a lovely man. In the saga of the phone-hacking scandal, he distinguished himself by being the first former NoW journalist to come out on the record, telling The New York Times last year that his former friend and editor, Andy Coulson, had actively encouraged him to hack into voice mail. That took courage. But he had a particularly powerful motive for speaking. He knew how destructive The News of the World could be, not just for the targets of its exposés, but also for the ordinary journalists who worked there, who got caught up in its remorseless drive for headlines. Explaining why he had spoken out, he told me: “I want to right a wrong, lift the lid on it, the whole culture. I know, we all know, that the hacking and other stuff is endemic. Because there is so much intimidation. In the newsroom, you have people being fired, breaking down in tears, hitting the bottle.”
Marina Hyde, a Guardian columnist who started her career as a secretary on The Sun’s show business desk, wrote on Twitter that Mr. Hoare was “the first journalist to speak to me when I started” and “continued to be kind to me until the very end.”Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont). AP Photo/Jae C. Hong Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) is surging in early-state polling as the Democratic presidential primary approaches its final stretch before Iowa and New Hampshire voters weigh in.
In a poll out Tuesday, Sanders was even ahead of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton among likely Democratic caucusgoers in Iowa.
The Quinnipiac University survey found Sanders with 49% support to Clinton's 44% in Iowa.
That represented a turnaround for Sanders in Iowa, as the same pollster found 51% for Clinton and 40% for Sanders there last month.
"After three months of Secretary Hillary Clinton holding an average 10-point lead among Iowa Democrats, the playing field has changed," Quinnipiac assistant director Peter Brown said in a statement.
"Sen. Sanders' surge seems based on the perception by Iowa Democrats that he is a better fit for Iowans," Brown added. "They see him, by solid double-digit margins, as more sharing their values, more honest and trustworthy, and viewed more favorably overall than is Secretary Clinton."
Other polls have shown Clinton ahead of Sanders in Iowa, but they similarly found Sanders closing the gap there. A Public Policy Polling survey released Tuesday found Clinton leading Sanders 46% to 40%. The pollster reported that it found Clinton ahead of Sanders 52% to 34% there last month.
Meanwhile, Sanders is doing even better in New Hampshire, which borders his home state of Vermont. A Monmouth University poll, also released Tuesday, gave Sanders a 14-point lead over Clinton among voters likely to participate in the New Hampshire Democratic primary.
Exactly where the race stands, however, remains murky. Other polls released this month have found Sanders' New Hampshire lead much more modest. One, from Public Policy Polling, gave Clinton a 3-point lead there. Clinton has also led in other Iowa polls.
The New York Times reported Tuesday that Clinton's advisers privately said they thought Iowa was a single-digit race and had warned her supporters against complacency. But her team also predicted that Clinton would win on February 1, the date of the Iowa caucuses. (The Sanders campaign has been focused on winning New Hampshire, which votes February 9.)
The tone of the race has also recently been changing, with Clinton and Sanders increasingly taking shots at each other on the campaign trail. On Monday, for example, Sanders and Clinton campaign chair John Podesta exchanged Twitter burns:Nokia will introduce its latest Lumia 920 handset at a special event with Microsoft on Wednesday September 5th, we have learned. Images of the Lumia 920 leaked last week and we have been able to confirm them with multiple sources. The Lumia 920 will be Nokia's new flagship Windows Phone and will include some impressive hardware specifications to match. According to sources familiar with the company's Windows Phone plans, Nokia is packaging wireless charging with its Lumia 920.
Wireless charging, with standards support
Lumia 920 wireless charging support will be provided via an inductive method — lining the device up to the contacts on a charging pad. We're told it will support the Qi wireless power standard — making it compatible with other wireless charging products. Aside from the charging aspect, Nokia's Lumia 920 will also include 32GB of device storage, 1GB of RAM, and a 1.5GHz dual-core processor. We have also been able to confirm that it will include a 4.5-inch HD display.
PureView, but not really PureView
One rumored aspect of the Lumia 920 is a PureView camera. We can confirm that Nokia will indeed brand its Lumia 920 camera as PureView, but that the camera will be an 8-megapixel one — not the 41-megapixel one found on the company's 808 PureView handset. Nokia is focusing on marketing the Lumia 920 as PureView thanks to some advancements in image stabilization and camera software that it plans to ship on the device. The front of the device will also include a 1.3-megapixel camera.
We're expecting Nokia to announce the device on Wednesday for AT&T customers initially, with a launch date expected in late October or early November.
Update: An image of the charging pad for Nokia's Windows Phone 8 lumia range has leaked.You descend into the museum on a long ramp, sloped so gradually that you barely feel your steps gathering momentum. It’s as if you’re gently being pulled into orbit. Then you walk out onto an underground balcony overlooking the museum floor, some 40 feet below, and gaze out into a vast, nearly empty space punctuated by the Last Column—the final piece of steel hauled away from Ground Zero during cleanup. Weighing 60 tons and standing nearly 40 feet high, it’s still covered in spray-painted messages, tributes to the dead left by those who did the work. (“My brothers, you ran into hell,” one reads.) You get an overwhelming sense of absence and awe. There may be no public space more cavernous in New York City, and the vista was designed to preserve the dizzying experience of looking into the gaping pit left when the cleanup was complete in the spring of 2002.
To your left is the Slurry Wall, a 3-foot-thick concrete barrier studded with iron pilings that once girded the foundations of the site and managed to hold even after the towers fell. The wall still seems both immovable and fragile. It’s what keeps the Hudson River from drowning this space, which is an unprecedented hybrid of archaeological site, cathedral, and tourist attraction.
As you keep walking downward, the ramp switches back, and you pass by a quote rendered in metal letters 15 inches high and cast from steel recovered from the original Twin Towers: NO DAY SHALL ERASE YOU FROM THE MEMORY OF TIME. It’s a line by Virgil, who, in the Inferno, serves as Dante’s guide through hell. Stepping off the ramp and passing down a flight of stairs and a hallway, you are now 70 feet belowground, standing on the bedrock that rooted the Twin Towers.
Twenty feet above your head hangs a piece of steel more than 35 feet long and weighing nearly 5 tons. It’s positioned vertically on the side of a massive silvery cube that marks the outline of where the North Tower once stood. Twisted like a ribbon blown in the wind, it has a terrible beauty. This and a counterpart down the hall are the “impact steel,” the columns hit by the first passenger jet when it slammed into the North Tower almost 13 years ago. You pass under one of the steel pieces and through a pair of plain glass doors to enter the main exhibits of the National September 11 Memorial Museum.
Historical museums typically serve as a way to tell the official story of something that happened and what it means. This one is different. “It is a story that has no end,” says Paula Grant Berry, a museum-planning-committee member whose husband died in the South Tower. The events of 9/11 are still raw in our memories and alive in our political and cultural climate.
For the museum’s designers and curators, that tension led to a tangle of quandaries: How can you present a lasting memorial to an event whose impact is still unspooling through developments such as the Edward Snowden leaks and the Senate’s torture report? How can you speak to 9/11’s polarizing effects, such as the bungled search for WMD, without alienating some significant portion of your audience? How can you create a meaningful tribute that will resonate with every visitor: the schoolchildren who know almost nothing of what happened, survivors who ran from the buildings covered in ash, and all those—more than a billion worldwide—who experienced the attack live on TV? “Conventional narrative wouldn’t cut it,” says Alice Greenwald, director of the museum, which opens in May.
Perhaps the most vexing problem of the project’s design, which incorporates thousands of artifacts, is that it risked becoming one massive trigger for victims and a trauma in its own right for everyone else. “This is not the Disney World of 9/11,” says Greenwald, a petite, dark-haired woman whose room-filling good cheer belies the material she has absorbed and calibrated. “We weren’t going to immerse people in the experience.” As Jake Barton, founder of Local Projects, which helped design the space, says, “That was the first, panicking challenge: How do you rise to the event itself for the people who lived it without overwhelming everyone else?” The fear of seeming hasty or naive was almost paralyzing. “Usually, as designers, you try to create meaning. Here there was almost too much of it,” Barton says.
The museum’s creative team tackled these emotional and psychological challenges through a combination of sophisticated design and artfully deployed technologies: a data-mining algorithm, onsite digital recording booths, a web-based platform for gathering crowdsourced testimony, touchscreens that let you access remembrances of the dead. The result isn’t so much a record of an event as a testament to how much we’ve all witnessed—no one more so than the survivors and family members, whose experiences are almost impossible to imagine until you hear from them yourself.
Foundation Hall | The last column stands wrapped in protective canvas. The installation called timescape is projected on the wall behind it. Vincent Fournier
The museum began to take shape eight years ago in a generic office on the 20th floor of One Liberty Plaza. In late 2001, the room, which features a view of Ground Zero, was set aside by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation as an interim memorial space for the families of victims. The windows and walls were soon papered over with remembrances. To glimpse Ground Zero at all, you had to peer through the narrow spaces between pictures of people who had died. Many were small framed photos like the ones you’d see on a nightstand; a few were kids’ drawings with pictures stapled to them. At the center of the room was a podium bearing an oversize guest book filled with notes written to the dead. It remains in place today, off-limits to everyone except families. (A new private family room in the museum will replace this one later in 2014.)
Tom Hennes first visited the room in 2007, soon after his firm, Thinc, won the original museum commission. It felt like a time capsule. Hennes remembers that the notes were written in the present tense; one woman wrote to a relative asking for his approval of her new boyfriend, whom she’d brought with her. “The room tuned us in to what trauma means,” Hennes says. “Time had stood still.”
To the designers, the very rawness and variety of expression suggested an answer to a central challenge: how best to present events when, as William Faulkner once wrote, “the past is never dead. It’s not even past.” Instead of providing its own interpretive explanations, the designers realized, the museum could focus on direct testaments from the people who had experienced it. The hope was to avoid a single story line and instead allow visitors to reconstruct narratives on their own, using the artifacts on display. “Witnesses are the way into the museum,” Greenwald says.
It was an approach that Barton had been inching toward for more than a decade, influenced by such Anna Deavere Smith plays as Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992. For that meditation on post–Rodney King racial resentments, Smith conducted more than 300 interviews and then condensed the material into four dozen |
things, is to do the opposite to his predecessor, Nicolas Sarkozy. Mr Sarkozy would energetically orchestrate a common Franco-German line ahead of and after EU summits, which led to the sobriquet “Merkozy”. Mr Hollande has avoided such pre-summit deals and talked up links with other countries. In particular, he has made much of consulting the Italians and Spanish, as part of a southern offensive. This week he welcomed Enrico Letta, the new Italian prime minister, who has said that “austerity is killing us”.
Yet Mr Hollande’s results, like Mr Sarkozy’s, have been mixed at best. The Merkozy show masked a growing imbalance, as France’s economy stalled and its competitiveness deteriorated while Germany powered ahead. On Mr Hollande’s watch, the Germans have accepted the principle of banking union even if they have been reluctant to translate it into practice. But Mr Hollande had to swallow the fiscal compact he once vowed to renegotiate with only modest concessions on growth. And his calls for eurobonds have got nowhere.
There has been growing support for the view that austerity has gone too far. Yet Mr Hollande cannot claim much of the credit. Part of the problem, says Thomas Klau of the European Council on Foreign Relations, is that “French advocacy is devalued by the perception, rightly or wrongly, that Hollande has not been sufficiently tough about reform in his own country.” The Germans seem ready to give the French more time to cut their budget deficit to 3% of GDP, but they want more evidence of French reforms first.
Mr Hollande knows this, just as he understands France’s economic problems. Although he began by raising taxes on companies and the rich, he is now belatedly talking of welfare reform and spending cuts and even sounding more business-friendly (see article). But his consensual style and his divided party, plus his record-low popularity rating, do not suggest that he is ready to test the French by imposing difficult reforms on them. Ambiguity is a hallmark of this presidency; if the Germans want a clearer line on French reform, they may have to wait.
It is also not in Mr Hollande’s nature to confront Mrs Merkel. Such an approach would put at risk whatever minimal trust the two leaders have built up over the past year. It would be especially awkward ahead of Germany’s election in September. Nor does Mr Hollande have any interest in dividing Europe by setting southern countries against Mrs Merkel. That would not only raise the spectre of a north-south split in the euro zone; it would also class France as merely the leader of Europe’s second division. This leaves Mr Hollande with an awkward strategy towards Germany that he calls “friendly tension”.
In some ways, it suits him to let his left wing rail against Mrs Merkel. A small group in his parliamentary party voted against the fiscal treaty last year, and he wants to contain further rebellion ahead of more reforms this summer. In a sense, she may be a convenient scapegoat for the passage of reforms that Mr Hollande and his ministers know to be necessary but unpopular within his party.
The view across the Rhine
When Konrad Adenauer, chancellor of West Germany, and Charles de Gaulle, France’s president, met in 1962 in Reims cathedral for a mass of reconciliation, de Gaulle’s chair was taller than Adenauer’s. That was fine with the Germans, who accepted that the French should lead politically even if the Germans led economically. Helmut Kohl, a later chancellor, proudly followed Adenauer’s advice to bow three times to the French tricolour before nodding to Germany’s black, red and gold.
Yet German understanding is being tested as never before. “Publicly, I’m never worried about France; I trust,” says one official wryly, before expounding how trusting is now hard. Others are less coy. On April 30th the economics minister, Philipp Rösler, issued a report that fretted about French industry losing competitiveness and companies moving abroad. Germany’s private sector has dropped all reticence. “France is drifting to the south,” warns an economist at Commerzbank. At a recent business gathering in Berlin, France was treated as a case study in Socialist mismanagement.
The Franco-German tandem has survived many rough patches over the past 30 years (see chart). Mitterrand shocked the Germans with his nationalisation and devaluation spree in 1981, before reversing policy and adopting the franc fort. Gerhard Schröder and Jacques Chirac spent half a year in the late 1990s barely talking. Mrs Merkel had problems with Mr Sarkozy, even though both are from the centre-right; the two fell out badly over his proposed “Mediterranean Union” that at first excluded Germany. Yet in last year’s presidential election, she openly backed him. By doing this, Mrs Merkel bears much of the blame for the current frigidity, says Jürgen Trittin, of Germany’s Green Party: she “confused a strategic friendship between our two countries with an ideological bond to the former president.”
On a scale of one to ten, the friendship now rates lower than two, says Ronja Kempin at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. Perhaps for the first time, fundamental disagreements are being aired in the open. Germany scoffs at France’s apparent belief that it should show more solidarity in the euro crisis by pledging more German taxes to support weaker members. Instead, it reckons that struggling countries, a group that includes France, must reform their labour and product markets to become more competitive. Otherwise, Mrs Merkel’s government thinks, more German rescue funds would only create “moral hazard” by allowing backsliding over reform.
Yet the Germans may be underestimating the political headwinds against the radical reforms they are demanding of France’s first Socialist president since Mitterrand. And the French also fail to understand that the German government cannot simply push up consumption and reduce competitiveness by raising wages.
The Franco-German chill occasionally tempts Germans to look for other partners. Mrs Merkel is personally closer to Britain’s David Cameron (recently welcoming him and his family to her official country retreat). But Britain is not in the euro and, in German eyes, its desire for a new settlement with the EU and an in/out referendum makes it unsuitable for leadership. Germany has good relations with Poland (where Mrs Merkel, who had a Polish grandfather, is popular). But Poland is not big enough and it, too, is outside the euro.
So France it has to be. Mr Hollande hopes a centre-left coalition of Social Democrats (SPD) and Greens wins the September election. Mrs Merkel realises that he will therefore not undertake big common initiatives until then. Peer Steinbrück, the SPD candidate for chancellor, would be easier to deal with. He finds Mrs Merkel’s view of the euro crisis “one-dimensional”, requiring only “consolidation, consolidation, consolidation”, and he wants to do more to stimulate growth. He is also open to some form of debt mutualisation.
Yet even if Mr Steinbrück wins, which looks unlikely at the moment, Mr Hollande’s hopes could turn out to be an illusion, says Joachim Fritz-Vannahme at the Bertelsmann Foundation, a think-tank. Mr Steinbrück is a fiscal conservative who was Mrs Merkel’s tough finance minister in the grand coalition that ran Germany in 2005-09, when the financial crisis was at its worst.
In the end political differences count for little: Germany and France are stuck with one another. The relationship is underpinned by close institutional and official links, as well as by the formality of the Elysée treaty, whose 50th anniversary was celebrated in Berlin only in January. The duo are also bound to lead in the EU: given their different instincts, if they can strike a deal it is almost bound to be tolerable for everyone else. Even in the euro crisis, Germany is reluctant to be seen as sole leader. It badly needs a French economic revival to have a plausible partner at the top again.
This is why, ultimately, it does not matter “whether they like each other—that has not been the case for years,” comments John Kornblum, a former American ambassador in Berlin. What counts, he says, is that “the French can keep up their end of the bargain and give the Germans reasons to believe it is in their interest to salute the French flag three times,” as Adenauer and Mr Kohl always did so dutifully. France may be frustrated by German austerity, and Germany by French aversion to reform; but the two are nevertheless condemned to work together.'The last time I was that high, I was trying to decide my major,' he said
Her father has admitted to smoking marijuana in the past, and even joked about it at this year's White House Correspondents' Dinner
Is currently enjoying a gap year before starting at
Malia Obama has been accused of smoking marijuana after a video of her puffing on a suspicious cigarette was released.
The president's eldest daughter was seen inhaling from the cigarette during the Lollapalooza music festival in Chicago.
The brief clip, published by Radar on Wednesday, shows the 18-year-old mingling with crowds as she takes a drag.
An eyewitness insisted she was smoking marijuana, the tabloid site reported.
Scroll down for video
Malia Obama has been accused of smoking marijuana after a video of her puffing on a suspicious cigarette at Lollapalooza in Chicago was released by Radar.
The president has admitted to smoking marijuana in the past and said he had used 'a little blow' in high school and college. He's seen here in 1980
The teenager has suffered from asthma.
Marijuana was recently decriminalized in Illinois - the state where she allegedly smoked.
Decriminalization means smoking marijuana is still illegal, but the punishment and penalties are lenient.
The footage was unveiled after photos of the Harvard-bound high school graduate twerking were shared on social media.
Malia, who was wearing a midriff-baring tube top and pair of cutoff jean shorts, even posed for a few photos while she danced.
She was also spotted dancing up a storm with her friends on Thursday night, catching a performance from Norwegian DJ Cashmere Cat.
It was around the same time Hillary Clinton was preparing to take the stage and accept her party's nomination for president in a historic moment for the country.
Her presence was not required at the Democratic National Convention for the first time since her father became the Democratic nominee back in 2008.
So the recent high school graduate seemed to take full advantage of this by skipping out on the scene in Philadelphia to head to Chicago.
The footage surfaced after images of her twerking at the music festival were posted online
Malia, who was wearing a midriff-baring tube top and pair of cutoff jean shorts, even posed for a few photos while she danced at the event earlier this month. She is currently enjoying a gap year before she begins her studies at Harvard University
The teenager was spotted enjoying a DJ sets and rappers over the weekend with friends while her father threw his support behind Hillary Clinton at the Democratic Convention
This is not Malia's first trip to Lollapalooza, having been spotted at the festival back in 2014 as she took in Chance the Rapper's set.
Malia had an asthma attack when she was a toddler, which President Obama claims is one of the reasons why he champions climate change.
In an interview with ABC News’ chief health correspondent, Dr. Richard Besser, in April 2015, he said: 'Well you know, Malia had asthma when she was four, and because we had good health insurance, we were able to knock it out early.
The president said he can'relate to... the fear a parent has when your four-year-old daughter comes up to you and says, "Daddy, I'm having trouble breathing." '
Malia had an asthma attack when she was a toddler, which President Obama claims is one of the reasons why he champions climate change. The pair are pictured together in April
'The fright you feel is terrible.'
Obama said the health scare resulted in a single trip to the emergency room for his daughter.
He said she now leads an active lifestyle without an inhaler.
The president has admitted to smoking marijuana in the past. He said he had used 'a little blow' in high school and college.
He even made a joke about it at this year's White House Correspondent's Dinner
'The last time I was that high, I was trying to decide my major,' he said.48 Pages Posted: 26 Nov 2016 Last revised: 9 May 2017
Date Written: November 23, 2016
Abstract
How should the quality of government be measured across disparate national contexts? This study develops a new approach using an original survey of Chinese civil servants and a comparison to the United States. We surveyed over 2,500 Chinese officials on two organizational features of their bureaucracies: meritocracy and individual autonomy. They report greater meritocracy than U.S. federal employees in almost all American agencies. China's edge is smaller in autonomy. Differences between the U.S. and China diminish, but do not disappear, after adjusting for respondent demographics. The meritocracy gap is also robust to excluding the Chinese respondents most likely to be affected by social desirability biases. Our findings contrast with numerous indices of good government that rank the U.S. far above China. They highlight an opportunity to improve quality of government indices by incorporating surveys of political insiders.The journey begins conventionally enough, with the driver turning the steering wheel to ease the car out of the driveway. But then he flicks a switch and raises his hands in the air.
The laptop in the passenger seat, plugged in to the car's electronics through an Ethernet cable, is in charge now.
On a busy Saturday evening in suburban Berlin, the modified Volkswagen Passat drives itself down a tree-lined street crowded with pedestrians.
Spotting a woman on a bicycle ahead, the car veers left to give her a wide berth, and then slows as a minibus filled with children pulls out from the kerb. The car's machine driver judges the minibus's speed, and decides on a surge of power to overtake.
Germany is at the forefront of a global race to develop the world's first driverless car.
Devised by a team at the Free University of Berlin, the self-driving VW Passat is a highly advanced autonomous car, capable of navigating a safe path through unpredictable city traffic.
It sees the world through a spinning silver cylinder mounted on the roof, a laser scanner, which generates one million data points per second to give the car's computer a real-time map of its surroundings.
Cameras and radar sensors provide a further wealth of detail, alongside an ultra-precise GPS based on the navigation systems used in aircraft.
It will be many years before a car this sophisticated is commercially available. But Germany's luxury car makers have begun introducing an array of autonomous features which enable some of their leading models to drive and steer themselves.
Rather than the sudden advent of robot vehicles, car makers believe autonomous driving will be introduced gradually.
Daimler, which owns Mercedes Benz, predicts that at low speeds – such as in traffic jams or parking – cars will operate with full autonomy "in a matter of years". At higher speeds, several manufacturers plan for highly automated driving within the structured environment of the motorway.
The latest Mercedes S-Class, unveiled in Hamburg last month with a firework display and a performance by Alicia Keys, is the most significant advance yet in automated driving for the mass market. The luxury saloon comes equipped with a camera that scans the road ahead and an array of radar sensors.
The images it captures are analysed in split-seconds by an algorithm, allowing the car to alert the driver to danger and take corrective action itself if necessary.
"In critical situations, the driver assistance systems in the car react more quickly than humans ever could," says Professor Ralf Herrtwch, director of driver assistance and chassis systems at Daimler. "Unlike drivers, they are never inattentive."
The aim of greater automation, say the car makers, is not to take away the pleasure of the open road but to save motorists from some of the tasks that make driving a chore.
Customers would be relieved to hand over to a computer "in specific situations where driving simply isn't enjoyable, for example in a traffic jam on the daily commute to work," a BMW spokeswoman said.
Raul Rojas, a professor of artificial intelligence at the Free University of Berlin who leads their autonomous car project, has a more ambitious vision.
He predicts that the public transport of the future will be fleets of robot taxis, cheaper and safer than the human kind, and capable of operating for 24 hours a day without fatigue.
In a few years' time, Professor Rojas suggests, people will use their mobile phones to summon a robot taxi, dropping it off at their destination ready for the next passenger.
There are still technical barriers to the mass production of automated cars. The key problem is vision. The laser scanners used by the Free University's car cannot pass through a solid barrier, so a pedestrian stepping out from between two parked buses would be invisible until the last moment.
An automated car "does not just need to watch out for other cars," Professor Herrtwch says. "It needs to check for pedestrians and cyclists, for lanes, stopping lines, traffic signs, and traffic lights. It needs to understand that a lane ends in a few hundred metres or that there is a stalled vehicle on the highway ahead of it."
This technology does not just need to be reliable, but affordable within the budget constraints of a typical mass production vehicle.
The Free University's team is working on improving the computer's vision, but face a huge challenge replicating the human ability to see.
"Almost a fifth of the brain is just for image processing," Professor Rojas says. "There's lots of things that we don't yet understand about how human vision works.
Self-driving car built by the Free University of Berlin.
"Computer visual recognition is still very, very primitive."
There are legal barriers too, as the Vienna Convention of 1968, the global legal framework for driving, requires that motorists are in full control of their vehicle at all times.
Another important question is that of legal liability, as a BMW spokeswoman points out: "Who is responsible for an automated driving system in case of an accident or failure?"
In the US, three states – Nevada, Florida and California – have all passed laws permitting the testing of driverless cars. This follows lobbying by Google, which is also developing technology for automated vehicles.
Noting the changes in the US, Professor Herrtwch says: "Current laws are not cast in concrete; there are many examples where laws were changed to reflect technological advances. And this is happening with autonomous driving as well."
But at present the Vienna Convention means that all automated cars must have human "safety drivers".
That means that when the Free University's car goes out on the road, a member of the research team sits in the driving seat and a colleague holds the laptop that directs the car. Both men watch to see if the computer fails to spot a hazard, or is misinterpreting the data it gathers.
On the laptop screen is an image of what the computer "sees" through its scanner – it looks like a flickering, constantly updated pencil sketch with cars as solid blocks and pedestrians showing up as ghostly images.
The most startling moment comes when the car turns, and pauses just as a human driver would to look at the oncoming traffic, then swings around onto the opposite side of the carriageway.
The scientists here are convinced that the law will change once the technology has been proven. Professor Rojas says: "What we need is literally millions of kilometres of autonomous driving experience before the laws can be adapted."
Before fully driverless cars become a reality, there is one more problem to solve. The relationship between automated vehicles and human road users is the greatest challenge of all.
After all, machines lack our social skills. Computer-driven cars cannot judge, for example, whether a pedestrian waving at them from the kerb is urging them to stop or go.
"That's the last frontier: predicting human behaviour," Professor Rojas says. "Nobody can do it yet, in a reliable way, but it has to be done for autonomous cars to be safe."Nine adult elephants and one calf have been poisoned with cyanide around Zimbabwe’s largest wildlife area, the government’s Hwange National Park.
Four of the poisoned elephants died near the south of the Park and their tusks were taken.
The others, including a mother and her calf were found in two areas further north and may have been poisoned last weekend and the poachers had not yet returned to hack out the tusks from the dead animals
Trevor Lane from the Bhejane Trust, which monitors much wildlife activity in north western Zimbabwe, said early Tuesday that government rangers from the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority were following up.
”Parks went out there quickly and energetically and I am sure they will make progress and produce results as they are very determined. The poachers left buckets with cyanide mixed with salt which have been recovered. We know some vultures will have been poisoned as well, but we are not yet sure how many
"We should expect more poaching this year because people are so poor in this bad economic situation.”
The first case of cyanide poisoning of elephants in Zimbabwe emerged in 2013 and about 100 corpses were found in the south of the park by hunters who took extensive photographs of the dead animals and then helped Parks and Wildlife Management Authority rangers follow up.
Several poachers were arrested and were sentenced up to ten years in jail.
There were several other incidents of cyanide poisoning in that area since then, but Lane and others, such as elephant counter, Colin Gillies said cyanide poisoning had declined in the last year.
“I am very sad to hear about this latest incident. We hoped the cyanide episodes were over,” said Gillies, a leading member of Zimbabwe’s wildlife community who is also an official counter of Zimabwe’s elephant population in the west of the country.
Cyanide is widely used in the gold industry in Zimbabwe where miners use cyanide concentrate to catalyze the separation of pure gold from bulk ores during the chemical purification process.
Cyanide kills the body’s cells by starving them of oxygen. In mammals, the poison is most harmful to the heart and brain—organs that depend heavily on oxygen supplies. Elephants appear to die no more then about 100 m from where they drank poisoned water or used salt licks drenched in cyanide.
Elephants, according to wildlife experts die most painful deaths from cyanide. There are tens of thousands of informal gold miners in Zimbabwe.Mumbai: ‘Save Your Legs!’, an Australian feature film around the theme of cricket, is set for its India premiere at the Mumbai Film Festival (MFF) Sunday.
Filmed in Melbourne, Kolkata, Varanasi and Mumbai, ‘Save Your Legs!’ is a comedy inspired by true events. It tells the story of Teddy Brown, a 30-something man whose life revolves around his mates and their local Melbourne cricket club.
As his mates confront their middle-age challenges, Teddy faces the prospect of his cricket club coming apart, so he pitches an audacious three-match tour of India and a mission to meet cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar.
The film is being screened as part of Oz Fest, an Australian cultural festival staged in India.
Australian High Commissioner Peter Varghese hopes "Indians come to understand more about Australia" through the film.
"The film shows us what we have in common, from cricket to comedy, to great friendships and films," he said in a statement.
The premiere will be attended by special guests from Australia and Bollywood, including actress and Oz Fest Ambassador Pallavi Sharda.
Pallavi will be joined by fellow Oz Fest Ambassadors, Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris of Australian Masterchef fame, and Cricket Australia`s National Indigenous cricket team and the cast and crew on the red carpet.
"With its cast including talent from Australia and India, the film is a perfect example of the ties between the two countries that I have experienced both growing up in Australia and living in India," said Pallavi.
"Save Your Legs!`, is directed by Boyd Hicklin, produced by Robyn Kershaw and Nick Batzias and written by Brendan Cowell.
Another Australian film, ‘The Sapphires’, inspired by true story of four singers from a remote Aboriginal mission who entertained American troops during the Vietnam War, will also be screened for the first time in India at the MFF.
IANS“The Daily Show” will maintain its tradition of emulating a real news program by traveling to North Carolina in September to cover the Democratic National Convention.
Jon Stewart will take his program to Charlotte for a week of programs intended to comment on, and lampoon, the convention, which has provided an ample platform for the show’s satire in the past. This will be the fourth time “The Daily Show” has gone on location for shows about the political conventions.
The shows will be produced at an area called ImaginOn: The Joe & Joan Martin Center, starting Sept. 4. That is a Tuesday, and for that week only the show will tape on Tuesday through Friday instead of the usual Monday through Thursday schedule.
As for the Republican convention, which is set for Tampa, Fla., starting on Aug. 27, “The Daily Show’ does plan to produce a week of shows from that site as well but has not yet settled on a location. It is expected to announce plans for that coverage soon.There has been some speculation over the last few months over when to expect the beta release of Windows 8. During Microsoft's final CES keynote tonight, Microsoft put that speculation to rest (more or less), announcing that the Windows 8 beta will be released to the public in late February. Also being released alongside the Windows 8 beta will be the Windows Store, Microsoft’s central repository for Metro applications. The Windows Store will be available globally, and will support every language that Windows itself supports. There was no discussion of a release candidate, but at this point it’s highly likely that we’ll see a single release candidate, similar to how Windows 7 was launched.
It’s worth noting that compared to Windows 7, Windows 8 development is slightly farther behind on a calendar basis. The Windows 7 beta was released to the public on January 10th, while the Windows 8 beta will be a month and a half behind that. There was a 9.5 month gap between the Windows 7 beta and retail availability, so if Microsoft maintains a similar development schedule then we would expect to see Windows 8 in retail at the very end of 2012.Realm of tha Mad God be a massively multiplayer online shooter vizzle game co-created by Wild Shadow Studios (lata acquired by Kabam) n' Spry Fox up in 2011, n' lata sold ta Deca Game by Kabam up in July 2016. Dat shiznit was up in hood beta from January 2010 n' tha browser version launched on June 20, 2011.[3] On February 20, 2012 tha game was made available on tha digital distribution platform Steam fo' Microsizzlez Windows n' OS X.[4]
Da game has been busted lyrics bout as a "massively-multiplayer cooperatizzle cap hell blaster" wit a 8-bit pixelated art style.[3] Players control charactas whoz ass done been transported ta tha realm of Oryx (the titular Mad God) ta become chicken fo' his crazy-ass nuff minions n' abominations, which tha playas must dispatch. Central ta tha design of tha game is tha fact dat characta dirtnap is permanent. Upon dirtnap, tha playaz characta is lost along wit all carried shit, although tha playa may store a fuckin shitload of shit fo' safekeepin up in a limited capacitizzle vault away from dark shiznit n' shit. Different characta chizzlez up in class also help make tha game mo' diverse n' help ta support crewwork.
Da game is free-to-play wit optionizzle in-game micro-transactions. Items which can be looted wit optionizzle transactions vary from high-level shit, pets dat provide aid ta tha playa (by comin' at enemies, paralyzin enemies, healin tha character, restorin tha characterz magic points, n' actin as a thugged-out decoy), increased storage space, n' aesthetic features like fuckin skins, cloths n' dyes.[5]
This game client is freestyled up in Flash n' can be played in-browser on tha straight-up legit site, on Kongregate, or it can be downloaded from Steam.
Gameplay [ edit ]
Da HUD on tha right-hand side displays a mini-map of tha playaz current server as well as tha current characterz statistics n' inventory. Da mini-map of tha realm is initially blank yo, but areas can be revealed as a playa traverses all up in tha map. Player n' NPC chat appears tha lower left corner of tha screen.
Da game consistz of playas blastin projectilez from they weapons n' beatin tha livin shiznit outta enemies ta git experience, fame, n' shiznit fo' realz. A characta moves round rockin tha WASD keys (though other controls can be chosen) n' uses tha mouse ta aim n' clicks ta blast.[6] Contrary ta usual practice up in MMOs, tha experience fo' cappin' monstas be awarded up in full ta each playa present, rather than split. Because of this, it is generally advantageous ta crew up when fightin enemies. Put ya muthafuckin choppers up if ya feel dis! Players also have tha mobilitizzle ta instantly teleport ta any playa on tha map under a cold-ass lil cooldown of 10 seconds.
Afta a cold-ass lil certain amount of experience has been earned, tha playa levels up n' they attributes is raised, allowin dem ta become stronger, fight mo' bangin enemies, n' unlock mo' classes. Da maximum level a playa can big up is level 20. Da playa can then bust "fame" on they character, which eventually grants permanent stars dat indicate accomplishment. If enough hype is gots fo' a cold-ass lil character, it may be placed on tha gamez leaderboard upon dirtnap. Characta dirtnap is permanent, meanin dat tha characterz shit n' statistics is lost. When a cold-ass lil characta dies, tha amount of hype gots is tallied n' added ta tha playaz overall balizzle n' can be used ta purchase certain shit in-game or ta feed yo' pet wit items, increasin its strength which be arguably da most thugged-out blingin use fo' fame.
Players begin they game sessions up in tha Nexus, a safe haven which can be teleported ta at any time. In tha Nexus, playas may either loot consumablez rockin gold purchased wit real-life scrilla or they may trade wit another character n' shit. Da Nexus allows playas ta teleport ta "realms" (game map instances present on tha server). Each of these realms is named afta bangin monstas up in tha game (i.e. Medusa, Djinn, Cyclops, Beholder). Da capacitizzle of each realm is 85 playas at once, n' a gangbangin' full realm cannot be entered until a playa up in it takes a thugged-out dirt nap or leaves. But fuck dat shiznit yo, tha word on tha street is dat if nuff playas attempt ta enta a realm all up in tha same time, tha playa count can exceed 85.
Players fight a monsta up in game. HUD elements like fuckin tha inventory can be peeped on tha right-hand side.
Durin gameplay, tha playa is pimped up ta "quest" monstas which is indicated by a red marker all up in tha edge of tha game window fo' realz. As they characta levels up in tha realm, they is guided from tha "Beaches" n' "Lowlands" areas all up in tha edgez of tha map, all up in tha "Midlands" n' "Highlands," n' ta tha mo' hard as fuck "Godlands" up in tha centa of tha map. Da Godlandz hosts bangin monstas known as tha Godz of tha Realm. Completin certain quests allow "event" bosses ta spawn, which is unique once-per-realm enemies dat can be capped ta obtain higher-tier loot n' open portals ta tha rarest dungeons.
Bustin' high-level monstas all up in Godlands, events, or dungeons can grant tha playa permanent stat boost potions, which is rare n' exist up in eight variations dat correspond ta tha major attributes (life, mana, vitality, wisdom, defense, dexterity, attack, n' speed). Consumin stat potions allows tha playa ta improve they charactas stats afta reachin tha highest level, which can be done until tha attribute is maxed up (indicated by its text turnin gold). Upon dirtnap, tha size of tha grave left behind correspondz ta tha number of stats maxed. Y'all KNOW dat shit, muthafucka! Items could previously be retrieved from graves yo, but dis functionalitizzle was removed as it hustled ta playas lurin others ta they doom ta loot they graves.
Once enough quest heroes n' event bosses is defeated up in a realm, playas is teleported ta Oryxz Castle where they must grill either Janus (By beatin tha livin shiznit outta all of tha Haunted Armor), or tha Mad Dogg his dirty ass n' his crazy-ass minions. If Oryx is defeated, he escapes ta tha Cristal Cellar, another dungeon which can be accessed by a rare in-game item, where playas may fight his ass again n' again n' again n' finally fuck wit his muthafuckin ass. Da second Oryx is hella harder than tha straight-up original gangsta Oryx. Da rewardz of tha Oryx boss fights is a shitload of tha rarest n' strongest shiznit available up in tha game.
Da 15 classes currently available is Wizard, Priest, Archer, Rogue, Warrior, Knight, Paladin, Assassin, Necromancer, Huntress, Mystic, Trickster, Sorcerer, Ninja n' Samurai. Players begin wit only tha Wizard class unlocked n' successively unlock tha remainin classes as they bust experience wit each class.[7] There is 8 main stats: defense, attack, speed, dexterity, vitality, wisdom, mana, n' game. Each class has its own weapon, armor n' mobilitizzle justifications, base statistic averages n' statistic caps. For example, Warriors, Knights, n' Paladins have high defense n' is tha only ones dat can use swordz n' heavy armor, while tha Assassin, Rogue n' Tricksta have tha highest potential movement speed n' dexteritizzle (rate of fire) statistics n' can only use daggers n' leather armor, or vanitizzle items. Boy it's gettin hot, yes indeed it is. Priests n' Sorcerers have one of tha highest ranged weapons, wandz yo, but gotz a smalla damage output.
Items is classified tha fuck into tiers, wit higher tier shit havin betta stats, n' you can put dat on yo' toast. Tiers range from T0-T13 fo' weapons, T1-T14 fo' armors, T0-T6 fo' rings, n' T0-T6 fo' abilities.[8] Some shit is un-tiered, givin dem a special classification. I aint talkin' bout chicken n' gravy biatch. These shit is typically unique, wit examplez includin limited use items, bangin weapons, armor, rings, abilities, n' April Fools' Day accouterments, n' you can put dat on yo' toast. Da dopest shit step tha fuck up in special bags, which come up in tha followin color tiers (lowest ta highest): purple, gold, cyan, blue, orange, red, n' white. These bags is will only drop fo' playas whoz ass have served up a cold-ass lil certain cementage of tha damage ta a monsta n' can be peeped n' picked up only by tha playa it dropped for. Shiiit, dis aint no joke. Un-tiered (UT) shit is "soulbound" as well, meanin it is unable ta git picked up by any other playa or traded ta another playa.
Da game features guilds each allowin fo' a maximum of 50 playas fo' realz. A guild costs tha foundin playa 1000 hype ta name n' create, n' has a guild hall which can be accessed by thugz of tha guild. Y'all KNOW dat shit, muthafucka! Upon a memberz dirtnap, guild hype is gots proportionally ta tha amount of hype dat tha playa earned. Y'all KNOW dat shit, muthafucka! Guildz can loot upgrades like fuckin larger guild halls n' cosmetic features wit tha guild fame.[9]
Development [ edit ]
Da game was originally pimped by Alex Carobus n' Rob Shillingsburg, foundaz of Wild Shadow Studios, fo' TIGSourcez "Assemblee Competition" up in October 2009, which limited tha competitors ta a straight-up lil' small-ass sample of art resources.[10] Da pimpers busted lyrics bout tha aim of tha game was ta "shake thangs up by breakin as nuff MMO ‘rules’ as we could"[11] Dat shiznit was noticed n' received a phat response from playas,[12] promptin tha pimpers ta work on a gangbangin' full game. Da game was finally launched up in a funky-ass beta stage on January 10, 2010.[10]
Peepin tha initial launch, Spry Fox joined tha pimpment crew, helpin brang tha game ta a gangbangin' full release outta beta on June 20, 2011.[3]
To help fund tha gamez pimpment, optionizzle microtransactions was added ta tha game, drawin a mixed response from playas.[13] Da pimpers defended tha microtransactions, sayin "they seemed like da most thugged-out convenient, hustla-friendly way ta pay fo' tha game... dem dat passionately ludd tha game, can spend as much as they want, helpin our asses ta grow tha game over time."[11]
Da game has been receivin thugged-out shiznit "every few weeks" since its release, wit additions includin "dungeons, freshly smoked up characta classes, hundredz of shit n' monsters, bank space, pets, threadz, guilds" n' more.[11]
On February 20, |
didn’t want anything to impact my appeal to the Court, so I held off participating. But Sabrina went ahead anyway, wrote a first draft and submitted it to her editors. By her own admission, she only had half the story (again, her words verbatim): “All I have is the point of view of other people, as well as the portrait that’s been painted in legal documents, and they are not particularly kind” and that the theory she had about me was “kind of speculative”.
When I agreed to sit down to tell my side of the story with Sabrina in early May, no topic was off-the-table. Even though there were some private family matters that Sabrina knew, in advance, that I would need to dance around. Immediately afterwards, Sabrina told my people that I was “terrific”, “wonderful”, “enchanting” and “great to meet in person”. Apparently, the colored contact lenses matching my regulation blues and supposed penchant for “slippery talk” was not an issue then, when Sabrina literally squealed with delight in finally securing her interview.
My greatest fear was that this would be a “takedown piece”: a total hatchet job. That fear, unfortunately, has been realized.
There are so many things I dispute about the article. Three things jump out. First, the overall context Sabrina creates: hardly the “richness and depth” she promised. Sabrina takes every cheap shot possible to make me look like a complete head case. Second, the article is not a fair and accurate portrayal of me; instead, it relies on a very small subset of people who knew me, and apparently not very well. Then, even after she confided that calling someone a liar is a “terrible thing to ascribe to a person”, she proceeds to call me a “sociopath”, a “great liar”, a “master of deception” and an expensive tart. All completely defamatory, salacious and, frankly, catty. Third, the article closes with a glib statement – notice no quotation marks whatsoever – that I expect my prison sentence to be shortened by a judge any day now. I never said that, nor would I ever presume the judge in my case to treat me any differently than he always has; which has been nothing but professional and fair.
Thank you for the opportunity to rebut the article, its context and content.
Lisette Lee
Dublin, California
A film, titled “The Girl Who Conned the Ivy League” and based on Erdely’s story of the same name for Rolling Stone, is currently in development with Rob Epstein as director and Amanda Seyfried cast in the title role of Esther Reed.
Hollywood may be a far more fitting home for the now Missing In Action Sabrina Rubin Erdely. But only time – and authentic investigative journalism – will tell.
As the Shattered Glass DVD box suggests: “Read between the lies”
*******************************************************************************************
For the complete story on the unraveling of the U-VA gang rape story, see:
Yellow Journalism and the Meme of “Rape Culture”
*******************************************************************************************
Now that the Columbia Journalism School report has thoroughly exposed Sabrina Rubin Erdely’s journalistic crimes (as well as those of her editors and publisher), the humbled Erdely has issued a generalized apology, first to “Rolling Stone Readers”, as if they were the principle victims of her failure of integrity – and insisting that “These are mistakes I will not make again.”
…and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again…
*******************************************************************************************
In an excellent analysis of the source of the journalistic failings that the Columbia J-School review uncovered, Charles C. W. Cooke, a writer at National Review and a graduate of the University of Oxford in modern history and politics, wrote Fighting Against ‘Rape Culture’ Means Never Having to Say You’re Sorry.
His key point was this:
Even if we suspend our disbelief and give Erdely an extremely generous benefit of the doubt – if we assume, that is, that she made all of her mistakes in a good-faith attempt to spare the feelings of her source – we will still come up against a considerable institutional problem: that being that whether or not they are setting out to deliberately mislead their audiences, journalists writing about claims of rape are operating under rules of engagement that have been set by zealots.
Certainly, it is feasible that Erdely is a conscious fabulist, in the mold of her classmate at UPenn, Stephen Glass. It is possible, too, that she was genuinely taken in by Jackie, and that she intended only to do right by her. And yet, here’s the thing: It doesn’t especially matter which one is true. Ultimately, it is downright impossible to divorce Erdely’s conduct from the cultural pathologies that informed it. At UVA, at Rolling Stone, and within the media in general, the malleable specter of “rape culture” is prompting good people to behave like fools.
Over the last decade or so, we have witnessed the rise of a political movement that hopes to set the investigation and punishment of sexual assault outside of the limitations that are imposed by respect for due process, for rational inquiry, and for common intellectual decency. By and large, this movement is populated by people who despise the truth if it contradicts the narrative; who regard evidence and process as tools of oppression; who interpret skepticism and questioning as acts of hostility; and who, at least as it relates to “rape culture”, consider unthinking credulity as a virtue and not a vice.
[Hyperlinks within his quoted words are my own, not Cooke’s.]
*******************************************************************************************
by Robert Riversong: may be reproduced only with attribution for non-commercial purposes
See also:
When Progressive Social Change Becomes Regressive Ideology: From Women’s Liberation to Cultural Misandry – ReHonoring Masculinity & Achieving Gender Justice
Misandric Feminism vs. Progressive Gender Equality (excerpt of above)
Male Victims of Sexual Violence (also an excerpt of above)
Yellow Journalism and the Meme of “Rape Culture” – Rolling Stone and U-VA Gang Rape
Dear President Sullivan – letter from 17 attorneys involved with campus sexual assault claims throughout America, detailing specific reasons why they “are concerned that the University’s Proposed Student Sexual Misconduct Policy is both vastly over inclusive in attempting to define prohibited conduct and ill equipped to guarantee a procedure for resolving allegations that is fair and impartial”.
It’s Time for a U-VA Apology – Op-Ed from a 25-year U-VA professor and his U-VA junior son
New Puritanism – New Paternalism – The “Rape Culture” Narrative Demeans Women, Demonizes Men, and Turns Universities into Witch Hunt Tribunals
Dear Senators – letter from 20 attorneys critical of the Campus Accountability and Safety Act (S. 2692)
Sexual Assault and Justice: Can we reconcile the belated attention to rape on campus with due process? by Nancy Gertner, feminist lawyer, retired federal judge and Harvard Law professor
The Pendulum Reverses – Again – The Betrayal of Liberty on America’s Campuses & Men Strike Back against Title IX Tribunals
HELP for DOE Regulatory Excess – A Senate Task Force Report Recommends Scaling Back the Mountain of Regulations Strangling Higher Education Institutions
Men are Twice-Raped – Domestically and Globally, Men and Boys are Victims of Sexual Violence at rates Equal to those of Women, and are Assumed to be Villains whenever a Woman Accuses
Two Sexual Assault Studies Contradict Stereotypes
All Sex is Rape – All Men are Rapists : Patriarchy = Rape Culture
A Model of Campus Gender-Based Harassment – The Columbia University “Mattress” Story
A Case Study in “Politically-Correct” Reactionary Response – The Duke Lacrosse Team Stripper Rape Hoax
When the Megaphone becomes the Gavel – Two legal experts on sex discrimination law and procedure argue that the current Title IX mandates for America’s colleges and universities are legally unsupportable and both practically and ethically indefensible.
Two Over-Privileged Millennials Engage in Sex and Get F-cked – The Stanford “Model” Student and her Silicon Valley Mentor
Insurance Industry Revelations and Prescriptions about Campus Sexual Assault
The Feminist Movement has Cannibalized Its Own Core Values and Become Its Own Worst Enemy
The Rape Culture Meme – It’s to authentic human culture what genetically modified corn is to maize.
Illiberalism & Hypocrisy on America’s Campuses – Stifling Free Expression in Deference to the Sensibilities of Self-Declared Victimhood
Emancipation From Feminism – My Personal Journey in the New Left and A Dissident View on Feminism
AdvertisementsISIS released a video Tuesday of the beheading of U.S. journalist Steven Sotloff, formerly of Time magazine. The authenticity of the video—which took an unusually long time to reach ISIS forums, often the first sources for such videos—has yet to be confirmed. The video was titled “A Second Message to America,” and again started with footage of oratory from U.S. President Barack Obama before cutting to a scripted anti-U.S. monologue delivered by an emotionless Sotloff, draped in orange clothing (reminiscent of Guantanamo inmates) and on his knees in another arid hilltop landscape beside his executioner.
It appears from chatter on ISIS forums that the initial video release was an unintentional leak from within ISIS circles. An ISIS-affiliated Twitter account (now suspended) published the video ahead of the prescribed time. Another ISIS-affiliated account, @Khattabyaz, pulled them up on their error, but at that point it was too late, and the video was in circulation. The group then apologized to its followers for the lack of discipline in a text missive on JustPaste, saying:
A clarification about the mistake was made by “Uyun al-Ummah” account that has published the video before the official time.
The user saw a tweet with the video and thought it was published officially. We tried to remove the video after we understood that his was published by mistake, and we are sorry to the followers of the Islamic State.
Again, the video featured a black-clad executioner with a British accent, who seemed to confirm that he was the same man as in the video of James Foley’s beheading.
“I’m back, Obama,” he said, “and I’m back because of your arrogant policy towards the Islamic State.”
The executioner once again warned that there would be further killings unless U.S. foreign policy changed, and specifically said that Briton David Cawthorne Haines, who was shown after a gruesome picture of the beheaded body of Sotloff.
@siteintelgroup #IS Beheads Steven Joel #Sotloff, Threatens to Execute Briton David Cawthorne Haines | |
Sotloff previously appeared in the video of journalist James Foley’s beheading. White House spokesman Josh Earnest says officials are evaluating the video. ISIS had been using Sotloff to ratchet up the pressure against U.S. President Barack Obama. They threatened to execute him if Obama did not meet their needs.
The execution of Sotloff, and the presentation of yet another journalist, the location of whom was hitherto unknown, raises the question of how many Westerners ISIS has in captivity, ready to traipse out and murder in front of cameras for the sake of media prominence.Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook, left, controls the puck against Dallas Stars left wing Antoine Roussel during the first period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
CHICAGO -- Antoine Roussel is the perfect villain. Just ask fans at the United Center.
Too often the scrappy Stars agitator has lifted his team to victory over the Blackhawks and ruined a lovely night in Chicago. But the 26-year-old winger said he's just as happy doing the same thing in Dallas.
"For me, I prefer to play at home," Roussel said. "I like the routine there, I like being in that building. It's just more comfortable to me."
But what about foiling the plans of 21,000 Blackhawk fans?
"I like that, too, but it's just as fun at home," Roussel said.
Roussel said the fact Chicago fans try to take over American Airlines Center in Dallas is a motivating factor for him. He said when the Blackhawks took a 5-1 win at AAC Feb. 6 with "about 10,000 Chicago fans cheering," it was one of the most depressing nights of the season. So when Dallas grabbed a 5-2 win March 11, it was an important night.
"Honestly, this year, it has been fun at home because you can hear the Blackhawks fans and you want to make them be silent," Roussel said. "We did that last game, and that was fun. If people want to come in and cheer for the Blackhawks in Dallas, then it is fun to shut them down and send them home sad."
Roussel said he hears the crowd every game and feeds off of the cheers or boos.
"I like the energy, I need to hear the crowd and feel it," he said. "I know when they say "ohhh," or "oooo" I feel that."
Stars coach Lindy Ruff said he sees the energy flow through Roussel.
"Antoine's game is a fearless game," Ruff said. "He laughs at hostility, he thrives on it. In fact, I have to tone him down sometimes."
But as much as Roussel's game is based on physicality, he also can score. He has 12 goals this season, had 13 last season, and 14 the year before. He has six game-winning goals this year. Ruff said Roussel uses the threat of fear to create chances.
"He's a guy who is going to go after every puck and create a foot race every chance he gets and strike a little fear in the guy going back for the puck," Ruff said. "He can get there, and he can hit hard when he gets there. And, offensively, he can do damage, too."
Roussel said he honestly believes whether he scores or not is up to the hockey gods. He said he tries to play the same at home and one the road.
"It's more luck than anything," he said. "I have confidence all year, and I really try to play my hardest every game, every shift, so when the puck goes in, I really do think it's just good luck. When it doesn't go in, I think it's bad luck. So, I just play my hardest and hope for good luck."
Twitter: @MikeHeikaLast night, Alabama GOP Senate nominee Roy Moore spoke in Jackson, a small city in rural south Alabama, where he made one of the most racist statements in modern history by a nationally covered political actor. The entire thing was caught on camera, as we will see in the footage below.
Moore literally said that new rights created in 1965 have created the “problem” we have today in this country. If you happen to need a refresher, the rights he referred to were enacted by the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which remains a landmark piece of federal legislation that prohibits racial discrimination in voting.
Yes, Moore said that guaranteeing voting rights in 1965 for minorities has created a “problem” for this country. Like I said, most racist statement in modern history by a nationally covered political actor.
Admittedly speaking off the cuff, Moore said that the United States has been in a “spiritual” decline since they [government] “started creating new rights in 1965,” and that as a result of these new rights, “today we’ve got a problem.” You can see the proof in the footage below.
Glad most in the @GOP are stepping up against Roy Moore. This guy is a wacko!! Rights in 1965? 😳 Sad that the far right has fully high jacked the GOP! #TailisWaggingTheDog pic.twitter.com/fKz2zRMoPE — Nicholas Priest (@NicholasPriest_) November 15, 2017
This is a textbook definition of racism and is 100% unacceptable. The brand of America is equality and inclusiveness, no matter your race. Moore must be forced to drop out of the race and never be seen from again. There is no defense for these comments and anyone who continues to defend him condones his stated disdain for minorities having equal rights, plain and simple.
Comments
comments totalA campaign to get advertisements for gay hookup site Squirt.org removed from Washington, D.C. metro stations by conservatives and concerned parents is so far coming up empty.
An online petition calling for their removal has garnered over 1,500 signatures at time of writing.
Related: Antigay Senator Would Like People To Stop Asking About His Homemade Sex Tape
Conservative news site CNSNews.com reports a Metro representative told them the ads could not be removed because regulating content would violate the advertiser’s First Amendment rights.
They point out that the Metro bans religious, political and advocacy advertising, which is true.
That decision was made last year after a group tried to buy space to place a cartoon of Muhammad as an advertisement, which many Muslims find offensive. The same group trying to place the ad was responsible for the “Draw Muhammad” contest that led to a shooting in Texas.
The Metro then closed what they labeled as “issue-oriented” advertising for the rest of the year, which they then decided to continue indefinitely.
“The advertiser purchased a total of five ads in three stations through August 7. Metro has not received any customer complaints to date,” Metro spokesperson Morgan Dye told CNSNews.com.
The petition reads as follows:
Dear D.C. Metro Board and Advertising Committee, I am writing to express my shock and displeasure at discovering that you are currently promoting an inappropriate homosexual hookup ad in the Metro System. This complaint refers specifically to the advertisement for “Squirt.org,” a so-called homosexual hookup website. This advertisment is posted in multiple places in the Dupont Circle Red Line Station, and is likely found in other stations throughout the city. You can view a copy of the ad by following this link. Not only does the advertised website encourage homosexual hookups and video chats, it also provides an avenue for interested customers to find a “casual” hookup partner in a public place, such as a bar or a public restroom. This activity, commonly known as “cruising,” often leads to illegal prostitution and indecent exposure charges. By posting this advertisement, the D.C. Metro is facilitating illegal activity and exposing young people to sexually explicit content. Last year, the Metro Board banned all religious advertising in the Metro System. Religious advertising is usually uplifting, encouraging, and moral. There should not be a blanket ban on all religious advertisements. To the contrary, advertisements such as this one are morally corrupt and encourage dangerous and illegal activities. Stop subjecting your customers – especially children and adolescents – to this inappropriate sexual advertising, and please issue an apology to all of your customers who have already been affected by this advertisement. Sincerely,
[Your Name]
This is not the first time Squirt ads have made a stir.
They have previously caused concern in Dallas, were censored in Miami and were pulled in Toronto and Cardiff.
A video of an ex-marine smashing the glass protecting one of the ads and throwing it into the street once accessible went viral last year.Power protection features
i OCP The OCP is one of the power supply's protective functions. It stands for Over Current Protection. If a voltage rail draws more current from a power supply than the power supply specification permits, then the OCP intervenes and switches off the power supply. OCP i OVP Over Voltage Protection protects the PC against overly high voltages. To prevent damages to the PC, the power supply turns off when an over voltage is present. OVP i EIA "Under Voltage Protection", or UVP for short, is a protective mechanism for output direct current. The power supply automatically switches off if the voltage converted by the power supply falls below a defined threshold. This protects the power supply and hardware components against damage. EIA i SCP SCP stands for "Short Circuit Protection" and represents an important protective function for power supplies. If a fault leads to a short circuit in the computer, the SCP function switches off the power supply to prevent additional defects to the hardware. SCP i OTP This important protective circuit stands for Over Temperature Protection. Heat is created within the power supply during control actions. It the interior of the power supply becomes overheated, the OTP protects the electronics against damages. OTP i OPP Similar to the OCP, the OPP is one of the protective circuits built into the power supply. OPP stands for Over Power Protection. If a power supply is operated at an excessive power level, the OPP protects the power supply against a technical breakdown. OPPNew report reveals
NSA, GCHQ mapping “political alignment” of cellphone users
By Eric London
28 January 2014
New information made public by Edward Snowden reveals that the governments of the United States and United Kingdom are trawling data from cellphone “apps” to accumulate dossiers on the “political alignments” of millions of smartphone users worldwide.
According to a 2012 internal UK Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) document, the National Security Agency (NSA) and GCHQ have been accumulating and storing hundreds of millions of user “cookies” —the digital footprints left on a cellphone or computer each time a user visits a web site—in order to accumulate detailed personal information about users’ private lives.
This confirms that the main purpose of the programs is not to protect the population from “terrorism,” but to facilitate the state repression of working class opposition to widening social inequality and social counterrevolution. The programs do not primarily target “terrorists,” but workers, intellectuals, and students.
The collection of data regarding the “political alignment” of cellphone users also suggests that the governments of the US and UK are keeping lists of those whose “political alignments” are of concern to the government. Previous revelations have shown how the NSA and GCHQ “flag” certain “suspects” for additional surveillance: the most recent revelation indicates that suspects are “flagged” at least in part based on their “political alignment.”
The legal rationale behind this process points to a growing movement to criminalize political thought in the US and UK.
If, as the revelations indicate, determining a user’s “political alignment” is a primary goal of this program, then it is also likely a factor in determining whether the government has a “reasonable, articulable suspicion” that the user is a “terrorist suspect.” If this is the case, the web sites a user visits may raise the government’s level of suspicion that the user is engaged in criminal activity, and may thereby provide the government with the pseudo-legal pretext required to unlock the content of all his or her phone calls, emails, text messages, etc.
Such a rationale would amount to a flagrant violation of both the First and Fourth Amendments to the United States Constitution. Not only does the Fourth Amendment protect against “unreasonable searches and seizures,” but the First Amendment also proscribes the government from monitoring individuals based on their political beliefs. The elimination of such a fundamental democratic right would be a dangerous step towards the imposition of a police state dictatorship.
The new report also details the depth of the mobile-app spying operation.
A 2009 “brute-force” analysis test performed by the NSA and GCHQ of what the New York Times describes as a “tiny sliver of their cellphone databases” revealed that in one month, the NSA collected cellphone data of 8,615,650 cellphone users. Data from the GCHQ test revealed that in three months, the British had spied on 24,760,289 users. Expanded to a full year, this data shows that in 2009, the NSA collected data from over 103,000,000 users, while GCHQ collected data from over 99,000,000 users: and this coming from only a “tiny sliver” of a month’s data!
“They are gathered in bulk, and are currently our single largest type of events,” one leaked document reads.
The program—referred to in one NSA document as “Golden Nugget!”—also allows the governments to receive a log of users’ Google Maps application use. Such information allows the intelligence apparatus to track the exact whereabouts of surveillance victims worldwide. One chart from an internal NSA slideshow asks: “Where was my target when they did this?” and “Where is my target going?”
An NSA report from 2007 bragged that so much geo-data could be gathered that the intelligence agencies would “be able to clone Google’s database” of all searches for directions made via Google Maps.
“It effectively means that anyone using Google Maps on a smartphone is working in support of a GCHQ system,” a 2008 GCHQ report noted.
Additional presentation material leaked by Snowden shows that in 2010 the NSA explained that its “perfect scenario” was to “target uploading photo to a social media site taken with a mobile device.” The same slide asks, “What can we get?” The answer, according to the same presentation, includes the photographs of the user, buddy lists, emails, phone contacts, and “a host of other social networking data as well as location.”
The agencies also use information provided by mobile apps to paint a clear picture of the victim’s current location, sexual orientation, marital status, income, ethnicity, education level, and number of children.
GCHQ has an internal code-name system for grading their ability to snoop on a particular cellphone user. The codes are based on the television show “The Smurfs.” If the agencies can tap the phone’s microphone to listen to conversations, the codename “Nosey Smurf” is employed. If the agencies can track the precise location of the user as he or she moves, the codename “Tracker Smurf” is used. The ability to track a phone that is powered off is named “Dreamy Smurf,” and the ability to hide the spy software is coded “Paranoid Smurf.”
That the intelligence agencies have cheekily nicknamed codes in an Orwellian surveillance program after animated characters from a children’s show is a telling indication of the contempt with which the ruling class views the democratic rights of the population of the world.
Additionally, the agencies have been tracking and storing data from a series of cellphone game applications, including the popular “Angry Birds” game, which has been downloaded over 1.7 billion times.
The tracking of data from online games like “Angry Birds” further reveals that these programs are not intended to protect the population from “terrorism.” It would be indefensible for the NSA and GCHQ to explain that they suspected to glean information about looming Al Qaeda plots from a mindless cellphone game.
Yet this is precisely how the NSA has attempted to justify these programs.
“The communications of people who are not valid foreign intelligence targets are not of interest to the National Security Agency,” an agency spokeswoman said. “Any implication that NSA’s foreign intelligence collection is focused on the smartphone or social media communications of everyday Americans is not true. Moreover, NSA does not profile everyday Americans as it carries out its foreign intelligence mission.”
In an added indication of its anti-democratic character, the US government is therefore employing the technique of the “Big Lie” by denying what has just been proven true.
In reality, the revelations have further exposed President Barack Obama’s January 17 speech as a celebration of lies.
The president told the nation that the spying programs do “not involve the NSA examining the phone records of ordinary Americans.” He also said that the US “is not abusing authorities to listen to your private phone calls or read your emails,” and that “the United States is not spying on ordinary people who don’t threaten our national security.”
He added in reference to the “folks” at the NSA that “nothing I have learned [about the programs] indicated that our intelligence community has sought to violate the law or is cavalier about the civil liberties of their fellow citizens.”
But the evidence is mounting that the governments of the US and UK are compiling information regarding the “political alignments” of hundreds of millions across the globe. All those responsible for carrying out such a facially anti-democratic campaign—including President Obama, David Cameron, their aides, and the leaders of the security apparatus—must face criminal charges and immediate removal from office.
Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.The Golemancer Sometimes it pays to bring a puppeteer into a dungeon.
Golemancer A young gnome sits in his study, carefully carving a small, humanoid shape from sturdy oak. Many such shapes lay about the study, but their forms are imperfect-- crude. So many failed attempts-- but this one will be a success. A crafty dwarf polishes the side of a nimble bronze beast, that chirps and whirs in delight. He leads it from the stable, hops onto the saddle and in just a few moments, he is out the gatebefore heading out of town. An old woman puts the finishing touches on a small, stuffed bear. She slips a small stone into the bear and whispers a few words into the ear, and it springs to life, delighting her granddaughter. Golemancers dedicate their lives to the creation of magical constructs. Some create deadly golems to destroy or subjugate their enemies. Some craft whimsical mounts to travel the lands in search of adventure or knowledge. And some instead choose to create entertaining or helpful companions to assist them in their daily lives. Tinkerers at heart Golemancers rarely start out pursuing the art-- most tend to start as sculptors, puppeteers, clocksmiths, and the like that-- by some method or another-- happen upon the knowledge to animate their creations-- a scrap of a manual, a travelling wizard showing off basic animation spells, perhaps even a golemancer seeking an apprentice. Ideas begin to flash in their minds of whimsical, or perhaps sinister, creations. Yet, for the most part, none of them have the first clue how to create such beings. Some choose to abandon the pursuit here and continue on with their lives, creating mundane, but excellent items to sell to merchants... but some follow the path to becoming true Golemancers. The hunt for knowledge The first creations an aspiring Golemancer crafts tend to be small, amusing trinkets: self winding pocket watches, paper puppets that frolick around, little dancing clay animals-- but it rarely takes long for thoughts of greater things to fill their heads. Of course, without any real experience, these aspiring Golemancers can barely manage these nick-nacks-- and those who step too far outside their bounds tend to create... unwanted constructs. A puppet meant to entertain children instead tries to wrap its strings about their necks, a walking broom meant to sweep the house instead smashes pottery and furniture, and so on. For those with more sinister intent, their dangerous creations often disobey even the most basic commands, and in some cases can go on rampages that destroy entire cities. A tale is often told of the Wooden Man, a large wooden mannequin crafted by an inexperienced Golemancer to protect his village, instead going on a murderous rampage across the land, burning the village it was meant to defend, slaughtering anyone in its path. The Wooden Man is still thought to exist today, and serves as a cautionary tale to any would-be Golemancer. Many times, it takes a few failed attempts at animation for a Golemancer to truly seek out sources of knowledge to support their inexperience. Some subject themselves to weeks, months, or even years of rigorous experimentation, while others seek out more formal education in magical colleges. Whatever path is taken, a Golemancer is always on the hunt for more knowledge to apply to their craft, and is always thinking up new constructs. Class Features Construct Knowledge You possess an intricate knowledge of all things construct. You have advantage on any attacks against any Constructs. Additionally, you gain advantage on any investigation related to a construct (i.e. checking if a sword is really a Flying Sword, or if a statue is really a golem, etc.). Hit Points Hit Dice: 1d6 per Golemancer level Hit Points at 1st Level: 1d6+ your Constitution modifier Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d6 (or 4) + your Constitution modifier per Golemancer level after 1st Proficiencies Armor: Light, Medium Weapons: Simple Tools: Glassblowers' tools, Tinker's tools, Woodcarver's tools, Smith's tools, Jeweler's tools Saving Throws: Intelligence and Wisdom Skills: Choose two from Arcana, Investigation, Perception, and Performance Equipment You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background: any simple weapon
(a) a set of Tinker's tools and (b) any Artisan's tool of your choice (see above)
a tiny construct based off of a CR 0 creature Golem Slots Golem Slots operate in a similar fashion to Spell Slots with one key difference-- Golem Slots only apply inside of combat situations. There are tiny Golem Slots, small Golem Slots, medium Golem Slots, large Golem Slots, huge Golem Slots, and gargantuan Golem Slots. At a short rest, you can choose your "main constructs" for the day, similar to attuning. Outside of combat, you have a functionally limitless amount of constructs available to you. For convenience purposes, if you intend to assemble an army of constructs, it is probably best to sticking to more standard units rather than having each of your thousand constructs be unique. That way they are all moving at a similar speed, have similar stats, and are way easier to manage in huge groups. Of course that is always up to you and the DM.
If you have more constructs activated than your main constructs, and you enter combat suddenly (i.e. a sneak attack), make a DC (10 + Number of Extra Constructs) Wisdom saving throw. If you succeed, the extra constructs safely fall back and enter a sort of sleep mode. If you fail, all extra golems plus 1d4 main constructs (randomly selected) collapse to the ground and suffer 2d4 damage. They are then out of commission until you leave combat and take a short rest to "reboot" them. If you are prepared for a combat encounter, you can send the extra constructs to a safe spot to wait until combat ends. Tiny, small, and medium golems can fit inside of bags of holding. Tiny and small golems can fit inside regular pouches, to an extent. They can be safely considered "inactive" while stored this way. Once the Living Castle is unlocked, or if a Gargantuan construct is given some method of holding smaller creatures, they can carry around 100 tiny golems, 50 small golems, 25 medium golems, 12 large golems, or 6 huge golems. Mix and match at your leisure. The Golemancer Level Proficiency Bonus Features Tiny Small Medium Large Huge Gargantuan 1st +2 Tiny Constructs, Choose Archetype 1 — — — — — 2nd +2 Combat Repair 1 — — — — — 3rd +2 Small Constructs 1 1 — — — — 4th +2 Ability Score Improvement, Telepathic Vision 2 1 — — — — 5th +3 Archetype Feature (Complexity I, Efficiency I) 2 1 — — — — 6th +3 Elemental Construct 2 2 — — — — 7th +3 Water Tight 4 2 — — — — 8th +3 Ability Score Improvement 4 2 — — — — 9th +4 Medium Constructs 4 4 2 — — — 10th +4 Archetype Feature (Complexity II, Efficiency II) 6 4 2 — — — 11th +4 Band of Control 6 4 2 — — — 12th +4 Ability Score Improvement, Large Constructs 6 3 4 1 — — 13th +5 Construct Mount 8 6 4 1 — — 14th +5 Ability Score Improvement 8 6 4 1 — — 15th +5 Archetype Feature (Complexity III, Efficiency III) 8 6 6 2 — — 16th +5 Ability Score Improvement, 10 8 6 2 — — 17th +6 Huge Constructs 10 8 6 2 1 — 18th +6 Mounted Flight 10 8 8 4 1 — 19th +6 Ability Score Improvement 12 10 8 4 2 — 20th +6 Gargantuan Constructs, Living Castle 12 10 8 6 4 1
Construct Strength Constuct ability should be directly related to a creature you have seen before of a size and CR you can match. Your possible CR is your Proficiency Bonus + 1/2 Int. Bonus x 1/2 Golem Size (Tiny = 1, Small = 2, etc.) rounded down. Your golem gains the exact same stats as that of the creature, including AC, HP, Movespeed, and so on. In terms of abilities, it is up to your character's abilities as well as logic. If you want to replicate, say, an Iron Golem's poison breath, you would need to have Elemental Construct unlocked. To use a Rust Monster's abilities, however, you would need to do something along the lines of harvesting one's antennae and attaching it to your golem in such a way that the golem can control it, which could double the time it takes to craft the golem. Golems cannot perform telepathic/psyonic abilities
Golems cannot directly use magic abilities-- they require some sort of focus, and it should be assumed that they can only utilize the ability once per encounter, recharged upon a short rest.
Golems cannot perform Lair actions, or any sort of "Boss" abilities
Any other rule the DM wants to add can go here Remember-- Golem appearance is totally up to the player, but the stats and abilities are up to the DM. Construct strength is also slightly based on material, but only for AC and certain resistances. Mundane Mud, Cloth and Glass reduce AC to about 1/3rd rounded down. Weak materials such as Wood, Flesh, Bone, and any weaker material should all reduce AC by half (if the creature it is based off of is not already made of such materials). Iron, Stone, and any other such mundane metal or stone should maintain the same AC as the creature. Magical material should maintain AC, but remove any weakness of the mundane material. Mithril should multiply by 1.5 (rounded down). Adamantine should multiply AC by 2. Construct Cost Size Time Tiny 8 hr Small 1 day Medium 4 days Large 8 days Huge 32 days Garg. 4 months Materials Material Cost Super Weak (Mud etc.) 1 Weak Material (Wood etc.) 3 Strong Material (Stone/Iron etc.) 40 Magical Materials ( |
oula than anywhere else? Statistically, there isn’t, says Krakauer. The incidence of rape in Missoula is lower than the national average of 0.27 percent of women (Krakauer cites only cases and statistics of men raping women). What’s remarkable about Missoula, Montana is that a journalist prior to Krakauer wrote about how the police and prosecutors in Missoula were ineffective at arresting and imprisoning rapists and were especially inclined to be lenient with male students at the University of Montana, football players in particular. This led to a U.S. Department of Justice investigation of the local law enforcement apparatus, a bunch of new bureaucrats being hired, and the state going after defendants against whom the evidence wasn’t very strong (see below). (Note that the federal officials time their visits to coincide with beautiful spring and summer hiking weather in Missoula.)
Here’s how the first rape story unfolded…
Beau Donaldson, a junior at the University of Montana at the time of the assault, was on the school’s football team. Allison Huguet was attending Eastern Oregon University on a track scholarship. People played beer pong in the basement and held “tea races” to determine who could chug bottles of Twisted Tea (a brand of syrupy malt liquor favored by UM students) the fastest. … By 1:30 in the morning, the party was running out of steam, and the handful of people still there moved upstairs to the living room. Donaldson and Huguet sat down together on a couch. Huguet, growing sleepy, lay across the couch, put a pillow on Donaldson’s thigh, and placed her head on the pillow. But there was nothing remotely sexual about it, said Huguet and Williams. “Allison never had any interest in that type of relationship with Beau,” Williams insisted. “Absolutely none.”
Krakauer expresses shock that, as it happens, this is not the prelude to a G-rated Disney movie. Donaldson ultimately admitted, on a surreptitiously recorded phone call, that the sleepy encounter in this house full of drunken students was “taking advantage” of the drunk/half-asleep Huguet. He was pursued by the authorities and, facing up to 100 years in prison, accepted a plea deal of 10 years in prison (see “Torture and Plea Bargaining” for why we have this system).
The next story in the book should also give some cheer to tuition-paying parents:
When Fairmont and Belnap arrived at his apartment, at 5:45 p.m., Styron and his roommate, a Griz player who weighed almost as much as Styron, were smoking weed outside. The four students went indoors, poured themselves shots of 99-proof schnapps, and were soon joined by three other members of the UM football team. Belnap didn’t know any of the men except Styron and his roommate. The five Griz players began competing to drink the most, and they encouraged the two women to join them. “Every couple of minutes we would all take another shot,” Belnap told me. “It was a ‘Let’s see if you can keep up’ kind of thing. I was like, ‘Uh, okay.’ ” By then Kelsey Belnap had consumed between eight and eleven shots in approximately forty-five minutes. She can recall very little about what happened thereafter. “I remember my belt buckle being played with, and then somehow I was bent over the bed.” For the next two hours she drifted “in and out of awareness” as different men entered the room, had sex with her, and left. When Belnap eventually regained control of her faculties, she burst into tears. Betsy Fairmont called a friend, who took Fairmont and Belnap to the Community Medical Center emergency room, where Belnap was admitted at 9:00 p.m. According to the nurses’ notes, she was “obviously intoxicated” and had slurred speech. Two and a half hours after she’d stopped drinking, her blood alcohol concentration was measured to be 0.219 percent, nearly three times the legal limit for driving. When asked if she was experiencing any pain, Belnap replied that her vagina hurt. When asked to elucidate further, she stated that she thought she “may have been raped.”
[Krakauer includes the word “vagina” 45 times in the book, though the relevance of the sexual specifics (which he provides in great detail) is unclear. Generally the men admit having had sex and the medical professionals who come into court and testify admit that whatever they saw when examining the victim could just as easily have been caused by consensual activity.]
The authorities are never able to do much with Belnap’s case because her friend who was present (albeit also drunk) in the same room told the police that “Belnap had willingly had sex with all four of Benjamin Styron’s teammates.”
The book is strong on describing the procedures at the “University Court”:
The seven individuals on the University Court are appointed by the president of the University of Montana. The court is composed of three undergraduate students, one graduate student, two faculty members, and one staff member. At Calvin Smith’s hearing on November 18, 2011, held in the basement of Main Hall, the chair of the court was a distinguished professor from the university’s School of Business Administration; she served as the academic equivalent of a judge and ran the proceeding.
A dean serves as prosecutor and all of the students Krakauer describes going in front of the court are expelled within a couple of months from the original complaint. (Krakauer praises this process and criticizes people who try to assist the accused in presenting a defense.)
The two not-very-drunk students alone in the bedroom story is the longest because the case against Jordan Johnson went to a three-week trial when Johnson refused to plea out. Johnson and “Cecilia Washburn” (Krakauer’s pseudonym) had been plastered the night before:
It was Friday night, February 3, 2012, the first night of the ball. Approximately fifteen hundred young men and women were in attendance. Although no alcohol was served at the event, most of the students had gotten sozzled before they arrived, including both Washburn and Johnson. Washburn slid her hand along the small of Johnson’s back, leaned into him, and drunkenly declared (according to Johnson and Bienemann), “Jordy, I would do you anytime.”
Well… the next night they’re alone together in her bedroom, the male roommate just outside the door in the living room, and something happens in the bedroom that (a) leads to a criminal complaint, and (b) is not loud enough to get the attention of the roommate.
The victim is the first witness:
“Maybe it was the clothes I was wearing, us making out, or me taking off my shirt that made Jordan think I wanted to have sex,” Washburn answered. … “I should have screamed out to my roommate in the living room,” she answered, “or used more force to resist him, yes.”
The state of Montana hires David Lisak, a psychologist who had previously been a professor at University of Massachusetts, Boston, but is now a full-time expert witness (his web site lists his first job as “forensic consultant”). They pay him $325/hour to fly out from Boston to talk to the jury about rape in general (he wasn’t asked to study any of the facts of the actual case):
He was asked to provide “educational testimony”: information about what the best research reveals about rapists and their victims. … Prosecutor Joel Thompson began by asking Dr. Lisak about “misconceptions about rape”—rape myths. When people hear the term “rapist,” Lisak said, many of them “think of a guy in a ski mask, wielding a knife, hiding in the bushes, breaking into a home. And it’s a scary image, and it does happen, but…the vast majority of rapes, well over eighty percent, are actually non-stranger rapes.” … “There’s no profile of a rapist that you can use to say either somebody is or that somebody isn’t,” Lisak said. “But surely rapists are creepier than the average population?” Thompson asked. “Actually, no,” Lisak answered. We all like to think that we would be able to recognize the sort of person who might be a rapist, he said, “but the truth is, we can’t.” “So rapists can be likable?” Thompson asked. “Absolutely,” Lisak answered. “Sociable?” “Absolutely.”… “Can they be thought of outwardly as kind?” Thompson inquired. “Yes,” Lisak answered. “Gentle?” “Yes.” “Even timid?” “Yes, even timid, some of them,” Lisak said.
Then the trial gets back to comfortable territory for Krakauer:
CLAIRE FRANCOEUR, the nurse-practitioner and forensic medical examiner at the First Step sexual-assault resource center who’d examined Allison Huguet and Kelsey Belnap, was called as a witness by the prosecution at the end of the trial’s first week. She showed the jury photographs and a video of Cecilia Washburn’s genitals while describing the forensic exam she performed the day after Washburn was allegedly raped. Prompted by questions from prosecutor Adam Duerk, Francoeur pointed out abrasions and a small laceration inside Washburn’s vagina, as well as minor bruises on her collarbone. She also testified that she found tenderness throughout the vaginal wall and tenderness on the side of Washburn’s head. All of which, she said, were “consistent with sexual trauma, though nonspecific.” After the video of Washburn’s genitals finished playing and the public was readmitted to the courtroom, defense counsel David Paoli, bent on impugning Francoeur’s credibility, began an especially contentious cross-examination. “Nurse Francoeur…,” he began, “your job is not to determine, and you can’t determine, nonconsensual versus consensual [sex]; isn’t that right?” “Correct,” she answered. Paoli brought up the laceration inside Washburn’s vagina that Francoeur had identified in the video. “This small laceration, it’s approximately a millimeter, isn’t it?” he asked. “I’d have to look at the tape again,” she answered, “but that sounds about right: one to two millimeters.”… “You said that part of your responsibilities as a medical professional was to refer her to a lawyer?…You referred her to an Atlanta law firm, did you not?” “I gave her a name,” Francoeur explained. “And you made contact with that law firm on her behalf, didn’t you?” “I did not.” “You had made contact with that law firm to tell them that Ms. Washburn was going to be calling them?” “It was not me who made that contact. … Paoli professed that he was shocked that Francoeur, a nurse, would accompany a patient to the police station or refer a patient to a lawyer. In a voice edged with scorn, he inquired, “That’s part of your medical professionalism?” Francoeur replied that such consultation was part of providing “patient-centered” care, in accordance with the standard protocols of her profession. “Patient-centered and litigation-fueled? Is that part of what it is?” … “Do these guidelines, the 2004 national protocols, talk about your duty to provide information about civil attorneys to a victim?” “They do.”
Note that Krakauer refers to the defense lawyer as “bent on impugning” and “hectoring” but he does not refer to the prosecutors as trying to convict the defendant. Krakauer generally portrays criminal defense work, at least for rape cases, as unethical.
The jury then hears from psychiatrists who are paid by the opposing sides and turn out to have opposing opinions:
The final two witnesses—one called by the defense, the other by the prosecution—testified on Thursday, February 28, 2013. The defense witness, a psychiatrist and neurologist named William Stratford, had never examined Cecilia Washburn, but he’d reviewed her counseling and medical records at the University of Montana’s Curry Health Center at the request of David Paoli and Kirsten Pabst. Stratford argued that although the records indicated that Washburn suffered from anxiety and depression in the aftermath of her sexual encounter with Jordan Johnson, the symptoms she exhibited did not rise to the level of post-traumatic stress disorder. The prosecution witness, David Bell, was a physician at the Curry Health Center who treated Washburn after she was allegedly raped. He testified that the symptoms she displayed matched all the criteria for PTSD.
What happens after about $2 million has been spent on attorneys and experts?
Prosecutor Joel Thompson finished his rebuttal at 1:08 p.m. Friday afternoon, prompting Judge Karen Townsend to tell the twelve jurors to gather up their notebooks, head for the jury room, and start deliberating. As the courtroom emptied, Jordan Johnson’s father leaned over the gallery railing and embraced his son. Just after 3:30, an announcement was made that a verdict had been reached, and the people milling around the courthouse hurried back to the courtroom. For a jury to arrive at a verdict in less than two and a half hours after such a long, complex trial was highly unusual, and it took almost everyone by surprise. “To the charge of sexual intercourse without consent: We the jury, all of our number, find the defendant, Jordan Todd Johnson, not guilty.”
Krakauer essentially advocates for the elimination of the presumption of innocence for criminal defendants in rape cases. Because he doesn’t reference the classic “Torture and Plea Bargaining” the reader is left with the impression that criminals have an insurmountable advantage over prosecutors. Krakauer’s argument for making it easier to imprison accused rapists is essentially the following:
It’s easy to forget that the harm done to a rape victim who is disbelieved can be at least as devastating as the harm done to an innocent man who is unjustly accused of rape … There is no “cure” for PTSD. The repercussions of severe emotional trauma, whether from war or rape, are typically felt for decades.
[My personal take-away from the trial narrative: The trial occupied 2-3X as many days as a patent infringement lawsuit in which a lay jury needs to come up to speed on potentially very sophisticated and specialized technology. The “what happened in that room” trial could have been cut down to about one third of its length if the judge had simply excluded testimony from people who hadn’t been in the room or nearby. How is it possibly relevant what a paid-to-show-up psychologist from Boston says about rapists in general? What if the psychologist had said “In my experience they tend to be almost exactly the same height, weight, and age as the defendant.”? The medical exam should also have been excluded because the nurse couldn’t say more than “they had sex,” a fact that the defendant had admitted. The character witnesses should have been excluded because, especially if we are to believe David Lisak, PhD, a person with a good character is just as likely to be a rapist as a person with a bad character.
Krakauer describes how profitable it can be to drop a dime on a rapist, even if the victim does not take the nurse’s suggestion to contact the plaintiffs’ firm in Atlanta and sue the rapist himself:
In 2002, [Brian] Banks was a junior at Polytechnic High School in Long Beach, California, a six-foot-four, 225-pound linebacker on an extraordinary football team. … Banks was aggressively recruited by some of the nation’s top college football programs and accepted a scholarship offer from the University of Southern California. … While attending summer classes before his senior year at Long Beach Poly, Banks had a chance encounter with a sophomore named Wanetta Gibson that, according to Banks, culminated in consensual sex. According to Gibson, Banks raped her. In a note Gibson wrote to a friend, which became a crucial piece of evidence, she said Banks “picked me up and put me in the elevator and he took me down stairs and he pulled my pants down and he rapped [sic] me and he didn’t have a condom on and I was a virgin and now Im [sic] not.” When interviewed by the police, Wanetta Gibson told a more detailed version of the same story, and Brian Banks, who was seventeen years old, was charged with forcible rape. Were he convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison. Like thousands of other defendants ensnared in the criminal justice system, … Banks agreed to plead no contest to the rape charge, spend at least five years in prison, remain on probation for an additional five years, and register as a sex offender. While Brian Banks was serving his time, Wanetta Gibson and her mother filed a lawsuit against the Long Beach Unified School District, claiming that lax security at Poly High School created an unsafe environment that led to her being raped. The suit was settled out of court, with the school district agreeing to pay Gibson $1.5 million. … her conscience began to bother her. In March 2011, a few years after Brian Banks was released from prison, he logged onto Facebook and saw he’d received a friend request from Wanetta Gibson, his accuser. … Banks asked if she would meet with him in the presence of a private investigator, Freddie Parish, whose son had been a teammate of his at Poly. Gibson agreed, and during their meeting she admitted what Banks knew to be the truth all along: He had not raped her. Unbeknownst to Wanetta Gibson, Parish was secretly recording the conversation. … Brian Banks’s conviction was reversed in May 2012. Thirteen months later, the Long Beach Unified School District won a $2.6 million default judgment against Wanetta Gibson to recoup the settlement she had received, plus interest and damages.
Let’s not hold our breath waiting for that $2.6 million to be returned to the California taxpayers…
Conclusion: The book is a detailed look at a handful of cases and therefore shouldn’t be used as a policy argument one way or another. Krakauer’s point of view is not neutral (no Wikipedia authoring for him!) but that doesn’t affect the book’s value for understanding (1) behavioral norms among humanities and social science majors at residential colleges, (2) the functioning of a Title IX on-campus sexual abuse court, (3) the challenges faced by police and prosecutors in obtaining convictions in non-stranger rape cases, and (4) the challenges faced by defendants accused of rape either by a campus court or the real police/prosecutors. Young people heading off to a residential college would do well to read this book.
Related:2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4×4
If you want a vehicle that you can have some off-road fun, but is safe enough to carry the family, then the 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4×4 should be on your list. The latest four-wheel drive version of the Grand Cherokee managed to earn a five star crash test rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The 4×4 model has managed a five star rating since the later 2014 model (the earlier model only managed a four star rating).
To test a vehicle’s crashworthiness the NHTSA tests include front collision with another vehicle, side impact with another vehicle and side impact with a pole. Overall the 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee managed a five star rating.
Some of the safety features that helped the Grand Cherokee achieve its overall five star rating include the multistage driver and front-passenger air bags, the side curtain air bags, supplemental front-seat side air bags and a driver-side inflatable knee bolster. For 2017 the SUV is also available with an Automatic Emergency Braking system to help avoid rear ending someone when the driver fails to hit the brake.
Of course for those of us that also like an SUV with a bit more power, the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT is also available with these safety features. With the SRT the star of the show is the 6.4-liter HEMI V8 that outputs a strong 475 horsepower. Perhaps if we are very good we will find one under our Christmas tree.Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption China's wedding market is worth $130bn a year
In a suburb of Shanghai, a shabby old textile mill serves as a model of the wider economic transformation China is trying to achieve.
Where once low-wage workers churned out clothes for export, today a new company has taken up residence that is riding the wave of China's consumer spending boom.
In fact Mr Wedding - a small business employing 16 people - is part of an industry that has been booming like few others anywhere in history.
According to state media, China's marriage market - the money spent on ceremonies, catering, honeymoons and hospitality - has grown from almost nothing a couple of decades ago to a whopping annual 800bn yuan ($130bn; £78bn).
And Mr Wedding, from its old factory base, is trying to carve out a little slice of that economy by offering Shanghai's brides-and-grooms-to-be a familiar service with a twist.
"People can do a lot of almost impossible postures under water," the founder and owner, Tina Liu, tells me.
"The sense of losing gravity creates the beauty of floating."
'Something different'
Image copyright Mr Wedding
Underwater wedding: In pictures
Two of her customers Lin Enxiao and He Huan introduce themselves by their English names - Lamea and YY.
They're not getting married until next year, but like many Chinese couples they've decided to get the wedding photographs out of the way early.
"Most of our friends did their photo shoot on dry land," YY tells me. "We wanted something different."
"When people think about wedding photos it's always grassland, white walls and doves," Lamea agrees.
"It feels good to change that picture."
Image caption Tina Liu set up her business in 2003 with 150,000 yuan ($24,400; £14,700)
Waterproof make-up
China did not invent the underwater wedding shoot but it has embraced it like nowhere else.
There are dozens of studios offering the service in Shanghai alone, and it is a crowded, competitive market.
"Some talented people have a good concept and good creativity but they don't make it because they lack persistency," Tina says.
Image caption 10 million people tie the knot in China every year
Each individual photo shoot is a painstaking, time-consuming process.
Mr Wedding's team of stylists gives Lamea and YY a full makeover, spending a couple of hours on their hair and make-up.
"We suggest that for underwater wedding pictures brides should wear a white wedding dress with a long trail," Tina says.
"And we use waterproof make-up so it doesn't run in the water."
Then, Lamea and YY, dressed for a full white wedding, are walked not down an aisle but up a small set of steps into the photography tank.
Measuring around 12ft by 12 ft (3.6m by 3.6m) - it is full of warm water with a lifeguard on hand to help them climb in and to accompany them throughout their time in the water.
Tina shouts instructions into a microphone from the other side of the tank's glass window and, taking a deep breath, Lamea and YY slip beneath the water and their wedding shoot is underway.
Wedding boom
Tina started her business in 2003, at that point doing only traditional wedding photography, with an initial investment of 150,000 yuan.
She worked out of a small shop and used Shanghai's picturesque streetscapes as the backdrop for the photos as she had no studio of her own.
The decision to move out of the city centre, although it gave her space to expand and to build the water tank, presented a major challenge.
"Here, we are quite far away from where most people work so we lost a lot of customers," she says.
"People used to fight for a vacancy but suddenly our schedule board was blank. I felt depressed and even started to doubt the quality of my work.
"But it was useless to stay in that mood so we started addressing the internal problems, getting the teamwork right, and slowly the business came back up again."
What is it like to be an entrepreneur in different parts of the world? The BBC's global team are talking to people starting their own businesses around Asia. What battles do they face to make their mark and make money? Read more My Business stories
Today, Tina says, the it brings in a revenue of between 400,000 and 500,000 yuan a month.
But like small business owners everywhere she needs to stay constantly on her toes.
"The photography industry has reached a peak," the China Wedding Trade Association's Secretary General, Shi Kangming, tells me.
"Many famous studios have closed," he says, "and fewer young couples want wedding photos nowadays."
In 2009, he says, his organisation's figures show that around 90% of marrying couples booked the services of a wedding photographer.
Today the figure is down to just 70% - an extraordinary drop-off that highlights the fast changing pace of the industry.
New concepts
But with more than 10 million couples tying the knot every year there's still plenty of opportunity for those who can adapt.
"We're launching a new project we call 'air filming'," Tina tells me.
She describes how they attach a movie camera to a small remote control drone so that aerial shots can be taken of the couple, who remain firmly on the ground.
"People will feel the product is beautiful and amazing, and although they might not be sure about it, they'll want to try when they see other people's results," she says.
Image copyright Mr Wedding Image caption Lamea and YY say they are delighted with their underwater wedding album
The company is also introducing stop-motion animation in the form of a flipbook style photograph album.
Lamea and YY have no hesitation in paying the 2,000 yuan ($325; £200) price tag for their set of 15 underwater wedding photos.
They're delighted with the results.
"You only get married once in your life," Lamea says, "so you should spend money on what's needed."
"We started preparing a long time ago," YY adds. "We've been saving half of our income and putting it into our wedding fund for all the necessary things we'll be needing."M'Baye Niang: Invited over to Italy for talks with AC Milan
Sky Sports understands AC Milan have joined the chase for Arsenal and Manchester City target M'Baye Niang.
Caen starlet Niang, who enjoyed a trial at Arsenal last month, is currently in Italy after being invited over by AC Milan for talks and a look around the club.
Caen are resigned to losing the highly-rated 17-year-old this summer their relegation from Ligue 1.
Arsenal were thought to be in pole position for Niang after he impressed during his training stint in North London last month.
The Gunners made an offer to Caen for the forward, but the deal has stalled because of the way Arsenal want to structure the fee, preferring to take him on loan before making the move permanent.
The news has alerted Milan and Manchester City who are both admirers of the teenage talent.
Milan have been given permission to hold talks with the player as they look to lure Niang to Italy.
However, City are also thought to have stepped up their interest in Niang and are hoping to bring him over to the England for a training period so Roberto Mancini can cast an eye over him.
Caen president Jean-Francois Fortin has confirmed Arsenal have made an official offer for Niang, but that they face competition from clubs in England and Italy.
"Arsenal made me a proposition, but other clubs are interested - two in England and one in Italy," Fortin told L'Equipe.
"There will be an issue here for a fortnight before the matter is resolved."There’s been a touch of historical revisionism under way the past few weeks concerning how we talk about the Omar Khadr case.
Not so much around what’s been actually said, but what’s being left out: that instead of having a public apology in hand, Khadr could have just as well have been left with a serious criminal record instead.
One of the things that’s been frustrating regular Canadians after learning Khadr hit the settlement jackpot with a $10.5 million pay-out is this impression left to them by the chattering classes and much of the media narrative that he’s 100% a victim, through and through.
All they’ve been hearing about is how wronged he was: how poorly he was treated by Americans and successive Canadian prime ministers; and how his rights were violated and courts have ruled in his favour and that the settlement was both legally necessary and fiscally prudent.
There are varying degrees of truth to these claims. But regardless, there’s been little acknowledgement from official Ottawa during this most recent chapter that Khadr did bad things and that at one point the government was considering pressing charges against him here on home soil.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the other week: “I can understand Canadians’ concerns about the settlement. In fact, I share those concerns about the money. That’s why we settled.” The few remarks he’s made on the case have stuck to a similar tune. It would be nice to get a bit more insight into what he means by that though.
I’m not sure if the terms of the apology preclude the government from speaking ill of Khadr in other aspects, but it certainly would have gone a long way if Trudeau had made it clear he shares Canadians’ concerns not just about the raw sum but the very concept of doling out cash to someone who fought alongside al-Qaeda, regardless of how legally bound he felt to make the payment. To put it more bluntly: Trudeau should publicly make it clear he doesn’t think Khadr’s an angel.
After all, in the years leading up to the Supreme Court rulings on Khadr’s situation, an argument from voices in the legal community was to repatriate and then charge him on Canadian soil with Criminal Code violations.
Back in 2008, a group of University of Ottawa law students and their professor Craig Forcese – who has written extensively on the case – spoke to a foreign affairs subcommittee at the House of Commons to discuss the case for charging Khadr.
Basically, they argued there was a whole number of Criminal Code violations that Khadr could conceivably be charged with and potentially convicted, if he was repatriated.
The charges they considered to varying degrees covered war crimes, treason and terror-related offences.
“The first thing is that we agree with you completely that repatriation doesn’t equal impunity,” Forcese told the committee of MPs. “It’s not that Mr. Khadr will be repatriated and there will be no prospect of criminal charges or other measures being taken against him.”
Watch Forcese’s testimony here (beings at approx. 58:20)
Now there are a good deal many arguments to be made about why certain charges would or wouldn’t stick and, even if they did, how severe Khadr’s sentencing would have been and if it even was to include jail time.
I’m told by former government sources that departmental lawyers briefed the government around that time about the various challenges prosecution would face. They knew that, were Khadr repatriated earlier, it would be an uphill battle to bring any case forward.
None of this is on the table now. But it was alive and well back then.
These strands in and of themselves tell you something – that government lawyers were looking at their options and calculating their odds while committee hearings were talking about what was and wasn’t viable.
It tells us that had things lined up a little differently, yes, you darn well bet Omar Khadr could have faced trial right here.
Innocent? At least according to our courts, we’ll never know. Lucky? You bet.Who To Replace Vardy With On Fantasy Premier League
Jamie Vardy has unfortunately been ruled for the next couple of weeks having undergone minor groin surgery. In this article the Fplbet team look at who to replace Vardy with on Fantasy Premier League.
The Premier League’s joint top goalscorer is owned by 50% of the 3.6 million FPL managers competing worldwide. Taking this into consideration, it is obvious that his replacement could prove pivotal when entering the second half of the season. Our aim is to help you make this difficult decision by drawing up possible candidates to fill the Vardy void.
First of all, Romelu Lukaku does not feature in our list. Due to such a heavy ownership (54.7%) we are assuming that the majority of active FPL competitors already have him.
Recent Form Comparison (Last 3)
Name GS A SoT PPG Agüero 1 0 3 4.3 Costa 3 1 3 8.0 Kane 2 1 3 7.3 Ighalo 2 0 4 4.3 Martial 1 1 2 5.3
Sergio Agüero (13.1m)
[Fixtures: Everton (H), Crystal Palace (H), West Ham (a)]
The FPL darling that is Sergio Agüero looks to be back to full fitness and ready to help Manchester City fight for the Premier League title. His wonderful header against Watford was his first goal since the 21st of November when he scored in the 4-1 loss against Liverpool.
Although the Argentinian has a high price tag he has all the ability in the world to justify it. Cast your minds back to Gameweek 8 when Newcastle travelled to the Etihad Stadium – it took Aguero just 20 minutes to notch five goals.
Manchester City added creative Belgian midfielder Kevin De Bruyne to their ranks this summer and the former Wolfsburg man has already racked up eight assists this season. Combine De Bruyne’s eye for a pass with Aguero’s intelligent runs and you have a dream partnership for goals.
With Everton (H), Crystal Palace (H) and West Ham (A), Agüero has the chance to pick up some serious FPL points and add to his tally of eight goals for the season.
Diego Costa (10.7m)
[Fixtures: West Brom (H), Everton (H), Arsenal (a)]
Diego Costa looks back to the striker Chelsea fans fell in love with last season. He’s scored in consecutive appearances for the first time this season and looks a rejuvenated player under new Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink.
Under Hiddink, the Spanish striker has three goals and one assist; to put this into context, during Mourinho’s 14 game spell this season, the Chelsea star had only three goals and two assists to his name. His performances have certainly improved, against Crystal Palace there was no scrapping with opposition players, and more importantly, Costa was in front of goal and not drifting out wide.
The assist for Oscar was incredibly selfless and showed another side to Costa’s game that we haven’t seen too much of. It’s hard to say if the players were underperforming on purpose under Mourinho, but they certainly look fresh and are playing with an edge of freedom under Hiddink.
Added to the new manager is the form of the superb Willian; the Brazilian has arguably been Chelsea’s player of the season and is showing no signs of slowing down. The hardworking winger is always looking to create chances for his striker; a combination that could see Chelsea rise up the league table.
Harry Kane (9.8m)
[Fixtures: Leicester (H), Sunderland (H), Crystal Palace (a)]
Next up is Spurs striker Harry Kane, after initially struggling at the start of the season the English forward is proving he is more than a one season hit. Kane currently has 11 goals to his name this season and has a very favourable upcoming fixture list.
In GW21 Kane faces Leicester City (H) before Sunderland are the guests at White Hart Lane in GW22 and then in GW23 a trip to Crystal Palace awaits Tottenham. If we look at a five game list his following two are an away trip to Norwich and a home tie against Watford.
Kane posses all the qualities of a top class striker and with the Pochettino’s side starting to click Kane will be a more than adequate replacement for Jamie Vardy. With the likes of Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen supporting Kane he is bound to see numerous chances fall his way. Kane is an all-round striker, whether the ball is in the air or at his feet, the Spurs striker can make something happen and find the back of the net.
Odion Ighalo (6.3m)
[Fixtures: Southampton (a), Swansea (a), Newcastle (H)]
The Nigerian found the net 30 times in 35 league appearances during 2015 and with 7 goals in his last 7 matches, Ighalo has emerged a suitable candidate to replace Vardy. The instinctive striker has stepped up to the Premier League in effortless fashion, scoring an incredible 56% of Watford’s top-flight goals this season!
Utilised as the focal point of a 4-4-1-1 formation, Ighalo has formed a deadly partnership with Watford veteran Troy Deeney. The reason why Ighalo is so much more appealing than his counterpart, is the fact that he appears determined to play on the last line of defence at all times. With this in mind, Ighalo frequently comes up with the goals, steals the limelight and banks the 3 bonus points – as he has already done on 6 occasions this season.
In the last 4 Gameweeks he has found the net against Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool twice – this highlights his fixture-proof status and is evidence that he can, on his day, take down the strongest of defences. Ighalo has a better mins/goal ratio (114) than Agüero this season; so at this price and with attractive fixtures on the horizon, he offers unrivalled value.
Anthony Martial (7.6m)
[Fixtures: Newcastle (a), Liverpool (a), Southampton (H)]
The ex-Lyon and Monaco striker was the standout performer in United’s 2-1 victory over Swansea at the weekend. Martial contributed with a goal and assist, while also bagging 3 bonus points, to help his side record their first win in 8 matches.
Martial got off to a flyer this season, with 3 goals in his first 2 Premier League appearances. If he manages to rediscover this early season form, which he is fully capable of doing with the fixtures at hand, then Martial could prove an excellent differential.
Drifting out wide from the centre, reminiscent of Thierry Henry in his prime, Martial is very intelligent in finding pockets of space and then exploiting them. He is yet to show any sort of consistency so far this season, nevertheless, if you are willing to take a gamble and step away from the norm, Martial is the best option to help you climb some mini-leagues and pursue those green arrows.
Thanks for reading our Who To Replace Vardy With On Fantasy Premier League article. Don’t forget to vote and comment your opinion below.
[poll id=”10″]Image copyright Getty Images Image caption T. rex was one of |
voice. I know how to campaign and win in hostile territory. Anyone can sit in think tanks dishing out why they think Labour lost, but nothing compares to actually getting out and listening to voters, as well as members. On this, my third visit to Scotland of the campaign, I’ve been in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Stirling, campaigning for candidates like Eileen Dinning, Kevin O’Donnell and Marion Donaldson in their by-elections. They are Scottish Labour's future. We should be supporting them and listening to them.
Let me be clear, we didn't lose the general election because of our campaigning, organisation or activism. We lost because we suffered from massive deficits on economic trust and leadership. But in seats where we bucked the trend, we did so, by good organisation and campaigning. And in too many places where we've taken our supporters for granted, our membership and activism has become hollowed out. As deputy leader I will work tirelessly to ensure we have a campaigning culture from top to bottom in our Party, campaigning everywhere from Exeter to Elgin. I will never ask or expect a party member to do something I am not prepared to do myself.
With the right leadership, the right political strategy and the right organisation we can recover and rebuild here in Scotland and elsewhere in the UK and win the election in 2020.Lebanon has capabilities to counter “any threat," but only wants peace and stability in the region, Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil has told RT in an interview. He warned that any potential aggressor state would suffer consequences, which could reach as far as Europe.
The Middle Eastern country has always chosen to "maintain constructive and sound policies" with its neighbors and other states in the Arab world, but this hasn't prevented "hostile actions" against Lebanon, Bassil told RT in an exclusive interview Friday. Citing the current crisis triggered by the "unexpected" resignation of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri announced from Saudi Arabia, the official said it is a "good example [showing that] virtually anyone can start a war against us."
Read more
"We are ready to act in case of such developments, but we are trying to do everything we can to prevent this from happening and to maintain a good relationship with Saudi Arabia," Bassil said, adding Beirut would "stick to" its peaceful and diplomatic approach "unless forced to defend ourselves." While Lebanon is against any interference in its internal affairs, it also "does not approve of any attacks by its citizens against Saudi Arabia," he said.
However, the current situation appears to involve far more players, the foreign minister said, having mentioned Israel and the US in particular. "We should not be provoking Israel into a war simply because it is likely to lose it. We should restrain Israel from starting a war exactly because Lebanon is sure to win it," he claimed.
READ MORE: Will Saudi’s gamble in Lebanon with Hariri lead to war between Israel and Hezbollah?
"Any country can take action against Hezbollah like the US does, even though the leader of Hezbollah has said repeatedly: 'If you want to fight us, you can fight us, but leave Lebanon alone. We don’t want Lebanon to suffer because of us.' We think if they target us, they will punish all the people of Lebanon, and those who dare do this will also face consequences. There will be consequences for the whole region, for Europe."
Read more
Earlier this week, Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, the chief of staff of the Israeli Defence Forces, has said he believes the current escalation in the region "is Iranian provocation." He said that while Israel had no intention of launching an attack on Lebanon's Hezbollah movement allied with Tehran, it was ready to share intelligence on Iran with Riyadh. "There is an opportunity for a new international alliance in the region and a major strategic plan to stop the Iranian threat," said in an unprecedented interview with a Saudi newspaper. Tel Aviv and Riyadh do not officially have diplomatic ties with each another.
READ MORE: Lebanon suffers intimidation attempts to cancel gas deal with Russia – Lebanese FM
During his official visit to Moscow on Friday, Bassil said that there is currently an anti-Lebanon campaign in the Middle East. "Some countries are trying to use certain forces to remove the head of Lebanon," he claimed, without specifying which ones. In his interview with RT, Bassil said that what the whole world is witnessing today in the region is "yet another attempt to create hotbeds of chaos and instability, which in turn lead to terrorism."
"Even if Lebanon is a likely winner in a war, it does not mean it wants to fight," he said, but pointed out he found it unlikely that the conflict would turn into a hot one. "I doubt that it will come to it because the party that starts such a war will have to deal with consequences."News CBOE Announces Increased Bitcoin Futures Margins Amid Market Manipulation Worries
With CBOE set to roll out Bitcoin futures trading Monday morning, the exchange announced this week that the margin requirements have risen from 33% to 44% due to Bitcoin’s recent extreme volatility.
As Bitcoin finished a tumultuous trading week, with coin prices climbing from $11,000 to heights of near $20,000 on the GDAX exchange, the weekend has brought worries of what effect futures trading will have on Bitcoin, especially in regard to market manipulation believed to be rife in the barely regulated Bitcoin market.
CBOE Market Protections
Because of the unique risks inherent with Bitcoin, CBOE are enforcing a number of safeguards, including halting trading for 2 minutes if the price swings more than 10% from the day’s previous settlement price or 5 minutes if the swing is more than 20%. Margin requirements – the amount of marginable securities that an investor must pay for with his/her own cash – have also been increased from 33% to 44%, a figure several times greater than that of other commodities like gold and oil. The minimum maintenance margin was also raised from 30% to 40%, specifically for Bitcoin, creating a premium for the futures.
Kevin Kelly, managing partner of Benchmark Investments, offered his insight into the increase:
One of the reasons why the futures margin requirements are so high is because of the limited size of the overall bitcoin market. There’s a lack of depth and breadth.
The initial announcement of Bitcoin futures was seen as a bullish sign for the digital currency, bringing with it mainstream recognition of the coin through association with traditional markets. It is being viewed as a way to ease Bitcoin towards wider financial industry acceptance, but doubters within both the Bitcoin and regulatory bodies still fear how traders could potentially manipulate prices despite the protections already set in place.
Market Manipulation Fears
As some of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges face outages and DDOS attacks during intense periods of market action, it has lead to fears that both CBOE and CME, along with the regulators who approved the futures trading, have not considered the move carefully enough when it comes to potential market manipulation of Bitcoin’s price. The Futures Industry Association (FIA) issued the following written statement;
We remain apprehensive with the lack of transparency and regulation of the underlying reference products on which these futures contracts are based and whether exchanges have the proper oversight to ensure the reference products are not susceptible to manipulation, fraud, and operational risk.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) released its own statement on December 1, in which Chairman Chris Giancarlo stated:
Bitcoin is a commodity unlike any the commission has dealt with in the past. We expect that the futures exchanges, through information sharing agreements, will be monitoring the trading activity on the relevant cash platform.
Whether that does enough to assure the fears and concern of Bitcoin investors and the wider financial community at large remains to be seen.
Ty Gellasch, executive director of the Healthy Markets Association, warns:
The CFTC has strong anti-manipulation rules for futures, but those won’t necessarily protect investors if the bitcoin cash markets are manipulated.
Will Bitcoin futures trading be good for the digital currency or is there simply too much potential market manipulation? Lets us know what you think in the comments below.
Images Courtesy of AdobeStockSo, I'm not one for selfies, but while Cubone is still in my possession (until Saturday *sadface*) I just had to take one, you know? I'm going to miss this guy, but I definitely wouldn't have room to keep him anyway, and I'm sure his new trainer will love him!He is Life-Size (according to his Pokedex entry) and sits at 15in tall, 10in wide and 12in long. He also weighs 7lbs, which isn't accurate to the Pokedex but that wasn't one of his goals, especially not for a plushie xDHis entire body is made in crochet style and is supported with a heavy copper wire in his body and head to support his Skull. His Skull and Boneclub are both crafted from Polymer clay and attached to his head and hand with Velcro - so they can be removed if desired. His tail is filled with heavy pellets to counter-balance the weight of his skull so he can sit on his own. His eyes are needle-felted.For size reference, if you're having trouble visualizing the Inches, I am 5'4" and he covers most of my torso and is better held (comfortably) in both arms, just like a real Cubone would.You can see the full process and final result photos here: krejdar.deviantart.com/gallery… I'll be making just one more life-size Cubone (not sure when, exactly) so that extra skull goes to good use, and he'll be listed along with all my other items at TheTallGrass.etsy.com!Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is campaigning in Philadelphia. Clinton attended two separate events Wednesday, focusing on gun violence and budget issues. NBC10's Drew Smith reports. (Published Thursday, April 21, 2016)
With delegates on the line, Republican and Democratic presidential hopefuls descended on the Philadelphia region this week.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton -- coming off a double-digit win in New York -- visited Philadelphia Wednesday with a Mothers of the Movement event with Attorney General Eric Holder at St. Paul's Baptist Church along Wallace Street in the late afternoon. She then spoke at an evening rally at the Fillmore.
Pennsylvania in Spotlight for Presidential Race
Pennsylvania is in the spotlight with six days leading up to the state's primary. NBC10's Aundrea Cline-Thomas has that story. (Published Wednesday, April 20, 2016)
Republican Ted Cruz has added another campaign stop in his swing through Pennsylvania, a week before the state's presidential primary.
Push for Pennsylvania: Candidates Take on Philly
With just under a week before the Pennsylvania primary, the presidential candidates descend upon Philadelphia. NBC10 political analyst Jim Shultz has more on what's going on in the race. (Published Wednesday, April 20, 2016)
Cruz held a rally Tuesday night at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. On Wednesday morning he went to an event at the Antique Automobile Club of America Museum in Hershey. Former presidential candidate Carly Fiorina also attended. Candidates Set Their Sights on Pennsylvania
The Democratic and Republican presidential candidates are setting their sights on Pennsylvania ahead of next week's Primary. (Published Wednesday, April 20, 2016)
Ohio Gov. John Kasich was in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, and plans stops Thursday in suburban Philadelphia, including for a town hall on Penn State's Brandywine Campus in Media.
GOP front-runner Donald Trump (61 percent) easily beat both Cruz and Kasich in the New York primary Tuesday. He is set to appear at the Delaware State Fairgrounds in Harrington, Delaware Friday afternoon.
Bernie Sanders campaigned Tuesday afternoon in Erie, then headed to Penn State's flagship campus in State College for an evening rally. He planned to return to the Keystone State for town hall events in Scranton and Reading Thursday. Highlights From the 2016 Campaign Trail
Pennsylvania and Delaware primary voters head to the polls Tuesday. Click here to get information about Pennsylvania's primary.
Copyright Associated Press / NBC 10 PhiladelphiaBy Mike Perry
Note: This review contains extensive spoilers. We recommend that you read the storyline first if you don’t want any surprises ruined. For a more concise, brief review in audio form, check out Episode 12 of the Adult Podcast for Kids (coming Friday, May 13, 2016)! If you enjoy this review, check out all of our past podcasts and blog posts, or give us a follow on Twitter or Facebook.
Click Here to Order the entire epic series!
Issue six in the six part DC Comics Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles miniseries was released on May 11, wrapping up the monthly that debuted in December. For anybody in their late twenties or early thirties, the meeting between the Heroes in a Half Shell and the Caped Crusader was definitely a dream come true. I grew up on the original TMNT cartoon, and the older I got, the more I noticed similarities between the gritty, underground tones in the Batman universe. I came to love both franchises, although eventually, I grew up and was not able to keep up with the myriad different spin-offs, variants, and story arcs for the characters.
Thanks to the brilliance of James Tynion IV and the awesome artwork of Freddie Williams II, none of that matters. Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a perfect, standalone indulgence of my childhood nostalgia with just enough tying it to the key lore of both franchises to keep it believable within the realm of my suspension of comic disbelief. This is a wonderful series.
The story starts with a shadowy group of ninjas stealing seemingly random parts from various research facilities. Batman sets out a dragnet, as the Dark Knight Detective typically does, hoping to catch the crooks in his own backyard, Wayne Enterprises. Meanwhile, Killer Croc hatches a plot to steal the Batmobile and sell it for parts.
As Batman sets up his trap, Croc, who had chosen the sewers as a covert way to get to the Batmobile, discovers what looks like the bedroom on a teenager. Pizza boxes are strewn about and there are video games everywhere. Of course, the Turtles, waiting in the shadows, make quick work of him. They rise to street level only to be completely awed as they see the Batmobile. Batman introduces himself briefly, setting up the first awesome brawl in the series.
Issue #2 opens with said brawl, as Batman easily dispatches each of the Turtles one by one, but not before Michelangelo stops for a pizza break. There’s brilliant interplay between the two worlds from the moment they meet. Mike is distracted by frivolous teenage pursuits like pizza and games. Donatello is completely fascinated with the surroundings in his new world. Raphael is his typical paranoid, moody self. His cynicality about Batman is almost immediate, as Batman steals his sai. “So,” Raph remarks, “he’s a nut in a Dracula costume who punches clowns? What’s the big deal?” Meanwhile, Leonardo keenly notes that Batman could’ve killed them and didn’t. He was simply feeling them out, like a detective would.
Meanwhile, Bruce has Lucius Fox run some analysis on Raph’s weapon. He notes high levels of mutagen in both the metal it was fabricated from as well as a blood sample. We find out that eventually, in Batman’s world, the Turtle’s mutagen would degrade, causing anything affected by the mutagen to eventually revert to its normal state, meaning certain doom for the Turtles. Lucius also explains to Bruce that the random parts being stolen from research warehouses appear to be components in an interdimensional portal of some kind. The only piece missing was a resonance engine, developed by Wayne Enterprises. In fact, one had gone missing six months ago, according to the Defense Department.
We quickly learn that Penguin is trying to sell the device to Shredder on the black market. Shredder and the Foot Clan quickly turn their back on him, though, establishing their power and dominance over a major villain in the Batman universe. Penguin is now just a pawn in Shredder’s game. Subsequently, Splinter tracks Batman back to the Batcave, covertly
discovering for himself about the mutagen. He determines that if the Turtles are to return to their world, they will need some help.
Issue #3 opens with an absolutely maniacal Shredder speaking to Penguin, who tells him that the portal is almost done and that he’ll be returning home soon. Shredder explains that he has other plans; he’s going to rule two cities in two different dimensions. He says he’s going to use Penguin’s Iceberg Lounge as the home base for his interdimensional reign of terror.
Foot soldiers summon Dr. Khan, who has been kidnapped and forced to build the machine (not unlike Pavel from “The Dark Knight Rises”) against his will, to begin the process of opening the portal. Before he can do so, Batman arrives to save him. From here, we see a flashback to a couple of hours earlier.
There’s another neat reference to the Zero Year storyline as Bruce prepares. We see that the power grid has been completely sucked dry, and that Gotham has spilled over to the secondary power grid put in place to prevent another crippling centralized attack on the city. This was an excellent little touch. Bruce goes to the cave to mobilize for battle, only to find the Turtles already there. Mike is partying with pizza and a dinosaur. Don is orgasmically enamored with all of Batman’s high tech toys. Raph continues to be his miserable, cynical self, completely distrusting Batman. Leonardo tries to reason with him.
Batman demands an explanation for what is going on, still not fully trusting of the Turtles. Splinter explains very briefly the entire backstory of their universe. He says that Krang sent them through an interdimensional portal so they would stop interfering with his plans for world domination. Meanwhile, in a hilarious aside, Mike mistakes Alfred for a robot. After some brief tension, the Turtles and Batman agree to team up.
We time travel back to the impending fight, and the Turtles kick the Foot Clan’s ass pretty easily, causing an angry Shredder to blow up the entire portal generator device. Batman says that as long as Dr. Khan is safe, things will be fine. Unfortunately, he was killed by Shredder with a subdermal bomb. Raphael loses his cool and attempts to attack Shredder. Raph is seriously wounded in the attempt, and the team regroups to the Batcave. Shredder escapes to a waiting helicopter, only to realize that Ra’s Al Ghul and his League of Assassins have commandeered the chopper. He declares himself Shredder’s new partner to end issue #3.
At the start of issue #4, the nameless, faceless soldiers of the Foot Clan are starting to trickle into Arkham Asylum. Dr. Mahreen Zaheer is taunted by The Joker for information, and she advises an orderly to double his medication.
Back at Wayne Manor, Raph recuperates while Leo trains for combat with Batman and Don reviews previous surveillance information. He confirms the previous theory about the mutagen wearing off, and reveals that they need to get home unless they want to turn into Batman’s pets. As they reorganize, Batman joins the Turtles for a brief pizza party, which further infuriates Raphael, who says they’re wasting their time eating pizza when they should be working to save their own lives. Raph says that Bruce is nothing but a spoiled, selfish rich kid who is seeking thrills by crime fighting with his expensive toys. He explains that the Turtles had no choice in the matter, they must fight for survival. He storms out, as Shredder and Ra’s Al Ghul intercept an interdimensional signal that ultimately brings Casey Jones through a portal. Casey dispatches the Foot Soldiers easily and takes on Ra’s Al Ghul.
In a brilliant piece of exposition and the kind of thing that should have been used as a plot device in Batman v. Superman without the cringe-worthy attempt at humor that it was, Batman finds Raph and explains his origin. His family was ripped apart by criminals, and he sees the same thing happening to the Ninja Turtles. Raph acquiesces, and rejoins the team.
The Turtles, meanwhile, hit the city to investigate the major energy spike caused by Casey crossing over through the portal. They find him injured, and he explains that he’d brought five canisters of mutagen to help sustain his friends, but that Shredder had stolen them. He also mentions that he heard Ra’s Al Ghul and Shredder mention something about Arkham.
The penultimate issue #5 kicks off with Penguin meeting up with Batman and Commissioner Gordon. Penguin says that Shredder has gone too far and that he’s there to help. Leo doesn’t trust him, but Penguin insists that Ra’s Al Ghul teaming with Shredder is bad news, even for him. Gordon tells Batman that the Gotham City PD has Arkham surrounded and that he needs Batman’s help getting inside.
Leonardo, feeling the effects of the waning mutagen levels in his blood, passes out. Casey, in the meantime, hangs out while Don and Mike fool around in the Batcave. Robin (Damian Wayne, the son of Batman and Talia Al Ghul) shows up, mistaking the Turtles for thieves. After a brief fight, they explain the situation to him. Batman returns with the weakened Leo. Casey explains that he’s got a way home, but that the Turtles have to leave immediately and only get one shot at it. Batman and Robin plan to fight Shredder and Ra’s Al Ghul at Arkham on their own, stating they’ve seen worse. Splinter warns Batman not to underestimate his opponent.
On the way to the showdown, they encounter Penguin, who has been mutated into a humanoid bird, foreshadowing what quickly escalates into a war with an entire Rogue’s Gallery of mutants. At the start of issue #6, Batman and Robin fight off mutant versions of Bane and Harley Quinn fairly easily, before Poison Ivy traps Batman in some vines. Mr. Freeze then freezes him. Back at the Batcave, the Turtles realize what danger Batman is in and decide to abandon their plan after Raph relates the story that Batman shared with him about helping families like theirs. Again, the Turtles miss the opportunity to go back home, as they sprint out to help Batman at Arkham.
The tension reaching a fever pitch, Batman sends Robin out to take care of the Assassins outside. Just as Shredder is about to dispatch his Foot Soldiers to begin their assault on Gotham, the Turtles show up. Michelangelo fights Mr. Freeze, causing him to accidentally encapsulate Ivy in ice. The rest of the Turtles give Batman his intimidation suit, which he puts on and fights Shredder while the Turtles take on Ra’s Al Ghul. Ultimately, the team subdues the two evil leaders. Ra’s calls on his men, but Damian walks in and explains to his grandfather that he has already disarmed them and that GCPD was in the process of arresting them. Ra’s retreats and the Turtles apprehend Shredder after Raph has a brief internal crisis over whether or not to kill him, which is quickly quelled by Batman.
The Turtles say their goodbyes as Gordon debriefs Batman. He notes that all of the Rogues will be back to “normal” soon, as the mutagen was already starting to wear off. Damian notes that it’s the anniversary of Bruce’s parents’ deaths, and that he wants to leave him alone to reflect. Bruce has other ideas, though, as he invites Damian to spend the day with him. They agree to spend the day working on improvements for the intimidation suit.
This was a brilliant, easy to read arc that brought out the best in both of these franchises. The juxtaposition of the morality of a family of teenagers versus Batman’s years of struggle for justice after his own trauma creates a strong contrast. On the surface, this pairing makes absolutely no sense. Because of the strength of the writing and vast source material that it draws from, it does. We’ve got two magnetically opposite forces that, placed in stereo, attract and create an incredibly fun dynamic. From the duality between the realities of the Turtles’ New York and Batman’s Gotham to the fluid usage of lore from both in order to facilitate the story itself, this was a brilliantly written, well-illustrated miniseries that was a pleasure to enjoy.The terrestrial biogenic fluxes of individual greenhouse gases have been studied extensively, but the net biogenic greenhouse gas balance resulting from anthropogenic activities and its effect on the climate system remains uncertain. Here we use bottom-up (inventory, statistical extrapolation of local flux measurements, and process-based modelling) and top-down (atmospheric inversions) approaches to quantify the global net biogenic greenhouse gas balance between 1981 and 2010 resulting from anthropogenic activities and its effect on the climate system.
The terrestrial biosphere can release or absorb the greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), methane (CH 4 ) and nitrous oxide (N 2 O), and therefore has an important role in regulating atmospheric composition and climate. Anthropogenic activities such as land-use change, agriculture and waste management have altered terrestrial biogenic greenhouse gas fluxes, and the resulting increases in methane and nitrous oxide emissions in particular can contribute to climate change.
The news is really bad on the climate change front lately. I don't usually report on that stuff, but occasionally a new result comes along which is too impressively bad to pass on. A recent Nature Letter met that criteria. It's called The terrestrial biosphere as a net source of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Here's the abstract.
We are talking about the most important greenhouse gases here, including methane and nitrous oxide. The effective "radiative forcing" (surface warming) produced by those GHG gases is discussed in terms of carbon dioxide-equivalence, which is abbreviated as CO 2 e.
Here's the result. Read it and weep.
We find that the cumulative warming capacity of concurrent biogenic methane and nitrous oxide emissions is a factor of about two larger than the cooling effect resulting from the global land carbon dioxide uptake from 2001 to 2010. This results in a net positive cumulative impact of the three greenhouse gases on the planetary energy budget, with a best estimate (in petagrams of CO 2 equivalent per year) of 3.9 ± 3.8 (top down) and 5.4 ± 4.8 (bottom up) based on the GWP100 metric (global warming potential on a 100-year time horizon).
Long story short, due to human activity, mostly land use, the terrestrial biosphere is a net source of greenhouse gases expressed in CO 2 -equivalence.
That's a Big Deal because for a long time now scientists have thought of the terrestrial biosphere as a carbon sink (net absorber of anthropogenic carbon emissions, e.g., trees take up carbon). That's still true in terms of carbon dioxide alone, but when you add in methane and nitrous oxide, the terrestrial biosphere becomes a greenhouse gas source, not a sink (pictured below).
As of 2013, we were at 478 CO 2 e parts-per-million (ppm) in the atmosphere if you include all greenhouse gases. It's hard to believe that this kind of GHG accounting has never been done before.
Here's the last part of the abstract.
Our findings suggest that a reduction in agricultural methane and nitrous oxide emissions, particularly in Southern Asia, may help mitigate climate change.
Good luck with that.FIFA Club World Cup Would last 18 days
According to a council member of the world football governing body, FIFA is preparing an expansion of the Club World Cup for June 2021.
The tournament would last for 18 days and the format would start with three groups of eight teams each, comprised of the best from the five continents.
At present, only the winners of each of the Confederations that make up FIFA, go.
Twelve European teams, five South Americans, two Africans, two Asians and two more from North America would make up the new format according to El Mundo Deportivo, whilst a solution for Oceania would still be sought.
The three great Spaniards
The 12 Europeans would include the last four finalists in the Champions League, so Real Madrid, Atletico and Barcelona would be part of this first super tournament.
Proposals to extend the so-called Club World Cup were developed last week in India and have been released on Monday by the German, Reinhard Grindel.MetroPCS gives customers Unlimited 4G LTE data at lowest price ever of $50,
offers great deals on popular LTE devices
Bellevue, Washington — January 21, 2015 — T-Mobile’s (NYSE: TMUS ) flagship prepaid brand is helping customers get more of what they want out of their wireless plan − more blazing-fast 4G LTE data. For a limited time, MetroPCS customers can upgrade to Unlimited 4G LTE data for the unheard of price of just $50 per month. That is the undisputed best Unlimited LTE data plan in the prepaid industry. And, unlike some "promotional" offers, when you sign up by April 5, you get Unlimited LTE with no pre-planned end date, so you can enjoy your Unlimited LTE plan with confidence. Even better, it’s all riding on T-Mobile’s nationwide 4G LTE network.
To hit the ground running with your new LTE data, anyone activating a new line or upgrading their smartphone before April 5 can get their hands on the latest LTE smartphones from Samsung or LG at incredible prices − no gimmicks or mail-in rebates:
Samsung Galaxy Light – $49
LG Optimus F60 – $59
And on top of that, every MetroPCS customer with a 4G LTE data bucket will get an additional gigabyte of 4G LTE data on T-Mobile’s network starting today – automatically. No hoops to jump through. You don’t have to do a thing.
“MetroPCS has a solid track record of giving customers the best value in prepaid wireless and schooling the competition at the same time,” said John Legere, president and CEO of T-Mobile. “MetroPCS is at it again today with 4G LTE Unlimited for just $50 bucks, the best value anywhere!”
As always with MetroPCS rate plans taxes and regulatory fees are included, so there are no surprises and no crazy strings attached:
$40/month for unlimited data, talk and text + 2GB of high-speed data at up to 4G LTE speeds (up from 1GB)
$50/month for unlimited data, talk and text + 4GB of high-speed data at up to 4G LTE speeds (up from 3GB)
$60/month for unlimited 4G LTE data, talk and text (sign up for $50/month until April 5 with a MetroPCS LTE smartphone)
For more information, please visit www.metropcs.com
$50 promotional plan available only to customers with MetroPCS GSM phones with LTE connectivity. Bring your own device phones and CDMA phones are not eligible for this plan.
About T-Mobile US, Inc.
As America's Un-carrier, T-Mobile US, Inc. (NYSE: TMUS) is redefining the way consumers and businesses buy wireless services through leading product and service innovation. The Company's advanced nationwide 4G LTE network delivers outstanding wireless experiences to approximately 55 million customers who are unwilling to compromise on quality and value. Based in Bellevue, Washington, T-Mobile US provides services through its subsidiaries and operates its flagship brands, T-Mobile and MetroPCS. For more information, please visit http://www.t-mobile.com.
# # #
Media Contacts
T-Mobile US Media Relations
[email protected]
Investor Relations
877-281-TMUS OR 212-358-3210Bon Iver have released details on their upcoming tour to take place surrounding their performance at the sold out Coachella Music and Arts Festival. There is show that is some what local to Los Angeles on the schedule if you’re willing to make the drive up to the Santa Barbara Bowl. The show will take place on Sunday, April 22nd just a day after his festival appearance. This is great news if you weren’t able to score passes to the sold out fest. Check out the full tour schedule after the jump below.
Tickets for Bon Iver at the Santa Barbara Bowl is scheduled to go on sale starting on saturday, February 11th at11am through Ticketmaster. Ticket prices will range $30.00-$47.00 plus any additional service fees. The link below will take you where yo uneed to go for those.
Purchase: Tickets for Bon Iver at Santa Barbara Bowl on 4/22
02/27 – Wellington, NZ @ Town Hall
02/28 – Wellington, NZ @ Town Hall
03/03 – Perth, AU @ Red Hill Auditorium
03/06 – Adelaide, AU @ Thebarton Theatre
03/08 – Melbourne, AU @ Sidney Myer Music Bowl
03/10 - Meredith, AU @ Golden Plains Festival
03/11 – Sydney, AU @ Sydney Opera House
03/12 – Sydney, AU @ Sydney Opera House
03/13 – Sydney, AU @ Sydney Opera House
03/15 – Fortitude Valley, AU @ The Tivoli
03/16 – Fortitude Valley, AU @ The Tivoli
03/17 – Fortitude Valley, AU @ The Tivoli
04/12 – Las Vegas, NV @ The Joint
04/14 – Indio, CA @ Coachella Music Festival
04/17 – Davis, CA @ Freeborn Hall
04/19 – San Francisco, CA @ Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
04/21 – Indio, CA @ Coachella Music Festival
04/22 – Santa Barbara, CA @ Santa Barbara Bowl
04/23 - Tucson, AZ @ AVA Ampitheater
04/27 – New Orleans, LA @ New Orleans Jazz Festival
05/27 – George, WA @ Sasquatch! Music Festival
07/05-08 – Roskilde, DK @ Roskilde Festival
08/07-11 – Oslo, NO @ Oya Festival
08/08-12 - Helsinki, FI @ Flow Festival
08/09-11 – Gothenburg, SE @ Way Out West FestivalReds shortstop Zack Cozart has words with Braves catcher Christian Bethancourt after being hit by a pitch during the first inning at Turner Field. (Photo: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports)
ATLANTA — Shortstop Zack Cozart, who had started all 25 of the Reds' games this season, left Sunday's game with the Braves after suffering a bruised right index finger. X-rays taken at the stadium showed no fracture.
Cozart had played every inning of the Reds' season before Julio Teheran's grounder to short in the fourth inning. Cozart bobbled the ball for an error and immediately called for the team's head athletic trainer, Paul Lessard, and manager Bryan Price.
"I looked down and didn't think anything of it, I just couldn't believe I made an error and then I looked down to pick the ball up and blood's everywhere," Cozart said after the game. "It kind of shocked me. I called time. They came out and Paul kind of took the blood away and it kept gushing."
Cozart said the finger, which split his nail, was still bleeding after the game, hours after the incident.
"I have't even seen the replay, but I'm guessing I put my hand in too early and it just hit straight on and it bent the nail back a little bit, it's just bleeding a lot. There's still blood coming through now and it's been a while. The positive is no really bad injury, no fractures, off (Monday) so I'll have time to recover."
Kristopher Negron replaced him at shortstop.
The Reds are off Monday and play a night game Tuesday, allowing the team ample time to see how Cozart is progressing and if they would need to make some sort of roster move.
"We'll have to see how that comes around on his throwing hand," Price said. "It's an essential part of making those throws across the diamond."
It was a rough day for Cozart, who was hit on the left wrist by a pitch from Teheran in the first inning.
NEWSLETTERS Get the Bengals Beat newsletter delivered to your inbox We're sorry, but something went wrong Please try again soon, or contact Customer Service at 1-800-876-4500. Delivery: Invalid email address Thank you! You're almost signed up for Bengals Beat Keep an eye out for an email to confirm your newsletter registration. More newsletters
Cozart yelled his displeasure and Braves catcher Christian Bethancourt seemed to take offense. The two had words, but nothing else. Cozart stayed in the game.
"I wasn't mad at Teheran, I knew he wasn't trying to hit me 0-2, and I just got hit right here," he said, pointing to his wrist. "Hands and head — those are tough. Broken bones happen all the time. I wasn't cussing at Teheran or anything. I was just mad I got hit there. [Bethancourt] said, 'it's 0-2, we're not trying to hit you.' And I said, 'I know. I'm not mad at your pitcher, I'm not mad at you, I'm just [mad] I got hit.' There's no bad blood or anything. I told him, 'we're good, we're good. I just didn't want to get hit.'"
Teheran also threw over to first during Joey Votto's at-bat, necessitating a dive back to first for Cozart, who said he didn't feel quite right afterwards.
Votto then grounded into a double play to end the first. Price and Lessard came out to the field to check on Cozart, but Cozart stayed in the game after the discussion, telling Price that he could play defense and would like to test his wrist with an at-bat.
"I felt good swinging the bat, so I thought I was good," Cozart said. "Then I took the ground ball and Bryan said, 'I think it's time for you to come out.'"Tempe police arrested a man Wednesday after determining he had beaten his Golden Retriever puppy with a metal rod.
Shundong Hu, 21, was arrested on animal cruelty charges.
Police said the puppy, who is estimated to be 3 or 4 months old, suffered multiple fractures to its skull and cheek bone, swelling on both eyes, multiple cuts on the shoulder and head and a broken canine tooth.
The puppy was found bleeding from the nose and head but is expected to survive, police said.
A witness reported hearing noises that sounded like an animal in distress at an apartment complex near Rural and Apache roads in Tempe.
A Golden Retriever |
and it would not be covered under your Apple Care Protection Plan. This is a clue. And I’m determined to follow this lead to other leads, until the Operator is found. I know with your help, this quest is totally solvable within a weekend. So, embark on a journey with me, fellow Coachella journeymen. First one to find the Operator gets to shotgun a beer for the Singularity.
Of course, there are rumors that Hotshot will not be in attendance this year, but I think this is simply a foolhardy attempt to throw off my scent. I’m onto you, robot.
1. Go Out Of Your Comfort Zone And Have A Great Fucking Time
I know I’ve been silly and crass in some of these posts, but guys, this is what the whole weekend is really about. Coachella is my favorite place in the world, not because of the music (which is consistently amazing), not because of the art (which is nothing short of surreal), and not because of the parties (which are always wild beyond measure). But because of the people. Because of you. Each and every one of you make this place an indescribably special experience every year. This is literally the only place or time I can think of where people legitimately conjure an atmosphere out of nowhere and bring it into the real world, like a bunch of wizards or something. I’m not even kidding. If they could bottle “happiness” or “good vibes” the bottle would read “Made In Indio, California.”
But that environment of openness and love for all things beautiful doesn’t just come from nothing. If you put 120,000 people of any kind somewhere at random, the laws of statistics say there would be conflict like crazy. People are different, and we’re about to enter a month-long reminder that we only very recently stopped treating people who are different like subhuman insects.
So how do the good vibes keep on rolling? Because, somehow, the deities above that guide Coachella have convinced everyone that, at this festival, being different just doesn’t matter. Weird is embraced. You can have your comfort zone and regular activity at home; being here is about trying something different, and maybe, just maybe, liking it.
So, this year, continue to be different. And if you’re new to this promised-land, be especially different. Go crowd-surfing in that rave party you never thought you’d attend. Sleep on the ground underneath the stars. Make 200 friends. Eat some insanely unhealthy but deleriously delicious fair food that you wouldn’t consider anywhere else. Dance with your eyes closed at the Silent Disco. Hug a stranger because you like their outfit. Run around shirtless at 2AM singing your favorite hits from the weekend and wait to see how many people randomly join you. Cry in the middle of Arcade Fire. Kiss the pretty girl with flowers in her hair that you’d be too chickenshit to talk to in real life.
This is isn’t real life, friends. This is Coachella. And it is a goddamn blast.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Josh is a filmmaker, novelist, blogger, and Coachella junkie. This year, you can catch him at Arcade Fire, Cage The Elephant, Capital Cities, Caravan Palace, City & Colour, Daughter, Empire Of The Sun, Fatboy Slim, Foster The People, Frank Turner, The Glitch Mob, The Head & The Heart, Kid Cudi, Lorde, Martin Garrix, Muse, The Naked & Famous, Neko Case, Neutral Milk Hotel, Outkast, Pharrell Williams, Queens Of The Stone Age, Surfer Blood, Tom Odell, Waxahatchee, White Lies, Wye Oak, and The 1975, among others.
Unless of course there are conflicts, because there are always conflicts. So really, who knows where you’ll find him. But that list is a good start. You might also be able to find him by contacting him on Twitter or Facebook. You can also buy his novel here or here. He’ll be so gracious that he’ll just have to meet you on the Polo Fields this April.
AdvertisementsFixes looks at solutions to social problems and why they work.
Elle is a mess. She’s actually talented, attractive and good at her job, but she feels like a fraud — convinced that today’s the day she’ll flunk a test, lose a job, mess up a relationship. Her colleague Moody also sabotages himself. He’s a hardworking, nice person, but loses friends because he’s grumpy, oversensitive and gets angry for no reason.
If you suffer from depression or anxiety as Elle and Moody do, spending time with them could help. They are characters in a free online program of cognitive behavioral therapy called MoodGYM, which leads users through quizzes and exercises — therapy without the therapist.
Cognitive behavioral therapy is a commonly used treatment for depression, anxiety and other conditions. With it, the therapist doesn’t ask you about your mother — or look at the past at all.
Instead, a cognitive behavioral therapist aims to give patients the skills to manage their moods by helping them identify unhelpful thoughts like “I’m worthless,” “I’ll always fail” or “people will always let me down.” Patients learn to analyze them and replace them with constructive thoughts that are more accurate or precise. For example, a patient could replace “I fail at everything” with “I succeed at things when I’m motivated and I try hard.” That new thought in turn changes feelings and behaviors.
The success of cognitive behavioral therapy is well known; many people consider it the most effective therapy for depression. What is not widely known, at least in the United States, is that you don’t need a therapist to do it. Scores of studies have found that online C.B.T. works as well as conventional face-to-face cognitive behavioral therapy – as long a there is occasional human support or coaching. “For common mental disorders like anxiety and depression, there is no evidence Internet-based treatment is less effective than face-to-face therapy,” said Pim Cuijpers, professor of clinical psychology at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and a leading researcher on computer C.B.T.
Photo
MoodGYM, the pioneer, was developed by Australian psychologists in 2001. Now there are several similar programs in wide use and with good evidence behind them (and lots of junk programs that are completely ineffective).
MoodGYM and its kin are important because untreated mental illness is a huge global problem. Depression is the leading cause of disability for women worldwide, and the second-leading cause for men. If medical care is hard to come by in much of the world — in rural Indiana as well as rural India — mental health care is often impossible to get. In the United States, at least half of major depression goes untreated, and in very poor countries the figure is close to 100 percent.
Why don’t people get treated? Many don’t know they have a treatable disease, or don’t believe that treatment will help them. Some know they have a problem, but the stigma of mental illness keeps them from facing it and seeking help.
Online therapy can’t do much about those barriers. But it can help people who stay sick because there are no therapists nearby, who fear being judged or embarrassed in therapy, who can’t take time off from work, or for whom the cost of treatment is too high. It allows people to carry therapy around in their pockets, use it at 2 a.m., and pay nothing or nearly nothing.
In the late 1990s, Helen Christensen, a mental health researcher at the Australian National University in Canberra, and her colleague Kathleen Griffiths worked with local designers to create MoodGYM, which was adopted by Australia’s national health system six years ago. Christensen is now the chief scientist at the mood-disorder research Black Dog Institute (named after Winston Churchill’s famous term for his own depression), where she researches and designs more online programs. Among these are BiteBack for teenagers and MyCompass, which aims to treat anxiety, stress and depression in mature adults (MoodGYM is pitched younger, although older people use it, too). MyCompass is designed in small chunks, “something you can do at the bus stop on your mobile phone,” said Christensen. Both are available to anyone with a computer worldwide.
MoodGYM was controversial when it first came out. “People did feel threatened,” said Christensen. “They said it’s unethical, harmful – you’re doing damage and you don’t know it. Or you’re stopping people from getting the real help they need.”
But MoodGYM has been widely successful, without the predicted consequences. About 100,000 Australians use it each year, as do people in 200 countries.
Australia is ground zero, but other online cognitive behavioral therapy programs are also widely used in the Netherlands, Sweden and Britain. In 2007, the British National Health Service began covering a program called FearFighter for phobias and anxiety, and another program, Beating the Blues, for depression. Both can be used for no cost through participating National Health Service doctors, or bought to use alone. Beating the Blues costs the equivalent of $237. FearFighter is $154, or $313 if you want telephone support from clinicians.
In a medical setting, most doctors use online therapy in what’s called a stepped model. Patients with mild to moderate problems start with the computer program, checking in every so often with a therapist or case manager. Those who don’t get better are then treated face to face by a therapist and, if that doesn’t work, by a specialist. (Patients with very serious issues start with in-person therapy.)
Online therapy is effective against an astonishing variety of disorders. A Swedish survey of studies found that online C.B.T. has been tested for 25 different ones. It was most effective for depression, anxiety disorders, severe health anxiety, irritable bowel syndrome, female sexual dysfunction, eating disorders, cannabis use and pathological gambling. “Comparison to conventional C.B.T. showed that [online] C.B.T. produces equivalent effects,” the researchers concluded.
Cuijpers said there were fewer studies of online therapy to treat insomnia, pain and alcohol abuse, but what’s been done has shown good effects. (Last week the Upshot published one contributor’s story of his success using online C.B.T. for insomnia.)
MoodGYM, like some other programs, can be completely self-guided. People who use these programs alone tend to see a small but significant effect — the program helps, but not as much as the same program with occasional human contact. That could be check-ins with a therapist, but it doesn’t have to be. The human could be a case manager or possibly a peer. Encouragement and support are what count, not expertise.
The main reason self-guided C.B.T. doesn’t work as well is that people tend to stop using it. The human touch encourages people to stick with it. One study of adolescents found that almost 60 percent of users stopped MoodGYM after the first module when they were working unsupported on their own. When the same program was used with monitoring and support, only 10 percent stopped.
“Well, it’s called Mood Gym,” said Marcia Valenstein, a psychiatrist at the University of Michigan Medical School who is researching online C.B.T. with peer support among veterans at the Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor Healthcare System. “Even the gym gym people are enthusiastic and go for a day or so — and then they stop.”
Related More From Fixes Read previous contributions to this series.
Michigan is one of the few places in America working with cognitive behavioral therapy online. Others are Kaiser Permanente in Oakland and the University of Pittsburgh. (The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center is a co-owner of the American version of Beating the Blues.)
Why so few? One possible reason for America’s resistance is that doctors fear lawsuits; what if a patient whom a doctor starts with an online program commits a mass murder? (Perhaps wide access to online therapy plus gun control would be a good plan.)
Also, the American medical system likes to have testing done in the United States before it takes something seriously. The extensive research with Australian, British, Swedish and Dutch patients might not be persuasive here.
Perhaps most important is the lack of an influential champion. Ideas don’t spread by themselves. And just as important would be bringing online C.B.T. to the attention of the World Health Organization. Poor countries are where it’s needed most.
The reception for online cognitive behavioral therapy isn’t uniformly warm — and the dissenters are not just therapists worried about being put out of business (if only untreated depression were that scarce a commodity). One big issue is that someone seriously ill might waste time tootling around with an online program, not realizing he needs more help. Or he might use a program that isn’t right for him. It’s safer, of course, if a therapist sees the patient and then prescribes online therapy. That’s an efficient use of therapists — but it still requires a therapist, and that negates some of online C.B.T.’s advantages.
Over all, the benefits of online cognitive behavioral therapy are persuasive. It allows people who could not otherwise get therapy to get it — and can help psychotherapists and specialists focus on more complex cases. It saves money for patients and health systems. And the online clinic never closes. When you can’t sleep for worry and it’s 3 a.m., your therapist is there for you
Customization is another benefit. Bruce L. Rollman, an internist who is a professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, is studying an online program that uses cognitive behavioral therapy to treat depression in a range of cases, even as he employs face-to-face therapy in research with heart patients — a group in which depression is common. Depression can kill in many ways. One is by keeping you from dealing with other illnesses; people who are depressed are less likely to take their meds and do their exercises. So one way to treat heart disease is to treat any accompanying depression. “And if you apply depression treatment to high-cost patients, you are much more likely to save money,” said Rollman.
Ricardo Muñoz, a professor of clinical psychology at Palo Alto University, sees online C.B.T. as a tool for preventing depression. “We know that if a person develops a major depressive episode, the likelihood of another one goes to 50 percent, up from 17 percent,” he said. “After that, the likelihood of another goes to 70 and then 90 percent. Obviously, we need to be preventing the first one.”
Face-to-face cognitive behavioral therapy, which teaches people skills they can use to improve their mood, is well-suited for prevention of depression. But the health insurance system is not. No one will pay for face-to-face therapy for someone who doesn’t yet have a disorder. There is a clear need here for the online version.
Why stop there? Muñoz envisions translating and adapting the basic therapy to tailor it to different syndromes, co-illnesses and languages: a Swahili-speaking kidney dialysis patient with depression could get exactly the right program. “I dream of systematically filling in a grid in which columns are health issues (smoking, depression, anxiety, obesity, pain, alcohol and other substance abuse and so on) and the rows are languages (English, Spanish, Chinese, etc.),” he wrote in an email. “This is totally within our ability to do right now. We have the knowledge and the digital tools.”
Join Fixes on Facebook and follow updates on twitter.com/nytimesfixes. To receive e-mail alerts for Fixes columns, sign up here.
Tina Rosenberg won a Pulitzer Prize for her book “The Haunted Land: Facing Europe’s Ghosts After Communism.” She is a former editorial writer for The Times and the author, most recently, of “Join the Club: How Peer Pressure Can Transform the World” and the World War II spy story e-book “D for Deception.” She is a co-founder of the Solutions Journalism Network, which supports rigorous reporting about responses to social problems.Image caption Ms Sturgeon attended talks at Downing Street with Prime Minister David Cameron
The SNP will not lend its support to any party that favours Trident renewal if there is a hung parliament after the UK general election next year.
The party's leader and Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has been laying out her key demands in the event of the SNP being asked to do a deal.
She ruled out any electoral pact with the Tories, but hinted she could reach agreement with Labour.
She also repeated calls for the SNP to be included in pre-election TV debates.
Ms Sturgeon was speaking after attending a meeting of the Joint Ministerial Council, which brings together UK ministers and the leaders of the devolved administrations.
She also held separate face-to-face talks with Prime Minister David Cameron where he agreed to give the Scottish Parliament the power to lower the voting age in time for the 2016 election.
Laying out her terms for any post-election deal with other parties, Ms Sturgeon said she could not lend her support to any party that wanted to go ahead with replacing the Trident nuclear missile system.
She did not use the phrase ''a red line'' but made it plain that a refusal to invest in a Trident replacement would be necessary before her party could reach any agreement, according to BBC Scotland's Westminster correspondent David Porter.
Ms Sturgeon called for the SNP, the Welsh nationalists and the Green Party to be included in any TV debates in the run-up to May's Westminster General Election.
She said a refusal to do so would be ''indefensible'' because the SNP was now the third largest UK party in terms of membership.
She joined with Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood and leader of the Green Party in England and Wales, Natalie Bennett, to state that all three parties will unite whenever possible to "battle the Westminster parties' obsession with austerity".
The three party leaders said next May's election was an opportunity to change UK politics for the better.Do you know more? Have you had an Exo day at your school? Message 0424 SMS SMH (+61 424 767 764) or email us with information. --------------
Youth Alive describes the events as "a free lunchtime festival … put on by the Christian students as a gift to the school", but a leaders' manual prepared by the body reveals that Exo days are aimed at recruiting students to their local youth ministry. A teacher at one public school said students had returned to class after an Exo day concert complaining about attempts to convert them, while the Federation of Parents and Citizens' Associations says it is an attempt to sneak evangelism into schools and reveals the need for new laws. The Exo day instruction manuals obtained by the Herald include numerous references to recruitment and evangelism.
"The whole goal for Exo week and Exo day is to see your youth ministry grow," it states. "The vision is to see evangelism and growth come from the students themselves in your youth ministry."
The manual includes "testimony" from a youth minister working outside Newcastle who states: "Exo day started a rapid increase in the number of salvations within our youth ministry. "But, most importantly, Exo day has given our young people the belief that they can take their schools for Jesus." The Youth Alive website indicates that about 30 NSW public schools have registered to hold Exo days.
Manuals given to the Christian students refer to Exo days as an opportunity to "show our peers that God wants us to have an excellent life" and encourage them to promote the event at school. Youth Alive declined to comment. The revelations follow recent Herald reports that Hillsong was running its Shine program - aimed at young women - in at least 20 NSW public schools.
The NSW Education Act says that "instruction" at public schools must be non-sectarian and secular except in designated religious education classes. The NSW upper house Greens MP, John Kaye, said Exo days went against the spirit of the act, but that there was a need for new laws specifying "clearly and precisely who is allowed on school campuses and who is not". "Parents send their children to public schools in the anticipation that they will not be indoctrinated," Mr Kaye said.
"What these ministries are doing is seeking to rip off that legitimacy and authority and use it for their own purposes. We need a protocol that makes it clear that these kinds of things should not be happening." A spokesman for the Department of Education said the events were not a cause for concern as they were not compulsory. He denied they breached departmental guidelines.
Neil Simpson, the principal of Batemans Bay High School, where Exo days have run for several years, agreed they were within guidelines. "It's 40 minutes at lunchtime … there's no hard-core message or evangelising," he said. Mr Simpson said he was happy for students to be exposed to different cultural experiences, likening Exo days to the indigenous event NAIDOC. However, a number of public school teachers said students had complained about evangelism.
A spokeswoman for the Federation of Parents and Citizens' Association said religious recruitment in schools was inappropriate. "We need to ensure that children when they go to school aren't exposed to discreet evangelism," she said.The Kmart store at 7630 Roosevelt Rd. in Forest Park will close in early December. JEAN LOTUS/Staff
By Jean Lotus
Editor
Forest Park's Kmart store at 7630 Roosevelt will close for good in early December, a Sears Holdings press statement confirmed Wednesday.
"Store closures are part of a series of actions we're taking to reduce on-going expenses," said Sears Director of Corporate Communications Howard Riefs in a press statement.
According to Riefs, the store has 107 employees and some will be eligible to receive severance pay, and be able to apply for open positions at other Sears or Kmart stores. Most workers at the store, however, are part-time, hourly employees, Riefs said. The store will remain open, but will begin a liquidation sale on Sept. 28.
Forest Park Village Administrator Tim Gillian said Sears had not officially contacted the village about the closing. Signs in the store said layaway was no longer being offered because the store was closing.
Additional coverage in next week's Forest Park Review
Contact:
Email: [email protected] Twitter: @FP_Review“She brings the best out of all of us,” Ms. Pistor said in a telephone interview. “You get the sense through her life about the hassles for a young person who has nothing to do with the political situation but whose ambitions are constrained by where she came from.”
Ms. Moukarker took lessons from European teachers brought in by the Barenboim-Said Foundation, which promotes peace in the Middle East through classical music. She also traveled to Jerusalem, passing through checkpoints, for lessons with an Israeli teacher, Raanan Eylon. Mr. Eylon said several Israeli supporters fought to help her gain permission to enter the city. When she could not get to Jerusalem, he went to Beit Jala.
“There was an energy in her playing that I have heard as a teacher maybe five or six times in my 45 years of teaching,” he said. “It was the energy of freedom.”
Photo
Next, a German woman who lived in the West Bank and gave Ms. Moukarker early lessons took her to Germany in the summer of 2011 to help her find a place to study. (The woman declined to be interviewed or identified because of difficulties arising from her years in the West Bank.)
One of her stops was Kapfenhardt, a village in the Black Forest where Renate Greiss-Armin, a flute teacher at the Karlsruhe conservatory, has a country house.
“You knew exactly when you saw her, she will do something interesting,” Ms. Greiss-Armin recently said by telephone from Kapfenhardt. When the teacher asked her to play, Ms. Moukarker performed the first movement of Bach’s A minor Partita for unaccompanied flute.
“This is one of our masterpieces,” Ms. Greiss-Armin said. “She played it with her whole will power and temperament.” The teacher said she made suggestions, which Ms. Moukarker quickly absorbed. “With this girl I had the feeling she understands,” Ms. Greiss-Armin said.
Advertisement Continue reading the main story
Ms. Moukarker went back to Germany in July to take the entrance exams. One of 50 flute auditioners, she played well but failed the ear-training test, partly because of her difficulty in understanding German, Ms. Greiss-Armin said. Nevertheless, conservatory officials decided to give her a chance, with the support of several flute students who served on the jury.
Video
“We have to look at what she is able to do when she gets good teaching later,” Ms. Greiss-Armin said.
The conservatory’s director, Hartmut Höll, said that admitting Ms. Moukarker was also a way of showing support for Arab populations that may not have a high level of classical music training available.
“It’s worth supporting them to make the dream come true,” Mr. Höll said. He said the conservatory arranged for a grant of 800 euros a month for Ms. Moukarker to live on and will try to find lodging for her.
Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You will receive emails containing news content, updates and promotions from The New York Times. You may opt-out at any time. You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters.
Ms. Moukarker now has to study for another ear-training exam and to learn German. She said she was excited but nervous about the prospect of living in Germany.
“I am not sure if I am strong enough,” she said. “But I believe in myself.”
Playing music gives her a sense of liberty, Ms. Moukarker said, explaining: “Music for me is my voice. It helped me to speak.” She said she learned that “if you speak, you will live better.”
“You will let it out, and then you will live,” she added, “because if you keep it all inside, you will be like, ‘Yeah, you are here, you exist, but maybe you are not alive.’ ”Homaro Cantu continues to be one of the most innovative chefs in America. Super Chef spoke to him recently about his plans:
Super Chef: You are expanding into the Chicago’s Green Exchange building. Are you doing a new restaurant?
Homaro Cantu : In addition to a laboratory, we will be opening Outside the Box Brewing Company. I can’t talk about the direction, but it will be a brewery, but completely different. We are researching a product. You drink alcohol, but won’t give you a hangover. It is all about healthier and more fun. We are re-thinking alcoholic beverages. You will be able to drink, and then wait twenty minutes and you will be sober. It will eliminate all kinds of problems. It might even eliminate alcoholism.
In the lab we will be researching new products. We really want to bring products to the market that consumers really want, even if they don’t know it yet.
Super Chef: What kinds of products?
Homaro Cantu : We are creating appliances for a major appliance maker. We are creating a printed meat product, vegan meat-replacement product. We might stress test them. We have aerospace engineers, food scientists you name it. We have good relationship with the consulting world. We can come up with new products a speed and efficiency they can’t get anywhere else.
Super Chef: Will the lab at MOTO be moved to the Green Exchange?
Homaro Cantu : No. There is a lab at MOTO and a lab at ING. MOTO is all about creativity and science. ING is all about removing sugar from diet. The Lab, Cantu Design, is about taking idea of simple products that work onto a bigger level. All restaurants should have a lab.
Super Chef: You wrote to Super Chef that you are raising $5 million for this and construction begins this year, completed by May/June and you have 12 projects for the first year. Where is the funding coming from? Are you still fund raising?
Homaro Cantu : Private equity. We are not done. We are still raising funds. It is going to be “Xerox Park” for food. We are looking for people willing to take a risk, and make a profit. It is all about important issues of health and wellness, social responsibility, but also making money on new products.
Super Chef: Are other chefs opening up labs?
Homaro Cantu : I can’t speak for other chefs. But I am going to step outside of MOTO and ING. I taught them how to do their jobs. My goal is to develop products that will make an impact outside of my restaurants. At the end of the day, I created an orange that made an impact in juice industry, or a sustainable oven that can make a huge impact. What we do at MOTO and ING is exciting, but it’s only 80 diners a night. I want to see something more wide spread,. Not so much for the celebrity chef, that only last a little while. What really feels good is doing something that can help millions of people.
Super Chef: Can you tell me more about some of these projects?
Homaro Cantu : Sugarless candy bars [with mberry]. Healthy junk food – you won’t tell the difference. In packaging, there is so much wastefulness. Take soda containers. We have a new beverage container that will revolutionize the entire industry. It will cut 80% of all beverage containers. It isn’t about the restaurant anymore. People want easier, bigger, better, faster – and that is what we are going to bring them. That is what Apple brought to mobile computing and that is what we will bring to food.
Super Chef: You are working with the international kid’s robotics program FIRST LEGO League. Isn’t it kind of like cloud inventing – getting 200,000 9-14 year olds all working on inventions and innovations in food safety? You are going to be a special guest at their World Festival in April. Why are you involved?
Homaro Cantu : LEGOs and Kids and Food Safety! I am still learning about FIRST LEGO League. When I was a kid my inventions took the form of things that blew up or got me expelled from school, until I got a teacher who showed me how to be more constructive. I believe you have to support creativity. I think a lot of creativity –synesthesia that I probably had when I was a kid– is bread out of kids. But if we think in simple terms, we can achieve things that are impossible.
Super Chef: Lastly, what are your restaurants planning for Valentine’s Day?See the update to this post right here, our experience after the stork arrived.
A while ago, we shared on Instagram that we’ve been working hard to prepare Jack and CC for the upcoming arrival of the newest little. So many of you left comments and messages with your own helpful tips, and we’ve been taking notes ever since! We also had a handful of requests to share what we’re doing to set their expectations, and while our experience is unique to us based on our specific needs, we’re glad to dive further into what we’ve been doing, how they’ve been responding and further the conversation with all of you. It’s no secret that our pups (and Libby!) clearly rule this roost, and they’re the lights of our lives on a level that cannot be considered normal (and we’re A-okay with that). Our goal is to always, always, always set them up for success, which is why we’re mindful to enforce rules around the home; the systems we’ve put in place thus far work for our family and keep everyone feeling safe, comfortable and happy.
rug | ottoman | sectional | throw
But! When it comes to a baby, we are by no means experts on the topic, which is why we hired a trainer that specializes in child and pet adaptation. Here’s how that worked: We received a recommendation from our friends who had their first baby last year – and also have two Pitties! – to set up an in-home training session. For our Chicago friends, they (and subsequently, we) worked with Rendy from Anything is Pawzible. Rendy came to our home for an hour and a half to meet Jack and CC and talk through any worries we might have. She answered our countless questions, watched how we interacted with our pets and she talked us through a list of action items. The next day, she emailed us a neat, tidy packet that outlined our meeting, including our homework. This is where the real work began!
Homework 1 | Greet Friends + Family
Let’s just get this out there – Jack and CC love meeting new people, and their overexcitement has always been a struggle when we welcome visitors into our home. This is especially true with Jack, who is incapable of greeting people without jumping on them, which is a definite no-no with his large size. Along the same lines, toddlers make Jack especially anxious, as he wants nothing more than to give them a good, strong sniff from head to toe. This, in turn, terrifies parents, and so we begin the vicious cycle of completely separating him from littles and he loses his mind – yelping and crying from behind a closed door – until the family leaves. (Maybe not surprisingly, CC is a complete angel and is therefore out and about, sashaying around the home with her nose in the air.)
OUR LATEST VIDEOS OUR LATEST VIDEOS OUR LATEST VIDEOS
We knew this would be an even bigger problem after the baby is born, as we’ll have more visitors coming and going than ever! For this reason, we’ve been practicing a new way to greet visitors, and it looks like this:
Their safe zone is the nook off our living room, which is only a few steps away from our front door. Scott will knock on the door or ring the bell, and I’ll have them ‘go home,’ rewarding them with high value treats as they sit and stay. (We use these training rewards, and both dogs love them!) As guests enter the home, we continue to give treats as long as they continue to stay, and only after we’re all settled into the home do we release them for good behavior.
After the initial excitement of new people in the house, Jack is typically pretty calm. He’s been doing really good, so much so, that our guests have complimented the change in his reactions and good behavior! Even still, this is our biggest challenge and the one we’re practicing the most.
Homework 2 | Work On Blanket Boundaries
The floors in our home belong to Jack and CC; they’re free to roam where ever they wish, as long as they allow Libby to have free reign of the furniture and they keep their paws on the ground. However, they’ll need to know their limits once we introduce a baby into the mix! For this exercise, we lay a blanket on the floor, and we’re teaching them the command not yours. Their paws are not allowed to touch the blanket, and as long as they keep their bodies off of the enticing hot lava, they’re rewarded with treats. We’re still in the beginning stages of this command, but a handful of minutes every day-ish is already making a big difference.
quilt | rug (similar) | ottoman | sofa | sconce | planter | X pillow | velvet pillows
Homework 3 | Introduce the Bassinet
Where do the dogs sleep? This was one of the first questions Rendy asked us. Both dogs sleep in our bedroom with us, and for that reason, she stressed the importance of setting up the bassinet right now, giving our buddies time to get used to the change. After several friends recommended the Rock ‘n Play, we picked up this one to use for the first several weeks before transitioning her into the nursery. Maybe it’s because we’re always switching things up around the house, but luckily, the dogs could have cared less. Change shmange.
sconce | stool | mirror | laundry room
Homework 4 | Take (More) Frequent Walks
It’s been way too easy to let the dogs go potty in the backyard gravel pits, and although we do still take them on walks, Rendy told us that more frequent – even shorter – walks were better than less frequent long strolls. It makes all the sense in the world, but by removing them from their fish bowl, so to speak, they’re more likely to become desensitized to sudden noises and distractions while also creating much needed social stimulation. Done and done (and we’re all happier for it)!
leashes | collars
Homework 5 | Set Them Up for Car Expectations
With the addition of Tree House in our lives, they’ve been getting treated to more car rides than ever! As a result, we spent a few weeks this late summer determining the safest options for ride alongs with them in tow – especially since we’ll soon be adding a carseat to the mix. While these tangle-free tethers have been a game changer for our fidgety pups, we knew we needed to ultimately separate them from the baby completely. We finally broke down and purchased this gate guard made for our model of vehicle, and oh my goodness, it has changed everything. We use it in conjunction with the tethers, and although being in the way back of the car was difficult for CC at first, they’ve had time to adjust and are doing great (despite what her face may say, below, ha!).
Homework 6 | Allow Them to ‘Help’ Us
This was a suggestion from a reader, and it’s been one of our favorites to practice! Essentially, when we work on updates in the nursery, we allow them to ‘help’ us. We say, Thank you for helping us install the curtains (paint the closet, build the bookshelf, dress the crib) in your puppy’s new room! We don’t want this room to be a mystery to them, which only creates more curiosity and anxious feelings. Instead, we invite them to lend a paw, and they absolutely love it. We allow them to sniff the freshly laundered clothes and roll on the rug, but we’re quick to say not yours should they pick up a building block or stuffed toy.
rug | curtains | curtain rod + clips | pendant light
Rendy’s list of action items included a handful of small, everyday things we could do as well, all of which the pups have responded to with not a care in the world. For example: We’ve played YouTube clips of babies crying while swaying our arms back and forth and we’ve gently pulled on their ears and tails. They’ve been completely tolerant of these practices, as their focus has been more on the reward-heavy homework (of course!).
The time investment we’ve put in has us hoping for a more seamless transition for the entire family, especially |
FUEL CONSUMPTION. This means that enemy fighters such as the Flanker family, the J-20, and the PAKFA can simply run the F-35 out of fuel.
POOR COMBAT RADIUS. Even for the F-35A, it’s less than 800 kms. While that is an improvement over every type of aircraft which the F-35 will replace, it’s still not enough by a long shot considering that all bases within the range of China’s DF-15 and DF-16 SRBMs (900-1000 kms) will be destroyed in any conflict with that country. The same applies to Iran and North Korea. This ensures that the F-35 will not be able to patrol any areas far from its base nor bomb any targets far away from it. For that, you need a long-range bomber.
SMALL WEAPONS LOAD. In stealthy mode, the F-35 can carry only 4 air-to-air missiles, meaning that an Su-35, with 12 missiles, gets 8 freebie shots at the F-35.
LOW CEILING. Nominally, it’s an unimpressive 60,000 ft, in reality, the F-35 has been tested only at altitudes up to 43,000 ft. Both of these ceilings are woefully inadequate to fight effectively against the most modern Russian and Chinese aircraft.
LOW SPEED. Only Mach 1.61, much slower than 4th generation American fighters (except the Bug and the Super Bug), Generation 4+ fighters and 5th generation fighters (F-22, PAKFA, J-20). This (coupled with the F-35′s pathetically low ceiling) not only makes the F-35 totally uncompetitive in Beyond Visual Range combat, it also means that the F-35 cannot egress out of (escape from) a fight – it will be run to the death by the enemy.
COST. Even the cheapest F-35 variant – the F-35A – will, according to the most optimistic estimates, cost at least $130 mn, and probably much more. The F-35B and C variants will be even more expensive. Moreover, the cost of operating a fleet of 2,443 F-35s over the next 55 years will be $1.5 trillion – completely unaffordable for the DOD, especially considering sequestration.
SINGLE ENGINE. The F-35′s single engine means that if the engine malfunctions or is hit by the enemy, the plane will be lost.
In short, the F-35 is one of the worst combat aircraft ever designed by anyone. It’s an utter waste of money. Until last year, I believed that the F-35 could still be salvaged and fixed, that its problems could and would be solved. But by now, it’s clear that they can’t. The F-35 is only going to get more expensive going forward.
Moreover, the F-35 has already become operationally obsolete long before it has entered service. It was NEVER designed to do air to air combat or to eliminate enemy air defenses. Instead, it was designed to pound enemy ground armies and their associated short-range air defense systems like the Tunguska (SA-19 Grison), a la the Cold War and Operation Desert Storm. But this kind of warfare will likely never be fought again – massed ground armies lost their appeal after the Coalition pounded Saddam’s massed ground armies during Operation Desert Storm.
After the DOD certified the F-35 following its Nunn-McCurdy breach, it re-validated the F-35′s 2000 Joint Operational Requirements Document (JORD), even though the JORD itself is obsolete. The JORD speaks of a world without the S-300, the S-400, the S-500, the HQ-9, the Su-35, the PAKFA, the J-20, and the J-31. In other words, the F-35 is not designed for the real world. It’s already obsolete now – and will be even more obsolete by the time it enters service (if it does).
The only Western (not just American – WESTERN) fighter capable of defeating all enemy air defense systems and fighters (including those listed above) is the F-22 Raptor, or to be more precise, evolved and enhanced variants of this aircraft.
(Article Continues Below Advertisement)
No other American fighter stands any chance in a confrontation with any of the systems listed above, be it the F-35, the F-15, the F-16, the Harrier, the Bug, or the Super Bug.
So what should the three services involved in the F-35 do? That’s simple. Cancel the F-35 completely and:
The Air Force should resume F-22 or F-15 production, as well as export hundreds of these fighters to allies (Israel, South Korea, Canada, Australia, Britain, etc.). The cost of resuming F-22 production would be less than $1 bn, and it could be produced at little cost on the government-owned production line in Fort Worth, Texas.
The Navy should prolong the service lives of its Bugs, procure some Super Bugs as interim aircraft, and hasten the development and introduction of the F/A-XX.
The Marines should resume Harrier production, develop and field a Super Harrier, and replace their Bugs with the F/A-XX.
All of this would cost a lot less than sticking with the F-35 program and procuring useless, expensive F-35 aircraft that will only get American pilots killed.This post is a brief overview of the presentation I gave to the Pagan Society at Simon Fraser University on March 10, 2015. The talk was not recorded, but I am able to provide the power point slides as well as links to articles and resources for those who missed the presentation and wish to learn more about Traditional Witchcraft. All links in bold will take you to my more in-depth writings on each subject.
For a more detailed over-view of the definitions please read: Traditional Witchcraft Definitions
For an in-depth discussion on what Traditional Witchcraft is please read: Traditional Witchcraft
MORE IN-DEPTH ARTICLES:
Cochrane-Based Witchcraft Traditions
Cunning Folk
Fairy Traditions or The Fairy Faith
Grimoire Tradition
Hedge Witchery
Hereditary Witchcraft
Kitchen and Green Witchery
Luciferian Witchcraft
Sabbatic Witchcraft
MORE IN-DEPTH ARTICLES:
Horned God Reading List
The Man in Black
Medea’s Ritual of the Mandrake
Tales from the Gathering: The Witches’ Sabbat
RECOMMENDED READING:
Ecstasies: Deciphering the Witches’ Sabbath by Carlo Ginzburg
Night Battles: Witchcraft and Agrarian Cults in the 16th & 17th Centuries by Carlo Ginzburg
The Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries by W.Y. Evans-Wentz
The Eldritch World by Nigel Pennick
Operative Witchcraft by Nigel Pennick
The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns, and Fairies by Robert Kirk
Witchcraft and the Shamanic Journey by Kenneth Johnson
Phantom Armies of the Night: The Wild Hunt and the Ghostly Processions of the Undead by Claude Lecouteux
Witches, Werewolves, and Fairies: Shapeshifters and Astral Doubles in the Middle Ages by Claude Lecouteux
FURTHER READING:
Ancestor Altars & Rituals
Ancestor Worship in Modern Witchcraft
Cursing: The Ethics of Malevolence
Disclaimer of a Traditional Witch
Drinking the Divine with Sabbat Wine
Hedgecrossing Ritual
How to Use a Stang
Introduction to Animal Familiars
Introduction to Flying Ointments
Is Witchcraft Shamanism?
On Circle Casting and the World Tree
On Shape-shifting: A History & Guide for Shifters
Seer’s Reading List
Spellwork or The Road to Hel is Paved with Good Intentions
My list of forbearers will not be the same as other people’s. I think each witch has their own handful of heroes and influences who they believe fall under the category of Traditional Witchcraft.
I adore Leland and strongly believe he should be required reading, especially Aradia. Many of Charles G. Leland’s works are available for free on the internet. I highly recommend The Sacred Text Archive which hosts many of his books including: Aradia or the Gospel of Witches of Italy, Etruscan Roman Remains, and Gypsy Sorcery & Fortune Telling. If you wish to purchase a physical copy of Aradia, the best version is the new translation by Mario Pazzaglini.
Here is an example of one of the folk magic spells he collected for Gypsy Sorcery & Fortune Telling being put into practice today: Evil Eyes Who Look on Me
For more information and resources on Robert Cochrane and the traditions that stem from his teachings, please see the article: Cochrane-Based Witchcraft Traditions
Commonly written off by Traditional Witches for being a Wiccan, Doreen Valiente actually left Wicca behind when she quit Gardner’s coven. She was a member of Robert Cochrane’s Clan of Tubal Cain for a time and was a non-Wiccan witch for much of her occult life. As her passion was research, she did all the work for us, and we have only to read her books to catch up with her decades of research and experience. She is a great no-nonsense starting point for beginners. If you dig around Youtube you may just find some video interviews.
I love her and consider many of her books must-reads. Though many of her books are out of print, they have been reprinted so many times that it is easy to find inexpensive copies on the second-hand market (with the exception of Where Witchcraft Lives).
Feri is likely the first and only tradition under the Traditional Witchcraft umbrella that originates from North America and incorporates localized magic. This makes it accessible to those in Western North America who wish to join a physical group or have a physical teacher. Please see the Fairy Traditions or The Fairy Faith article for more information and resources on the Feri Tradition.
Another famous witch who, like Doreen Valiente, is often ignored because many assume she was Wiccan. She rode the Wicca wave to gain her popularity, but her own beliefs came from Traditional Witchcraft which she practiced mainly in secret as a member of the Horsa coven in New Forest, England. Some of her occult books are sketchy (Diary of Witch is mostly fiction), but she was a good astrologer and her one work The Complete Art of Witchcraft is where she stashed most of her actual beliefs, practices, and secrets.
Paul Huson, now a US resident, is most well known for his classic work Mastering Witchcraft: A Practical Guide for Witches, Warlocks, and Covens. It is a tested and nostalgic favourite of many traditional witches and perhaps one of the first openly Luciferian works which is revealed in the introduction. Read more about it here: A Discourse on the Introduction of Mastering Witchcraft.
Andrew Chumbley and Daniel Schulke of the Cultus Sabbati
Michael Howard – Author & Magazine Editor
Nicholaj de Mattos Frisvold of The Starry Cave
Gemma Gary – Cornish village witch, author, and illustrator
Cassandra Latham – Cornish village witch and author
Peter Grey and Alkistis of Scarlet Imprint
Nigel Jackson – Traditional Witchcraft author
Shani Oats of The Clan of Tubal Cain
Nigel Pennick – Traditional Witchcraft & folk magic author
FURTHER READING:
The Horned God Reading List
The Poison Path Reading List
The Scots Reading List
The Seer’s Reading List
The Witch’s Recommended Reading List
Text, slide images, and artwork © 2015 Sarah Anne Lawless. Do not copy or use without the express permission of the author, but sharing the link is very welcome.An ad campaign touting Canada as a friendly, reliable – even green – supplier of oil launched Monday as the Harper government seeks to prop up its case for the controversial Keystone XL pipeline intended to funnel Alberta's oil sands crude to Texas refineries.
Targeted at lobbyists and lawmakers the ads ran Monday in Politico and The Hill – all prime turf for the powerful inside-the-Beltway crowd – and touted Keystone as a big part of the answer to America's energy needs. They will also appear in other major publications later.
In conjunction with the advertisements, the government also launched a website containing the same information.
Story continues below advertisement
The taxpayer-funded campaign doesn't solely focus on TransCanada's private $5.3-billion pipeline proposal designed to link the vast oil sands reserves with massive refineries along the Gulf coast and thus provide the vital access to major markets that will, in turn, permit further oil sands development. There also is a major effort to portray Canada as a leader in curtailing greenhouse gases and environmentally responsible. Both claims are apparently intended to deflect attacks by anti-Keystone XL groups.
The ad campaign seems a response to increasingly strident efforts by environmental groups and others who paint Keystone XL as a tipping-point decision – one that will show whether President Barack Obama is serious about his commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions linked to looming climate changes.
Mr. Harper will visit New York later this week, following a steady stream of lobbying trips by provincial premiers and federal ministers attempting to make the case for Keystone. The Prime Minister has called the long-delayed decision a "no brainer" but Mr. Obama isn't expected to decide until this fall.Motorola did really, really well in our KitKat update survey, but it looks like it's going to hit a new high mark for Lollipop—the company is beating Google to market with Google's own operating system. Android 5.0 Lollipop is rolling out to the 2014 Moto X right now. There are documents up on Motorola's website, and a few lucky owners are already getting update prompts.
The very first Moto X variant getting the update is the "Pure Edition"—an unlocked version of the phone, and for right now it's going out to people who signed up for the "soak test"—a limited rollout in preparation of a wider release. Next up for Moto will be making sure none of the soak testers report major problems over the next day or two and getting carriers on board to approve the update.
Meanwhile there haven't been any Lollipop updates for Google's Nexus devices, presumably because Google didn't want to steal the Nexus 6's thunder, which will be released on November 12.
Update: Motorola just posted release notes for the 2014 Moto G, too.Lena Dunham on Sunday said she has received “more hostility” from Democrats for supporting Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders than she has from Republicans.
The Girls creator spoke at a Hollywood campaign event for the former Secretary of State, which also featured the candidate’s daughter Chelsea Clinton and actress America Ferrera. “I have received more hostility for voting for a qualified female candidate than I have ever received anywhere from the American right wing,” Dunham said, according to Variety. “The fact that other members of the Democratic Party have spoken to me like I was an ill-informed child for voting for someone who represents everything I think this country should be is outrageous.”
The Brief Newsletter Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now. View Sample Sign Up Now
Dunham, who was released from the hospital last week after surgery for a ruptured ovarian cyst, said she reached a “tipping point” when one Instagram user wrote to her that “Bernie Sanders has done more for feminism than Hillary Clinton has.”
[Variety]
Contact us at [email protected] day after NBC News announced they had fired him for "inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace," prompting a flood of reports about his alleged sexual misconduct, Matt Lauer responded to the accusations. While the former "Today" show host said he was "truly sorry" to those he has "hurt," he also said that some of the allegations are "untrue or mischaracterized."
"There are no words to express my sorrow and regret for the pain I have caused others by words and actions," Lauer said in a statement reported by NBC Thursday. "To the people I have hurt, I am truly sorry. As I am writing this I realize the depth of the damage and disappointment I have left behind at home and at NBC."
He continued: "Some of what has been said about me is untrue or mischaracterized, but there is enough truth in these statements to make me feel embarrassed and ashamed. I regret that my shame is now shared by the people I cherish dearly. Repairing the damage will take a lot of time and soul searching and I’m committed to beginning that effort. It is now my full time job.
"The last two days have forced me to take a very hard look at my own troubling flaws. It’s been humbling. I am blessed to be surrounded by the people I love. I thank them for their patience and grace," he concluded.
His former show presented the statement Thursday morning:
A statement from Matt Lauer: “There are no words to express my sorrow and regret for the pain I have caused others by words and actions...” pic.twitter.com/f93rHXqKQD — TODAY (@TODAYshow) November 30, 2017
Lauer had served as co-host of the "Today" show for 20 years. In a stunning sequence of events on Wednesday, NBC News chairman Andrew Lack informed employees in a memo that Lauer had been fired for "inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace" after a colleague filed a "detailed complaint" Monday night about his actions. Lack added that it "may not have been an isolated incident." Here is the full text of the memo, that, like Lauer's response, was read aloud on the "Today" show when the news first broke:
Dear colleagues, on Monday night we received a detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace by Matt Lauer. It represented, after serious review, a clear violation of our company's standards. As a result we've decided to terminate his employment. While it is the first complaint about his behavior in the over twenty years he's been here at NBC News, we were also presented with reason to believe this may not have been an isolated incident. Our highest priority is to create a workplace environment where everyone feels safe and protected, and to ensure that any actions that run counter to our core values are met with consequences, no matter who the offender. We are deeply saddened by this turn of events. But we will face it together as a news organization — and do it in as transparent a manner as we can.
Since the announcement, a series of accusations against Lauer have surfaced, including reports of multiple affairs with staff members, serial sexual misconduct in the workplace including sexual harassment and potential sexual assault, and an allegation by an unnamed NBC staffer reported by Page Six that Lauer had sexually assaulted her during the Rio Olympics.
Related: Variety Exposé Alleges Matt Lauer Trapped Female Employees, Exposed HimselfLISBON (Reuters) - A Portuguese opposition party launched a motion of no-confidence in the Socialist government on Tuesday over its failure to prevent the loss of human lives in this week’s lethal wildfires, the second such disaster in four months.
Hundreds of fires have raged across northern and central Portugal since Sunday after the driest summer in nearly 90 years, killing at least 41 people and overwhelming fire-fighting and rescue services.
The fires were dying down on Tuesday under the first real rain since June, when an even deadlier forest blaze - Portugal’s worst disaster in living memory - killed 64 people.
The no-confidence motion proposed by the small center-right CDS-PP party is largely symbolic as the minority Socialist government is backed in parliament by two left-wing parties. They have only to abstain for such a vote to fail.
But it comes amid growing public criticism of Socialist Prime Minister Antonio Costa’s government over the perceived slowness of its response to the disaster. The government has so far enjoyed strong approval ratings due to an improving economy.
“There has been a grave failure to fulfil the most basic duty of the state - to protect the lives of the people,” CDS-PP leader Assuncao Cristas told reporters in proposing the no-confidence vote.
Her criticism was amply echoed in Portuguese media and on social networks.
A date for the vote of no-confidence can only be set after Cristas has formally submitted the motion to parliament.
THREE DAYS OF MOURNING
The government, which says the fires are due to an extraordinary spell of unusually dry weather, has declared three days of public mourning starting on Tuesday.
A report on the June fire pointed to failures in response times by emergency services and poor coordination by firefighters, in addition to a breakdown of communications networks used by the civil protection agency.
Costa, who visited the affected areas on Tuesday, said in a televised address to the nation on Monday that he would not sack his interior minister, but he promised reforms, adding: “Nothing will stay the same after this year.”
The parliamentary head of the center-right opposition Social Democrats, Hugo Soares, said on Tuesday that Costa’s statement was an “insult to the intelligence” of the Portuguese people and that he had to take political responsibility for the fires.
Slideshow (16 Images)
The latest blazes have brought the total area burned in Portugal this year to 350,000 hectares, the worst since 2003, making the country by far the worst hit by fires this year in the European Union.
In neighboring Spain, a much larger country which has also suffered fires in the past few days, only 88,000 hectares have burnt this year, EU data show.
The fires at the weekend also destroyed one of Portugal’s oldest pine forests, whose trees were used to make the ships that carried Portuguese explorers around the globe during their voyages of discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries.When Tim Wolfe was being interviewed as a candidate to be president of the University of Missouri system four years ago, curator Wayne Goode of Normandy was wary of hiring a businessman to head the four-campus system.
But after Wolfe resigned Monday in the wake of growing protests over racial incidents at the university’s flagship campus in Columbia, Goode said he not only was won over by Wolfe’s management of the system, he worries about being able to recruit suitable candidates to replace him.
“It could be very difficult,” Goode said of recruiting a new president, in an interview a few hours after Wolfe announced his resignation in Columbia before a hastily arranged closed-door meeting of the Board of Curators.
“I would think any candidate for president would be pretty leery to come in to a university that allowed a relatively small number of students to use an issue like this to demand the resignation of a president who really couldn’t, in my opinion at least, be personally blamed for those occurrences at all.
“I think this sets a terrible precedent, not only for the University of Missouri but for universities elsewhere. It’s almost an invitation for chaos.”
Wolfe won't be the only top administrator the university needs to hire. R. Bowen Loftin, the chancellor of the Columbia campus who also has been under fire from student protests, announced late Monday that he would be moving out of that role into one where he will be coordinating research for the university.
Protests against Wolfe followed several racial incidents at Mizzou but escalated after the homecoming parade in Columbia. Several protesters approached Wolfe’s car, which bumped one of them, Jonathan Butler. In response, Butler began a hunger strike that eventually galvanized the campus demonstrations, bringing in faculty members and football players who vowed not to play in this weekend’s game in Kansas City.
Wolfe made a variety of attempts to smooth over the growing unrest, but he was met with bolder resistance with each passing day. In advance of Monday morning’s executive session of the curators, he announced his resignation. Butler immediately said he would end his week-long hunger strike. And the football team said it will take the field after all.
Shift in target of protests
Race and other issues have stirred protests and demonstrations in Columbia for weeks against Loftin. The Columbia Tribune reported Monday that nine deans on campus had drafted a letter to the curators urging that Loftin be fired. The English department at Mizzou had cast a vote of no-confidence against the chancellor last week.
At the University of Missouri-St. Louis, Chancellor Tom George issued a statement Monday afternoon noting that the racial incidents that ignited the demonstrations in Columbia are not isolated.
“We live in a greater society that continues to wrestle with systemic racism, social justice and equal opportunity,” George wrote in his letter to UMSL students, faculty, staff and alumni.
“The University of Missouri–St. Louis has many guiding principles – none more important than civility, diversity and inclusion. As one of the most culturally and ethnically diverse campuses in Missouri, UMSL is committed to maintaining a climate where all students, faculty, staff and visitors can explore their interests, refine their talents and flourish.”
George said efforts to counteract problems due to race have increased since the death of Michael Brown in nearby Ferguson in August of last year.
“But we need to do more,” he wrote. “This morning, I asked members of the Chancellor’s Cultural Diversity Council to organize a forum during which members of the UMSL community can express their views and share their ideas about making UMSL better.
“I will participate in this and other forums and meetings, but do not plan to outline their format or agenda. I believe leaving the details and scheduling to the Council better ensures the openness that will yield the type of results that will benefit us all.”
He said Wolfe’s departure, and the protracted protests in Columbia, have increased pressure on him to act at UMSL.
“As you might expect,” George said, “I have started receiving phone calls and emails from varied individuals and groups on and off campus wanting to discuss their experiences and views on this campus and other UM campuses. Some just want to know what comes next. I don’t have a quick fix or answer to all the issues, but I will try to respond as quickly as I can to each and every request to meet or for information.
“I think it best at this point to accept President Wolfe’s resignation as an opportunity to talk more – and louder – about longstanding issues … bringing about positive change at UMSL and influencing change in the larger community.”
While Monday’s drama was being played out in Columbia, a demonstration against racism was also being held at Yale.
And while the departure of Wolfe met one of the demands from the group known as Concerned Student 1950 – named after the year that the university admitted its first African-American student – many others remained.
They include that the university create “comprehensive racial awareness and inclusion curriculum throughout all campus departments and units, mandatory for all students, faculty, staff, and administration” and that by the academic year 20172018, the the university increases the percentage of black faculty and staff campuswide to 10 percent.
Unprecedented situation
Goode – who as a lawmaker was instrumental in setting aside the Normandy property that became the UMSL campus – said that discussions of race did not really arise in interviews with Wolfe when he was being considered for the presidency.
“That wasn't a big issue in the selection process at all,” he said. “The assumption is that anyone being hired at that level in this day and age is very much attuned to those issues and would do whatever needed to be done to address them.”
He added that the way the issue played out in Columbia was difficult to anticipate.
“I've never quite seen a situation come about like this,” Goode said. “It's not that the occurrences weren't serious. But on the other hand, from what I could see, they weren't monumental. And there weren't individuals identified who had carried out a couple of the situations that were described, where anyone could point out who they were and make it easy for situations to be addressed.
“I think Tim, for what he saw as the good of the university took the blame. But I personally don't think he was to blame.”
Asked whether the situation would have unfolded differently if the president were someone with more experience in higher education, rather than in business, Goode said he did not think that factor was much of an issue.
“I think Tim was managing the university in the best interests of faculty and of students as well,” he said. “He has done a lot to improvement management within the university.
“I was one of the more reluctant curators at the time, when we were going through the hiring process, in regard to hiring someone who didn't have an academic background. But in watching and participating in the management of the university since Tim's been there, I think he's done a very good job, and his management skills were just what was needed.”
Protests that had been aimed at Loftin switched to Wolfe with a suddenness that surprised Goode, and in a way that he thought was inappropriate.
“I think campus problems should first be addressed at the campus level,” he said. “That's where this should have better addressed and more quickly, the response should have been quicker.
“Unless things get really out of hand, you don't see, and I don't think you want to see, either the president or the Board of Curators getting into the daily operations of the four campuses. I think the anger among the students was misdirected, and I don't know what caused it to go that way, other than that they wanted to target somebody that was going to get the most attention, locally, nationally. That certainly happened. So that's where we are.”Clarel: 1991 single-volume paperback edn. : 1991 single-volume paperback edn.
Clarel: A Poem and Pilgrimage in the Holy Land (1876) is an epic poem by American writer Herman Melville, originally published in two volumes. Clarel is the longest poem in American literature, stretching to almost 18,000 lines (longer even than European classics such as the Iliad, Aeneid and Paradise Lost). As well as for its great length, Clarel is notable for being the major work of Melville's later years.
Plot [ edit ]
Part One: Jerusalem [ edit ]
Clarel, a young theology student whose belief has begun to waver, travels to Jerusalem to renew his faith in the sites and scenes of Jesus Christ's mortal ministry. He stays in a hostel run by Abdon, the Black Jew — a living representation of Jerusalem. Clarel is initially amazed by the religious diversity of Jerusalem; he sees Jews, Protestants, Catholics, Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists walking its streets and recognizes their common faith in divinity. Clarel also senses a kinship with an Italian youth and Catholic doubter named Celio, whom he sees walking in the distance, but does not take the initiative and greet him. When Celio dies shortly thereafter, Clarel feels he may have passed up an opportunity to regain his faith.
While walking through Jerusalem's streets, Clarel meets Nehemiah, a Christian who hands out proselytizing tracts to pilgrims and tourists. Nehemiah becomes Clarel's guide and shows him the sights of Jerusalem. At the Wailing Wall, Clarel notices an American Jew and his daughter, whom he learns are Agar and Ruth. Nehemiah later introduces Clarel to Ruth, with whom he falls in love. But Jewish custom and a jealous rabbi keep Clarel and Ruth apart much of the time, so the student continues sightseeing with Nehemiah.
In Gethsemane, Clarel meets Vine and Rolfe, two opposites. Rolfe is a Protestant and religious skeptic who historicizes Jerusalem and calls into question Christ's claim to divinity. Vine is a quiet man whose example leads Clarel to hope for faith — at least initially. When Vine and Rolfe decide to take a tour of other important sites in the Holy Land — the wilderness where John the Baptist preached, the monastery at Mar Saba and Bethlehem — Clarel wants to accompany them, but he does not wish to leave Ruth.
At this critical juncture, Ruth's father Nathan dies. As Jewish customs prohibit Clarel's presence, so the student decides to take the journey, confident that he will see his beloved when he returns to Jerusalem. The night before his departure, he sees a frieze depicting the death of a young bride, which makes him pause with foreboding. He banishes his doubts and sets off on his pilgrimage.
Part Two: The Wilderness [ edit ]
Clarel travels with a wide range of fellow pilgrims — Nehemiah, Rolfe and Vine accompany him, and Melville introduces new characters for this book: Djalea, son of an emir, turned tour guide; Belex, the leader of six armed guards protecting the pilgrimage; a Greek banker and his son-in-law Glaucon; a Lutheran minister named Derwent; an unnamed former elder who has lost the faith; and a Swedish Jew named Mortmain, whose black skull cap constantly forebodes ill. The tour through the desert starts with an explicit invitation to compare Clarel and his companions' journey to "brave Chaucer's" pilgrims to Canterbury.
Unaccustomed to desert hardships, the banker and his son-in-law soon abandon the group for a caravan headed back to Jerusalem. When Clarel and his companions come to the stretch of road where Christ’s good Samaritan rescued a Jew from robbers, the taciturn elder also departs, scoffing at the cautions of Djalea and Belex, who fear robbers. Mortmain is the final deserter; he leaves before the party makes a stop at Jericho, refusing to enter a city he considers wicked. During their travels, Clarel's party is joined by Margoth, an apostate Jewish geologist who scoffs at the faith expressed by Derwent, As an atheist, Margoth prompts Rolfe to move closer to Derwent’s faith than he had formerly been. The company also speaks briefly with a Dominican friar traveling through the desert.
In the absence of these travelers, Derwent and Rolfe engage in a number of heated debates as to the veracity of biblical accounts and the relationship between the various Protestant sects. Derwent staunchly maintains his faith in biblical accuracy, while Rolfe questions the Holy Book’s basis as factual history even as he acknowledges his desire to believe. Clarel eagerly listens to these conversations but rarely participates, unsure of whether his faith is being shored up or torn down by the debates. He seeks Vine out for companionship, but Vine’s stoic silence resists interpretation, and Vine denies Clarel's request for more open talk.
When the party arrives at the Dead Sea, they make camp, and are rejoined by Mortmain. Seeming disturbed, he drinks the salty Dead Sea water despite warnings that it is poisonous. Mortmain survives but, when the pilgrims wake in the morning, they discover that Nehemiah has died in the night. He saw a vision of John's heavenly city in the air, above the ruins of Sodom and Gomorrah. While the company buries the man by the Dead Sea, Clarel looks out over the water. He sees a faint rainbow, which seems to offer hope as it did for Noah, but the bow "showed half spent —/Hovered and trembled, paled away, and — went".
Part Three: Mar Saba [ edit ]
Mar Saba in 1900.
Clarel and the other pilgrims travel to the Greek Orthodox monastery of Mar Saba, where one St. Saba discovered a fountain in the desert and planted a palm tree now more than one thousand years old. On their way to the monastery, they meet a young man from Cyprus who has just left Mar Saba and is traveling to the Dead Sea. The Cypriot's faith is unshaken, and all who hear his singing envy him. On their way to Mar Saba, the travelers pass through the "tents of Kedar", where a band of robbers camp and exact a toll of travelers to the monastery. These robbers recognize Arab royalty in Djalea, however, and let the pilgrims pass without molesting them.
At Mar Saba, Clarel and his friends are fed by the monks and entertained with a masque portraying the story of Cataphilus, a wandering Jew. Hearing Cataphilus described as having lost his faith "and meriteth no ruth", Clarel thinks he resembles the Jew. The monks leave the group with Lesbos, a Muslim merchant visiting the monastery. Lesbos leads the group in a drunken revel, persuading even the staid Derwent to participate. He also introduces the group to Agath, another visitor at Mar Saba, a Greek sailor who was sent to Mar Saba to recover after being attacked in the Judean desert, similarly to the wounded Jew in Christ's parable of the Good Samaritan. Reminiscent of Melville's novels such as White-Jacket and Moby-Dick, Agath and Lesbos tell several sea stories to Clarel, who listens attentively to the tales.
In conversations among the pilgrims and monks, Clarel learns that no one has faith—not Vine, Rolfe, Belex, Lesbos—nor Derwent, whose professions until this point had been staunch. After confessing his lack of faith to Clarel, Derwent takes a tour of the monastery. He cannot appreciate the monks' faith; he scoffs at the holy relics showed him by the abbot, considers several of the monks to be insane, and cannot believe that the holy palm tree is either holy or a thousand years old. When he takes his eyes from the palm, Derwent sees Mortmain’s skull cap flutter down from an outcropping where the Jew is observing the palm.
All of the pilgrims fall asleep looking at the palm tree. In the morning, when the caravan is about to leave, Mortmain is missing. They find him on the outcropping, his glassy, dead eyes fixed on the palm tree. The monks bury the Jew outside the monastery, in an unconsecrated grave, "Where vulture unto vulture calls, / And only ill things find a friend."
Part Four: Bethlehem [ edit ]
When the pilgrims leave Mar Saba, they take Lesbos and Agath with them. After a short distance, Lesbos turns back and returns to the monastery, giving the pilgrims a military salute. Ungar, a new traveling companion, joins the company. A veteran of the American Civil War, he is descended from Catholic colonists and American Indians, and is the only one among them with faith. This new group travels to Bethlehem together. Once in Bethlehem, Agath leaves to join a new caravan. The remaining pilgrims pay Djaleal and Belex for their services in guiding them through the desert.
Ungar’s faith attracts Clarel. Derwent is antagonized by his insistence that man is "fallen" and cannot reclaim his lost glory without divine aid. Their debates over human nature and religion reach to the morality of democracy and capitalism. Vine, Rolfe and Clarel, all Americans, take Ungar’s part, leaving the Englishman |
Leaders in Paris recognized that they would need to “ratchet up” their efforts to reduce emissions over the next two decades. Still, for the first time, global leaders had overcome the inertia that had long plagued climate change negotiations—and committed themselves to real action to save the planet.
By renouncing the agreement, President Trump risks throwing this momentum into reverse, at a perilous moment. The defection of the United States, the world’s second largest emitter after China, will embolden others to renounce their own pledges—or at a minimum delay their full implementation. The diplomatic fallout will be harsh, destroying whatever pretense remains of U.S. global leadership—and U.S. credibility—in the Trump era. Beyond squandering international goodwill, the United States will cede any pretense to influence on global environmental issues to China and lose out on many opportunities to dominate the clean technology future.
As for the planet, the implications are dire. On its current trajectory, the world may well reach the critical threshold of 3.6 Fahrenheit by 2036. The catastrophic results will include more extreme and dangerous weather, more frequent and prolonged droughts and famines, rapid melting of glaciers and polar ice, dramatic sea level rise, accelerated ocean acidification, large-scale die-offs of coral reefs, devastating losses of habitats and species, and mass migrations involving tens and perhaps hundreds of millions of people.
Nor will Americans be immune from these impacts. To pick just one dimension: By 2050, some twenty-six U.S. cities from Baltimore to Honolulu are expected to face an “emerging flooding crisis,” with damages from “Superstorm Sandy”-type events running into the hundreds of billions of dollars. Florida—which has some 2.4 million people living and 1.3 million homes located less than four feet above high tide line—most in the Miami-Dade area—may be hardest hit. But it won’t be alone. Further north, the city of Norfolk, Virginia, which hosts the world’s largest naval base, risks becoming uninhabitable thanks to regular flooding. In 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency (albeit under different management than today) predicted that sea level rise and storm surges could cost U.S. coastal communities $5.0 trillion through 2100. Elsewhere in the United States, the expense of climate-change induced drought and accompanying water shortages could top $180 billion by the end of the century.
And for what? Trump and his nationalist sidekicks contend that leaving Paris will allow the United States to avoid crippling environmental regulations and, among other benefits, revive America’s beleaguered coal mines. That stance may play well in Appalachia, but it ignores far more important pressures on that industry, not least the fracking revolution and the low price of natural gas. It also ignores that nearly twice as many people were employed in the renewable energy sector last year than in traditional fossil fuel industries—and that most major U.S. corporations favor the Paris Agreement. A forward-looking administration, truly interested in competitiveness, would be doing as much as possible to advance research and development in the industries of tomorrow. (Ironically, some parts of the Trump administration appear to recognize this: This week, the U.S. International Trade Commission notified the World Trade Organization that it will launch a safeguard investigation on the influx of foreign solar panels, presumably in an effort to protect domestic manufacturers from unfair foreign competition.)
With this U.S. abdication of global leadership, the world must pin its hopes for slowing global warming on the combined efforts of other major emitters, U.S. states and cities, and private corporations. Tomorrow, China and the European Union will recommit themselves to the Paris Agreement, describing it as “imperative and more important than ever.” Governor Jerry Brown, meanwhile, promises that California will fill the vacuum left by the U.S. pullout, by working with other U.S. states and cities to impose new emissions caps and standards. Finally, the planet is counting on the self-interest of the U.S. business community, which is unlikely to make long-term investments in dirty technologies, given the near-certainty that a future administration will overturn Trump’s policies to pursue a low carbon future—and restore America’s stature in the world. That moment cannot come soon enough.This Internet is abuzz with speculation about a bizarre attempted murder in which two 12-year-old girls stabbed their classmate as an offering to “Slender Man”—a supernatural entity created for the website Something Awful in 2009. The story has made international news. But how did an Internet meme manifest into actual violence?
Criminologists and psychologists, as well as Christian demonologists and a retired FBI agent have all weighed in. The genesis of the crime appears not to lie with media or an inability on the part of the perpetrators to distinguish fantasy from reality, but rather a kind of “corrupted play” that resulted in irrevocable consequences. The Slender Man phenomenon, which had intrigued academics even before this incident, is relevant for folklorists and religion scholars who study the relationship between supernatural ideas and social action.
Slender Man was born on June 10, 2009, when Eric Kundsen entered an Internet contest to create doctored photos portraying supernatural entities. His images of a faceless being in a suit with elongated limbs inspired numerous stories, games, and videos that appeared on websites like Creepypasta. In an NPR interview Knudsen explained that he feels more like the creature’s manager than its creator.
Soon online forums speculated that Slender Man had not been created by Knudsen, but was a real entity described by ancient cultures around the world. A recent book by Rev. Robin Swope (aka “The Paranormal Pastor”) asserts that Slender Man is an actual demonic entity rather than an Internet meme. The body of material surrounding the history, abilities, and motivations of Slender Man now comprises what folklorists call a “legend complex.”
Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier of Waukesha, Wisconsin, were fascinated with Slender Man and harbored a dark fantasy of contacting the entity through an act of human sacrifice. On May 30, Geyser celebrated her birthday with a trip to the skating rink followed by a slumber party. She invited two friends: Weier and the victim. The following morning they lured the victim into the woods where Geyser stabbed her 19 times. The victim managed to crawl to the road where a cyclist rendered aid. The perpetrators told police that they hoped the murder would summon Slender Man who would take them to live in his mansion located in nearby woods.
Police blamed “unmonitored Internet usage” for the attack and the local school district banned access to “Creepypasta.” A statement on Creepypasta denies culpability, explaining, “There is a line of between fiction and reality, and it is up to you to realize where the line is. We are a literature site, not a crazy satanic cult.”
While experts are divided, the raw power of Internet memes is not a cogent explanation. Sociologist Sherry Turkle was quoted as saying that the Internet has dangerously blurred the lines between games and reality, especially for young people. However, Jacqueline Woolley, a psychologist who researches children’s ability to distinguish reality from make-believe, suggests that 12-year-olds have the same grasp on reality as adults. Kenneth Lanning, a retired FBI agent who investigated rumors of Satanic Ritual Abuse in 1992, explained that media is not the key factor and that the attack may have occurred in a moment of limited inhibition.
An attorney for one of the girls has argued that his client is mentally ill and is seeking a mental evaluation. However, vague diagnoses of “mental illness” are more often tautologies than an explanation of tragic events: i.e. “She exhibited deviant behavior because she was mentally ill and we know she was mentally ill because she exhibited deviant behavior.” This sort of lazy analysis stigmatizes those being treated for mental health and often obscures more tangible factors.
Another possibility is that the girls’ confession about the Slender Man mythos was an “atrocity story” intended to gain clemency. Accused criminals sometimes spin stories in which they were manipulated or coerced by cults or Satanists. Police interrogators often encourage such stories. Geyser seemed to engage in this tactic somewhat, telling police that if she hadn’t carried out the attack, “he” would kill her family. She then asked if a stabbing could be considered an act of self-defense. However, this interpretation still doesn’t explain the motivation for the attack.
Robert Kinscherff of the National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justice argued that it was the intensity of the girls’ relationship, rather than mental illness, that led to the attack. He explained, “It’s about loyalty and constructing a world where this makes sense.” Similarly, criminologist Jack Levin opined, “I think it’s the chemistry between these two girls. It was insane. Not in their minds but in their relationship.”
I submit that Geyser and Weier were engaged in a form of play that extended the Slender Man legend complex through performance. Then, in a moment of lowered inhibitions, irrevocable consequences occurred, making the play world real. In 1983, folklorists Linda Degh and Andrew Vazonyi described how legends are transmitted through ostension, in which physical actions and performances rather than words or media, affirm the legend. In this way, facts can be turned into narratives and narratives can be turned into facts. Ostension can include pranks, such as the envelopes full of Bisquick that were mailed following the 2001 anthrax scare, or—in extreme cases—to copycat crimes.
The girls’ fascination with Slender Man was performative. Anna Freud noted that children often pretend to be monsters, acting out the very thing that they fear. Sometime between December 2013 and January 2014, Geyser came upon the idea of becoming “proxies” for Slender Man—that is, living extensions of the legend complex. The game of becoming “proxies” was a form of ostension, proving the legend is real. One girl explained, “Many people do not believe Slender Man is real. [We] wanted to prove the skeptics wrong.”
Ikuya Sato argued that senseless youth crimes often occur through a sort of play in which players attempt to “reach the limit” of their assumed roles, resulting in irrevocable consequences. Sato’s model of “corrupted play” fits several cases of youth crime with occult elements but no apparent motive. The plot to sacrifice a child seemed to unfold as a game that neither player wanted to curtail. Weier packed items she would need for her new life in Slender Man’s mansion, including photos of her family. Their original plan to kill the victim in her sleep was repeatedly aborted and rescheduled. Prior to the attack the knife was passed back and forth, as both girls were reluctant to go through with it. The girls only succeeded in the attack by sharing agency—with Geyser wielding the knife and Weier giving the order to “Go ballistic.” In this way, both girls could feel they were not making a conscious decision.
The disturbing conclusion from this episode is that this attack was probably not the simple result of dangerous media or “mental illness.” Instead, behaviors that are relatively normal—fascination with horror, adolescent performance of legends, creating make-believe worlds—produced a perfect storm that resulted in tragedy. The conclusion of Degh and Vazsonyi’s 1983 paper on ostension now seems eerily prescient:I was in 8th grade when I was taught and even Understood gravity. Hence no man claiming to have no college education can even think of such a line. If he does, then it is just stupid.
Yes string theory, Quantum Mechanics are hard to understand without college education. Hell, It is even hard to understand after many college degrees. But gravity? Not even General Relativity. Just plain and simple gravity. Really?
A while ago Ray Comfort Puts this up :
Thanks to Freedom of speech and freedom to crap on your social space, He could put this up and so could I put this post up. But then when people point out how deep a grave he has dug for himself, He comes up with this :
Ok. People learn from mistakes. Yes. He too did. For 2 paragraphs and then went on to prove the Indian Proverb ‘A Dog’s Tail is Never Straight’. When general relativity is not involved, I don’t think you need Yale University to tell you about gravity! He could just read High School Text Books.
Even Isaac Newton was a theologian. He studied the bible. Yet he did not end up such dumb thoughts. Get Educated with Reason and Science and then Jump into religion. Like newton did. He got into religion only after he had solved gravity, invented calculus and giving us numerous theories. So get your facts right before you get into religion.
If god exists then I believe this guy was given birth by god just to mess with the Atheists.Wikileaks founder thinks Clinton will make third presidential bid
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
October 25, 2017
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange thinks that Hillary Clinton is preparing to run for president yet again in 2020.
“Hillary Clinton is clearly trying to position herself to run in 2020. Such ambition knows no odds,” he tweeted earlier today.
Assange also linked to a video flashback to how Clinton initially refused to concede to Obama back in 2008 because of the possibility that he could have been assassinated like RFK.
Hillary Clinton is clearly trying to position herself to run in 2020. Such ambition knows no odds. Recall that she bet on Obama's assassination rather than concede in 2008. https://t.co/ZuBiMMaIZJ — Julian Assange?? (@JulianAssange) October 25, 2017
The Wikileaks founder also trolled the former Secretary of State by quote tweeting an October 2016 tweet posted by Hillary’s official account which reads, “Happy birthday to this future president,” alongside a picture of Clinton as a young girl.
Despite Assange’s suspicions, the overwhelming consensus is that Hillary will not run for president again having already failed on two separate occasions. Hillary herself has said she will not run again.
However, more recently, some mainstream journalists have been keen to stress that yet another Hillary presidential run could be a distinct possibility.
Yesterday, the Washington Post’s Michael Brenes wrote that “Hillary Clinton would be well-positioned to win in a rematch,” remarking that, “Clinton might not be a potential candidate now, but the political winds can change quickly. Recent American history is rife with presidential contenders who lost the primary or general election and then went on to become a candidate in subsequent elections.”
“Clinton can win the presidency in 2020 thanks to a combination of demographic and electoral shifts among voters and uncertainty about their futures,” he adds.
That sentiment was echoed by the Chicago Tribune’s Douglas MacKinnon, who worked on three winning presidential campaigns.
“Hillary Clinton likely sees an opening in 2020 for another presidential run,” writes MacKinnon, adding that the Democratic establishment is beginning to recognize “real signs popping up that Hillary Clinton still is a political force to be reckoned with and that a path could be cleared for her in 2020. “
Either the establishment media and the Democratic Party is so myopic that it is sleepwalking into yet another disaster in 2020 by warming to Clinton, or they genuinely think that the hysterical backlash to Trump can carry her to victory.
SUBSCRIBE on YouTube:
Follow on Twitter: Follow @PrisonPlanet
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paul.j.watson.71
*********************
Paul Joseph Watson is the editor at large of Infowars.com and Prison Planet.com.
This article was posted: Wednesday, October 25, 2017 at 1:05 pm
Print this page.
Infowars.com Videos:
Comment on this articleYemen: President Hadi holds meeting to address southern political tensions; AQAP and ISIS claim attacks in al Bayda governorate; AQAP spokesman releases video; Saudi-led coalition targets al Houthi-Saleh forces in Taiz governorate
Horn of Africa: Kenyan airstrikes target al Shabaab in Boni Forest, Lamu County; Kenyan Defense Force repels al Shabaab attack in Mandera County; Burundian AMISOM forces transfer from Mogadishu base to Jowhar, Middle Shabelle region; al Shabaab attacks security targets near Mogadishu; SNA soldier shoots civilians in Jalalaqsi, Hiraan region
Yemen Security Brief
Yemeni President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi held a meeting to address the political tensions in southern Yemen in Saudi Arabia on July 10. Yemeni Vice President Ali Mohsen and Interior Minister Major General Hussein Arab attended the meeting. President Hadi stressed the importance of unity and coordination with the Saudi-led coalition. The Emirati-backed Transitional Political Council for the South, which supports southern Yemeni independence, formed a competing government structure on July 9.[1]
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and the Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham (ISIS) Wilayat al Bayda claimed attacks in al Bayda governorate, central Yemen. AQAP killed three al Houthi-Saleh fighters at a checkpoint in Rada’a, central al Bayda governorate, on July 10. AQAP militants last attacked al Houthi-Saleh forces in Rada’a on June 21. ISIS Wilayat al Bayda claimed to kill three al Houthi-Saleh fighters with an improvised explosive device (IED) in Qayfa area, northwestern al Bayda governorate, central Yemen on July 8. ISIS and AQAP regularly cooperate on a tactical level against al Houthi-Saleh forces in central Yemen.[2]
AQAP spokesman Khaled Batarfi released the eleventh video in his series “Stories of the Prophets” on July 11. He relayed the story of Sodom and Gomorrah to emphasize the danger of idolatry and polytheism. Batarfi’s video series is intended to market AQAP’s ideology to Yemen’s Sunni population.[3]
Saudi-led coalition-backed forces clashed with al Houthi-Saleh fighters in western Taiz governorate on July 11. Coalition airstrikes killed 13 al Houthi-Saleh fighters and wounded 17 others in Mawza’ district, western Taiz governorate. Hadi government-aligned forces killed six al Houthi-Saleh fighters in Maqbanah district, western Taiz governorate on July 10.[4]
Horn of Africa Security Brief
Kenyan Defense Forces (KDF) jets bombed al Shabaab militants in the Boni Forest in Lamu County, eastern Kenya on July 10. The KDF conducted the airstrikes in response to al Shabaab’s attacks security forces and civilians in Lamu County on July 5 and 8. Al Shabaab uses the Boni Forest as a base.[5]
Al Shabaab fired mortars targeting a KDF base in near El Wak, Mandera County, eastern Kenya on July 11. Al Shabaab attempted to raid the base, but KDF forces repelled the attack. Al Shabaab claimed to inflict casualties during the attack.[6]
Burundian African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) troops withdrew from a military base in Mogadishu on July 11. The Somali government transferred control of the base, which was formerly a national university, to the Somali Ministry of Education. The Burundian soldiers will transfer to an AMISOM base in Jowhar, Middle Shabelle region, central Somalia. Somali police are expected to replace the AMISOM forces at the former base in Mogadishu.[7]
Al Shabaab militants detonated an IED targeting an AMISOM convoy in Heliwa district near Mogadishu on July 11. Likely al Shabaab militants assassinated a Somali police officer at Banadir Junction in Mogadishu on July 10.[8]
A Somali National Army (SNA) soldier opened fire on a crowd of civilians in Jalalaqsi, Hiraan region, central Somalia on July 10. The soldier killed one civilian and wounded two others. The shooting follows two similar incidents near Mogadishu on July 9 and 10, in which Somali security forces killed civilians.[9]
[1] “Hadi meets with his advisors and deputy after days of political tension in the south,” Al Masdar Online, July 11, 2017, http://almasdaronline.com/article/92491; and “Gulf of Aden Security Review,” AEI’s Critical Threats Project, July 10, 2017, https://www.criticalthreats.org/briefs/gulf-of-aden-security-review/gulf-of-aden-security-review-july-10-2017.
[2] Elisabeth Kendall, Twitter, July 11, 2017, https://twitter.com/Dr_E_Kendall/status/884682878671622144; AQAP claims attack on al Houthi-Saleh forces at a checkpoint in Rada’a, al Bayda governorate, Telegram, July 10, 2017; and “Gulf of Aden Security Review,” AEI’s Critical Threats Project, June 19, 2017, https://www.criticalthreats.org/briefs/gulf-of-aden-security-review/gulf-of-aden-security-review-june-19-2017.
[3] AQAP releases the eleventh video in “Stories of the Prophets” series, Telegram, July 11, 2017.
[4]“Thirteen Houthis killed and 17 wounded in coalition bombing of Taiz,” Aden Tomorrow, July 11, 2017, http://adengd.net/news/266906/#ixzz4mX3m0Gm2; and “Six al Houthis and one government soldier killed in battles between the two sides in Maqbanah, Taiz,” Al Masdar Online, July 10, 2017, http://almasdaronline.com/article/92483.
[5] Joseph Akwiri, “Kenyan military says it launches strikes against al Shabaab forest base,” Reuters, July 10, 2017, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-kenya-violence-idUSKBN19V1WG.
[6] Harun Maruf, Twitter, July 11, 2017, https://twitter.com/HarunMaruf/status/884737364224094209; and Al Shabaab shells Kenyan base in Mandera County, Telegram, July 11, 2017.
[7] “Somalia: AMISOM vacates large military base in Mogadishu,” Garowe Online, July 11, 2017, http://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-amisom-vacates-large-military-base-in-mogadishu; and Harun Maruf, Twitter, July 11, 2017, https://twitter.com/HarunMaruf/status/884732249215815680.
[8] “Garowe Online, July 11, 2017, https://twitter.com/radiogarowe/status/884762509906812928; and Somalia: Policeman killed in Mogadishu,” Shabelle News, July 10, 2017, http://www.shabellenews.com/2017/07/somalia-policeman-killed-in-mogadishu/.
[9] “Somalia: Govt soldier kills 1, injures 2 in Jalalaqsi shooting,” Shabelle News, July 10, 2017, http://www.shabellenews.com/2017/07/somalia-govt-soldier-kills-1-injures-2-in-jalalaqsi-shooting/.
View CitationsICBA and NAFCU Urge Watt on Fannie, Freddie Capital Buffers
Washington, D.C (Oct. 19, 2017)—The Independent Community Bankers of America® (ICBA) and the National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions (NAFCU) today wrote to Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt urging the agency to allow the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) to rebuild their capital buffers.
ICBA and NAFCU agree that internal reforms are not enough and that the time has come for Congress to act on comprehensive housing finance reform to create a more healthy and sustainable secondary market. However, they urge the FHFA do all within its power to ensure the GSEs–Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac–are able to maintain capital that can provide stability in the event of short-term losses.
“It is essential that the GSEs maintain a modest capital buffer–perhaps only enough to cover losses in a single quarter–so that they are not forced to draw on the Preferred Stock Purchase Agreement commitments at the expense of taxpayers,” ICBA President and CEO Camden R. Fine said. “Such an occurrence would not only erode investor confidence but would also taint the public’s perception of the housing finance system and the secondary market, putting the future of the housing finance system at risk. This self-inflicted outcome must be avoided.”
“Allowing the GSEs to rebuild their capital buffers to avoid another draw of taxpayer support would maintain investor confidence, which is essential to the safety and soundness of the secondary market, and would prevent any further market disruptions,” NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger said. “This would ensure the GSEs the continued ability to provide liquidity to credit unions, community banks and other lenders to support a vibrant housing finance system.”
About ICBA
The Independent Community Bankers of America®, the nation’s voice for more than 5,700 community banks of all sizes and charter types, is dedicated exclusively to representing the interests of the community banking industry and its membership through effective advocacy, best-in-class education and high-quality products and services. For more information, visit ICBA’s website at www.icba.org.
About NAFCU
The National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions (NAFCU) is the only national trade association focusing exclusively on federal issues affecting the nation’s federally-insured credit unions. NAFCU membership is direct and provides credit unions with the best in federal advocacy, education and compliance assistance. For more information on NAFCU, go to www.nafcu.org or @NAFCU on Twitter.
###Corey Garson has been named Canada's best, after winning the national United Association of Plumbers, Steamfitters and Welders Apprenticeship Challenge. Garson, a second year apprentice and member of Sault Ste. Marie's UA Local 800, bested 4th and 5th year apprentices in a tough competition that tested competitors' knowledge and ability in all areas of their trade. SooToday's Jasmyn Rowley caught up with Corey to hear about his experience taking home a national honour.
This has been shared 0 times
How did this story make you feel? view results > Happy
Amused
Afraid
Don't Care
Sad
Frustrated
Angry
Dialogue and debate are integral to a free society and we welcome and encourage you to share your views on the issues of the day. We ask that you be respectful of others and their points of view, refrain from personal attacks and stay on topic. To learn about our commenting policies and how our community-based moderation works, please read our Community Guidelines.June is Pride Month for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community. This is an opportunity to reflect on the progress we’ve made, and recommit ourselves to the work ahead.
To help kick off LGBT Pride Month, today President Obama recorded the following video message to Americans across the country:
In addition, the President also issued a Proclamation where he describes the progress we’ve made over the last few years and our ongoing commitment to the rights of LGBT Americans. The Proclamation says in part:
Since I took office, my Administration has worked to broaden opportunity, advance equality, and level the playing field for LGBT people and communities. We have fought to secure justice for all under the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act, and we have taken action to end housing discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. We expanded hospital visitation rights for LGBT patients and their loved ones, and under the Affordable Care Act, we ensured that insurance companies will no longer be able to deny coverage to someone just because they are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. Because we understand that LGBT rights are human rights, we continue to engage with the international community in promoting and protecting the rights of LGBT persons around the world. Because we repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” gay, lesbian, and bisexual Americans can serve their country openly, honestly, and without fear of losing their jobs because of whom they love. And because we must treat others the way we want to be treated, I personally believe in marriage equality for same-sex couples.
Throughout the month, we’ll be posting periodic updates at whitehouse.gov/LGBT. Check back often, and make sure you sign up for updates!
Gautam Raghavan is an Associate Director in the White House Office of Public EngagementDefense Distributed
Citing the threat of plastic, 3D-printed firearms, U.S. Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., held a press conference this weekend calling for the renewal of the Undetectable Firearms Act. The act was originally conceived in 1988 in response to the Glock 17, a handgun with some components made from plastic composites.
The law has been renewed several times since its inception, most recently in 2003. It's currently due to expire in December 2013.
For gun rights advocates, the Undetectable Firearms Act comes across as legislative hand-wringing. Others find the law to be an example of security theatrics and a threat to the growing 3D-printing market. In the interest of sorting out the facts, CNET has put together this FAQ:
Q: What are the specifics of the Undetectable Firearms Act?
The meat of the law makes it a federal offense to "manufacture, import, sell, ship, deliver, possess, transfer, or receive" a firearm capable of defeating airport metal detection. It requires that any firearm, minus the stock, grips, and magazine, have an X-ray detection signature no less than that of a calibration sample containing 3.7 ounces of stainless steel.
The law also prohibits you from making or selling a firearm that "does not generate an [X-ray] image that accurately depicts the shape of the component." In other words, it's a federal crime to make and sell a gun that looks like something else to an airport X-ray scanner.
Q: Do plastic guns exist?
It's easy to fall down the rabbit hole on this one. Search "non-metal gun" and the results turn up a mix of alleged designs over the years, from reported CIA research to Anarchist Cookbook-style zip gun plans. Confirming the existence of an entirely plastic firearm is even more elusive.
Without diverting too far down this path (the Straight Dope has a fun read on the topic), let's assume that making an undetectable firearm of some variety is not wholly impossible, be it the product of a well-funded research lab or some desperate tinkerer with no care for accuracy, reliability, or his own well-being.
Even if we do allow that undetectable firearms exist, there is no evidence to suggest that they are a common problem for U.S. law enforcement.
Q: So there's no such thing as a 3D-printable gun?
To public knowledge, no. Michael "Haveblue" Guslick has had the most success with this idea, designing and printing a component for the AR15 sport rifle known as the lower receiver. He says he fired almost 100 rounds from his design in a test.
During his press conference, Rep. Israel cited a recent firing test of the Wiki Weapon. That project is the would-be product of a group called Defense Distributed, whose stated aim is to disrupt the concept and mechanisms of firearms regulation. They hope to achieve their goals by designing and distributing the plans for a functioning plastic gun that anyone can make with a $500 3D printer.
You can read all about Defense Distributed on the group's Web site. Their project received only the necessary funding in the past few months, and they've hit a few snags along the way, from a revocation of a leased 3D printer to a friendly chat with their local ATF field office.
The Defense Distributed firing test that Israel referred to was in fact only a review of Guslick's existing design. Defense Distributed might have captured some worthwhile data from that test, but it has not yet shown evidence of a 3D-printable gun design beyond what Guslick came up with back in August.
Q: If Defense Distributed does develop an all-plastic, 3D-printable gun, wouldn't it be illegal under this act?
The law makes certain exceptions for the military and the CIA, and also provides some room for manufacturers that want to test whether a certain design falls within the requirements of the law.
Perhaps Defense Distributed can find some loophole in those exemptions, but otherwise it's hard to imagine how the group would not be in violation. That said, Defense Distributed spokesman Cody Wilson was the first person to make me aware of the law's existence, so the group certainly knows it's a hurdle they will have to deal with.[[Update: Wilson contacted me with a clarification. "Defense Distributed is now a public interest publisher of IP. At the end of October, our sister operation applied to become a firearms manufacturer. The Undetectable Firearms Act exempts manufacturers. The ban will not affect our operations in the least."]]
Q: If you can't print a plastic gun yet, isn't renewing this law just an example of security theater or legislative grandstanding?
The Undetectable Firearms Act has had its critics since it was enacted in 1988, largely because of the general belief that no one has ever made a functional gun that can sneak by an airport X-ray scanner.
Those in support of the law would argue, among other things, that even if no undetectable guns exist, it can act as a deterrent to the development of such a design. They would also say that it gives the federal government a forward-looking enforcement tool in the event that someone does come up with an undetectable firearm, 3D-printed or otherwise.
In calling to renew the law, Israel riled 3D-printing enthusiasts by using Defense Distributed as an example. Comments from Suffolk County Police Chief James Burke, who was present at the press conference, also caused some controversy. Burke was quoted by Meetthe112th.com as saying, "With the prices of these printers under $1,000, I think anyone can imagine the rise of an amateur gun maker in our community."
Q: Is renewing the Act really just a stealth attempt to regulate 3D printing?
Among other 3D-printing enthusiasts who found the press conference troubling, Boing Boing's Cory Doctorow voiced his concerns with Burke's and Israel's comments in a blog post:
However, what Rep. Israel doesn't say is how he hopes to accomplish his goal. Firmware locks for 3D printers? A DMCA-like takedown regime for 3D shapefiles that can be used to generate plastic firearms (or parts of plastic firearms?). A mandate on 3D printer manufacturers to somehow magically make it impossible for their products to print out gun-parts?
Doctorow seems to be reacting to the idea that renewing the Undetectable Firearms Act also means regulating 3D-printing technology. Israel and Burke hold Defense Distributed and 3D printing out as scary examples, and the law does establish legal consequences if you're found to have used any tools or mechanism to make an undetectable firearm. In it's current language, though, the Undetectable Firearms Act contains nothing specific to the pro-active regulation of 3D printing, or any other manufacturing process.
Israel's spokesperson also confirmed to me that "there are no technical aspects of the law that we're trying to change."
This is not to say that a politician might not one day take up the cause of regulating 3D printers or the distribution of printable design files. In that event, Israel and Chief Burke using it as a bugaboo here might make such regulations easier for voters to stomach. But the Undetectable Firearms Act as it's currently written places no pro-active restrictions 3D printing.Last week, I was a press event in Santa Monica to check out Relic Entertainment's new third-person shooter, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine. I have been a huge fan of the lore of the Warhammer 40,000 setting and even spent a few years painting figurines from the game as a hobby. But while I love the trappings, the miniatures game was always a bit convoluted for my tastes, so I've been looking forward the idea of having direct control over a Space Marine for a long time.
They are exactly what they look like: Hulking masses of carnage. We were to pit them head-to-head, the forces of the Emperor's Imperium against their brothers corrupted by the forces of Chaos. And the result was brutal.
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine (PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)
Developer: Relic Entertainment
Publisher: THQ
Release date: September 6, 2011
The competitive multiplayer offerings in Space Marine consist of 8 vs. 8 team battles in two modes, a deathmatch game called "Annihilation" and the control point-based "Seize Ground." There isn't really a whole lot that distinguishes them from their counterparts in other multiplayer games in terms of rules, but the game does strike a nice balance in its three classes of Space Marines.
The Tactical class is your all-rounder, proficient but not exceptional at anything. Devastators carry the big guns, your Heavy Bolters and Plasma Cannons, and do so with tremendous effort as they trudge around the battlefield. Assault Marines fly around on jetpacks and swing Chainswords. Yes, that's a combination chainsaw and sword. You can guess what everybody quickly gravitated towards.
The Assault class is stupidly fun. While they have these jetpacks on their backs, they are still covered in bulky armor and drop like a ton of bricks once the brief burst of upward mobility ends. If you're quick, you can even target an enemy on the ground to receive your weight in damage but landing near a target is usually enough as their melee weapons cut through opponents like butter.
Once we saw the clear preference for getting up close and personal, a few of us got smart and switched to the Devastator class. Their Plasma Cannons fire a ball of energy that explodes on impact for a ton of damage. Using one player as a lure, oncoming melee fighters would |
. The average 35-year-old today is able to save less than half of what their parents did at that age. Among those now nearing retirement, fewer than one-third have even $100,000 put aside to sustain themselves, and another third have virtually no retirement savings at all.
Two-thirds of middle-class parents are worried about affording post-secondary education for their kids. In more than 40% of empty-nester families, their adult children have moved back home (or never left) because the economy is just not good enough to let them get started on their own. And ominously, national surveys show a majority of Canadians believe the next generation will actually be worse off than their parents.
Think about that. It means the fundamental Canadian middle-class expectation of inevitable progress, of upward mobility from one generation to the next, can no longer be taken for granted.
These are the fruits of too little economic growth. Mr. Harper and the elusive Joe Oliver don’t seem to think any of this matters. They have no growth plan. Their only goal — at the expense of all else — is to cobble together a very large tax break for a very small fraction of Canadians, most especially the wealthiest.
To make financial room for that, they sell-off federal assets — everything from the shares in General Motors to an historic tree farm in Saskatchewan. They punch a big hole of nearly $5-billion in current funding for municipal infrastructure. They cut support for the RCMP and other public safety agencies. They clawback money intended for veterans. And yes, they lard on billions of dollars in new taxes.
And what’s all that in aid of? So they can impose Income Splitting for the wealthy — so those earning $233,000 can get the biggest tax break.
This scheme is too expensive — it will cost more than $2-billion every year. It’s unfair — fewer that 15% of Canadian households can qualify; 85% will never get a penny. It favours those who have the most, at the expense of those with the least. It deepens inequality. It does nothing for growth. It won’t create a single job.
Canada can do so much better!
We can have an economic growth plan to drive greater prosperity, ambition, optimism, security and fairness — especially at the heart of our economy, the middle-class.
So how?
First, when resources are tight, there’s no room for waste. So why is this government spending $3-billion more per year on expensive external consultants to duplicate the public service. Why have the numbers of political staffers escalated? Why is the Prime Minister’s Office so bloated? And why are your hard-earned tax-dollars being squandered on highly-partisan, tax-paid government advertising? To date, this government’s advertising costs have topped $750-million — three-quarters of a Billion Dollars! Sometimes promoting things that don’t even exist!
How many Veterans could have been helped with that amount of money? How many summer jobs for students could have been created? How many extra Mounties could have been recruited or food inspectors put on the job to keep Canadians safe?
And yet, this profligate government has the gall to drop another $7.5-million for more ads this spring — spoiling the hockey playoffs again to the tune of $100,000 for every 30-seconds of airtime — to flog their long-delayed, already discredited budget. It’s all deeply disrespectful of taxpayers. All sheer waste.
A far better way to manage the country’s finances would be to invest — properly and prudently — in the fundamentals that drive better growth to make our economy bigger and stronger, more competitive, productive and prosperous. A good place to start would be transformative investments in community and public infrastructure. Think of this: urban congestion in our major cities, caused by old and limited infrastructure, costs the national economy $15-billion every year. And much of that is preventable.
When we cast off the mediocrity of this past “diminished decade”, when we regain our ability to be ambitious and hopeful, when we treat each other fairly, when we work together around a common vision of what we have the capacity to achieve, Canadians can accomplish great things.
-Ralph Goodale
As fiscal hawks like David Dodge tell us, with interest rates at historic lows, now is the time to build. We can convert that short-term cost advantage into long-term capital assets. As we do so, we will create tens of thousands of good solid middle-class jobs, while building the underpinnings of greater growth, productivity and better jobs in the future. The returns will flow for generations to come.
Support for taking a quantum leap forward on infrastructure is universal. It comes from the G20 and the IMF globally, from the Bank of Canada, and the Premiers, Municipal governments, every major think-tank (including Canada 2020), every major business and labour organization, even the federal Department of Finance!
In their own budget plans, Finance Canada points out that investments in public infrastructure are the single most cost-effective and immediate way to promote jobs and growth — more effective than any other technique, including tax cuts. But this government has chopped it’s flagship “Building Canada Fund” by a whopping by 87%. Sure, they claim to have a 10-year plan, but three-quarters of the money is totally hypothetical until after 2019. And with a deliberately obscure application process, they missed almost all of last year’s construction season — on purpose. To avoid investing. To save the space for Income Splitting for the wealthy. It’s so wrong-headed.
Every dollar into roads, water or transit brings growth of $1.20. A dollar into affordable housing brings growth of a $1.40. A billion dollars into infrastructure stimulates 16,000 person-years of good employment. And it will continue to pay dividends, because we’ll lay the foundation for a more successful and prosperous country for years to come — one that’s more resilient, both economically and environmentally.
A similar argument can be made for investments in higher learning and advanced skills — our intellectual “infrastructure”. Right now, just over 50% of Canadians have some level of post-secondary education — that includes universities, colleges, polytechnics, apprenticeships, on-the-job up-skilling, the whole gamut. And that’s good. But 70% of all the new jobs of this coming decade will require skills beyond high school. Not 50% — 70%!
Urgently, we need to close that gap. The challenge is especially large for Aboriginal young people (they’re the fastest growing segment of our population), and new Canadians, children in low income families, adults with literacy limitations, those living with disabilities and others who have been marginalized.
We need a far more inclusive workforce. We need a culture of lifelong learning. And that means tearing down the barriers that block the way to greater Canadian brainpower. Couple that with our capacity for scientific research, new technology and innovation.
This didn’t used to be a sore point for Canada. According to the OECD, we used rank in the “top-ten” countries for total investments in R&D. Not anymore. Under the Harper government, we fell back. Among OECD countries the average total investment in R&D comes to about 2.4% of GDP. Canada has dropped to 1.6%. We invested less in 2012 than we did in 2004. Programs and facilities have been closed. Scientists have been fired and muzzled.
We can and we must do better — both in government and the private sector.
And in addition to what can be achieved by applied science driven by the private sector, we need to rebuild federal support for curiosity-based, pure science and discovery once again. It’s all about brainpower, the creation and dissemination of new knowledge, to maximize our utilization of the best new ideas, to be a smart economy, poised for growth, based on science and facts, not the prejudice of ideology.
There’s more to come. The ideas I’ve offered this morning are just a beginning. But the point is this:
When we cast off the mediocrity of this past “diminished decade”,when we regain our ability to be ambitious and hopeful, when we treat each other fairly, when we work together around a common vision of what we have the capacity to achieve, Canadians can accomplish great things.
One thing is clear. Canada needs a new plan for the economy. One that’s fairly built around the middle-class and all those working hard to get there. One that’s focused on growth, both today and tomorrow. One that restores confidence among Canadians that their children and grandchildren will always be able to do better than the generation before.
Canadians are ready to embrace change. With his plan and his team, Justin Trudeau is ready to provide the opportunity.
I thank you.The arrival of Apple Music brought an update for iTunes on the desktop and while the iOS Music app has plenty of UI/UX quirks that need to be ironed out, it’s the old war horse that’s really struggling.
It’s hardly a new complaint, but the reality is iTunes sucks. It’s the most embarrassing part of Apple’s software suite, a roach motel for half-thought out features, a Hotel California for your media library.
Where iOS has separate apps for music, video and podcasts, iTunes persists in trying to serve all of those mediums well, while also acting as a storefront and hub for your devices.
Rather than write a lengthy essay on all the problems with iTunes, I’ve made this GIF guide to the biggest issues:
1. The ‘hotdog’ menu
Lots of apps use the ‘hamburger’ menu, iTunes has what I like to think of as the ‘hotdog’ menu, the row of three dots which Apple has tried to stuff with far too many toppings.
Podcasts, iTunes U, Audiobooks, Apps, Tones and Internet Radio used to have their own space in the left hand column. Now they’re relegated to the ‘hotdog’, turning one click into three.
With podcasts growing in popularity, it seems antithetical for Apple to hide them away in iTunes. Especially as it gives them lots of space in the iTunes Store. Meanwhile, Internet Radio should be folded into the new ‘Radio’ section.
The many faces of your music
iTunes can’t decide how to show your music library, so it gives you a handful of different options, each of them with a different layout. It’s just one of many parts of the software that could be simplified.
The status of songs and albums in your collection isn’t well presented either. Occasionally you’ll come across songs that are in the cloud and greyed out, but iTunes doesn’t tell you why that is or what you can do about it.
Everything about Connect
Connect is like a vestigial tail, theoretically useful but ultimately just there for decoration. Like Ping before it, it’s Apple’s attempt to implant a social network into iTunes. It’s unlikely to be any more successful.
Despite getting its own top menu item, Connect feels like an afterthought. The number of shares and likes on posts by big artists suggests users feel the same way. Loren Kramar probably digs it though.
If you actually want to share a post on Twitter or Facebook, what Apple actually delivers is a hunk of unappealing garbage:
When musicians already have extensive followings on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and beyond, it remains hard to see why they or their fans would bother with Connect.
@brokenbottleboy @MartinSFP The only useful thing I can add to this is that if you go to Prefs > Parental you can disable Connect — Peter Robinson (@Popjustice) July 8, 2015
Playlists are a mess
In Apple Music, your personal playlists and the ones recommended to you by Apple live in the same place. That makes sense. In iTunes, they’re split between two separate menu items with distinct visual styles.
You’ll also find more ‘curated’ playlists hidden below the fold in the ‘New’ section.
The entire execution is clumsy and highlights the app’s biggest problem: Every feature is either replicated or over-complicated. Nothing “just works.”
Now we have ‘New’, what is the iTunes Store for?
If you’re an Apple Music subscriber, the existence of the iTunes Store tab in the app is going to become more and more irrelevant. With so much music available to stream integrated fairly seamlessly into your library, buying songs becomes even less appealing than it was before.
Tracks that aren’t available to stream on Apple Music could be shown to purchase in the ‘New’ screen which Apple has added to iTunes. For users who don’t subscribe to the streaming service, that tab could serve in place of the current iTunes Store.
Of course, Movies and TV still need that iTunes Store tie-in, but I’d argue that they should exist in their own, separate and fully redesigned app.
Similarly, the App Store should have a desktop home just as the Mac App Store does – perhaps part of a new app combining the two.
Oh, and I left the slow transition between the ‘New’ and ‘iTunes Store’ tabs in the GIF above to illustrate another issue with iTunes: It’s so goddamn slow.
Details, details, details
iTunes is just not smart enough. A button like “show related” should offer up other songs in your library that are like the album you’re currently looking at, not simply serve up more songs you can buy.
Apple Music’s recommendations are excellent, but right now they’re best delivered on the mobile app. On iTunes, they don’t feel well-integrated at all.
Similarly, thinks like starring songs to rate how much you enjoy them or the new ‘heart’ function are unclear for users. How do they affect what tracks get served up to you by shuffle or Genius? Hearts from iOS don’t transfer to iTunes with any consistency either.
This is all without getting into the potential for iCloud Music Library to entirely screw up your carefully tagged and edited music library or how managing the music on your phone or iPad has become progressively harder.
I like Apple Music a lot and have found Beats 1 to be a really good station that throws up plenty of new music I want to hear again. iTunes looks even more embarrassing in that context. It’s dragging the good work down.
I know I’ve missed a lot of things that don’t work well in iTunes. Let me know your biggest bugbears in the comments and I’ll add the best of the worst to this guide.
Read next: Confused by Apple Music? Read this
Read next: Google is facing a fight over Americans' 'right to be forgotten'Some BYU fans are happy with the re-hiring of Robert Anae as BYU offensive coordinator. Brandon Doman's offense sputtered, even to the point of nearly wasting the best BYU defense in school history.
Others aren't so thrilled. They remember the frustration of losing big games to good defensive coordinators, and feel this is a step backwards. BYU's offense wasn't that great under Anae, it was just carried by two smart QBs and the program's all-time best running back, receiver, and tight end.
What do the numbers say about the BYU offense under Anae: Here's a statistical look at his tenure from 2005-10, as well as the numbers under Doman for whatever comparison purposes you might find useful.
I have included the straight statistical numbers and rankings, as well as the S&P rating from Football Outsiders. S&P factors in the strength of the opponent's defense, how BYU should have fared against said defenses, and throws out garbage-time stats when games are out of hand.
(Apologies for not having the straight stat rankings for 2005-06. 2006 was a good offensive year, too.)
YEAR STATS S&P RANK RUSH PASS TOTAL POINTS RUSH PASS TOTAL YPG Rank YPG Rank YPG Rank PPG Rank 2005 152.3 310.1 462.4 33.0 13 29 18 2006 141.9 323.6 465.5 36.8 8 2 4 2007 144.4 67 298.4 14 442.8 25 30.1 47 21 10 14 2008 134.4 70 310.4 6 444.8 16 34.2 20 22 10 8 2009 145.7 63 281.5 17 427.2 21 35.5 11 32 3 6 2010 168.1 42 198.4 76 366.5 73 26.2 70 70 86 80 DOMAN 2011 160.3 57 245.4 47 405.7 41 30.1 42 53 53 55 2012 153.2 66 247.2 51 400.4 61 28.7 65 53 37 44
In 3 of Anae's 6 seasons, BYU had a top-10 offense according to the advanced stats of Football Outsiders, and in 5 of 6 it was top-20.
Some discussion on Twitter centered around Anae's ability to keep QBs healthy compared to the last two seasons. So for information, I thought it would be good to compare sacks allowed. While sacks aren't the sole factor in QB injury, it's still interesting to view the comparison.
[Year: sacks allowed per game, (national rank)]
ANAE
2007: 1.54 (34)
2008: 1.54 (36)
2009: 1.77 (54)
2010: 1.62 (42)
DOMAN
2011: 1.31 (27)
2012: 2.31 (85)
So 2012 was a historically bad year for giving up sacks, while a Riley Nelson sans broken back helped avoid a lot of sacks in 2011, I'd say. Anae's offenses, while not spotless, were fairly consistent in keeping the QB clean.The Dakota Access pipeline threatens to destroy our sacred ground. I am defending the land and water of my people, as my ancestors did before me
Our elders have told us that if the zuzeca sape, the black snake, comes across our land, our world will end. Zuzeca has come – in the form of the Dakota Access pipeline – and so I must fight.
I am Sicangu/Oglala Lakota, born in Rosebud, South Dakota, and writing from the frontline of the movement against the pipeline in Cannon Ball. I have been holding this ground with my Standing Rock Sioux tribe relatives since the spring. I am defending the land and water of my people, as my ancestors did before me.
The $3.8bn pipeline project is proposed to carry approximately 470,000 barrels per day of fracked oil from our Bakken oil fields, 1,172 miles through the country’s heartland, to Illinois. The pipeline will cross the confluence of the Cannonball and Missouri rivers, where it threatens to contaminate our primary source of drinking water and damage the bordering Indigenous burial grounds, historic villages and sundance sites that surround the area in all directions. Those sites that were not desecrated when the area was flooded in 1948 by the construction of the Oahe dam are now in danger again.
I have seen where their machines clawed through the earth that once held my relatives’ villages
This week, I have witnessed pipeline construction tear its way toward the waters of the Missouri river which flow into the Mississippi, threatening to pollute the aquifer that carries drinking water to 10 million people. I have seen where their machines clawed through the earth that once held my relatives’ villages. I have watched law enforcement officials protect the oil industry by dragging away my indigenous brothers and sisters who stood up for our people.
The fact that Energy Transfer Partners, the company behind the pipeline, would use the word “Dakota”, which means “friend” or “ally”, in the name of its project is disrespectful. This pipeline is a direct threat to all Dakota, Lakota and Nakota people, especially our future generations. And we are not the only ones. We know that burning this oil is changing our climate and Indigenous people all over the world are bearing the brunt of the catastrophes that causes.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Tribune police arrested several people protesting the Dakota Access pipeline on a newly constructed roadway to be used in building the pipeline. Photograph: Tom Stromme/AP
This pipeline poses threats strikingly similar to those posed by the now defeated Keystone XL, but has received a fraction of the attention from mainstream media and big environmental groups. On 26 July, we were surprised to learn that the North Dakota permits were approved by the US Army Corps of Engineers to run the pipeline within a half-mile of our reservation. My tribal leaders have said that this done without consulting tribal governments, and without a meaningful study of the impacts it will have. This is a violation of federal law and, more importantly, of our treaties with the US government – the supreme law of the land.
It was my Ina, my mother, who first told me of this struggle. With my Ina, ciye (older brother), and tunwin (aunt) we have joined our Standing Rock relatives to face this new storm. For the past month, we have stood with Standing Rock in solidarity, we have prayed, we have cried, and we have also laughed, even when we thought it impossible to do so.
I never thought I would be on the frontline of a fight like this. I grew up admiring Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, and my ancestor American Horse, for their courage and leadership in battle against their oppressors. Now I am fighting alongside their descendants, my relatives from all seven tribes, against the very same oppressors.
It saddens me that the government time and time again continues to ravage my people with the same treatment and attitude, only different weapons. But why should be surprised? This is the definition of insanity – to go through the same situations over and over believing the outcome will be different.
North Dakota pipeline protesters 'jumped fences' to stop work on Indigenous site Read more
This camp was created as a last defense for the water that our communities depend on to survive. I have watched our numbers dwindle down to the single digits, and now we have swelled to over 300 people in just a few days. Hundreds more are on the way right now, as other tribes gather resources to send people and supplies.
This historic battle is bringing the Oceti Sakowin together like nothing has ever before. The Hunkpapa, the tribal band of Standing Rock, are now joined by the Oglala from Pine Ridge, the Sicangu from Rosebud, and relatives from Crow Creek, Cheyenne River, and Yankton, as well as Dine and Ponca relatives from the south, Ojibwe relatives from the Great Lakes, and countless others. From all across the country, tribes are bringing us shelter, food and most importantly, prayers.
To have all this unity of tribes standing together in solidarity before my eyes is a beautiful sight. Our tribes now live together, eat together, and pray together on the front lines.
We are not protesters. We are protectors. We are peacefully defending our land and our ways of life. We are standing together in prayer, and fighting for what is right. We are making history here. We invite you to stand with us in defiance of the black snake.Megyn Kelly hosts 'The Kelly File' on March 18, 2016. (Fox News)
Colleagues of Fox News Channel anchor Megyn Kelly are reportedly angry that she has not spoken up in defense of network CEO Roger Ailes, who has been accused of sexual harassment.
Lloyd Grove at the Daily Beast said Thursday that “frustration and anger” are building up behind the scenes that one of the network’s biggest stars has so far kept mum regarding the allegations of Ailes’ sexual harassment of women — some of which date back decades.
“Megyn is being selfish,” sniped one Fox News insider who would only speak anonymously. “It’s pretty shocking actually.”
A number of women currently employed by Fox News have come forward to defend the 74-year-old Ailes — a former aide to President Richard Nixon who started Fox News in the 1990s.
Former Fox host Gretchen Carlson filed suit against Ailes earlier this month alleging that he demanded that she perform sexual favors if she wanted to be successful at the network. Carlson has described a pervasive climate of sexism at Fox News and a work environment that is both overtly and covertly hostile to women.
Carlson’s legal team has been contacted by more than 10 other women, all of whom say that Ailes or others at the network attempted to coerce them into performing sexual acts, made lewd and degrading remarks or touched them inappropriately.
Kelly is one of Ailes’ longtime proteges. She began at the network 12 years ago and has been on a steady upward trajectory since that time. She currently is estimated to make around $15 million per year as the host of The Kelly File, one of Fox’s most successful shows.
Some observers believe that Kelly is being smart, staying above the fray in order to make herself more appealing to other media companies that could hire her when her Fox contract comes up for renewal next summer. Others argue that the anchor is keeping her silence to avoid potential accusations of conflicts of interest.
Any personnel at the network who have worked with Carlson or Ailes could be deposed in Carlson’s suit or interviewed as part of an internal review being conducted by law firm Paul Weiss.
“Sometimes keeping your own counsel is the right thing to do, as long as you’re not being pressured to jump on the boss’s bandwagon and be rah-rah,” said one Kelly ally to Grove. “Just go about your work, maintain your equilibrium, and be quiet. Megyn is the most visible star on the network, so keeping her head down is probably just fine.”
“No one’s expecting her to come out and defend him like some of these other people have,” said another source, “but just some sign of appreciation for the man who gave her the opportunity would suggest that she’s not just out for herself.”
Grove’s Fox News insider noted that Ailes and the network defended Kelly when she was under fire from presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump.
“Here you have a leading presidential candidate getting into a fight with her, and the network stands up for her, cancels a debate, and sticks by her with a whole bunch of drama on her behalf,” they said. “Now Roger’s got a problem, and every other woman in the entire place stands up for him except her. What’s that about?”
Women at Fox News like Greta Van Susteren, Maria Bartiromo, Ainsley Earhardt and Harris Faulkner have all offered full-throated defenses of Ailes, as have Bill O’Reilly, Geraldo Rivera, Brett Baier and Neil Cavuto.
Grove’s Fox source wondered if Kelly is standing on the sidelines in the back-and-forth between “Team Carlson and Team Ailes” in order to burnish her credibility as a feminist.
“I can only guess that she wishes to be a feminist icon and doesn’t want to be on the wrong side of it,” said the insider. “My impression is she doesn’t want to be on the opposite side of a woman, period. She really believes that she’s plowing new ground for girls and women. It’s ‘I am cable-show host, hear me roar.’”If anyone expected that all the belated attention to Donald Trump's overwhelming number of potential conflicts of interest would result in some soul-searching about his assurances that he "couldn’t care less" about his business and that his kids will run its day-to-day affairs in a "blind trust," their hopes have been dashed so far.
Trump says he will announce some kind of arrangement on Dec. 15, which most people expect to be the official handing over of the reins of his company to his three oldest children, Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric. This will not be sufficient — not even close.
Law professor Laurence Tribe appeared on MSNBC over the past weekend and gave a clear explanation of why Trump is in violation of the Constitution:
It’s called the emoluments clause, and it basically says no officer of the United States can be on the receiving end of any kind of benefit, economic benefit, payment, gift, profit, whatever, from a foreign government or its corporations or agents.... In this case Donald Jr. or Ivanka or Eric — then there would be a close relationship that could never be disentangled by the American public.
He’s a constant emolument magnet. He thinks of himself as a babe magnet, but he’s an emoluments magnet. And all around the world everybody wants to go to his hotels and not the competitors, and wants to give him a variance or a special land use permit and there’s simply no way short of absolutely liquidating all of his cash and assets into a blind trust and not handed over to his kids. No way short of that prevents him from being a walking, talking violation of the Constitution from the moment he takes the oath.
Actually, it's a little late for that. Imagine Trump trying to sell his business while he's acting as president. It would make the current freak show look like a church service. He should have done it before he ever ran for office.
Trump does not seem inclined to liquidate his business. (Indeed, if he were to say he was going to sell it, this would probably signal that he's been replaced by a cyborg.) But even that wouldn't solve his problem. His most valuable lieutenant, his 35-year-old son-in-law, Jared Kushner, would have to agree to do the same thing. Like 90 percent of Trump's inner circle, Kushner is a multimillionaire, too.
So far it seems that Trump believes he can avoid the normal nepotism and conflict-of-interest rules by not naming Kushner to any official post even as he serves as a high-level adviser. That won't work either. Kushner owns hundreds of buildings and owes hundreds of millions of dollars in loans to banks all over the world. His businesses will be affected in dozens of ways by government regulations over which he would have an outsized influence.
As a scathing Vox profile by Kushner's Harvard classmate Matthew Yglesias shows, Ivanka's husband is a lot like his father-in-law and similarly has something to prove:
[He] took all the appropriate steps to become a pillar of Northeastern society — get a Harvard degree, own a small but beloved media outlet, donate to local Democratic Party elected officials, marry a society wife — but ended up being a laughingstock, with his intelligence publicly mocked and his dad in jail and humiliated for a particularly sleazy crime.
These people do not think the normal rules apply to them and so far there's no reason to believe that any members of the Trump or Kushner family plan to sacrifice anything in order to serve the public. In fact, all the evidence shows they plan to take full advantage of their connections. Just this past weekend a New York Times report surfaced that when Ivanka met with the Japanese prime minister her company was in intense negotiations with a major Japanese retailer, which is partially owned by the Japanese government. They're just going for it.
If anyone thought that Ivanka might be less available to meet with foreign dignitaries to press her business interests in the White House once her dad turns over the business to the three siblings, that's probably not going to work out either. She and Kushner are, according to news reports, planning to move to Washington, which would suggest the businesses must be moving with them.
When The Wall Street Journal asked whether Kushner planned to divest himself of his holdings, the following comment was furnished: "If Jared were to serve in some capacity in the new administration, Kushner Companies would put a rigorous process in place to ensure that no conflicts exist.” Evidently, the American people are supposed to feel reassured that his privately held companies will not take advantage of any special knowledge or influence he might have. (And if they do benefit from that situation, Kushner can always explain it the way Trump did when asked why he didn't pay any income taxes for more than 15 years: "Because I'm smart.")
Here's one thing we know for sure: The Republicans have had a dramatic change of heart about conflicts of interest virtually overnight. The Sunday before the election Newt Gingrich appeared on "Meet the Press" and proclaimed:
Every foreign gift, every foreign speech — Senator or Secretary of State, everyone, no, it's not a big charge, it's the U.S. Constitution. There's a section in the Constitution called the emoluments clause, it says, "No one, nor their spouse can take money from foreigners.... I think the real corruption is the lack of the media being willing to be honest about how much lawlessness the Clintons stand for and how much they have ripped off the American people.
He repeated that charge numerous times throughout the course of the campaign and his claims were rated mostly false by Politifact.
Here's what Gingrich has to say now, quoted at length in a Politico article headlined, "GOP wagers Americans don’t care about Trump’s conflicts":
This is a great test case between the pre-Trump and post-Trump worlds. In a pre-Trump world dominated by left-wing ideas, anyone successful is inherently dangerous and should be punished for trying to serve the country. The American people knowingly voted for a businessman whose name is inextricably tied to his fortune.... I’d say to the left wing, get over it.
The central problem we are facing in this new reality isn't how we deal with an administration's monumental conflicts of interest. It's how we deal with a political party's mind-boggling shamelessness.Matt Wild (from left), Erin Frank and Josh Hoppert look at the latest edition of The Onion in the satirical weekly’s Milwaukee offices. The Onion publishes its last print edition Dec. 12. Credit: Rick Wood
SHARE
By of the
Of course a staff member of the Onion would crack a joke about the satirical paper's final print issue on Dec. 12.
"When the Madison Onion closed down last year, the editors there ran a piece that called for a city riot," said Matt Wild, city editor since 2011 for the Onion and its local arts and entertainment section and website A.V. Club Milwaukee. "I will be making a special request of the city that hopefully will not be quite as illegal."
The Onion, born in Madison 25 years ago, had been a fixture in bars, clubs, restaurants and on street corners in Milwaukee the past 20 years, and had been producing original local content for the past decade.
A trio of free parties, beginning Friday and ending Dec. 12, should ease the pain of its demise.
In recent years, Chicago-based parent Onion Inc. was franchising out its print editions and local entertainment publications, while maintaining ownership of the Milwaukee operation.
"It began to serve as an example of how to efficiently run a local print edition," said Milwaukee Sales Manager Erin Frank.
At one point, the Onion had as many as 17 print editions around the country. But franchisees cut costs, eliminating local content and lumping the Onion with more straightforward print offerings in advertising presentations, Frank said, and editions started folding.
The paper is actually still profitable in Milwaukee, Frank said, but at headquarters, "the focus was more and more on national and digital....It's like if Buzzfeed or Slate had just one newspaper in Omaha. It would be weird."
Two other remaining print editions, in Chicago and Providence, R.I., will distribute final issues Dec. 12. But the loss is most substantial in Milwaukee, the last market with original local content.
"It was one of the centers of my universe as far as staying in touch with what's going on," said Tom Crawford, station manager for WMSE-FM (91.7). For six hours after posting news of its demise Nov. 8, Wild said he received a flood of emails, tweets and Facebook messages.
"The way people have been talking about it, it was like someone close to them had died," Wild said.
Features like "Drinking our way through Milwaukee's airport (and airport-themed) bars," and "A brief history of the Minnesota Vikings poaching from the Green Bay Packers" gave A.V. Club Milwaukee its cheeky, original personality.
Opinion pieces, like criticism of the Creational Trails art project and a scathing rebuttal to a UWM Post editorial about Milwaukee being a "musical wasteland," gave it an edge.
But it was perhaps best loved for its local music content, from its curated calendar section, to comprehensive reviews of local albums, to blog posts spotlighting new Milwaukee music videos.
It provided copious byline opportunities for aspiring music journalists, and became a go-to advertising source for practically all the music venues in town.
Wild teases that he's working on "a new worthy successor to A.V. Club Milwaukee"; he hopes to share more details later this month.
Until then, he's going to focus on the final issue and partying about town at three free farewell events at G-Daddy's BBC on Friday, Turner Hall Ballroom on Tuesday and Mad Planet Dec. 12.
ONION FAREWELL PARTIES
Here's the info on the Onion's three free farewell parties:
What: The Onion Must Go! Swag Sale & Party
When: 5 p.m. Friday
Where: G-Daddy's BBC, 2022 E. North Ave.
Special features: Performances by Myles Coyne and the Rusty Nickel Band and God's Outlaw; $1 donation suggestions for each piece of Onion merchandise and memorabilia (all proceeds go to Hope House of Milwaukee and the Milwaukee Press Club Endowment); happy hour, fish fry and Lakefront Brewery drink specials.
What: A Farewell Celebration to The Onion/A.V. Club and 88Nine Program Director Mark Keefe
When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday
Where:Turner Hall Ballroom, 1040 N. 4th St.
Special features: Performances by JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound, Kane Place Record Club and Vic & Gab.
What: The Onion Final Edition Release Party
When: 8 p.m. Dec. 12
Where:Mad Planet, 533 E. Center St.
Special features: DJ sets by Kiings, Steve Marxx and A.V. Club staff members
Facebook: fb.me/piet.levy.18
Twitter: twitter.com/pietlevyStatus last updated 12 April 2018.
Overview [ edit ]
A Wikipedia Book is an organized collection of Wikipedia articles that can be rendered electronically in PDF format, or ordered from an associate publisher as a printed book. The book is compiled afresh each time it is downloaded or ordered, so will always reflect the latest versions of the articles. (Some content temporarily struck out).
Each book has its own Wikipedia page, which contains a Contents list of the articles included in it together with formatting metadata. You can create a book as a sub-page in your own user space, or as a community book in the Book: namespace. Once completed, a book can be uploaded to the independent company PediaPress, where print-on |
0.00
I mention this card only because if I didn't, someone would ask why, and then I'd respond that I don't like it. So there: I don't like this card. It costs 9-mana and is situational. Clone Legion has nothing on Rite of Replication. "But Narset, Enlightened Master!" Sorry, she can do much better. Hate away!
$ 0.00 $ 0.00
Opportunity with added bonus if you're running dragons. The bonus is nice, but I wouldn't run this because I'm running dragons, but rather because I want to run Opportunity, which itself is a sweet card.
$ 0.00 $ 0.00
A sweet card that is very abusable in Commander. Note that you don't have to deal combat damage to a player — just combat damage — so being chump blocked doesn't stop the trigger from happening. It's very good at casting a giant spell at a discount — Enter the Infinite, anyone? But you don't need to exile a giant spell to get value. Living Lore's body is its biggest asset. U/B/R decks have the best tools to abuse it, with Black adding reanimation and Red adding Haste. It can do serious work with Marchesa, the Black Rose, dying only to come back to do it again, or Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge, since she usually packs tons of splashy instants/sorceries. You can also take advantage of "copy, give haste, exile at end of turn" effects that red loves, like Feldon of the Third Path and Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker.
$ 0.00 $ 0.00
Value! A mere two-mana for a repeatable clone effect is sweet indeed. Not sure how best to abuse this card yet, but I'm sure some of you folks can think of devious combos with this.
$ 0.00 $ 0.00
One-sided creature "wipes" are extremely powerful, especially in Blue. Great at resetting the board and killing tokens. As I mentioned with Living Lore, being a creature is a big asset to many decks that can abuse creatures, such as Marchesa, the Black Rose. I can see those decks loving Profaner of the Dead.
$ 0.00 $ 0.00
If you like Willbender, you may also like this card. Same mana investment, situational benefit, not a wizard (sorry Azami), but better stats. I will run her in my Zedruu the Greathearted deck, where I can use her ability and then donate the body away to draw cards.
$ 0.00 $ 0.00
Cards with free untap triggers always grab my attention. It makes me think of broken things like Earthcraft. I'm sure there's degenerate combos to abuse Zephyr Scribe, or at least there will be. Definitely a card to keep an eye on.
Black
$ 0.00 $ 0.00
Not bad! I appreciate the option of killing opponents lategame with this. I still prefer Promise of Power, but if you want another big card draw spell in your Black deck, this is a strong choice.
$ 0.00 $ 0.00
I'm a fan of Black's giant creature wipes: Reiver Demon, Dread Cacodemon, Necromantic Selection, Plague Wind, etc. They all have their ups and downs, but in a Mono Black Control deck that generates tons of mana off Cabal Coffers and similar effects, the casting cost isn't a big obstacle. I also don't see the "five or more other creatures" clause to be restrictive; realistically, that's when you want to board wipe anyway. Not an issue for your traditional 4-player Commander games. I'd definitely recommend this for big mana decks.
$ 0.00 $ 0.00
I'm a big advocate for more graveyard removal in Commander. In this format, 99% of decks out there are using their graveyard as a resource to some degree, from graveyard-themed decks like Karador, Ghost Chieftan to the random White deck that runs Sun Titan for value. The problem (for me at least) is that most graveyard removal isn't sexy — they don't do any snazzy stuff other than exile graves. The best ones, like Relic of Progenitus, draw you a card at least. Boring.
Then we get this beauty. I love that it's a graveyard removal card that also does sweet things. At 7 mana, it's certainly too steep a cost, but I love the design.
$ 0.00 $ 0.00
Sidisi, Undead Vizier is an amazing new inclusion to many creature-heavy Black decks. She's decent enough just casting her and eating a minion like Solemn Simulacrum, but the real power comes from abusing her with reanimation and bounce/blink effects. I've already mentioned her, but Marchesa, the Black Rose immediately comes to mind again. Honestly, tons of Black decks use reanimation tactics, so finding a deck to play new Sidisi won't be hard at all.
What I personally am most excited about is the fact that she's a zombie. One of my favorite deck happens to be a tribal zombie list, and the thought of casting Demonic Tutor for free with Rooftop Storm has me salivating!
Red
$ 0.00 $ 0.00
An alright way to upgrade an army of weenie tokens into something much more intimidating, while also dealing with the scariest enemy creatures at the same time. The real draw, however, is the Dragon subtype, which will make this more appealing in dragon tribal decks. Turning ten 1/1 tokens into 4/4 dragons with, say, Dragon Tempest in play is a stylish, yet also reasonable way to win.
$ 0.00 $ 0.00
I've never played with Rage Reflection, but if that's a card you like, you may also like Berserkers' Onslaught. If you're playing these type of cards you probably don't plan to be blocking much anyway.
$ 0.00 $ 0.00
One of the best new cards for dragon tribal. The two triggered abilities are amazing, and the enchantment is only 2-mana! A must-have for dragon lovers.
$ 0.00 $ 0.00
I've recently mentioned this card in my Budget Melek article. In decks with bomby instants/sorceries, this card acts like a cheaper Red Plague Wind and Call to Mind combined, which is amazing. Melek, Izzet Paragon, Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourage, and others will love this card.
$ 0.00 $ 0.00
Dragons are expensive. Most dragon tribal decks will focus on cheating the fatties into play, but you'll also want ramp to cast them the old-fashioned way. Dragonlord's Servant fits that role admirably, along with his bigger brother, Dragonspeaker Shaman.
$ 0.00 $ 0.00
Dragon tribal decks got a sweet tutor.
Green
$ 0.00 $ 0.00
A mix between Somberwald Sage and Biorhythmn makes for an interesting card. The latter card is banned in Commander, so Shaman of Forgotten Way's Formidable activation should catch your eye. I don't think it's unreasonable for Green decks to have both the creatures and the mana to activate it. Early on it's a worse Somberwald Sage, but with a built-in win condition so it should see more play.
$ 0.00 $ 0.00
Doran, the Siege Tower will like this enchantment as a backup to the general. That's about it.
$ 0.00 $ 0.00
This card has to be absurd, right? Cheat up to two creatures into play from your library, at instant speed, for only four mana?? What?! Granted, you'll need to run a ton of creatures with a mana cost 3 or less, which is a heavy restriciton (especially in Commander), but we do have ways to stack our library, such as Scroll Rack.
I dunno. I'm in awe of this card. Maybe in Standard, or Modern? Wow. I'm shocked it's sitting at only $4 as I type this.
$ 0.00 $ 0.00
Foe-Razer Regent makes me want to create a fight-heavy deck and call it Fight Club. I'd go on, but I'm not allowed to talk about it. I feel the casting cost is a bit too steep, or at least it should come with a bigger body like Gruul Ragebeast.
$ 0.00 $ 0.00
+1/+1 counter decks are getting some very real support in DTK. I'm not sure how good this card will be in practice, but all my decks pack a ton of card draw, so I'm guessing this will be a very efficient source of counters. Perfect for Skullbriar, the Walking Grave and other +1/+1 counter decks.
$ 0.00 $ 0.00
Okay, THIS is the best new toy for +1/+1 counter decks. Card draw AND board resilience in the face of a board wipe, all for a very reasonable 3-mana. Excellent, excellent card. I can't wait to play this!
Multi-Color
$ 0.00 $ 0.00
Dragonlord Dromoka is Grand Abolisher attached to a battlecruiser body. That's good, but the casting cost is still pretty steep for a general. Dromoka may better serve as part of the 99, possibly amongst Captain Sisay's legendary posse when you need to flip off a Blue opponent.
$ 0.00 $ 0.00
Cheap, flexible, and lots of chances for a nice 2-for-1. I expect the enchantment sacrifice and fight modes will be the most used. That's a lot of goodness for a mere 2 mana!
$ 0.00 $ 0.00
Dragonlord Ojutai is a sweet card advantage engine that can works fine both as part of the 99 or as your general. He really wants vigilance, or you could just slap on Lightning Greaves instead. Not a particularly exciting card, nor game-breaking — just good value.
$ 0.00 $ 0.00
A deck packed with instants/sorceries and topdeck manipulation like Sensei's Divining Top and Scroll Rack will enjoy Narset Transcendant as a fair, but powerful value engine.
A Superfriends deck that plays her with Doubling Season out to immediately ultimate will have opponents flipping tables.
You know what you must do.
$ 0.00 $ 0.00
If you are lucky enough to counter a spell and return a creature to play, then Ojutai's Command is very sweet. The other two modes though are kinda meh though.
$ 0.00 $ 0.00
Great for token decks, but unlike Ogre Battledriver, doesn't grant haste! No haste makes Boltwing Marauder significantly worse, but if you're already packing multiple sources of haste in your deck, it's a fine addition alongside the Battledriver.
$ 0.00 $ 0.00
All modes are playable in Commander, making it a fine card at 3-mana.
$ 0.00 $ 0.00
Move over Bogardan Hellkite! Dragonloard Atarka is bigger and better. While she can be a general, I think her true calling is part of the 99 in fatty decks such as Mayael the Anima and, my favorite, Xenagos, God of Revels.
$ 0.00 $ 0.00
Holy balls. This beauty is savage value all by itself, but then there's its synergy with extra combat steps, most notable its infinite combo with Aggravated Assault. Xenagos, God of Revels decks just got even nastier.
By the way, if you haven't picked up a copy of Assault yet, do it sooner rather than later. The card spiked like crazy with the huge popularity of Narset, Enlightened Master, and now with Gruul players wanting it even more, you can be sure it'll keep skyrocketing up.
$ 0.00 $ 0.00
Finally, a good dragon tribal land! All multi-color tribal dragon decks will love this, especially Scion of the Ur-Dragon.
Top 5 Most Exciting Cards
Anafenza and Ventmaw get the nod for enabling new infinite combos. I anticipate both will see a lot of play in decks like Karador, Ghost Chieftan and Xenagos, God of Revels that are looking for more easy win conditions.
Sidisi has the potential to see a lot of play all over the place. There are a ton of Black creature sacrifice decks out there: Karador, Ghost Chieftan, Marchesa, the Black Rose, Chainer, Dementia Master, the list goes on and on. Because of this, I think Sidisi will see the most play out of all the new cards.
Atarka should be replacing Bogardan Hellkite in every Gruul deck, most notably Xenagod.
Secure the Wastes is one of the most powerful new cards and will be a major player in token decks. I don't expect to see it too often, however, because token decks (at least on Magic Online) aren't too popular.
That's All, Folks!
Next up will be another Budget Commander article. I've been getting a few requests for a budget Scion of the Ur-Dragon list but I'm not satisfied with what I've got yet. Until that's sorted out, I'll have for you a different dragon-infused deck, possibly Jhoira of the Ghitu or an updated Xenagos, God of Revels.
Follow me on Twitter @BudgetCommander for notifications on when the next article is up, updates on future decks, and input for what to work on next. Thanks for reading!McDonald’s and Pizza Hut just joined a club once reserved for smoke shops and sex stores: This week, London Mayor Sadiq Khan announced a plan to ban them -- and all fast-food joints -- from opening near London schools.
Effective fall 2019, the policy would block new fast-food restaurants from setting up shop within a quarter-mile of primary and secondary schools. It would also require all new fast-food outlets to adhere to minimum nutrition rules.
[The one way fast food may actually be ‘good’ for you]
The plan comes at a time of mounting global concern about the link between fast food and childhood obesity: The latter has reached epidemic proportions in many countries, and studies have found that salty, greasy restaurant diets are, in large part, to blame. That realization has spurred a desperate search for policy initiatives that can persuade children, and their parents, to eat more healthfully.
As the first major city to propose such a ban, London could well inspire similar policies elsewhere.
“It sets a precedent,” said Ben Winig, the vice president of law and policy at the U.S.-based nonprofit ChangeLab Solutions. “As public health and planning become more intertwined, I think we’ll see more cities use zoning as a public health solution.”
According to Winig and many others in public health, the need to address childhood obesity has never been more urgent. In both the United States and the United Kingdom, about one in five 11-year-olds is obese -- which makes them far more likely to develop conditions such as diabetes and heart disease as adults.
Researchers have blamed the epidemic on diets rich in processed, high-calorie foods, which contain far too many calories and not enough fruits and vegetables. Fast food contributes to those poor diets: One 2009 study in the American Journal of Public Health, found that students who go to school within walking distance of a fast-food outlet drink more soda, eat fewer fruits and vegetables, and are more likely to be overweight than students who do not.
Findings like that one have fueled calls for policies like fast-food bans near schools or “healthy food zones.” In the United Kingdom, the cities of Newcastle and Halston have adopted bans already, and Charlotte and Austin also have floated their own school fast-food bans.
London, however, is by far the largest city to begin a fast-food ban of this kind.
Proposed as part of a periodic city planning initiative, the policy will go into effect after a two-year comment period, according to a spokesperson for the mayor’s office.
It will apply to all new establishments that sell hot foods to go, from corner fish-and-chip shops to major multinationals. It also would mandate that all new fast-food spots, regardless of their proximity to schools, adhere to the city’s Healthy Catering Commitment -- an otherwise voluntary initiative that encourages restaurants to adopt healthier cooking methods and menus.
Commitment signees must agree to eight of 22 “assessment criteria,” which include displaying water more prominently than soda and shaking the extra grease off fried foods. Neither policy will apply to existing restaurants.
In a statement, Khan described the measure as part of his attack on the “ticking time bomb of childhood obesity.”
“Takeaway restaurants are a vibrant part of London life, but it’s important that they are not encouraging our children to make poor food choices,” he said. “I am working hard to create a healthier London, and this must start with the food that our children eat.”
Public health advocates in the United States say they are paying attention. If London’s ban keeps unhealthy food options away from schools, it could serve as a model for other jurisdictions.
Although such bans have been discussed in the United States before, few health groups have pursued them, said Margo Wootan, the vice president of nutrition at the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Instead, U.S. efforts around fast-food restaurants and children have largely focused on improving kids’ meals and getting them to offer beverages beside soda.
There is one stand-out exception: In 2008, several low-income neighborhoods in Los Angeles adopted a blanket ban on new standalone fast-food restaurants, regardless of whether they were near schools. But the policy failed. A study seven years later found that the ordinance had not dented fast-food consumption, in large part because there were already so many unhealthy options in the neighborhood.
London’s ban may face the same challenges. A map of the cities’ schools and existing fast-food outlets, published by a British data analyst, shows that many city schools are already within a short walk of several fast-food establishments. Those businesses will not be affected by the ban.
But for the schools that aren’t in range -- and there are many -- experts think the policy could have a real effect.
“When a city like London does something like this, it reinvigorates the debate,” Winig said. “I think it might push more folks to look at these policies again.”
Read more:
Researchers have found a'striking' new side effect from eating fast food
A dangerous myth about who eats fast food is completely false
Why our schools can't get kids to eat healthyFormer LSU baseball standout Austin Nola is back in Louisiana, and the move has garnered him a little more attention than it normally would from baseball fans in the South.
Nola was a member of the Class AA Jacksonville Suns as they faced off against the Biloxi Shuckers in Southern League play, when he was promoted over the weekend to the New Orleans Zephyrs which is the AAA affiliate of the Miami Marlins organization.
Now, wearing the uniform of his new team, Nola will not only wear his last name on the back of his jersey, which is traditional, but on the front of his jersey as well.
That's because, for the past several seasons, the Zephyrs represent their home city by just wearing "NOLA" across the front of their shirts which obviously is an abbreviation of "New Orleans".
In 2014, Austin Nola, a shortstop, hit.259 with 21 doubles, five triples and one homer in 134 games at Jacksonville. He drove in 53 runs. He is in his fifth season in the minor leagues..
Nola at LSU started 219 games at shortstop over four seasons. He hit a home run in a College World Series game against Arkansas, and the Tigers won the championship that season. The Marlins selected him in the fifth round of the 2012 MLB Draft.
A native of Baton Rouge, Nola is an older brother to former LSU pitcher Aaron Nola, a Phillies top prospect selected No. 7 overall in the 2014 MLB Draft.Join us on Thursday November 30th at 6:30pm-10:00pm PST to listen to Da Hongfei, the founder of NEO & CEO of OnChain, Rong Chen, the founder of Elastos, and Jed McCaleb, the founder of eDonkey2000, Ripple, and Stellar discuss the future of blockchain.
Agenda:
- 6:30pm - 7:00pm: Networking & Refreshments
- 7:00pm-7:50pm Introductions
-------- 7:00pm - 7:15pm: Intro To Neo (Da Hongfei)
-------- 7:15pm - 7:30pm: Intro To Elastos (Rong Chen)
-------- 7:30pm - 7:45pm: Intro To Stellar (Jed McCaleb)
-------- 7:45pm - 7:50pm: Intro To Ontology (Li Jun)
- 7:50pm - 8:00pm: Break
- 8:00pm - 9:00pm Panel On The Future Of Blockchain
- 9:00pm - 9:30pm Q/A
- 9:30pm - 10:00pm Networking
This blockchain event is organized by NEO (https://neo.org/), Elastos (http://elastos.org/index-en.html), and the Stellar Development Foundation (www.stellar.org).Liverpool fans protest against the increase in ticket prices
Fans from all 20 Premier League clubs and 10 Championship teams will join forces this weekend to protest about the cost of ticket prices.
Last year's BBC Sport Price of Football study showed the average price of the cheapest tickets in Premier League football has increased 15% since 2011.
The co-ordinated protests will call for a £20 cap on away ticket prices.
The Premier League said clubs do have a "huge number of offers" for supporters to make tickets more affordable.
Fans intend to display banners at matches including the Merseyside derby between Everton and Liverpool, and Arsenal's home game against Manchester United.
But there have been suggestions some clubs may prevent such banners being unveiled. Aston Villa, who host Stoke City on Saturday, have previously only allowed those in support of the team.
Kevin Miles, chief executive of the Football Supporters' Federation (FSF), said: "Pricing is a major barrier to watching live football for many fans - no club should deny fans the right to freedom of speech within grounds on such a central issue.
"Any club who does that will rightly face criticism from their fans."
Supporters' groups from Championship sides Cardiff, Leeds, Birmingham, Nottingham Forest, Hull City, QPR, Bolton, Reading, Middlesbrough and Bristol City will join their top-flight counterparts in staging protests.
Who is the most expensive? (Top-priced tickets) Home games Away games Arsenal £97 West Ham £70 West Ham £95 Arsenal £64 Chelsea £87 Chelsea £59 Source: 2015 BBC Price of Football study
'Twenty's Plenty'
The BBC's annual Price of Football study - set to be released on 15 October - has brought the cost of football tickets into sharp focus.
The FSF says the increase in the Premier League's domestic TV revenues - to £5.14bn over three years from next season - could allow clubs to charge fans nothing and still see an increase in income compared to this season.
But it is focusing its protest on the cost of away tickets, in a campaign called 'Twenty's Plenty'.
"We're delighted to see so many fan groups involved in the weekend of action - supporters are standing together against high prices," Miles said.
"In the coming weeks, Premier League clubs have a choice to make when they carve up the latest multi-billion-pound media deal. Without match-going fans filling the stadiums, and particularly those who make such arduous away trips, football simply wouldn't generate such wealth.
"Of course it's not just in the Premier League that we see high prices, many Football League fixtures can be very expensive too."
The Premier League, which says occupancy at stadiums has been at 95.9% for the past two seasons, provides each club with £200,000 a year for initiatives for away fans. That is set aside to cover travel costs or reduce ticket prices.
The FSF says the 'Twenty's Plenty' initiative has already led to 68,000 fans saving a total of £738,000 over the past two seasons through reciprocal deals, where clubs agree to cap each other's away-ticket prices.
'A life sentence with no parole'
The Premier League says 12 clubs offer some adult season tickets that mean fans pay £26 or less per match
Away tickets for Manchester United fans travelling to Emirates Stadium on Sunday will cost £64 - the second-highest away price in the Premier League and the minimum home fans will pay for a 'category one' fixture between bigger teams.
Home tickets at Arsenal can reach £97, the most expensive in the Premier League.
Raymond Herlihy, chairman of Arsenal supporters' group Red Action, told BBC Sport he had sympathy with away fans.
He added: "This is an issue which is bigger than your club or mine. It affects the millions of people who watch their teams every week. We are trying to get the issue out there because we are being priced out.
"Arsenal have got so much money in the bank but we are playing ridiculous prices compared to 20 or 30 years ago. Supporting them is a life sentence with no chance of parole."
Protestors will unfurl special FSF banners at half-time and before and after matches.
Dave Kelly, of Everton supporters' group Blue Union, said there had been no opposition from Everton, Liverpool or Merseyside police.
Banners are set to be draped across both sets of fans at Goodison Park to show their solidarity.
Kelly added: "The Merseyside derby is known as the friendly derby but we want it to be the affordable derby in recognition of the loyal support that both clubs receive.
"Our request to achieve a reciprocal deal between Everton and Liverpool has fallen on deaf ears this season but we will keep pushing the issue."
Another recent study by the GoEuro Football Price Index claimed the Premier League's average ticket price - £53.76 - was the most expensive in the world.
A Premier League spokesman said: "While the most expensive tickets are subject to the most attention, the huge number of offers available at clubs are generally ignored. This approach does not provide a fair reflection of what the vast majority of fans are actually paying to attend Premier League football matches.
"To provide an example, this season 12 Premier League clubs offered adult season ticket prices which work out as fans paying £26 or less per match. And many of the junior season-ticket offers at clubs see young people attending for less than £10 per match."Not to be confused with major depressive disorder
"Despair" redirects here. For other uses, see Despair (disambiguation)
"Hopelessness" redirects here. For the album by Anohni, see Hopelessness (album)
Depression Lithograph of a man diagnosed as suffering from melancholia with strong suicidal tendency (1892) Specialty Psychiatry, psychology
Depression, a state of low mood and aversion to activity, can affect a person's thoughts, behavior, tendencies, feelings, and sense of well-being. Symptoms of the mood disorder is marked by sadness, inactivity, difficulty in thinking and concentration and a significant increase/decrease in appetite and time spent sleeping. A great deal of people also have feelings of dejection, hopelessness, and sometimes suicidal tendencies. It can either be short term or long term depending on the severity of the person condition. A depressed mood is a normal temporary reaction to life events, such as the loss of a loved one. It is also a symptom of some physical diseases and a side effect of some drugs and medical treatments. Depressed mood may also be a symptom of some mood disorders such as major depressive disorder or dysthymia.[1]
Factors [ edit ]
Life events [ edit ]
Adversity in childhood, such as bereavement, neglect, mental abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and unequal parental treatment of siblings can contribute to depression in adulthood.[2][3] Childhood physical or sexual abuse in particular significantly correlates with the likelihood of experiencing depression over the victim's lifetime.[4]
Life events and changes that may precipitate depressed mood include (but are not limited to): childbirth, menopause, financial difficulties, unemployment, stress (such as from work, education, family, living conditions etc.), a medical diagnosis (cancer, HIV, etc.), bullying, loss of a loved one, natural disasters, social isolation, rape, relationship troubles, jealousy, separation, and catastrophic injury.[5][6][7] Adolescents may be especially prone to experiencing depressed mood following social rejection, peer pressure, or bullying.[8]
Personality [ edit ]
High scores on the personality domain neuroticism make the development of depressive symptoms as well as all kinds of depression diagnoses more likely,[9] and depression is associated with low extraversion.[10] Other personality indicators could be: temporary but rapid mood changes, short term hopelessness, loss of interest in activities that used to be of a part of one's life, sleep disruption, withdrawal from previous social life, appetite changes, and difficulty concentrating.[11]
Gender identity and sexuality [ edit ]
People who are marginalized due to either their gender identity or sexual orientation are more prone to depression.[12]
Medical treatments [ edit ]
Depression may also be the result of healthcare, such as with medication induced depression. Therapies associated with depression include interferon therapy, beta-blockers, isotretinoin, contraceptives,[13] cardiac agents, anticonvulsants, antimigraine drugs, antipsychotics, and hormonal agents such as gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist.[14]
Several drugs of abuse can cause or exacerbate depression, whether in intoxication, withdrawal, and from chronic use. These include alcohol, sedatives (including prescription benzodiazepines), opioids (including prescription pain killers and illicit drugs such as heroin), stimulants (such as cocaine and amphetamines), hallucinogens, and inhalants.[15]
Non-psychiatric illnesses [ edit ]
Depressed mood can be the result of a number of infectious diseases, nutritional deficiencies, neurological conditions[16] and physiological problems, including hypoandrogenism (in men), Addison's disease, Cushing's syndrome, hypothyroidism, Lyme disease, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, chronic pain, stroke,[17] diabetes,[18] and cancer.[19]
Psychiatric syndromes [ edit ]
A number of psychiatric syndromes feature depressed mood as a main symptom. The mood disorders are a group of disorders considered to be primary disturbances of mood. These include major depressive disorder (MDD; commonly called major depression or clinical depression) where a person has at least two weeks of depressed mood or a loss of interest or pleasure in nearly all activities; and dysthymia, a state of chronic depressed mood, the symptoms of which do not meet the severity of a major depressive episode. Another mood disorder, bipolar disorder, features one or more episodes of abnormally elevated mood, cognition and energy levels, but may also involve one or more episodes of depression.[20] When the course of depressive episodes follows a seasonal pattern, the disorder (major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, etc.) may be described as a seasonal affective disorder. Outside the mood disorders: borderline personality disorder often features an extremely intense depressive mood; adjustment disorder with depressed mood is a mood disturbance appearing as a psychological response to an identifiable event or stressor, in which the resulting emotional or behavioral symptoms are significant but do not meet the criteria for a major depressive episode;[21]:355 and posttraumatic stress disorder, a mental disorder that sometimes follows trauma, is commonly accompanied by depressed mood.[22]
Historical legacy [ edit ]
Researchers have begun to conceptualize ways in which the historical legacies of racism and colonialism may create depressive conditions.[23][24]
Management [ edit ]
Depressed mood may not require professional treatment, and may be a normal temporary reaction to life events, a symptom of some medical condition, or a side effect of some drugs or medical treatments. A prolonged depressed mood, especially in combination with other symptoms, may lead to a diagnosis of a psychiatric or medical condition which may benefit from treatment. The UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) 2009 guidelines indicate that antidepressants should not be routinely used for the initial treatment of mild depression, because the risk-benefit ratio is poor.[25] Physical activity can have a protective effect against the emergence of depression.[26]
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]New research shows that apps can help combat screen addictions
Any human advancement has been fraught with the opportunity for misuse and abuse, and the internet, with its avenues for diversion and entertainment, is no different.
In recent years, psychologists and society at large have begun wrestling with the problems of screen addiction and its corollaries in online pornography addiction, gambling addiction and gaming addiction more broadly.
And just as mobile technology and the apps that have been built for the new communication platform have created these problems with its omnipresence, a few technology companies are also looking to leverage that same omnipresence and messaging functionality to solve them.
That’s what’s behind new research from the Founders Fund-backed startup Onward, which proves that its approach (and by extension potentially the approach taken by other startups in the industry) can positively affect user behavior.
Onward launched as a tool to combat screen addiction and is now expanding to include programs for treating online gambling addiction and pornography addiction.
According to the research studies that Onward conducted for the past year, 1,400 self-identified pornography addicts and 2,500 screen over-users showed some interesting results.
Roughly 89 percent of Onward’s users reduced their screen time and the amount of time they spent watching pornography and 51 percent of those surveyed stopped watching porn entirely. Meanwhile, screen time users saw a reduction in their social media usage that equated to 75 fewer hours spent online per year.
The company’s app was also able to stop 62 percent of attempts by users to cross the limits they’d set for themselves.
For Onward co-founder and chief executive Gabe Zicherman, the company’s work is an extension of his previous efforts trying to make technology more addictive through gamification.
“I know things have gone too far,” Zicherman said in a statement about technology companies’ ability to influence their users.
“Onward’s singular mission is to cure complex behavioral health issues such as addiction,” he said.
The company’s automated ability to track usage and block unwanted apps is coupled with a set of clinically validated actions and behavioral training designed to reduce the urge to overuse devices and access psychologically damaging content or sites for people who are recovering.
As a testament to the promise of the company’s technology, it’s managed to sign up the world-renowned neuroscientist Dr. David Eagleman to its clinical advisory board.
Eagleman’s work has been focused in part on what he calls the Ulysses Contract. He explains it in this segment of the Public Broadcasting Service’s teaser for his series “The Brain.”
Onward uses a variety of tools that can function as different kinds of Ulysses contracts, including social connection and accountability.
Onward not only passively tracks a user’s behavior on their phone, but it also generates reports on that behavior so people can identify the things they’d like to change.
The company’s tracking and reporting is free, and its Onward Pro is available for as little as $4.99/month.
The company is backed with $3.2 million in financing from investors including Founders Fund, Compound Ventures and Gaingels.
Based in Los Angeles, the company counts Dr. Timothy W. Fong and Dr. Richard J. Rosenthal from the UCLA School of Health, and Dr. Christina Brezing of Columbia University Medical Center among its advisors (in addition to Eagleman).
“Addressing addiction is one of the most challenging missions in neuroscience, and one of the most important,” said Dr. Eagleman. “I’m pleased to join the Onward Clinical Advisory Board and contribute to solving this health crisis via the marriage of behavioral science and high technology.”
Los Angeles-based Onward isn’t the only company that’s battling addiction using mobile devices and cognitive behavioral therapies. Companies like Pelorus Health and Recovery Record are both using mobile devices to provide cognitive behavioral therapy tools and access to skills to combat addictive behavior.President Obama is finding ways to get his message to the public without going through the White House press corps.
Obama on Monday held his “first completely virtual interview” as part of an event hosted by Google+, the social network the president called “a newfangled thing.”
ADVERTISEMENT
The president joined a so-called “hangout”— a chat room of sorts on the social networking site — and took questions through YouTube on everything from unemployment to streamlining the federal government.
The event took place in the White House’s Roosevelt Room without the presence of television cameras or reporters.
The virtual interview is part of a larger effort by the White House to connect directly to Americans without going through the news media.
In recent months, Obama has hand-picked social media networks like Facebook and Twitter to relay his message on a variety of issues, holding town-hall meetings on both and even doing a third on LinkedIn.
And when Obama has sat down with reporters in recent months, it has been with hand-picked news outlets, which could allow the White House to better tailor the president’s message.
The effort extends beyond the president, too. On the heels of Obama’s State of the Union address last week, Vice President Biden and more than 30 White House officials went directly to the public by answering questions on Twitter.
The White House says Obama faces tough questions regardless of whether they are posed by reporters at a news conference or in an interview or from the public during social media events.
“I know we’re not picking the questions,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said Monday, before quipping: “Would that we could.”
Still, journalists have taken notice. After all, Obama hasn’t held a solo, long-form press conference at the White House since the beginning of October.
“I worry sometimes that the administration subverts the Wild West appeal of new media by rather scrupulously scrubbing and screening questions — like they have done in various new media town-hall settings,” said Julie Mason, a talk show host on Sirius-XM and veteran White House correspondent who also serves on the board of the White House Correspondents’ Association.
To be |
his illness, releasing a statement months before his death “the media continue to perpetuate false claims that he was ‘self-diagnosed,’ insinuating he may not even be ill. Although our family wishes that were the case, this is simply not true.”
Fuelling suspicions regarding Porter’s cancer is the fact the former radiation oncologist lived with Stage 4 of the disease for 23 months — most of that time in an unsanitary prison while writing his memoirs and treating inmates for various ailments — before his death was declared. The median survival for those with that advanced form of cancer is only 10 months.
Kleber said Quebec authorities have been in regular contact with Panama to obtain Porter’s death certificate.
“Since this involves Panama, it’s much more complicated,” she explained. “It must go through several levels of government. So why we haven’t received (the death certificate) I can’t tell you, but the request is being processed and we’re in regular contact and we’re waiting for the official confirmation.”
A spokesperson for the Panamanian embassy in Ottawa said on May 30 she would transfer a reporter’s request to her country’s foreign affairs department for information on Porter’s death certificate. Three days later, Gianni Mocci De Diego wrote in an email “as soon as we have any news, I will let you know.”
As for UPAC, the Porter file is closed, spokesperson Mathieu Delisle said. Asked whether UPAC had obtained the results of its scientific analysis of the DNA samples, Delisle responded initially: “I don’t have the results. I will verify this and get back to you.”
The next day, Delisle clarified in an email “the visual identification of the remains of Arthur Porter proved sufficient to formally confirm his death, as we had announced in our communiqué on July 7, 2015.”
However, “we have not to date received the scientific tests of the Panamanian authorities.”
“The investigative file for the other accused continues,” Delisle added, referring to former SNC-Lavalin and MUHC executives who are facing fraud charges in the case.
Porter, who once served as chairman of Canada’s spy agency watchdog, appeared to revel in the speculation surrounding him, writing in his jailhouse memoir “it was rumoured that I was 7-foot-5 and could shoot icicles out of my eyes.”
As for the $22.5 million in alleged MUHC bribe money, Quebec authorities succeeded in recovering $17.5 million. That leaves $5 million that’s still unaccounted for, and on that score, there’s no doubt that’s a mystery.
[email protected]
Twitter.com/Aaron_DerfelIn a bid to underline the gravity of Trump’s move, Schumer gathered all Senate Democrats and asked them to be in their seats when the chamber gaveled into session on Wednesday morning. Ordinarily, very few senators listen to floor speeches and debate. And after McConnell sided with the president, Democrats began the process of grinding the Senate to a halt in protest of the Comey firing and the refusal to appoint a special prosecutor. In the Judiciary Committee, Democrats said they would invoke a rule limiting the panel’s hearing to two hours, and on the Senate floor, Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois cited the “constitutional question” involving the Comey firing when he objected to a routine procedural motion.
As Democrats took to the airwaves to blast Trump, the president was apparently watching—and tweeting from the White House on Wednesday morning. “Comey lost the confidence of almost everyone in Washington, Republican and Democrat alike,” he wrote. “When things calm down, they will be thanking me!” The president in particular went after Schumer and Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, needling the Democrat about his past prevarication about serving in Vietnam.
While the president called a few senators to inform them of his decision in advance, his firing of the FBI director—the first such mid-term ouster in 24 years—caught most of his party by surprise. The House is on recess, and in the first 16 hours after Tuesday’s announcement, not one of the House GOP’s top four leaders had responded to Comey’s removal. Speaker Paul Ryan is scheduled to appear on Fox News on Wednesday evening.
And although some Republicans questioned Trump, the criticism has thus far fallen short of the groundswell that would alter the political dynamic and force the Justice Department to appoint a special prosecutor. “I am troubled by the timing and reasoning of Director Comey’s termination,” Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina, the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, tweeted on Wednesday. He added that the move would “confuse” the committee’s Russia investigation. Comey was due to testify before the panel on Thursday, but Burr announced later on Wednesday that the FBI’s acting director, Andrew McCabe, would appear instead. The committee’s top Democrat, Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, said he wanted Comey to return as a private citizen next week.
For the most part, those Republicans that voiced concern about Comey’s firing did so in measured terms, couched in a desire to learn more about the president’s rationale. Senator John McCain of Arizona, an occasional critic of the president, said he was “disappointed” in the decision and reiterated his support for a select congressional committee to take over the Russia probe. But McCain’s frequent ally, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, backed Trump’s move, as did moderate Senator Susan Collins of Maine. GOP Senators Jeff Flake of Arizona, James Lankford of Oklahoma, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Rob Portman of Ohio all questioned the firing or its timing. “Given the timing and circumstances of the decision, I believe the White House should provide a fuller explanation regarding the president’s rationale,” Portman said in a statement Wednesday.WASHINGTON, July 6 (Reuters) – Chipmaker Qualcomm will ask the U.S. International Trade Commission to bar Apple from selling some iPhones and iPads in the United States on the grounds that they infringe on six Qualcomm patents.
In a request that would broaden its legal battle with Apple, San Diego-based Qualcomm said it would ask the U.S. ITC to ban imports of infringing Apple devices. A related lawsuit was filed in federal court in California on Thursday to request monetary damages.
READ MORE: BlackBerry scores $815M in arbitration decision in dispute with Qualcomm
Qualcomm, which also supplies chips to Apple, said the six patents help devices perform well without draining the battery.
There has been long-running tension between the two companies over Qualcomm‘s practice of taking a cut of the total price of the phone in exchange for “modem” chips that help phones use wireless networks data plans.NEW YORK (Reuters) - The United States will likely suffer the loss of its triple-A credit rating from another major rating agency by the end of this year due to concerns over the deficit, Bank of America Merrill Lynch forecasts.
A woman walks past the Merrill Lynch logo outside their offices in the City of London March 6, 2009. REUTERS/Andrew Winning
The trigger would be a likely failure by Congress to agree on a credible long-term plan to cut the U.S. deficit, the bank said in a research note published on Friday.
A second downgrade — either from Moody’s or Fitch — would follow Standard & Poor’s downgrade in August on concerns about the government’s budget deficit and rising debt burden. A second loss of the country’s top credit rating would be an additional blow to the sluggish U.S. economy, Merrill said.
“The credit rating agencies have strongly suggested that further rating cuts are likely if Congress does not come up with a credible long-run plan” to cut the deficit, Merrill’s North American economist, Ethan Harris, wrote in the report.
“Hence, we expect at least one credit downgrade in late November or early December when the super committee crashes,” he added.
The bipartisan congressional committee formed to address the deficit — known as the “super committee” — needs to break an impasse between Republicans and Democrats in order to reach a deal to reduce the U.S. deficit by at least $1.2 trillion by November 23.
If a majority of the 12-member committee fails to agree on a plan, $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts will be triggered, beginning in 2013.
Those automatic cuts, mostly in discretionary spending, would weigh further on a fragile U.S. economy, Merrill said. In the same report, the bank reduced its 2012 and 2013 growth forecasts for the United States to 1.8 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively.
If there were a downgrade, it was not clear which ratings agency would move first.
Moody’s Investors Service, which has a negative outlook on the United States’s Aaa rating, said it is looking at several other factors, including the results of presidential elections and the expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts late in 2012, to decide on the rating.
“It’s not that we’re waiting just for this committee to decide on the rating,” Steven Hess, Moody’s lead analyst for the United States, told Reuters in an interview last week.
Failure by the committee to come up with an agreement, he said, “would be negative information but it is not decisive in our view about the rating.”
To be sure, Hess did not rule out the possibility of an early move on U.S. ratings if the country’s economy slips into recession. So far, however, the economic performance “is certainly not super positive but not a disaster either,” he said.
Fitch Ratings, on the other hand, still has a stable outlook on its AAA rating on the United States, meaning it is more likely to revise that outlook to negative before actually downgrading the rating.
In its latest report on the United States, Fitch says a “negative rating action,” which could be only an outlook revision, could result from a weaker-than-expected economic recovery or by failure by the bipartisan committee to reach agreement on at least $1.2 billion in deficit-reduction measures..Although the MSM has finally capitulated to the obvious, that Trump is going to be the Republican nominee, they still hold onto the fantasy that Republicans are doomed because Trump can’t possibly win in a general election. Only Republican primary voters can be that stupid, right?
The latest polls show Trump with a slight lead over Hillary in hypothetical one-to-one matchups in both Florida and Ohio, swing states where Romney lost to Obama in 2012.
How well did denying the results of polls showing Trump ahead among likely Republican primary voters work out for those pundits predicting his eventual defeat? Not very well.
It’s actually Democrats, not Republicans, who are preparing to nominate their weakest candidate. All the polls show Sanders to be a much stronger competitor against Republicans. Hillary is a very weak candidate. Nobody loves Hillary besides a handful of hardcore feminists who ignore the fact that she worked to cover up her husband’s rape of Juanita Broaddrick. Hillary is not a natural campaigner like her husband. She’s only winning the nomination because of the “Party Decides” rule.
One may ask, why does the “Party Decides” rule work this year for Democrats and not Republicans? Actually, what we learned this year is that the “Party Decides” rule no longer works for white voters. If only whites were allowed to vote in Democratic primaries, Bernie would win the nomination and not Hillary. However, Hillary is going to coast to a huge victory on Super Tuesday thanks to the support of black voters, and her momentum will sink Bernie.
Going back to Trump, there are those who say that Trump won’t have the support of the Party. That’s ridiculous nonsense. I do predict that a few media pundits and political strategists associated with supporting Republicans will make a public display of stating their support for Hillary. But actual elected politicians with real skin in the game, no way, they are going to support Trump. It’s a well known fact that presidential candidates have coattails. It’s in the political interests of the party as a whole to try to get Trump as many votes as possible, and it’s in the interest of each individual politician to suck up to the guy who may be the next president by supporting him. Chris Christie is only the first Republican politician to realize what will soon be obvious to all other Republican politicians.
The polls today still reflect the spin of the MSM that Trump is a bozo racist who has no chance of even winning the nomination of his own party, let alone the White House. But after Trump wins the Republican nomination in a much more decisive fashion than either Romney or McCain before him, and the Republican establishment starts publicly stating their support for him, he will gather to himself much social proof which he currently lacks, and this will push him several percentage points ahead of Hillary in the polls.
The notion that a significant number of Republican voters will not vote for him in November is already refuted by those polls I previously mentioned. However, to add some qualitative reasoning to that, Republican voters hate Hillary way more than they could ever dislike Trump, and they hate Obama even more than they hate Hillary, and the more Hillary tries to assume the mantle of Obama’s heir, the more Republicans will hate her. The Republican base will turn out enthusiastically to vote against Hillary, if nothing else.
And then we have that open Supreme Court seat. No TrueCon who cares about their ideology would ever want to allow Hillary to decide who gets nominated to the Court and swing the Court from conservative to liberal. Trump has already named two jurists whom he would like to nominate, and they are very conservative, the exact kind of jurists that TrueCons would want.
And then we have all of those scandals floating around Hillary. Bernie has been too much of a wuss to attack Hillary on those, but we know that Trump will attack every way possible. I especially think it’s interesting that all of these women who Clinton wronged, like Juanita Broaddrick, are waiting in the wings to help anyone take down Hillary. It’s an interesting application of so-called game/red-pill-analysis that these women weren’t very eager to say anything against the alpha-male who wronged them, but are now ready to get into the game to take down his shrew of a wife.
And finally, we get to Trump’s biggest advantage, which is that he speaks to white blue-collar Democrats. These are people who are not into the evangelical Christian stuff and their support for Democrats is passed down from parents who believed that Republicans are the party of the rich. And indeed, Republican support for lower taxes for the top 1% just confirms their impression. But Trump, instead of running on the usual Republican cocktail of tax breaks for the wealthy and outlawing abortion, is running on immigration and unfair trade practices of foreign countries which are taking jobs away from blue-collar Americans, and thumbing his nose at the political correctness which the blue-collar whites correctly see as snobbery against them by the elites who only care about helping blacks and Hispanics but view blue-collar whites as deserving of their economic plight because they were too stupid or too lazy to take advantage of their white privilege to get ahead.The Nusra Front, al-Qaeda's wing in Syria, has killed one of ten Lebanese soldiers it had been holding in captivity, Lebanese security sources and a statement on Twitter said.
The statement, posted on Friday by an account affiliated with the group, said the soldier had become "the first victim of the intransigence of the Lebanese army".
The Nusra Front hopes to exchange the soldiers for members of the group being held in Lebanese prisons. They released six soldiers last month as a gesture of good faith for negotiations.
Earlier on Friday, two Lebanese soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb near the Syrian border, security sources said, in the first such attack since fighters from Syria launched a deadly incursion last month.
Three soldiers were also wounded by the bomb, which hit a military personnel carrier near the town of Arsal, where the army battled fighters affiliated to ISIL and other groups for five days last month.
After the bombing, soldiers raided houses in the town in search of fighters, security sources said. The army later used "heavy weapons" to target rebel positions around Arsal, the state news agency reported.
Lebanon has struggled with spillover from neighbouring Syria's conflict.Xbox’s Phil Spencer on Alan Wake 2: Remedy “has to want to...
Finishing up our conversation with Phil Spencer, Head of Xbox, we put him through a lightning round-style series of questions we affectionately dubbed, “What would it take?”
With what would be our last question, we asked what it would take to see Alan Wake 2 on Xbox One and Windows PC.
Spencer furrowed his brow and looked up to the ceiling.
“How do I put this?” he asked, pausing for a long moment.
“Well, the developer… the developer has to want to make the game,” he eventually finished as a PR minder stepped in to end the interview.
Alan Wake 2’s release, or lack thereof, seems to boil down to bad timing. While Spencer seems quite receptive to talk Alan Wake 2 now, that didn’t seem to be the case a couple of years back.
“We showed [Alan Wake 2] to Microsoft and I guess at the time Microsoft was looking for something slightly different for their portfolio,” Remedy’s Sam Lake said, reflecting on the project back in 2015.
Those talks with Microsoft led to Quantum Break, a Xbox One and Windows PC title that leveraged the publisher’s now-defunct television department.
Today, Remedy is expanding into multiplayer, building up their proprietary engine, Northlight.
Still, it’s not all doom and gloom.
“[Microsoft] have been really supportive about Alan Wake and [now head of Xbox] Phil Spencer has been awesomely supportive when it comes to Remedy and Alan Wake along the way,” Lake said in 2015.
With Lake seeming encouraged by Spencer’s openness to the Alan Wake franchise back in 2015 — and Spencer reaffirming that again — maybe Alan Wake 2 is closer than we think.
Click here for more with Spencer. We’ll have more with the Head of Xbox in the coming weeks.Mauricio Pochettino has been hectically busy as he prepares Tottenham for another Premier League title tilt, but he still found time to respond to one lifelong fan ahead of the biggest day of his life.
Russell Winborn, a season ticket holder for many years at White Hart Lane, will marry Gemma Peart this summer and best man Alex Buckland wanted to get them something not included on the gift list. He wrote to Pochettino with little hope of a reply.
However, the Argentine coach found the time to send a bespoke response to the newly betrothed couple and even lent them some managerial advice as well as his best wishes for the future.
Mauricio Pochettino sent the letter to married couple Russell Winborn and Gemma Peart
He wrote: 'I am writing to congratulate you on this special occasion.
'I'm sure it will a long and prosperous marriage and on behalf of everyone here at Tottenham Hotspur I should like to wish you both the very best for your future together.
'And remember in life, just like in football, a little teamwork can get you some great results!'
Pochettino applauds the travelling Tottenham fans after their 2-0 win over Newcastle
Tottenham began their Premier League campaign with a 2-0 win over Newcastle on Sunday and are among six sides considered in contention to win the title after their second-place finish last term.
Critics have pointed towards Tottenham's lack of transfer activity this summer with no new players arriving at the club yet, although Pochettino is pushing hard to sign Colombian defender Davison Sanchez from Ajax.
Spurs also have a longstanding interest in Everton and England midfielder Ross Barkley, who is free to leave Goodison Park after falling out of favour under Ronald Koeman.
Regardless of who they sign, it is set to be a very busy 15 days for Pochettino, yet it would not be surprise to see him take more time out of his schedule to give back to Tottenham's dedicated fan base.A volunteer group of tech experts is creating a low-cost network of sensors in Edmonton that could level the playing field in favour of local citizens when it comes to gathering data.
BetaCity is testing the network to measure air quality, cyclists and foot traffic, but the backbone of the system can make gathering data flexible and economic for anyone. That means data to prove a point in a civic debate or highlight public risks may no longer be something only in the hands of government and big corporations.
“It’s low power, long range, low cost,” said Lydia Zvyagintseva, presenting the public LoRa Network project Wednesday at the Open Data Summit at the Chateau Lacombe.
The network could be up within weeks if they get a small grant or an influx of volunteers; current volunteers have been picking away at it more slowly for the past nine months.
Their test sensors are built out of pieces easily ordered online for less than $200. They can run on small solar panels or batteries that can last a year. The network itself will let anyone remotely upload data from a simple sensor and add it to a spread sheet. It’s like wifi, but for tiny packages of data. That means no more time-intensive data collection, hiking to sensors one by one and collecting memory cards.
“The port cost is negligible; the biggest cost is time,” said Marcin Misiewicz, a local electronics engineer and volunteer, who’s been working on setting this up for about nine months.
“The tech side is exciting. We’re making the smart cities they talked about 10 years ago a reality,” he said, adding these types of networks are already well-used in several European cities, but don’t exist yet in Canada.
BetaCity is experimenting with air-quality tests because Alberta Environment’s monitoring is limited to just a couple of sites in Edmonton. Industry also tests for air quality near individual plants. But this will let citizens get a consistent rating at the street or sidewalk level, where no one is testing now.
“What we doing is not going to replicate the precision of the (Alberta Environment) tests, but it’s good enough to give you an idea,” Misiewicz said. “If there are problem areas, that would warrant further investigation. If you’re not measuring, you don’t know.”
BetaCity is a group of volunteers who take on new technology challenges just to make the city a better place.
They were responsible for LinkYEG.ca, a mobile-friendly website that lists all the most important resources for homeless or low-income residents. It gives the phone number, hours of operation and walking directions for everything from the closest free library computers to the 18 places that offer free meals at least once a month.
Once BetaCity created it, proved it works and is helpful, they gave it to the Canadian Mental Health Organization to maintain, said Zvyagintseva.
BetaCity also created a crowd-sourced public art map with 900 entries that city employees later turned into walking tours. They’re also hoping to soon release a simple online tool to help people calculate what social government benefits they might be eligible for.
“Projects are always on the good, it’s like herding cats,” Zvyagintseva said with a laugh.
She’s a librarian who does this during her off hours, leading the group with volunteer David Rauch, who is also a city employee in the open data and innovation branch. The group meets the last Wednesday of each month at Startup Edmonton.
[email protected]
twitter.com/estolteWhat's it like to attend an NBA game in April between two non-playoff teams during the Final Four? We went to the Pepsi Center for Kings-Nuggets to capture the moment and report back on who, if anyone, still cares on the court and in the stands.
If an inconsequential NBA game is played in an empty arena on the same night as the Final Four, does it make a sound?
Welcome to the physical manifestation of counter-programming.
Source: Dan Fatigato
I was there, along with a listed 15,606 (LOL) other NBA die-hards/lost souls, so the empty arena comment was admittedly a touch hyperbolic. But the lack of buzz was palpable, on a night when most of America's sports fans trained their eyes on the NCAA Final Four. The air was taken out of this game even further with the Kings leaving DeMarcus Cousins and Rajon Rondo at home. Those in attendance hoping to rubberneck at the car-crash Kings would leave disappointed. This watered-down Kings team figured out a way to win the game, 115-106, but the final score was an afterthought here. I was more intrigued by everything else. Who would play hard vs. who would be checked out mentally? Would there be any energy in the arena? How much attention would players pay to coaches during timeouts? How much unintentional comedy would we enjoy? Would Michael Malone try to embarrass the team that fired him if the Nuggets jumped out to a lead? Give me some April Madness.
But first, we need to level-set the current professional sports environment in the Mile High City. The Broncos just won the Super Bowl. The Avalanche are in a desperate playoff chase. Rockies baseball starts today. So to say the Nuggets are currently an afterthought in town would be an understatement. The Nugs rank dead-last in attendance this season, defying the efforts of the team's apparent number-padding in the official attendance count. The Pepsi Center seats around 19,000 people and there's no way it was 80 percent full Saturday night. On the plus side? I can't recall a more hassle-free parking situation at a pro sports arena.
If you have an NBA-dependence problem like I do then the matchup was indeed compelling. Skeptics, hear me out. Both teams have been out of the playoff conversation for months and have near-identical poor records, but they occupy completely different states of being. The Kings had playoff aspirations that were actually realistic in January, before imploding astonishingly in a toxic mix of Boogie, Rondo, George Karl and Vlade Divac. The Nuggets never had postseason dreams yet can look back on their 2015-16 season as a net-positive. They have a good first-year coach in Malone, they developed integral young talent without losing key assets and, hell, they even beat the Warriors. The Kings are mired in uncertainty and apathy. The Nuggets have hope and a plan for the future.
A basic tenet of that plan is to transition the team from its traditional run-and-gun style to become more of a hard-nosed defense-first crew. This meaningless, late-season game totally betrayed that notion. Their interior defense was woeful against the Kings, leading the guy in front of me to use the phrase "matador defense" multiple times and then having to explain what that meant to his young son. See, watching losing teams in April has educational value! Even without Cousins the Kings scored at will inside all night. The immortal Kosta Koufos (13 points) punished the Nuggets' big men with a series of post moves and hook shots. Seth Curry drove past his man unimpeded several times for easy layups while Jusuf Nurkic and Joffrey Lauvergne watched idly. Curry was maybe the most impressive player on the floor, channeling his much more famous brother with an outside stroke that matched his consistent finishing at the rim. He put up 17 points and five assists, on 7-10 shooting.
My wife - a devout Stephen Curry fan - when asked during the game if she had love for the scorching-hot little brother: "Nope." Poor Seth.
The Nuggets also conceded a big game to Rudy Gay (25 points, 9 rebounds), who proved once again he has the ability to be the perfect stretch-4, but only when nothing's at stake. In fact, every King that played minus Quincy Acy put up double-digit points. Accordingly, no Nugget had a better defensive rating than 112. Overall the Nuggets' defense has been OK this season, but they couldn't summon the effort to stop the Kings' B Team on this April night. On the defensive end at least, the Nuggets' minds were on summer vacation plans. The lack of defensive effort wasn't surprising as I scanned the bench during timeouts. Players that weren't in the immediate vicinity of Malone split their time between dancing, goofing off and watching mascot Rocky sink backward half-court shots.
IMG_0276 from Dan Fatigato on Vimeo.
An 82-game season is demanding and when a team's non-playoff fate is sealed, it can be easy for everyone to lose a bit of focus. Players, coaches, cheerleaders. Here's a clip of Gary Harris nearly being run over by the Nuggets dancers before pre-game introductions, then slinking bashfully back to the bench:
IMG_0266 from Dan Fatigato on Vimeo.
Offensively the Nuggets played well through the first three quarters and played with more pride. Rookie point guard Emmanuel Mudiay got into the flow of the game early on by setting up teammates for easy buckets, like this sweet pass to Kenneth Faried:
IMG_0268 from Dan Fatigato on Vimeo.
Mudiay ended the night with 15 points and six assists, hitting a couple of threes along the way. I wasn't blown away upon seeing him up close for the first time, but his effort was encouraging. It surprised me to find out later that he was just 6-17 from the field on the night, another inefficient display that has become all-too-familiar. His summer homework assignment will be shooting, shooting and some more shooting. He also tends to try to force the issue with predictably ugly results, as seen here. Some more unintentional comedy for your enjoyment as well:
IMG_0275 from Dan Fatigato on Vimeo.
Fellow rookie Nikola Jokic managed just six points, but collected 13 rebounds, five assists and two blocks. Harris scored 19 on efficient shooting. It's a good sign that the Nuggets' three young building blocks - Mudiay, Jokic, Harris - are playing out these remaining games with energy and production. Also among the try-hard All-Stars were JaKarr Sampson (9 points) and Axel Toupane (14), two guys gunning for long-term opportunities with the team. The masked man Lauvergne saved all his energy for offense, scoring 15 points while posting a 123 defensive rating. Nurkic was just sort of there. Seeing his size and mobility in person makes me want to project greatness onto him, but he didn't do all that much on either end. He did inspire a fantastic sign by a female fan that read, "Jusuf Nurkic's body is 65% water and I'm thirsty." I'm nauseous.
Faried is clearly the most popular player on the team, eliciting the loudest pre-game introduction cheers and playing to the crowd with two vicious blocks. However, he seems to be getting phased out by the coaching staff. Manimal played just 16 minutes against the Kings and may be a better trade chip than long-term piece of the Nuggets' core. His popularity among fans may be enough to keep him in a Denver uniform, though, as ownership looks at attendance numbers and decides not to jettison one of the few recognizable players on the team. They need to at least be willing to listen to offers for the 26-year old power forward. After all, he didn't generate half the cheers from a mostly muted crowd that Rocky did. The mascot was in playoff form all night and carries a considerably smaller cap hold than the Manimal:
IMG_0272 from Dan Fatigato on Vimeo.
Back to the action on the floor, the Nuggets clung to a tenuous 4-point lead as the 4th quarter began. That's when the bottom fell out. Denver went 6-23 from the floor and were outscored 31-18 in the final frame. Malone wouldn't be getting more revenge on the team that fired him on this night. But the joke's on Sacramento - with the Nuggets' low-key tanking in the 4th, they picked up a game on the Kings in the race for extra Lottery balls and increased the chance that the Kings would lose their pick to Chicago. The Kings won the dubious battle, but the Nuggets - with their intact coach, key players under long-term team control, 2-3 1st Round picks and ample cap space - win the war.
As for me and my fellow Pepsi Center denizens? Upon exiting I heard someone mention the lopsided scores of the Final Four games, and a word came to mind that summed up the rest of America: "Suckers."Trees are definitely our allies when it comes to taking in greenhouse gases and thus aiding in the fight against climate change. But new research suggests that forests might not be quite as helpful as we'd hoped.
Computer models that predict how climate change will play out assume that as greenhouse gas concentrations go up, forests will take advantage of the additional carbon dioxide and grow a bit more, increasing their capacity to mitigate global warming.
But after analyzing tens of thousands of tree rings taken from tropical forests in Bolivia, Cameroon and Thailand, an international team of scientists is calling this assumption into question. Their research, published yesterday in the journal Nature Geoscience, found no correlation between increased atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations over the past 150 years and forest growth as evidenced in trees' rings.
Tropical forests "are very important carbon stocks," said lead author Peter van der Sleen of Wageningen University's Forest Ecology and Management Group in Wageningen, Netherlands. But, van der Sleen said, his research does call into question tropical forests' capacity to mitigate climate change.
This finding has the potential to change our climate predictions, explained Lucas Cernusak of the College of Marine and Environmental Sciences at James Cook University in Cairns, Australia.
"Current model formulations predict increasing tropical forest biomass through this century," Cernusak, who was not involved in the study, wrote in an email. "If this does not occur, the atmospheric CO2 growth rate will increase, and global warming will accelerate."
Tree rings tell'surprising' story
It's likely that the new study came to a different conclusion because of differences in research methods. Earlier studies were based on analysis of biomass material contained in small forest plots rather than a random sampling from trees throughout a forest as with van der Sleen's study. Also, without the long-term data provided in tree rings, earlier experiments looked at tree growth on a shorter time scale.
Van der Sleen and his co-authors thought that if trees were indeed growing more with increasing CO2 in the atmosphere, their rings would thicken over time.
They did find evidence that trees reacted to more CO2 in the atmosphere. By analyzing the carbon isotopes in the wood, they found trees were using water more efficiently and likely also became more efficient at photosynthesis, the process where light is converted into energy.
For some reason, though, neither of these things translated into thicker tree rings or, the researchers suspect, bigger trees.
"An increase in water-use efficiency is one of the most reliably observed responses of trees to increased atmospheric CO2 concentrations," Cernusak wrote in an accompanying "News and Views" piece to van der Sleen's study, also published yesterday in Nature Geoscience. "But the increase in water-use efficiency observed in these forests perhaps makes it all the more surprising that growth rates stagnated."
Could there be more trees?
Why might this be the case? The study offers three ideas. First, it's possible that another climate change-related stressor, like rising temperatures, is keeping trees from growing more. The second theory is that other parts of trees like the fruit or the roots did grow more, just not the tree rings.
The third theory, which both van der Sleen and Cernusak favor as likely, is that tree growth is limited by other resources not having to do with carbon dioxide or water, like the amount of nutrients in soil.
But it's not time to give up on the idea that forests may be compensating for increasing emissions just yet—van der Sleen cautioned his results are "not conclusive."
He said it's possible that even if individual trees aren't growing more, the number of trees could be increasing in reaction to more CO2 in the atmosphere.
"You can think that maybe CO2 is not increasing tree growth, but tree growth is not the only thing that determines biomass," van der Sleen said.
Reprinted from Climatewire with permission from Environment & Energy Publishing, LLC. www.eenews.net, 202-628-6500In Cleveland on Monday, convicted sex offender Elias Acevedo Sr. pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated murder and 295 other counts related to kidnapping and the chronic sexual abuse of his three daughters.Acevedo was convicted, in part, on DNA evidence from rape kits that were only tested in the wake of the Ariel Castro case. On May 6, 2013, Amanda Berry, Georgina "Gina" DeJesus, and Michelle Knight were rescued after having been kidnapped, held captive, raped and tortured by Castro for over a decade.When investigators from the Federal Bureau of Investigations' Violent Crime Task Force first presented Acevedo with evidence that he had chronically abused his three daughters for over thirty years, he denied having done so.The FBI then confronted him with evidence that he was involved in the 1995 disappearance of Christina Adkins. At first, Acevedo denied any involvement in Adkins's disappearance, but when the FBI offered to remove the death penalty from the table, he confessed.He told them that he had chanced into Adkins while she was five-months pregnant with his cousin's child. He tried to have sex with her, but she refused, so he raped her. When she threatened to expose him to his wife and cousin, he "snapped" and killed her, storing her body in an unused utility vault, where it remained for 18 years.Acevedo also confessed to murdering Pamela Pemberton in 1994 after she, too, refused to have sex with him. Only at this point did he admit to having sexually abused his three daughters, chronically, while they lived under his roof.Cleveland officials consider solving these "cold cases" from the 1990s a victory. A number of serial sex offenders stalked the streets of Cleveland in the 1990s, and because of the backlog of untested rape kits, many thought these cases would never be solved.Watch WEWS News's report on Acevedo's sentencing below.The Senate's funny guy is not joking around about climate change.
The highlight of an hourslong budget hearing in June came when Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) circled figuratively around Energy Secretary Rick Perry, who claimed incorrectly that humans are not the primary control knob for rising temperatures. Perry appeared frustrated and then asked what's wrong with being called a climate skeptic. He also voiced support for openly debating the scientific underpinnings of climate change.
Franken patiently corrected him on the consensus of scientists, pointing out: “That's exactly how science works, including climate science. Researchers collect data and make arguments.”
It went viral. Who would have guessed that a hearing tailor-made for C-SPAN would reach the masses? Maybe Franken did. NowThis News, a liberal outlet specialized for phones, packaged the moment into a two-minute highlight reel that made Perry seem clueless compared with Franken's wizardry. It said the former comedian “shut down his |
job. The lawsuit filed yesterday is based on the same alleged series of events. Mr. O’Rourke claims that he did not authorize Comcast to disclose his information to anyone else, but Comcast nevertheless disclosed personally identifying information about Mr. O’Rourke, including his name, to PricewaterhouseCoopers, where Mr. O’Rourke worked. The following can be attributed to Laura Moy, staff attorney at Public Knowledge:
“If the facts in this complaint are true, they are extremely troubling. They would show that the nation’s largest cable provider exercised a complete disregard for federal privacy law."
"For many Americans, there are few broadband and pay TV choices in their areas. As regulators consider the proposed merger between Comcast and Time Warner Cable, we hope they will follow this case closely. The facts alleged in this complaint, if they are true, along with the admitted customer services failing that led to this dispute, suggest that Comcast habitually puts its interests above all else even to the point of disregarding the law.”
In the most recent example we covered of Comcast's ongoing efforts to convince everyone not to be Comcast customers, we noted that the fact they helped get a customer fired from his accounting job was the kind of thing he could probably sue over. That said, even I didn't anticipate the guy accusing Comcast of violating federal law Now, it should be noted that O'Rourke is accusing Comcast of having divulged identifying information to his employer, such as the fact that he was employed by PricewaterhouseCoopers, not his personal viewing or web-browsing habits with his employer, but that doesn't really matter. The fact is that ISPs and cable companies are privy to all kinds of personal information pertaining to their customers, and the confidentiality of such personal information is governed by the Communications Act. The sharing of even seemingly harmless identifying personal information represents a pretty massive screw up on Comcast's part. A cable company willing to bend or break the law and reveal innocuous information perhaps shouldn't be trusted to act better with more personal information. The fact that all of this is made more problematic because of a complete lack of competitive choices for consumers wasn't lost on the lawyers either.Remember, Comcast cares. The insane part of all this is that Conal O'Rourke has been screaming at the top of his lungs for Comcast and/or his former employer to release both the emails that got him fired and the recordings of all his phone conversations with Comcast, so that he can clear his name and get a new job at another accounting firm. To date, his employer and Comcast, the company that cares, have declined to do so.
Filed Under: conal o'rourke, lawsuit, privacy
Companies: comcastJeffrey Loria is a weird baseball man, and he continues to do weird baseball things.
The Miami Marlins were a trendy postseason pick coming into this season. They made waves in the offseason by handing out the largest contract in professional sports history to Giancarlo Stanton, and dealing for players such as Dee Gordon, Mat Latos and Martin Prado—moves all considered fairly shocking due to Loria’s long history as a frugal, shitty owner.
But the Marlins stumbled out of the gates to a 3-11 start, and manager Mike Redmond was quickly put on the hot seat. Amidst reports of an imminent firing, Loria wouldn’t give Redmond a vote of confidence. The Marlins would rebound and get back to.500 soon after the early season swoon. Loria capitalized on the success by declaring Redmond’s job safe in late April, one week after rumors of Redmond’s job (in)security began circulating.
On Sunday, after Miami came within one out of being no-hit, Loria quickly went back on his word. Loria fired Redmond and bench coach Rob Leary minutes after a 6-0 loss to the Braves. The team will announce a new manager tomorrow morning, according to MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro.
Advertisement
It’s merely the latest in Loria’s erratic history with managers. He hired an 80-year-old Jack McKeon as an interim manager in 2011. He fired Joe Girardi after one season—a season in which he won manager of the year. Ozzie Guillen also lasted only one year, and the team is still paying off his contract. Redmond ends up lasting just over two seasons.
Loria, who fell ass-backwards into a World Series title in 2003, will outlast whichever sucker takes the job next. And as long as Loria is in charge—he doesn’t seem intent on selling any time soon—the Marlins will continue to make all the wrong headlines.
Photo via GettyThe social network will stream 10 'Thursday Night Football' games beginning this fall.
Twitter is jumping into the TV business with Thursday Night Football this fall.
The San Francisco-based social network has emerged as the winning bidder for the rights to stream 10 NFL games during the 2016 regular season. The deal, announced Tuesday morning, surprised many media observers who thought that a deep-pocketed player with a growing digital video business like Amazon or Verizon would flex its muscle to land the streaming package.
Twitter is said to have bid less than others for the NFL package, but BTIG media analyst Rich Greenfield says there are other reasons the social network could be an attractive partner to the league. While Amazon and Verizon and, until recently, Yahoo have been building up their video businesses in an effort to compete for audiences who traditionally turned to broadcast and cable TV for entertainment, Twitter has positioned itself as a companion to TV, a place to go to talk about moments as they are happening.
"The NFL still has so much financially focused around traditional media outlets," explains Greenfield, acknowledging the $450 million that CBS and NBC are paying for the TNF package as well as deals for Sunday and Monday games and the Super Bowl. "Their partners are really important to them."
Twitter's connections to the NFL might have also played a factor. Twitter CFO Anthony Noto, who spearheaded the deal, was previously the NFL's top finance executive. The two companies also have had a partnership since 2013 through its Twitter Amplify program, and last year inked a deal for the distribution of game highlights and clips.
Not to mention Twitter's positioning as a second screen for TV. There were 27 million tweets, generating 4.3 billion impressions, during Super Bowl 50 in San Francisco earlier this year, for example.
"Twitter is more of a complement versus a competitor," adds Greenfield. "The NFL is ensuring the health of the current ecosystem while dangling some future opportunity for the digital world."
For Twitter, which is attempting to ignite its stalled user growth and expand beyond its core base of celebrities and other online influencers, even becoming a non-exclusive partner to the NFL has huge upside. The NFL, with 32 teams across the country, is the most popular sport in the U.S. and last year drew a TV audience of 200 million, a fan base that Twitter will now be able to tap into.
"This is really mostly a promotional effort," says Brian Wieser, a media and advertising analyst at Pivotal, explaining that buzz about the games could boost interest in Twitter even if people still choose to tune into the games on TV. Twitter stock got a small boost during midday trading on the news and closed flat Tuesday.
The deal gives Twitter the rights to stream the Thursday package that CBS and NBC will broadcast on TV. The NFL Network also will simulcast the game.
But the biggest winner from the deal could be Periscope, the live-streaming app that Twitter acquired last year. As part of the deal, Periscope will broadcast pre-game video featuring the players and teams. Notes Wieser: "It seems bigger for Periscope than anything else, because that’s where the original and exclusive content will be."Rhode Island Hospital physicians identified six cases of accidental ingestion of wire grill brush bristles that required endoscopic or surgical removal. The paper calls attention to the need for the public and physicians to be aware of this potential danger. It is published in the American Journal of Roentgenology and is now available online in advance of print.
David Grand, M.D., a radiologist in the diagnostic imaging department at Rhode Island Hospital, is the lead author of the paper. Grand explains that six patients were identified within an 18-month period who presented to the emergency department within 24 hours of ingesting grilled meat. Their symptoms were odynophagia (painful swallowing in the mouth or esophagus) or abdominal pain.
In all cases, a careful history revealed the patients had consumed meat cooked on a grill that was cleaned with a wire brush immediately prior to cooking. Of the patients, three presented with odynophagia as a primary symptom. Two underwent radiography of the neck, which revealed a metallic foreign body [the bristles], while one patient had a computed tomography (CT) scan that identified and localized the bristles within the neck. In all three patients the wires were identified and removed.
The remaining three patients presented with abdominal pain and underwent CT scans. In two patients, the wire perforated the small intestine and in the third, the wire perforated through the stomach and into the liver, and was surrounded by a large hepatic abscess. Surgery was performed in all three patients.
Grand says, "Although foreign body ingestion is not a rare complaint in an emergency department, it is striking that in only 18 months we identified six separate episodes of wire bristle ingestion after eating grilled meat. The public should be aware of this potential danger."
Grand adds, "It is also important for physicians to be aware of this danger and pay close attention to clinical history. In patients presenting with odynophagia, plain radiography may identify the wire bristle; however, CT is helpful for anatomic localization. For patients presenting with abdominal pain, CT is recommended and oral contrast should not be used as it can obscure the foreign body, in this case, wire bristles."A key to securing the next bailout payment could be Greece’s reaching a new debt-revamping agreement with its private sector bondholders. Charles H. Dallara of the Institute of International Finance, the group representing the private creditors, was to meet Thursday evening in Athens with the Greek prime minister, Lucas D. Papademos. There was no word about the status of those talks by late Thursday.
Negotiations between the two sides have foundered twice already over disagreement on how much loss private investors should be willing to absorb on bonds.
As Greece’s woes have escalated, so have its demands on the amount of loss the creditors should accept. While creditors have said they would be willing to accept a loss of 70 percent on their new bonds, Greece and its backers have been pushing for more by demanding that these securities carry an interest rate below 3.5 percent.
Greece is effectively bankrupt, staggering under a debt load that the I.M.F. now estimates as equal to about 160 percent of its gross product, with an economy so weak the government can no longer meet debt payments on its own. That is why it is to receive as much as 130 billion euros ($169 billion) in bailout money under an agreement struck last October with the so-called troika: the European Union, the European Central Bank and the I.M.F.
In return for regularly scheduled installments of that money, however, Greece is supposed to be meeting strict economic reform and budgetary targets.
Greece’s last bailout package was underpinned by an I.M.F. analysis that forecast a debt-to-G.D.P. ratio of 120 percent by the year 2020. Now the I.M.F. is forecasting a ratio that could rise to 135 percent by that year, largely because of a collapsing economy that shows no sign of reversing course.
Photo
The new projections cast new doubt on whether Greece can ever escape its downward financial spiral without defaulting on its debts.
Advertisement Continue reading the main story
Greece’s economy is estimated to have shrunk by more than 6 percent in 2011. Some specialists say they believe that the downturn for this year could be as much as 5 percent. And the general sense among economists from the troika of public institutions financially supporting Greece is that the economy has not yet found the floor.
“We have become much less optimistic on growth,” said one official from the group, who was not authorized to speak publicly. “And if growth falters, the debt-to-G.D.P. ratio goes up. One cannot be in denial of this reality.”
Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You will receive emails containing news content, updates and promotions from The New York Times. You may opt-out at any time. You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters.
Bankers familiar with the details of the new I.M.F. forecast say it has been held up as the main reason private sector bondholders should be forced to accept a larger loss on their Greek securities. In recent days, top European officials and the managing director of the I.M.F., Christine Lagarde, have talked about how European institutions might have to contribute more funds to keep Greece afloat.
Adding to lenders’ worries is the possibility of trouble in other heavily indebted parts of the euro zone. Borrowing costs in Italy and Spain — the big economies whose debt loads have caused the most worry after Greece —have been coming down lately. But the yield for 10-year Portuguese bonds are near 14.3 percent. The high yield reflects growing concern that Portugal, another recipient of bailout funds, might default as well.
Greece’s most recent bailout agreement was based on two assumptions: that the private sector would voluntarily accept at least a 50 percent loss on its debt, and that these savings, together with other changes to be undertaken by the government, would bring Greece’s debt down to 120 percent of G.D.P. by 2020.
But the new I.M.F. forecast for Greece presents the disturbing prospect that even after years of spending cuts and tax increases, Greece will have a debt burden in 2020 that is not sufficiently lower than its current load.
The fund’s gloomier outlook has been influenced by three primary factors, bankers and officials say. One is the economic slump within the entire euro currency region that I.M.F. economists are forecasting for 2012, a problem that economists refer to as an external shock for Greece beyond its control.
But the other two elements stem from the nation’s continuing difficulty in meeting targets set for it by the European Union and the I.M.F.
The second element is Greece’s budget deficit, for which a target had been set at no more than 8 percent of G.D.P. for 2011. Economists now estimate that the actual deficit number was around 10 percent, because of weak tax collection and continued high spending within the public sector.
The third factor is the new Greek government’s continued difficulty in passing legislation that would lead to the long-term economic change its European rescuers are demanding. This week, for example, Greek legislators rejected a proposed law that would have forced the nation’s pharmacies — long seen as a symbol of the protected and uncompetitive local economy — to stay open more hours each day.
Advertisement Continue reading the main story
Although the Greek Parliament did pass other laws that liberalized areas of the economy, the defeat of the pharmacy bill, and continuing union opposition to government demands for lower wages, underscore how difficult it will be for Greece to return to a path of economic growth.According to a report from NFL.com's Ian Rapoport, former Patriots running back Shane Vereen is going to be joining the New York Giants for the 2015 season.
Vereen will join Rashad Jennings and Andre Williams in a crowded Giants backfield. So where does Vereen fit into the mix, and what kind of impact will he have on the Giants' offense?
Adding a New Dimension
Vereen is one the best in the league catching the ball out of the backfield, something that both Jennings and Williams struggle with. Looking at numbers from the 2014 season, it's clear that Vereen's efficiency as a receiver is on an entirely different level than the others in terms of our Net Expected Points (NEP) metric. NEP is our way of quantifying a player's production in terms of points added above or below expectation level and accounts for in-game variables such as down-and-distance to paint a more accurate picture than box scores alone.
Player Receptions Reception NEP Reception NEP/Target Shane Vereen 53 32.69 0.42 Rashad Jennings 30 3.73 0.09 Andre Williams 18 6.54 0.18
Jennings has never posted a single-season Reception NEP higher than even Vereen's worst year (excluding his rookie season in which he played 26 snaps). Vereen's worst Reception NEP (11.69) came in 2012, and Jennings' best (10.71) was in 2013.
For more context, Vereen has been in the top 10 among receiving backs in each of the last two seasons. Among backs who saw 40 or more targets, Vereen was the fourth-most efficient receiver, posting a Reception NEP per target of 0.52. The number fell to 0.42 in 2014, but that was still good for eighth in the league.
Vereen's Impact on the Ground
While Vereen is set to be the best receiving threat in the Giants' backfield, he doesn’t stand to add much in terms of their rushing attack.
Vereen finished the 2013 season 26th among backs with 40 or more carries with a Rushing NEP of 1.54. In 2014, he finished 30th with a Rushing NEP of -3.08. While those numbers aren't terrible, Jennings posted a Rushing NEP of 11.80 and -0.51 in 2013 and 2014, respectively.
Vereen is clearly best utilized in the passing game, and it would be no surprise to see his usage come mostly on third downs and, like it was in New England, fairly dependent on the game plan from week to week.
Effect on the Offense
So what does the addition of a dangerous pass-catching back mean for the Giants' offense?
In 2014, Giants' backs combined for 97 targets, recording 60 receptions for 460 yards and 0 touchdowns.
Vereen's numbers in 2014 were quite similar. He caught 52 passes for 447 yards and 3 touchdowns. The biggest difference being that Vereen did it on 20 fewer targets, seeing 77.
With a more dangerous receiving threat accounting for these targets out of the backfield, these numbers should not only improve but also help draw some attention away from the Giants' receivers.
Whether the Giants can get it together on the defensive side of the ball -- they ranked 25th in the league in Adjusted Defensive NEP per play, our schedule-adjusted metric to determine a defense's efficiency -- will have a big impact on their success, but loaded with weapons heading into 2015, their offense should put up impressive numbers, likely building on their 16th-ranked offense in terms of Adjusted NEP per play.Here's a fanciful rumor that is interesting to think about: British magazine Female First quoted a report from the Daily Star on Wednesday that recording superstar Rihanna, an avid soccer fan, is looking to buy a team, either in England or the United States, with the MLS team in question being in Los Angeles. Bet you didn't anticipate that rumor, did you?
According to the tabloids, the singer wants to open a soccer academy in her native Barbados, and either purchase an English Premier League team or said LA team.
Here's the key quote about the LA link:
"Britain is like a second home to her, although she's also hinted she may do something with an LA team."
The star, who both tweeted frequently on soccer matters during the World Cup and also flashed the stadium during the World Cup final to celebrate Germany's win, has made a heap of money as a successful singer over the years. Hilariously, the report also had this quote:
"At first we thought Rihanna's desire to be involved with soccer on a business level would soon blow over. "We figured she was still on a high from the World Cup. But now it's becoming clear she really is serious."
Now, the report does not name Chivas USA, but it is a team in Los Angeles in search of an owner, especially in light of news this week that MLS is still looking for a buyer.
Of course, this could be somebody inventing stories out of wholecloth, which happens all the time in the British/celebrity tabloid media. "Singer likes soccer? Check. Team in US is looking for an owner? Check. Let's combine the two facts into a story!"
I doubt we hear much more about this, but as the search for an owner continues, who knows what might happen. And as strange to imagine Rihanna as an owner, what would be weird about it? That she's a pop star? That she's a woman (she would be the only female owner in the league)? If she was willing to spend the money, hired the right people to run the club, and was committed for the long haul, it could be really great.
But again, this is very much a rumor, and a very tenuous one at best. If we hear more about this or anything else regarding the Chivas USA ownership situation, we'll of course let you know.
What do you think? Leave a comment below!
(H/T to @rebrand_chivas_ for alerting us to the story)Earlier this year Marc Webb confirmed that B.J. Novak from The Office had joined the cast of The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Since then, nothing has really been revealed about the character he plays.
In a recent interview with The Huffington Post, Novak teased his character a bit, saying,
"I'm in a couple of scenes. Yeah, I was never told whether or not I could say. I can say that I work at Oscorp. And I am someone from the comic books, someone from the original. So, yeah, I'm somebody. I wouldn't say I'm pivotal, but I'm not an extra, either."
Makes me wonder if he will eventually end up being one of the Sinister Six in the upcoming sequel planned. Maybe Doc Oc or the Vulture? Who knows, but I'm sure we'll find out soon enough. Who do you think Novak is playing in the franchise?
The movie opens up in theaters on May 2nd, 2014, and judging from the trailer that was released yesterday, the movie is going to be awesome!I have often noticed programmers getting worked up about the legacy code they are maintaining. I know it is annoying having to wade through poor code, or worrying about making changes for fear of unexpected side-effects. However, it is important to see the code for what it is and in the context of when it was written. Coding styles change, programmers change. What a programmer did then, they may not do today. Once this is accepted, I find the code base is accepted.
What is legacy code?
I define legacy code as code that is no longer maintained, or that is frightening to work on because it not fully understood. Typically this code has no tests and is hard to test because it hasn't been written to be tested.
Preparing the environment
Before you can work effectively with the code, you need to ensure the environment is conducive. This can be a big hurdle if the build tools or environments themselves are outdated or poorly understood. I have repeatedly come across poor build automation so that builds took longer and were more complicated than should have been the case. Improving this can make a huge difference to the speed with which you can make a change and test it.
Exploring the code base
To make changes to the code you need to take the time to explore and properly understand it. Do this by adding temporary comments, refactoring, adding tests and using your revision control software to create branches where you can take the code apart and test your understanding.
Making style changes
Coding styles do change and every programmer has their own preference. Don't be too critical of coding styles that were typical when the code was written and don't judge the code by today's standards. Try to fit in with the coding style of a file. A mixture of styles in a file can be very confusing and makes it much harder to work with. If you feel that you can't adapt to the style, then change it throughout the file or start the new style in a separate file. When you do make style changes, try to put them in a separate commit, so functional changes and style changes are distinct. This helps future maintainers of the code.
Elements of coding styles that you may want to consider seriously before changing include: tabs vs spaces, camel caps vs snake case, K&R declarations vs prototypes, procedural vs object-orientated paradigm.
Comments lie
Comments can be useful to explain complex code or dependencies. However, they are often out of step with the code and therefore can confuse. Think seriously before putting comments in code. I often use them as I am exploring code to understand it. Once I have gained the understanding that I was looking for, I will refactor the code and remove virtually all the comments. Less is more as far as comments go.
Refactoring
Rather than using comments to explain code, I would much rather refactor the code so that the variables and functions make it clear what is happening. Functions can be tested and maintained more easily and if your understanding of the code changes, you are more likely to change the functions to suit, this may not be the case with comments. For more on this take a look at: Refactoring: Arm Yourself in the War Against Useless Comments.
Testing
Adding tests to code can be the most useful change that you make. It will often feel difficult if the code wasn't designed to be tested, but will reap rewards in terms of understanding and confidence in the code. Think of good tests as a gift to yourself and those that maintain the code after you.
Remember the next guy
Any changes that you make should improve the maintainability of the code not add to the technical debt. You may not be the last person to work on this code, so please remember the next guy.GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) - Suspected Ugandan rebels killed at least 15 Tanzanian U.N. peacekeepers and wounded 53 others in a raid on a base in Congo that U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday called the worst attack on the organization in recent history.
Tanzania’s President John Magufuli said he was “shocked and saddened” by the deaths, which come amid rising violence against civilians, the army and U.N. troops in Democratic Republic of Congo’s eastern borderlands.
The U.N. chief said the attack constituted a war crime and called on Congolese authorities to investigate and “swiftly bring the perpetrators to justice”.
“I want to express my outrage and utter heartbreak at last night’s attack,” Guterres told reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York. “There must be no impunity for such assaults, here or anywhere else.”
The United Nations Security Council condemned the attack on Friday and held a moment of silence for the victims.
State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert wrote on Twitter that the United States was “appalled by the horrific attack”.
U.N. troops were still searching for three peacekeepers who went missing during the more than three-hour firefight that broke out at dusk on Thursday evening, Ian Sinclair, the director of the U.N. Operations and Crisis Centre, said.
U.N. officials said they suspected militants from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) staged the assault on the base in the town of Semuliki in North Kivu’s Beni territory.
The ADF is an Islamist rebel group that has been active in the area. Congo’s U.N. mission, MONUSCO, said it was coordinating a joint response with the Congolese army and evacuating wounded from the base.
Five Congolese soldiers were also killed in the raid, MONUSCO said in a statement. Congo’s army said only one of its soldiers was missing, however, while another had been injured, adding that 72 militants had been killed.
‘THEY DON’T WANT US THERE’
Rival militia groups control parts of mineral-rich eastern Congo nearly a decade and a half after the official end of a 1998-2003 war in which millions of people died, mostly from hunger and disease.
The area has been the scene of repeated massacres and at least 26 people died in an ambush in October.
The government and U.N. mission have blamed almost all the violence on the ADF but U.N. experts and independent analysts say other militia and elements of Congo’s own army have also been involved.
In response to the growing unrest, and in an effort to protect civilians, the U.N.’s Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Jean-Pierre Lacroix said MONUSCO had stepped up its activities in the area.
“They don’t want us there. And I think this attack is a response... to our increasingly robust posture in that region,” he told reporters.
Thursday’s raid was the third attack on a U.N. base in eastern Congo in recent months.
Increased militia activity in the east and center of the country has added to insecurity in Congo this year amid political tensions linked to President Joseph Kabila’s refusal to step down when his mandate expired last December.
An election to replace Kabila, who has ruled Congo since his father’s assassination in 2001, has been repeatedly delayed and is now scheduled for December 2018.
Established in 2010, MONUSCO is the United Nations’ largest peacekeeping mission and had recorded 93 fatalities of military, police and civilian personnel.Found guilty of harassment and making threats for explaining anti-gun legislation was killing his ammo business
Steve Watson
Prisonplanet.com
April 4, 2014
In a blatant violation of the right to free speech, a college student in Connecticut has been suspended after he asked Democratic Gov. Dannel Malloy several questions about his stance on gun control during an appearance at a public forum.
The student, Nicholas Saucier, approached Malloy after the campus event at Asnuntuck Community College, and asked him to address his support for gun control legislation which, Saucier claims, has negatively impacted the student’s ammunition manufacturing business.
The exchange, which occurred in October of last year, was caught on video:
As the video shows, Saucier was polite and courteous and was simply asking legitimate questions of his elected representative.
“Do you have any comments about how the legislation has affected my business?” Saucier asks in the video, commenting “All of our work got outsourced to another state.”
Malloy clearly has little interest in engaging the student before he gets into a car and drives away, prompting Saucier to call him a “fucking snake”. The president of Asnuntuck Community College is seen attempting to push Saucier away from the Governor, before reporting the student to a campus security officer, claiming that Saucier attacked the governor, quickly qualifying that he meant “verbally”.
After being escorted from the campus, Saucier was charged with harassment and making threats, among other violations of the college’s conduct policies. The college refused to review the video evidence of the incident and was suspended on the grounds that his “continued presence on campus would present a danger to the persons, property and/or academic process of the College.”
The incident has prompted the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education to step in and appeal the case. “Being pushy isn’t against the law … he was perfectly within his constitutional rights,” Peter Bonilla, director of FIRE’s Individual Rights Defense Program said.
ACC demanded that Saucier plead guilty to the charges in an informal hearing and then undergo counseling. He refused, instead demanding a formal hearing so he could defend himself.
FIRE notes that Saucier was denied a fair hearing by the college:
At his November 18 hearing, ACC gave itself discretion to “decide what information is appropriate” for consideration, then refused to review Saucier’s videos showing his speech to be protected by the First Amendment. It also prohibited any recording of the hearing, depriving Saucier of a fundamental safeguard colleges routinely afford students. These unwritten abridgements to ACC’s written procedures severely impaired Saucier’s ability to defend himself.
The College found Saucier guilty of all charges, and he is now on probation, with the threat of expulsion hanging over him, should any more similar incidents occur. FIRE has written to ACC demanding that the college “reverse its severe violations of Saucier’s free speech and due process rights.”
“This case stands as a startling example of what can happen when disrespect for student First Amendment rights is combined with disregard for student due process rights,” said Peter Bonilla.
“College students, like every citizen have an expectation to speak with their elected officials,”
Bonilla said. “These kinds of conversations are common and directly engaging with elected officials is constitutional.”
“ACC’s myriad violations of Nicholas Saucier’s rights, effective rewriting of its conduct procedures, and failure to rectify its errors should give all Americans great concern.” Bonilla added.
—————————————————————-
Steve Watson is a London based writer and editor for Alex Jones’ Infowars.com, andPrisonplanet.com. He has a Masters Degree in International Relations from the School of Politics at The University of Nottingham, and a Bachelor Of Arts Degree in Literature and Creative Writing from Nottingham Trent University.
This article was posted: Friday, April 4, 2014 at 10:12 am
Print this page.
Infowars.com Videos:
Comment on this articleWe hear a Giant stomping through the woods!
Giant Queen Card Art
Development
Over the weekend we have been gearing up and testing Defensive Deck Building and doing playthroughs. We are also bringing out the Giant Queen as a new boss to add to your Deck!
The Engineering Team worked on Server Automation and iOS test builds.
The Art Team worked on Card Back 7 Finished; Card Back 8 Sculpting; Blindswordsman Card Art; Pyroclasm revision; Master Blaster skinning; and Landing screen.
The Design Team worked on Oros bucket cards; Defense design; new Defense Card breakdown; new start of game actions; new Boss draw; new Minotaur perk cards.
The Audio Team worked on Spawn FX and Voice Overs.
Giant Queen's Room
The Race of Giants
Of the Northern Clans, Giants are the largest race of humans. Unlike Orgron, theirs is a matriarchal society, with family groups ruled by a council of warrior women. Giants breed very slowly and are incredibly long-lived. They are also resistant to disease and difficult to kill--a typical giant bears scars from centuries-old battles. They live in harmony with lesser races of men through an exchange of talents. Giants are not particularly industrious, nor are they particularly inventive. On the other hand, it is always useful to have a Giant on your side in the event of a dispute with a neighboring clan. As such, Giants are the de facto peacekeepers with clan society, and as living ancestors, they are treated with great reverence. It is said of Giants that their stature and longevity causes them to see far down the road, and miss those things up close. This makes arousing a Giant to action, or swaying them from their course difficult in more ways than one.
Giant Queen Boss Select Screen
Fury StrikeA group of students in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Friday organised a religious gathering in the premises of one of the hostels.
The student’s group Hindu Jagran Abhiyan that organised Ram NavamiandNavratracelebration in the campus said that they gave a prayer call to “eliminate anti-nationals” of India and to “purify” the university.
Hinting at the February 9 event in the campusthat marked the death anniversary of Afzal Guru and worshipping of Mahishasur in the past, the student organisation in a statement said: “After denigration ofMaa Durgaand anti-national slogans in JNU, Hindu Jagran Abhiyan and Hindu Vidyarthi Sena of JNU organisedRam Navami PujaandBhagwati Pujaon occasion ofRam NavamiandNavratras.”
“A prayer and call will be made to the lord to eliminate all anti-nationals of India and purify the university and country from people having impure thoughts, and bring harmony and peace,” the statement added.
Around 100 students attended the event which was organised in the lawns of Mandvi hostel.
Read: Beyond Kanhaiya: 10 people involved in the JNU sedition row
Ajay Gautam, religious preacher, activist, former spokesperson of Shankaracharya Swarupanand Maharaj and Swami Nandkishore Mishra, a Hindu Mahasabha leader were the chief guests of the event.
A section of students have criticised the prayer meeting saying that there is no place for such religious activities in an academic institution where religious leaders are invited to talk.
Read: The JNU crackdown could be the BJP’s undoing
First Published: Apr 16, 2016 07:42 ISTTweet Phish will perform three consecutive shows (July 11, 12 and 13) on New York City's 320-acre Randall's Island. Three-day tickets and single day tickets are available now. There will be lots of great concessions (food and drinks) on site and things for folks to do until showtimes each day. Here's some general information about the event. Gates open daily at 4PM ET The shows will have an early start of 7PM, so be sure to make your way over to the island early. Randall's Island has a curfew of 11PM, even for Randall. Here is the official site map of the event
Tickets are $60 per day or $150 for a 3 day ticket. Or 87 bitcoins for a CyberTicket 2.0. Children of all ages are welcome at Randall's Island (and children 6 years old and under do not need a ticket). Children 21 and older are not technically children. Tickets can be purchased online at ticketmaster.com or charge by phone at 800-745-3000. You can purchase a 3-day ticket here. Box Office and Will-Call The box office is open on show days from Noon to 8pm. The box office is located near the main entrance. Accessible Seating/Access There will be ADA Access Viewing Platforms located at the stage. Please note that they have limited capacity and are available on a first come, first served basis. ADA accessible restrooms are available at the ends of each row of restrooms and behind the Access Viewing Platforms.
Getting to Randall's Island Park by Ferry The most convenient way to get to Randall's Island is by ferry. Ferry passes are now available for sale online at Ticketmaster.com. |
writes. She says there were hissy fits, and Clinton threw dishes at Bill in the Kitchen and broke a kitchen cabinet door – all signs of her anger.
Bill lost the governorship after one year and Hillary was furious, knowing that she was no longer the state's First Lady and had to move out of the governor's mansion and into a tiny house, Dolly writes.
And she was furious, too, that Bill wanted to stay home with the baby. He confessed to Dolly but it was the baby that kept the couple together.
'Hillary was busy studying the exit polls and wondering if it might be time to find another coattail to clutch on her way to the White House,' Dolly recalls.
Political guru Dick Morris, who had worked on their 1978 gubernatorial race, then came on scene.
Hillary, who just clinched the nomination for the 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, is pictured above campaigning with Bill in April
Bill had passed on being chair of the National Democratic Party and opted for a job with a local law firm.
It was Morris who devised the winning plan to get back into the Governor's mansion. Bill had to apologize for his arrogance among other sins during his first term and Hillary Rodham had to change her name to Hillary Clinton.
The plan worked and they moved back in the manse in 1983.
Still, 'Hillary is not a leader. She is a coattail-clutcher who has a litany of jobs with no accomplishments', Dolly claims.
Dolly writes that Hillary failed as co-president and failed as senator 'unless you are impressed with the bills she introduced to name a couple of post offices'.
She also, Dolly claims, failed as secretary of state and as a defender of women over the past 40 years. Hillary instigated threats on women who had sex with her husband, a serial sex abuser.
Bill's 12-year affair with Gennifer Flowers exploded on the news in early 1992.
The Clintons' reaction was for Dolly, a lover of Bill's for years, deny that he had any liaison with Gennifer but admit that he did have a lengthy close relationship with her that began when they were in high school.
They wanted the big lie to be told on the television show, 60 Minutes, with Hillary, Bill and Dolly sitting in a room facing the camera.
The Clintons believed that the confession would make Gennifer's story disappear and now the media would focus on Dolly, who was loved in Arkansas.
But Hillary didn't care about her husband's affections for Dolly. She did care if Gennifer Flowers' confession derailed Bill's run for President that year.
Dolly, a stickler for the truth, however, refused to go along with the big deceit and she was told, 'Bill and Hillary will have to destroy you'.
Dolly claims that Hillary did try to destroy here.
'There appears to be no limit to what Hillary will do to destroy her perceived enemies.' she writes.
'In her speeches and on her website, without giving any evidence of what she has done, Hillary states that she has been fighting for women for over forty years.
'She is confused again. She has been attacking women for over forty years'.Statement Issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Zambia on the Tabloid Report on China Feeding Canned Human Meat to Southern Africa
2016/05/20
On 19th May, 2016, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Zambia issued a press statement on the tabloid report on China feeding canned human meat to Southern Africa. Following is the full text of the statement:
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Zambia wishes to refer to an article published on 17th May, 2016 in the "Kachepa", a privately owned Newspaper, which reported that China has been exporting canned human meat to Southern Africa.
The Zambian Government strongly condemns the unethical journalism demonstrated by releasing an article containing fabricated information and pictures from a 2012 animated version of a video game called 'Resident Evil'. The Zambian Government considers this kind of journalism as unethical, irresponsible and void of human respect, decorum and amorous virtues.
With the foregoing, the Zambian Government therefore, strongly disassociates itself with such publications and will not protect individuals publishing malicious falsehoods that tarnish the image of any friendly country, including the People's Republic of China.True, we are still living in a material world, but cotton grown with pesticides is no longer the fabric of our lives.
The green movement is making huge strides replacing toxins and waste in the marketplace with organic fibers like bamboo and hemp, as well as good old corn starch, throw-away cork and used paper.
The brave, new soldiers of eco industry believe enough is enough when it comes to creating more waste and adding to our grossly overflowing landfills and plastic islands. Bet you do, too!
Instead, the trend has been to meet a growing consumer demand for renewable and reusable resources, seeking out the scraps of industry (glass, cork and plastic bottles) and growing plants without pesticides to make healthy fibers with no trace of petroleum.
Here is a go-to list of the friendliest materials that have our planet covered.
1. Bamboo Fiber
The eco fiber option of choice, bamboo is woven into everything from fashionable dresses like those made by Spun in Seattle and other respected labels, to towels, totes and interior elements such as window treatments. This natural textile is made from the pulp of the bamboo grass and is best in the organic form – pure and unbleached. It is a strong fabric, considered more durable and sustainable than conventional textile fiber.
2. Bamboo Hardwood
Considered a renewable resource, bamboo is a grass that thrives quickly. Oak trees can take 120 years to grow to maturity while bamboo can be harvested in three. it also regenerates without need for replanting, and requires minimal fertilization or pesticides. The jury is still out on whether or not bamboo flooring is as durable as traditional European hardwoods. As Tree Hugger points out, now all bamboo products are alike. Since it is mostly shipped from China, you have to determine if the product is treated according to environmental standards. Companies like Teragren are careful about adhering to strict environmental specifications.
3. Cork
Got a surface that needs covering? Put a cork on it. Whether molded into mosaics for floors by Mod Walls or adapted as a textile for chic handbags by Shop Cork Design, cork is a renewable resource from the industry’s by-products. It can be waterproofed to extend the life of the surface and also applied to walls as an unexpected modern surface.
4. Plantation Grown Teak
Teak is a deciduous hardwood tree from the highlands of southeast Asia and is considered a sustainable timber for indoor-outdoor furniture, as well as decking. The Maku Chaise, below, is an example of outdoor designs sold by Design Public and other vendors. Teak has a naturally high oil content which makes it both stable and resistant to rotting when exposed to extreme climates. Much of it comes to us from the island of Java. The Dutch started plantations there about 150 years ago. The Indonesian government agency, Perum Perhutani, now manages the plantations, enforcing a strict policy regarding the size and quantity of trees felled each year together with annual replanting.
5. Corn Starch Biocompostables
Corn: it’s what’s for dinner and so much more. These utensils from the Biodegradable Store made of sugar cane fiber, corn and potato starch are the green alternative to petroleum-based plastics and styrofoam materials which take thousands of years to degrade. Thankfully, the new biocompostables are not restricted to the home pantry but are showing up at shopping mall food courts and school events where large crowds gather and consume disposables in bulk. Corn has also been used for library cards in San Francisco and ringtone downloader cards. And don’t forget ethanol, a fuel helping to reduce greenhouse emissions and slow global warming.
6. Hemp
Hemp is grown without pesticides or fertilizers and is rapidly replacing plastic-based materials for clothing and home decor. A member of the Cannabis Sativa plant family (don’t worry, it won’t get you high – other than environmentally!), it yields 250% more fiber than cotton per acre plus 500% more pulp fiber than forest wood. Sold by the yard or already woven into bedding, curtains or fashion garb by brands like Eco Fabrik, hemp dates back to more than 10,000 years ago with a myriad of uses such as paper making, cloth weaving and extracted oils for medicinal products and skincare.
7. Soybean Fabric
Soy fabric is friendly and soft and similar to cashmere or silk in texture. It is found in luxury items, such as these cushy robes from Eco Body wear, and scrumptious baby rompers from Baby Soy USA. Soybean protein fiber is a sustainable and botanical textile fiber made from renewable and biodegradable natural resources – the leftover soybean pulp from tofu and soy milk production. Its 16 amino acids are healthy and nutritional for our skin.
8. Organic Cotton
The Organic Trade Association tells us organic cotton grown by farmers worldwide increased 152 percent during the 2007-2008 crop year. Organic cotton is grown without harmful toxic pesticides and synthetic fertilizers meaning the farming methods and materials have a low impact on people and the environment. Production replenishes and maintains soil fertility to build biologically diverse agriculture. Genetically engineered seed for organic farming is strictly taboo, and all cotton sold as organic in the United States must meet strict federal regulations covering how the cotton is grown. In terms of products, it is much easier to find now in upscale and everyday clothing and underwear, stylish bedding like this soft set from Pottery Barn, rugs, bags – you name it.
9. Recycled Glass
Companies like the inventive Vetrazzo are sparing landfills of post-industrial glass scraps, while giving new life to post consumer glass such as Corona Beer bottles which are made into countertops. It all goes into the mix of making a sustainable recycled product that adds great beauty to the environment. The same reusable resource is being molded into jewelry or new tumblers for entertaining. One man’s junk”¦you get the picture.
10. Low VOC Paint and Finishes
You’ve probably heard of VOC’s, the solvents in paint which evaporate easily at room temperature. They smell bad bad and are bad for people and other living things. They contribute to the depletion of the ozone layer as well as poor indoor air quality. That’s why companies like Benjamin Moore and YOLO Colorhouse® are offering us alternatives. The scientists and artists at YOLO produce a premium zero-VOC paint with an appealing designer palette of 40 hues for interiors, inspired by the natural world. It seems to be the direction more makers of finishes are going. Let’s follow this path and refuse to buy anything less healthy for our homes.
11. Recycled Polyester
Yes, rPET is the new polyester! PET stands for Poly Ethylene Terephthalate, a plastic resin and a form of polyester. PET is a polymer that is formed by combining two monomers called modified ethylene glycol and Purified Terephthalic Acid. PET is labeled with the #1 code on bottles and containers used to package soft drinks, water, juice, peanut butter, salad dressings and oil, cosmetics and household cleaners. PET is a popular package for food and non-food products because it is inexpensive, lightweight, resalable, shatter-resistant and recyclable. To source the post consumer bottles, they are sterilized and then dried and crushed into tiny chips. The chips are heated in a vat and forced through spinnerets (as with virgin polyester) and then are spun into yarn and dyed without toxic properties. What can you make with the Eco-fi material? Everything from carpets, bags and clothing to wall coverings, furnishings and craft felt.
12. Recycled Paper
Did you know 57 million trees are killed each year to produce the paper catalog companies crank out to market their stuff? The catalog industry floods our mailboxes with over 17 billion catalogs a year in the United States, many produced on paper that comes from endangered forests, including those in the Canadian Boreal forest. But businesses, such as Norm Thompson Outfitters of Portland, Oregon, are setting new standards by using recycled paper for their catalogs. Many other companies are getting on the recycled paper bus, including card and stationary designers such as Papel Vino in Vancouver and Bird Dog Press. Magazine strips are also coiled for trays and meshed into placemats for chic home decor. For every ton of paper that is recycled, 17 trees are spared. You can recycle most paper, including white office paper, newspaper and mixed-color paper, through a local curbside recycling program.
13. Felt
No longer just the craft stuff of school kids, if you’ve got an eye like Josh Jakus (bags and coasters) and Ronel Jordaan (modern stones) there is nothing you can’t glue together with this delightful, ecological textile. Felt can come in many forms, from recycled wool from PET bottles to made the old fashion “wet felting” way by nomadic peoples in Central Asia. The non-woven cloth is made by matting, condensing and pressing organic fibers while they are wet. While some types of felt are very soft, some are tough enough to use on construction materials such as a tar paper called roofing felt.
14. Solar Cells
A solar cell is a device that converts light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect. Assemblies of cells are used to make solar panels and solar modules to produce energy for practical use. Harnessing energy from the sun is a major goal in slowing global warming. Prefabricated solar panel systems for roofing usually range in capacity from 3 to 120 kilowatts. According to Technology Review, solar roofing materials can “cut the cost of household solar installations by doing double duty, generating electricity while protecting buildings from the elements.” Scientists tell us that on a bright, sunny day, the sun shines approximately 1,000 watts of energy per square meter of the planet’s surface. Collecting all of that energy would allow us to easily power our homes and offices for free.
15. Aluminum Bottles
A question that might be posed by Dwight Schrute of The Office is “which water bottle is best?” Many athletes, backpackers and soccer moms who used to quaff from leaky plastic will tell you the Sigg aluminum is best when it comes to bottles free of Bisphenol-A (BPA) found in polycarbonate plastics. Sometimes called Lexan, BPA is an endocrine disruptor that has been shown to affect reproduction and brain development in animal studies. It can leach into foods and liquids and mimics estrogen when absorbed by the human body. Sigg bottles are made from a single piece of aluminum (no leaks) and have a water-based, non-toxic interior coating. The liner’s finish keeps out bacteria and mold and is neutral and resistant to fruit acids and energy drinks. SIGG bottles have been independently tested to prove they are completely leach-free and are 100 percent recyclable.
16.BPA-Free Plastic
While plastics have been shunned by environmentalists since The Graduate debuted, the new Better Bottle produced by CamelBak is a move in the right direction. The company switched its 2008 Better Bottle line to Eastman Tritan copolyester, a new BPA- and phthalate-free material. BPA-free bottles started shipping to retailers in January of 2008 and are popular choices for children following required packing lists for summer camps and school field trips. Camelbak also makes stainless steel bottles, which are a close rival of aluminum in popularity and purity. You can buy them at outdoorsy outlets such as REI.
17. Cardboard
Recycling old cardboard to make recycling containers? Sure, that’s what the inventive set, such as Amazing Recycled Products, is doing and much more. Savvy products on the market include coasters, DIY speakers and journals. The two types of cardboard that can be recycled are flat cardboard, which is typically used in cereal and shoe boxes, and corrugated cardboard, which has a ruffled layer between the two flat pieces of cardboard and is often used in packing boxes. Both can usually be recycled through your local curbside recycling program.
18. Reclaimed Rubber
Tired of tires sitting in landfills for indefinite periods of time? So are companies like Rubber Sidewalks, which use shredded tires to compose panels that fit together to form a rubber sidewalk. The rubber is even good for trees, letting the sidewalk raise and bend around the roots. You no longer have to remove entire trees to keep concrete from being torn up and replaced. In 2006, 60 cities from 15 different states tested rubber sidewalks. Residents find the rubber feels good under their feet and sound is reduced, as well. It’s safe and non-toxic. Rubber sidewalks also comes in different colors. While the main motive is to save trees, recycled rubber also reduces the waste from tires each year. In California alone, tires create an estimated 408 million pounds of waste rubber.
19. Rice Hulls
Green Pots are made from rice hulls and break down much quicker than traditional planters. No pollutants are used or produced at any stage of the manufacturing process of the containers and there are no wasted materials because scraps are recycled back into the production process. Consumer rice also enjoys afterlife as durable messenger bags that look pretty and help us conserve.
20. Natural Earth Clay and Plaster
A friendly alternative to cement, gypsum, acrylic and lime plasters, products like American Clay Earth Plaster are pure and breathable, a popular choice in the new construction of walls and remodeling of old buildings. As Countryside Magazine points out, using earth to make walls and houses has been done for thousands of years. Uncle Sam invested in testing Rammed Earth construction from the 20s through the 40s as a practical way to achieve affordable housing. Even Frank Lloyd Wright was said to be a fan of using adobe and other natural earth sources. He drew up plans for a multi-family cooperative but due to the war that project was never fulfilled. The process of making rammed earth involves the mixing of raw material from gravel, sand, silt and clay.
*BONUS MATERIAL
21. Elbow Grease
Susie Homemaker is not staying slim these days by downing diuretics (that was my mother’s trick) but by spinning her salads, washing and wiping dishes by hand, hand washing and line drying clothes, riding her bike to the market, walking to her volunteer meetings and other steps that burn calories while leaving a lighter carbon pump print. The more we use our own body’s energy the less we rely on oil, electricity and other sources that drain the planet. And by the way, the exercise of cutting some of your pretty hair also can help the planet in the mopping up of oil spills in the form of hair mats. Human hair has not caught on as fabric for clothing yet, as far as we can tell from Project Runway.The Abbott government has struck a deal with the Palmer United Party and Ricky Muir on its watered-down financial advice rules.
In the Senate on Tuesday Finance Minister Mathias Cormann revealed the government had agreed with the balance-of-power senators to introduce further protections as a condition of their support for the unravelling of changes made under the previous Labor government.
Finance Minister Senator Mathias Cormann tells the Senate of a deal with the Palmer United Party during the disallowance motion on changes to financial advice laws. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
The deal was announced unexpectedly as Labor and the Greens attempted to prevent the changes with a motion of disallowance in the Senate.
The final Senate vote of 31-34 for disallowance meant the attempt to strike down the changes failed.Myer CEO Richard Umbers speaks at The Australian Financial Review summit on Wednesday. Credit:Jesse Marlow He said there were many young people entering the workforce, who had a very different perception of what constituted meaningful work and the idea that they were fearful of losing rights and entitlements was a "very conventional view". "There is research that demonstrates that they don't really differentiate between a Saturday and a Sunday," Mr Umbers said. "They really want to work in a way that suits their lifestyle and they think in terms of work-life balance and that isn't something typically that's enhanced by a restrictive regime." Mr Umbers said the broader issue was finding a model that delivered customers the service they required and harnessed technology to enhance the retail experience.
"It's time for the national discussion on how we unlock the next wave of productivity without the fear that these measures we put in place have to be to the detriment of employees," Mr Umbers said. "Careers in retail can be both meaningful and engaging but we must have the capacity to direct resources to the area of greatest need, whether that's on the shop floor on the Sunday afternoon or in the online pick and pack operations in the middle of the night." The majority of Bunnings staff are employed on a permanent part-time basis rather than as casuals, which reduces the organisation's exposure to costly penalty rates. However, managing director John Gillam said it was disappointing that there wasn't a stronger focus on "fixing" issues that the unions, business organisations and politicians agreed should be addressed. He said if regulation was unproductive then it wasn't keeping pace.
"I'm a big fan for just pragmatically fixing what's there and allowing the ideologists to debate and the politicians to make the decisions they're supposed to make," Mr Gillam said. "You put head of Retail Council and the head of SDU (Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Union) in one place you'll find there's common ground on things they would both like fixed. "But generally both comment on the things they are most ideologically upset about and nothing gets changed, which is frustrating." McDonalds Australia pays its staff above the minimum wage but its vice-president Cathy Doyle said for small operators the wage bill was one of the biggest costs and the impact of penalty rates was a major factor in youth unemployment. Ms Doyle said when a cafe decided not to open its doors on a Sunday because it was too costly it took away jobs that were traditionally filled by young people.
"The jobs that even I had when I was a young person are not around any more, the entry level jobs in banks don't exist any more because they're offshore," Ms Doyle said. This entry level work, the jobs that kids took up while in the final years of school or after leaving school is most at risk from technology, says AlphaBeta director Andrew Charlton. Dr Charlton, who was named the young global leader by the World Economic Forum in 2011, said nearly three-quarters of the jobs that young people tended to take were at risk of loss to automation. "We did a study recently looking at the number of jobs that are advertised that required less than three years' experience … and every year the number of job adds is falling because these changes in our labour market are adversely affecting young people," Mr Charlton said. "If you flip over the supply side and look at the nature of skills that young people are being provided with … and nearly half of Australian young people are studying for courses that are preparing them for precisely the jobs that are going to be eliminated by automation."Deeply-Recursive Convolutional Network for
Image Super-Resolution
Authors
Jiwon Kim
Jung Kwon Lee
Kyoung Mu Lee
Abstract
We propose an image super-resolution method (SR) using a deeply-recursive convolutional network (DRCN). Our network has a very deep recursive layer (up to 16 recursions). Increasing recursion depth can improve performance without introducing new parameters for additional convolutions. Albeit advantages, learning a DRCN is very hard with a standard gradient descent method due to exploding/vanishing gradients. To ease the difficulty of training, we propose two extensions: recursive-supervision and skip-connection. Our method outperforms previous methods by a large margin.
Paper
pdf
Slide
PPT
Results
zip
Train/Test Data
zip(train)
zip(test)
Code
zip
Citation
Bibtex
Jiwon Kim, Jung Kwon Lee and Kyoung Mu Lee, "Deeply-Recursive Convolutional Network for Image Super-Resolution", Proc. of IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR), 2016.
Qualitative results
Benchmark resultsddd4114 All powerful D-series member
7) iTrader: ( Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Columbus, OH Posts: 3,452 Rep Power: 19
iTrader Score: 7 reviews
Advanced Tech: What Makes Torque, and Why Do I Care? Introduction
This article is meant for the people who want to know more than which parts do I buy to make more power. This is meant for the people who want to know WHY those parts make power. Since the content is (and has to be) very theoretical, I wont be recommending specific parts, comparing specific parts, or doing anything like that. Ill try to keep everything simple and easy to understand, but Ill assume that everybody reading this already has a fundamental understanding of engines and elementary physics. So for those of you who havent completely lost interest at this point, lets begin.
Combustion Forces and Inertial Forces
The first part of understanding what makes torque is to realize that torque is not produced at a constant magnitude as the engine rotates. It comes in large spikes during the power stroke, and this behavior is further complicated by pumping losses, compression work, and the inertial forces created by the reciprocating components of the engine (namely the pistons). When your dyno reading says that your engine makes 115 ft-lb of torque at 5000 rpm, its actually saying that your engine makes an average of 115 ft-lb of torque at 5000 rpm. However, at any instant in time, the engine could be making 300 ft-lb or even -25 ft-lb of torque.
Lets start with the main component that probably first comes to your mind: combustion. As fuel is burned, cylinder temperature increases rapidly. Since the pressure of a fluid in a fixed volume increases with temperature, the cylinder pressure also rapidly increases, and that pressure develops a force on the piston. The more fuel mass thats burned per cycle, the more the cylinder temperature and pressure will rise. Most of that force is transferred through the connecting rod and to the crankpin. However, the angle between the connecting rod and the crank throw (the imaginary line that connects the center of the crankshaft with the center of the crankpin) changes as the engine rotates, and that has a large effect on how much torque can be developed. Im sure most of you have used a wrench to loosen a bolt at some point. Is it easier to push perpendicularly to the wrench, or would you rather push on the end of the wrench, toward the bolt? In one case, all of your force is used to create torque to loosen the bolt, and in the other case, the only thing you might accomplish is shearing the head off the bolt. The same principle applies to the crankshaft. When the piston is at TDC, there might be a large amount of force in the connecting rod, but no torque is created about the crankshaft. When the connecting rod is at a 90 degree angle with the crank throw, the force in the connecting rod can most effectively be used to produce torque. This occurs anywhere from 60 to 80 deg ATDC, depending on rod ratio (Ill talk more about this later). Additionally, since this doesnt occur when the connecting rod is perfectly vertical, some portion of the force is transferred to the cylinder wall. However, the energy loss associated with this condition is much smaller in comparison.
Fuel does not burn at a constant rate in the cylinders. The burn rate starts out small when the flame kernel develops, after which it exponentially grows to some maximum value. After the burn rate peaks, it exponentially drops back down to near-zero. Since there is a slight delay between the fuel burning and pressure building in the cylinders, the peak burn rate will occur several degrees before peak pressure is developed. Once this is all factored in with the conditions described in the previous paragraph, we can determine that cylinder pressure should be developed early in the power stroke and should peak between 10 and 12 deg ATDC, depending on rod ratio. This also means the peak burn rate should occur between 7 and 10 deg ATDC, also depending on rod ratio.
Here are some graphs to help you understand this visually. Here is what the cylinder pressure and torque traces might look like for a hypothetical naturally aspirated D16:
Notice how the torque at TDC (0 deg) is 0 ft-lb even though the cylinder pressure is more than 700 psi. Furthermore, the average torque produced by this cylinder is only 23 ft-lb over a 720 degree period, yet there is a 370 ft-lb spike in the power stroke and a -88 ft-lb dip in the compression stroke. Since this is only one cylinder of four, lets overlay this trace with the other three cylinders to see what the sum of their contributions is:
Since our engines use single-plane crankshafts, torque will always be zero whenever a piston is at TDC or BDC, neglecting the effect of rotational inertia.
At low speeds, the forces created by combustion are responsible for almost all of the torque created about the crankshaft. However, as the engine starts to rev higher, the inertial forces of the pistons, rings, wrist pins, and small ends of the connecting rods grow exponentially and do weird things with the torque trace. Whenever a piston is at TDC, it has to change directions, which means its acceleration grows immensely. Since the piston, rings, wrist pin, etc. have mass, this creates a force in the connecting rod, which is then transferred to the crankpin. Here is a graph showing how these inertial forces create torque about the crankshaft in our hypothetical D16 at 4000 rpm:
The mean torque is zero, but the spikes are pretty significant. Lets see what happens if we double the engine speed and rev to 8000 rpm:
Notice that the torque spikes quadrupled in amplitude even though we only doubled the engine speed. This is because the pistons acceleration grows exponentially with the crankshafts rotational speed. At low speeds, it has a small effect, but at high speeds, this put a lot of force in the connecting rods. Luckily, combustion actually helps to damp out these spikes. Lets see what happens when we put the combustion forces into the mix:
In this graph, the blue line represents the sum of the torques created by combustion forces and inertial forces, and the pink line represents the torque created only by the inertial forces. The large spikes in the blue trace are caused by the pistons decelerating near TDC, which puts tension in the connecting rods and pulls the crankpins toward the top of the bores. The dips in the trace are caused by the pressure created by burning mixture cancelling out a large portion of the tension that would exist in the connecting rods as the crankshaft tries to accelerate the pistons back down the bore. When you think about it, the burning fuel isnt really whats making torque at high speeds; its the pistons themselves trying to slow down as they approach TDC and BDC. To get a better idea of this, lets look at the force in the connecting rods at this engine speed:
In this graph, positive force loads the connecting rod in compression, and negative force loads the connecting rod in tension. Before TDC (0 deg), tension will create positive torque, and after TDC, compression will create positive torque.
Notice that when there is no fuel being burned (for example, during fuel cut after you lift off the throttle), the magnitude of the force in the connecting rods is almost twice as high near TDC as it is when combustion occurs. This is because the combustion forces create a cushion that counteracts the inertial forces of the pistons. Remember this next time you think about closing the throttle at redline This article is meant for the people who want to know more than which parts do I buy to make more power. This is meant for the people who want to know WHY those parts make power. Since the content is (and has to be) very theoretical, I wont be recommending specific parts, comparing specific parts, or doing anything like that. Ill try to keep everything simple and easy to understand, but Ill assume that everybody reading this already has a fundamental understanding of engines and elementary physics. So for those of you who havent completely lost interest at this point, lets begin.The first part of understanding what makes torque is to realize that torque is not produced at a constant magnitude as the engine rotates. It comes in large spikes during the power stroke, and this behavior is further complicated by pumping losses, compression work, and the inertial forces created by the reciprocating components of the engine (namely the pistons). When your dyno reading says that your engine makes 115 ft-lb of torque at 5000 rpm, its actually saying that your engine makes an average of 115 ft-lb of torque at 5000 rpm. However, at any instant in time, the engine could be making 300 ft-lb or even -25 ft-lb of torque.Lets start with the main component that probably first comes to your mind: combustion. As fuel is burned, cylinder temperature increases rapidly. Since the pressure of a fluid in a fixed volume increases with temperature, the cylinder pressure also rapidly increases, and that pressure develops a force on the piston. The more fuel mass thats burned per cycle, the more the cylinder temperature and pressure will rise. Most of that force is transferred through the connecting rod and to the crankpin. However, the angle between the connecting rod and the crank throw (the imaginary line that connects the center of the crankshaft with the center of the crankpin) changes as the engine rotates, and that has a large effect on how much torque can be developed. Im sure most of you have used a wrench to loosen a bolt at some point. Is it easier to push perpendicularly to the wrench, or would you rather push on the end of the wrench, toward the bolt? In one case, all of your force is used to create torque to loosen the bolt, and in the other case, the only thing you might accomplish is shearing the head off the bolt. The same principle applies to the crankshaft. When the piston is at TDC, there might be a large amount of force in the connecting rod, but no torque is created about the crankshaft. When the connecting rod is at a 90 degree angle with the crank throw, the force in the connecting rod can most effectively be used to produce torque. This occurs anywhere from 60 to 80 deg ATDC, depending on rod ratio (Ill talk more about this later). Additionally, since this doesnt occur when the connecting rod is perfectly vertical, some portion of the force is transferred to the cylinder wall. However, the energy loss associated with this condition is much smaller in comparison.Fuel does not burn at a constant rate in the cylinders. The burn rate starts out small when the flame kernel develops, after which it exponentially grows to some maximum value. After the burn rate peaks, it exponentially drops back down to near-zero. Since there is a slight delay between the fuel burning and pressure building in the cylinders, the peak burn rate will occur several degrees before peak pressure is developed. Once this is all factored in with the conditions described in the previous paragraph, we can determine that cylinder pressure should be developed early in the power stroke and should peak between 10 and 12 deg ATDC, depending on rod ratio. This also means the peak burn rate should occur between 7 and 10 deg ATDC, also depending on rod ratio.Here are some graphs to help you understand this visually. Here is what the cylinder pressure and torque traces might look like for a hypothetical naturally aspirated D16:Notice how the torque at TDC (0 deg) is 0 ft-lb even though the cylinder pressure is more than 700 psi. Furthermore, the average torque produced by this cylinder is only 23 ft-lb over a 720 degree period, yet there is a 370 ft-lb spike in the power stroke and a -88 ft-lb dip in the compression stroke. Since this is only one cylinder of four, lets overlay this trace with the other three cylinders to see what the sum of their contributions is:Since our engines use single-plane crankshafts, torque will always be zero whenever a piston is at TDC or BDC, neglecting the effect of rotational inertia.At low speeds, the forces created by combustion are responsible for almost all of the torque created about the crankshaft. However, as the engine starts to rev higher, the inertial forces of the pistons, rings, wrist pins, and small ends of the connecting rods grow exponentially and do weird things with the torque trace. Whenever a piston is at TDC, it has to change directions, which means its acceleration grows immensely. Since the piston, rings, wrist pin, etc. have mass, this creates a force in the connecting rod, which is then transferred to the crankpin. Here is a graph showing how these inertial forces create torque about the crankshaft in our hypothetical D16 at 4000 rpm:The mean torque is zero, but the spikes are pretty significant. Lets see what happens if we double the engine speed and rev to 8000 rpm:Notice that the torque spikes quadrupled in amplitude even though we only doubled the engine speed. This is because the pistons acceleration grows exponentially with the crankshafts rotational speed. At low speeds, it has a small effect, but at high speeds, this put a lot of force in the connecting rods. Luckily, combustion actually helps to damp out these spikes. Lets see what happens when we put the combustion forces into the mix:In this graph, the blue line represents the sum of the torques created by combustion forces and inertial forces, and the pink line represents the torque created only by the inertial forces. The large spikes in the blue trace are caused by the pistons decelerating near TDC, which puts tension in the connecting rods and pulls the crankpins toward the top of the bores. The dips in the trace are caused by the pressure created by burning mixture cancelling out a large portion of the tension that would exist in the connecting rods as the crankshaft tries to accelerate the pistons back down the bore. When you think about it, the burning fuel isnt really whats making torque at high speeds; its the pistons themselves trying to slow down as they approach TDC and BDC. To get a better idea of this, lets look at the force in the connecting rods at this engine speed:In this graph, positive force loads the connecting rod in compression, and negative force loads the connecting |
be done through informational leaflets, public exhibitions, and popular media like movies and newspapers. Additionally, surveys should be administered to learn about people’s perceptions of their neighbourhoods and of the river itself. These can help planners learn about and learn from local knowledge, in order to focus on future policies.
Subsequently, a decentralised approach could be proposed where residents themselves are given control of managing all rainfall that falls on their property – through rain water harvesting, surface runoff treatment and detention basins. This can take care of the load on both the municipal infrastructure and Oshiwara river, thereby prevent backflow during high tides. Through such inclusive approaches and trusting local knowledge there is tremendous scope for more innovation in water treatment and management.
Here, the government should be facilitator and mediator, ensuring that processes are all inclusive. There should also be transparency in the planning stages especially for cross departmental collaboration – storm water management, road transport, sewerage, and housing departments. Decentralising the process would help cut through red tape and give more teeth to the municipality. The blanket CRZ norms could be modified as per local conditions based on topography, hydrology and watershed. This could be used as an incentive for developers to use best management practices for water treatment and management within their properties.
The government also has the potential to set a precedent for the rest of the city. Most of the land south of Oshiwara River between Link Road and SV Road is zoned as Special Planned Area and owned by the MMRDA. They have plans to create an Oshiwara Business District here. However, the Sea Level Rise Explorer map suggests that a major part of this area would be under water by 2050 and most of the rest of it by 2100. MMRDA could use this as an opportunity to propose sea level rise resilient designs through surrender strategies, and building a combination of horizontal and vertical levees by planting wetlands and mangrove forests along the river’s edge.
Inundation projections along Oshiwara River corridor by 2050, created by Arijit Sen on ArcGIS, base map – Imagery@2014 Data SIO, NOAA, U.S, Navy, GEBO, Landsat, Map data @ 2014 Google, created on 20/1/2014. Area marked in orange is Special Planned Area owned by MMRDA.
Following the decentralised approach could potentially pave way for a watershed based zoning, where land use is determined by land form and natural resources, rather than the current method of Euclidean zoning (similar land uses grouped close to each other regardless of physical conditions). Here, the water gets collected and treated through multiple ways:
i.) Rain falling on terraces can be captured via vegetated roofs. This will not only reduce the volume of rainwater coming down, but also treat it. Water from here will be collected in rainwater storing tanks located near the building’s underground water supply tank. ii.) Combined flow through planters (bio-retention planters) along sidewalks will help capture and treat surface runoffs. iii.) Detention ponds in residential blocks will help capture, treat and store temporarily water from surface runoff within the demarcated neighbourhood block (proposed sub-watersheds). iv.) Sub-surface flow wetland systems along edge of the river could collect surface runoff in addition to the treated water from detention ponds of neighbourhood blocks abutting it. This will prevent effluents and harmful pollutants from entering the river.
Schematic diagram explaining how decentralisation of storm water could be managed, Sketchup 3D model drawn by Arijit Sen on 10/4/2014.
In order to convert this concept into a realistic proposal, the river’s watershed can be further divided into 28 sub-watersheds defined by housing complexes, in addition to topography.
Neighbourhood block level watersheds drawn according to residential complexes along Oshiwara River corridor, base map – Imagery@2014 Data SIO, NOAA, U.S, Navy, GEBO, Landsat, Map data @ 2014 Google, diagrams drawn by Arijit Sen, created on 1/10/2014. The areas marked in blue are potential locations for detention basins.
This decentralised approach will not only help detain and treat surface runoff water until the tide subsides, and prevent overloading the river, but also help recycle water for non-potable purposes, thus, easing load on water supply infrastructure as well. Additionally, sensitively designing the detention basins, treatment planters, and wetland swales could potentially create a liveable environment in the development corridor.
These intervention ideas could be summarised as:i.) River and riverfront restoration through an inclusionary approach and modification of (presently) top-down ambiguous policy formulating and regulating process.ii.) Spreading awareness and influencing perceptions of space about riverine ecosystems and their benefits.iii.) Improving storm water drainage infrastructure along the development corridor and sea level rise resilient strategies along the development corridor using decentralised approach.
In order to arrive at the best possible interventions these ideas were tested against the following performance criteria: effectiveness, feasibility and equity.
Alternatives Water quality Edge condition Accessibility to River Disaster prevention Flora & Fauna Vitality Total River and riverfront restoration through ‘inclusionary’ approach and modification of (presently) top-down ambiguous policy formulating and regulating process. Potential to improve. Walking paths, children’s playground, festival and event spaces activate the edge. (Based on precedents like Bandra promenade revitaliasation project). The waterfront could be opened up and made more accessible to residents, passersby and the entire city. Innovative designs and techniques can be used. Such as, ripraps and wetlands to break waves and prevent tsunamis in addition to holding on firmly to the soil preventing erosions and landslides. ‘Cleaning up’ of the edge discouraged scavenging birds and instead migratory and other sea birds are seen there now. (Based on precedents like Bandra promenade revitaliasation project). People start using the promenades and waterfronts right from 5 AM up to 2 AM. Most of these are residents, but many are visitors from different parts of the city. It has the potential for economic development of the neighbourhood.. 5/6 – MEDIUM HIGH Spreading awareness and influencing perceptions of space around river ecosystems and their benefits. No direct impact. No direct immediate impact. No direct impact, but expeditions and nature walks might be organized. No direct immediate impact, but authorities might be pressurized to provide information and disaster management plan. No direct impact. No direct impact. 1/6 – LOW Improving storm water drainage infrastructure and sea level rise resilient strategies along the development corridor using decentralized approach. Treated & usable for non-potable purposes. Sub-surface wetland swales – pleasant environment. Detention basins, wetland swales lining the edge make it very accessible to everyone. Detention basins prevent loading the River excessively. At case study sites, floods, erosion and landslides have become a thing of the past. Presence of natural treatment systems create conducive environment for migratory birds and dissuade scavengers. Detention basins could double up as playgrounds during dry months attracting residents. Wetlands, and planters along sidewalk will create a comfortable micro climate for residents and passersby to pause and talk. 6/6 - HIGH
The table above illustrates that a combination of Interventions 1 and 2 would be most effective while Intervention 3 would be the least.
Alternatives Timeline Organizational hurdles Externalities Response from users/ residents Total River and riverfront restoration through ‘inclusionary’ approach and modification of (presently) top-down ambiguous policy formulating and regulating process. Precedent studies (Bandra promenades) suggest approximately 3 years. MCGM, Bandra residents association, police, private funding agency. All worked in unison since this was a resident-initiated program supported by Municipality. (Based on precedents like Bandra promenade revitaliasation project). Unless managed by an unbiased party, it could lead to displacement of informal communities, as residents from housing complexes could throw their weight and over-rule opinions and voices of residents from informal communities. Since it would be a bottom-up approach, it would be the users themselves who would benefit most. 3/4 - HIGH Spreading awareness and influencing perceptions of space around river ecosystems and their benefits. Public exhibitions on this issue that have been organized in the past, took 2-3 years to develop. (Example- Soak & Open Mumbai) Funding agency, organization/ institution/ individual undertaking the awareness drive. Could run short of funds. Shortage of staff to undertake the program. Criticism from architects and planners. Past exhibitions have received very positive response evident in the fact that both, Soak and Open Mumbai, were extended for a significant amount of time. 3/4 - HIGH Improving storm water drainage infrastructure and sea level rise resilient strategies along the development corridor using decentralized approach. Projects elsewhere have been implemented rapidly. In Mumbai, due to presence of so many stakeholders, it is unpredictable. MCGM, SWD, Central Housing Societies and its members, individual home owners, informal settlements, MSRTC, MMRDA. Extensive hydrological, topological, hydraulic research would be required initially before laying the first stone. Cost of procuring plants and other materials. Might require high initial maintenance and operating costs until the plants grow and become self-sustaining. This might invite push-back from residents. Saving and storing water might relieve them from relying on Municipality’s erratic supply, hence positive. 0.5/4 - LOW
Interventions 1 and 2 rank highest in terms of feasibility. However, Intervention 3 appears to be the least feasible. Hence, using parts of interventions 1 and 2 might help creating the impetus needed to kick-start storm water drainage improvement and work towards a more effective solution.
Intervention 3 appears to be the most equitable alternative. Intervention 1 is a close second, however, it does nothing to take care of displaced informal communities. Herein lies one of the greatest discrepancies of this evaluation.
The impact on informal communities is deduced as negative because of the elitist attitude of the public wherein under the pretext of ‘beautification’ informal settlements and encroachments are bulldozed away from the waterfront. In the context of this evaluation it could be argued that this impact is significantly greater than the impact on passersby or the private agencies or businesses – for instance, 3,000 slum dwellers could be evicted and rendered homeless overnight, while 20 people passing by would find the new waterfront attractive and decide to hang out there every day. Would this mean that evicting 3,000 slum dwellers would be same as losing 20 new visitors to the waterfront? Probably not. Hence, due to the absence of an unbiased rationale for designating a hierarchy to the people / agents affected by these interventions, they have all been assumed to be the same, for the purposes of empirical evaluation. However, close attention must and will be paid to who is and who is not affected while recommending policies and implementing interventions.
Summary
Alternatives Effectiveness Feasibility Equity Total River and riverfront restoration through ‘inclusionary’ approach and modification of (presently) top-down ambiguous policy formulating and regulating process. MEDIUM – HIGH (5/6) HIGH (3/4) HIGH (6.5/7) 14.5/17 Spreading awareness and influencing perceptions of space around riverine ecosystems and their benefits. LOW (1/6) HIGH (3/4) MEDIUM (3.5/7) 7.5/17 Improving storm water drainage infrastructure and sea level rise resilient strategies along the development corridor using decentralized approach. HIGH (6/6) LOW (0.5/4) HIGH (7/7) 13.5/17
Analysing the various symptoms of Oshiwara River, scrutinising its issues and proposing various interventions lead to some avenues where new policies or modifications could be recommended to achieve the most effective, feasible and equitable results for the river’s urban corridor:
1.) Distribute survey questionnaires and informational leaflets in areas vulnerable to floods, sea level rise and other natural calamities.2.) Encourage and subsidise public awareness programs via art and architecture exhibitions.3.) Strategies and designs to improve storm water drainage infrastructure along the development corridor require to be laid out soon before the entire system collapses leading to large scale disaster. 4.) Promote transparency in the planning stages by encouraging cross-departmental collaboration (storm water management, road transport, sewerage, and housing) and public participation.5.) Participation of residents and experts is essential during the design development stage to not only spread awareness of the proposal’s benefits, but also provide them ownership of the process.6.) Decentralised approaches to storm water drainage treatment and management should be undertaken to ease load from existing deteriorating drainage and water supply infrastructures.7.) Modify existing norms of the CRZs and make them more flexible according to topography, hydrology and watershed of the site. This could be used as an incentive to interested developers to use best management practices for storm water treatment and management.8.) Set up strict urban river water quality standards and perform regular maintenance and inspections.9.) Adopt revenue generating mechanisms along the river instead of levying fees to residents.10.) Revitalising Oshiwara river into a natural amenity like an ecological corridor, to prevent it from getting neglected and instead, benefit residents and communities along the corridor.
Among these recommendations, the need to spread public awareness and involve local populations for making decisions are most essential. Additionally, the importance of improving storm water drainage infrastructure and proposing sea level rise resilient strategies along the urban corridor, illustrate the need to integrate the site’s physiology with land use. Thus, a two pronged approach of upgrading infrastructure sensitively, and utilising local knowledge are most relevant to maximise the potentials provided by the urban corridors of Mumbai’s rivers.
Arijit Sen is a research student of UC Berkeley.Spaghettimonsterkirchentag in Leipzig Peter Mühlbauer
Gegenveranstaltung zum Katholikentag soll auf Millionenzuschuss aufmerksam machen
Vom 25. bis zum 29. Mai findet in Leipzig der 100. deutsche Katholikentag statt. Dabei werden mindestens 30.000 Besucher erwartet, die an Gottesdiensten und Veranstaltungen wie Speakers Corner - Say Something Nice, Fürbitte 2.0 - Werden Sie Ihre Sorgen und Wünsche los und Gebet XXL - Nehmen Sie Platz teilnehmen.
Das kostet insgesamt 9,9 Millionen Euro, die nur zu einem knappen Drittel aus Beiträgen, Merchandise-Vekäufen und Spenden hereingewirtschaftet werden. Der Rest kommt von der Kirche und dem Staat. Die deutschen Bistümer zahlen mit 2,1 Millionen aber deutlich weniger dazu als die öffentliche Hand, die die Veranstaltung mit 500.000 Euro Bundes-, 3.000.000 Euro Landes- und 1.000.000 Stadtmitteln unterstützt.
Mit diesem städtischen Millionenzuschuss sind nicht alle Leipziger einverstanden. Die Piratenpartei-Stadträtin Ute Gabelmann hat deshalb eine Gegenveranstaltung organisiert. Die soll den Kirchentag nicht stören, aber Aufmerksamkeit erzeugen - mit einer Open-Air-Nudelmesse der Religionsparodie Kirche des Fliegenden Spaghettimonsters, die am Sonntag um 11 Uhr 30 Uhr parallel zum katholischen Kirchentagsabschlussgottesdienstes auf dem Augustusplatz an der Ecke Radisson-Hotel stattfindet.
Gabelmann, die sich als Spaghettimonster-Aktivistin "Schwester Farfalle" nennt, hatte vorher mit der Initiative (K)eine Million versucht, den städtischen Zuschuss mit einer Unterschriftensammlung zu verhindern, war aber mit nur 18.400 an der Mindestzahl für ein Bürgerbegehren gescheitert. Nötig gewesen wären 21.225 gültigen Unterschriften - die von fünf Prozent der stimmberechtigten Einwohner.
Spaghettimonsterkirche hat mittlerweile eine Steuerbefreiung, eine Eheschließungslizenz und einen Abgeordneten
Die Kirche des Fliegenden Spaghettimonsters wurde 2005 von einem US-Physiker ins Leben gerufen, der darauf aufmerksam machen wollte, auf welch schwacher Grundlage der teilweise an US-Schulen gelehrte Kreationismus steht. Die Religionsparodie verbreitete sich schnell und wurde in Deutschland 2012 als Verein von der Körperschaftsteuer befreit. Der Versuch eines Schwabinger Designers, Betriebsnebenräume, die er mittels einer Spülbürste und Nudelwasser zu einem Sakralraum der Kirche des Fliegenden Spaghettimonsters weihte, analog zu christlichen Kirchen von der Rundfunkgebühr befreien zu lassen, scheiterte dagegen im letzten Jahr (vgl. Spaghettimonster-Klage geht nach hinten los).
In Neuseeland erhielt die örtliche Spaghettimonsterkirche-"Päpstin" Karen Martyn Ende letzten Jahres eine staatliche Lizenz zur Durchführung von Trauungen. Die erste davon fand am 16. April 2016 auf einem Schiff vor Christchurch statt. Martyn hat angekündigt, die Lizenz auch zum Verehelichen von schwulen und lesbischen Paaren einzusetzen, die in Neuseeland bislang nicht heiraten können.
In Österreich sitzt mit dem Religionskritiker Niko Alm sogar ein Spaghettimonster-Aktivist im Parlament (vgl. Pastafari im Parlament). Alm wurde bekannt, weil er mutmaßte, dass für Religiöse eine Ausnahme vom Kopfbedeckungsverbot bei Führerscheinfotos gemacht wird. Also setzte er sich für seines kurzerhand ein Nudelsieb auf und machte geltend, dass dies seine Pflicht als Anhänger des Glaubens an das Fliegende Spaghettimonster sei. Nach einer amtsärztlichen Untersuchung vom Alms Geisteszustand und einer längeren Wartezeit akzeptierte die Wiener Bundespolizeidirektion das Foto schließlich (vgl. Nicht anerkannte Kopimisten und ein erlaubtes Nudelsieb). (Peter Mühlbauer)“Today’s special moments are tomorrow’s memories.” – Genie
If you’re like some of my friends, you have no idea of what to do when you meet a character at Disney. Some people just dread meeting characters. They say, “Oh… I think I’d rather ride a ride.” To which I say, “No, you’re just afraid of being awkward!” I think it’s because they don’t know exactly how to interact with them. When you do it right, meeting characters at Disney can be an exciting and memorable moment. And actually pretty cool too! First, we will cover some of the basic rules and then dive in to some tips for your meet and greets.
Rules for when you meet Characters:
There is only one. You see Mickey and all his friends are full of magic and are able to maximize their schedules in each of the parks. You may find Mickey in the parade and then a few minutes later, he’s changed outfits and is meeting people on Main Street. This is no trick! Mickey is a badass. Basically, keep the magic alive and don’t spoil it for the young ones. There is only one Mickey. Be appropriate. Mickey and his friends work very hard each day. Sometimes there are not-so-magical people who come to the park and try to irritate Mickey when he’s working hard. I know, I didn’t believe it either! These people actually exist! Don’t be like them. Have fun, but know your limits. That’s all I’m going to say about that… Be patient. Sometimes they have to take a potty break. Pluto can get very thirsty too and need some water. It’s okay, I know you’re excited. But they’ll be back! Don’t be a Scrooge. Have fun!! You’ve made it through the long line of waiting with your friends. Just have fun. You don’t have to be a macho-man/cool guy when you’re talking to characters and taking pictures. Your friends know that you secretly liked Frozen and are dying inside to meet Elsa, so just go with it! It’s only five minutes you have to be silly. Make like Elsa and “Let it Go!” Be conscious of the time. There’s a limit. Don’t spend 30 minutes talking to Cinderella about her hair and make-up. There are other people in line who need to know this pertinent information too! Just be mindful of how much time you have with them. It’s not just for kids. This is a common misconception. Meeting the characters are for everyone. It’s a way to live in the magic that Walt Disney has created! Walt Disney said it was a place “for children of all ages.”
Tips for when you meet Characters:
Give them a hug! First things first. If you need a big hug, hold on tight. They won’t let go either until you’re ready. Ask them questions. When you’re in line, think up a bunch of questions you can ask them. You can look up where their movie/adventure left off and see if that triggers some ideas. A simple thing to do is to ask what their friends are up to. If you’re brave, when you meet Chewbacca, ask him how he feels about the ending to Star Wars Episode VII. Or if you’re witty, ask Jack Skellington what his plans are for Christmas this year. Answer their questions. They’re just as curious to learn about you! When they ask you questions, give them a worthy response. Tell them about your day and what adventures you’ve gone on. Collect autographs. It’ll be fun looking back at all the autographs you’ve collected from the many characters. Most of their signatures are creative and fun to have too! (this is also a free souvenir) Take Pictures or Video! 📷You can let the photo pass Cast Member take the picture for you, have a friend record the entire event, or even just take a selfie! Disney Photopass. This one is optional to you! It’s a great way to have professional photos taken and then turned into special keepsakes. Or you can just have them take pictures with your smart phone (for free)! Creative pose. Be creative with your pictures. Do some scary faces with Sulley and curtsy with Aurora! Ask them what they would like to do! Interact! You can bounce around with Tigger and stir some honey with Pooh. Let Stitch pick your nose? Have Geppetto turn you into a puppet. Dance with Chip and Dale. Or even fight the evil Emperor Zurg with Buzz Lightyear.
“Laughter is timeless, imagination has no age, and dreams are forever.” – Walt Disney
Have a good memory of when you met a character? Have a bad one?? Write them in the comments!!Edited by Kerry A. Dolan and Luisa Kroll
The reforms promised by Indonesia's President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo--who took office in October 2014--were a bit slow in coming but have begun to bear fruit, at least if you use the country's stock market as a barometer.
As a former entrepreneur (he made furniture), the president knows the challenges entrepreneurs face, and he has taken steps to create a more business-friendly environment, helping reduce some of the country's onerous red tape and beginning to build much-needed infrastructure. The economy is expected to grow slightly more than 5% this year, after notching 4.7% growth in 2015. All of this has driven up investor confidence and the nation's stock market, which is one of the best performing in the world lately, up 18% in the 12 months through November 16.
Under these favorable conditions, most of the country's 50 wealthiest tycoons have fared well: 36, including 3 returnees not in the ranks in 2015, saw their fortunes increase, while only 12 fell and 3 dropped out of the ranks altogether. The total net worth of the 50 rose to $99 billion from $92 billion last year. A number of the biggest gainers rode rising stocks to higher net worths. The biggest percentage gainer was Prajogo Pangestu, a former timber tycoon whose company controls the nation's biggest petrochemicals producer. A nearly 1,000% rise in the share price of PT Barito Pacific returned Pangestu to the list after a one-year absence and pushed his net worth up to a record high. It was the first time in five years the tycoon's fortune increased, thanks largely to the strong performance of the company's main subsidiary, Chandra Asri.
Also back in the ranks: Handojo Santosa, whose Singapore-listed meat and poultry producer Japfa climbed some 80%, benefiting in part from an $81 million investment midyear by private equity firm KKR. The company has meat processing facilities across a hungry Asia.
Another four tycoons got richer thanks to a 165% increase in the shares of Adaro Energy, which they all own. One of the world's top coal exporters, Adaro benefited from a rebound in demand from India and China. Adaro's president director & CEO, Garibaldi Thohir--whose fortune also includes his brother Erick's minority stakes in two professional soccer teams, Italy's Inter Milan and American team D.C. United--saw his fortune increase by 74%.
At No. 1 for the eighth year in a row are Budi and Michael Hartono, worth a combined $17.1 billion, $10 billion more than the next person on the list. The brothers were also the year's biggest dollar gainers, adding $1.7 billion to their combined net worth, thanks to a rise in the value of their investment in Bank Central Asia.
Public fortunes were calculated based on stock prices and exchange rates as of November 16, 2016. Private companies were valued based on similar companies that are publicly traded.The political question of the moment in Quebec is how potential upheaval in the streets would affect results at the ballot box.
After a two-month recess, Quebec's student movement is poised to resume the strikes that began last February in colleges and universities, carrying with it unpredictable consequences for the provincial election campaign.
The Liberals are hoping the students will play into their hands, knowing that any social unrest provoked by the protest movement against university tuition-fee hikes will reinforce the law-and-order image Jean Charest believes will attract voter support.
Story continues below advertisement
The Parti Québécois is loath to take that gamble. Leader Pauline Marois is urging Quebec student leaders to call a truce on further strikes and confrontations for the duration of the campaign, hoping to stave off potential violence that could help Mr. Charest`s re-election bid.
"It would certainly be good to hold a truce," Ms. Marois said on Thursday. "I invite students and those who marched in the streets to march toward their voting booths on election day and send a clear message to this government."
She made the plea while unveiling plans to freeze tuition fees for 100 days if the PQ forms the next government, promising a public forum to examine university funding. She said a PQ government would impose a ceiling on any tuition-fee hikes, indexing them to the cost of living.
The CLASSE, the most militant of Quebec's four student groups, will examine whether to call a truce as classes resume in postsecondary institutions later this month after being suspended by the Liberal government last June. At the time, Montreal and other cities were in the midst of nightly protests and social unrest stemming from the student strike in universities and colleges. But for now, the CLASSE said the strike action is still on.
The PQ accused Mr. Charest of provoking social unrest to divide voters and direct public attention away from the issue of corruption and mismanagement of public funds, which the PQ is banking on to win the election. Ms. Marois remained concerned that if the students resume their strike action it could lead to clashes with police and turn attention away from the Liberal government record.
Such clashes took place on Wednesday evening in Montreal, in which a television reporter was pelted with objects. And while the PQ Leader maintained her support of the student protest movement, Mr. Charest continued to identify his tough stand against the protesters as the expression of the will of the silent majority. He repeatedly made reference to episodes of "mob" violence in Quebec in recent months, saying that the situation has yet to be fully resolved.
"We are mindful of security, and we have to be mindful of security. Frankly, we have no other choice," he said Thursday.
Story continues below advertisement
Story continues below advertisement
Mr. Charest said he wants everyone to be able to express their views, but that, in a democracy, the ultimate statement is made in private, at the ballot box.
"Those who protest will be able to vote, those who disagree will be able to vote, everyone will be able to vote, including the silent majority, and that is a very powerful moment in our life," he said.
He refused to say how he would react if he were to win the next election and the illegal demonstrations were to continue. He insisted, however, that he cannot tolerate the use of violence by protesters to prevent students from attending their classes.
His stand against violence has paid political dividends that the PQ fears could be repeated if the student movement gathers momentum during the campaign.
"Jean Charest is responsible for the social chaos," Ms. Marois insisted. "He says he is on the side of law and order and that with people in the streets it could harm Quebec society. But the fact is that he is responsible for this. If people are taking to the streets it is because of him."
The former president of the Quebec college student federation, Léo Bureau-Blouin, who is running as a PQ candidate in a riding north of Montreal, argued that a truce would take away an important part of the Liberals' re-election strategy.
Story continues below advertisement
"We need to achieve a peaceful social climate. That is why I support the idea of a truce. We have to take all precautions not to play into the Liberals' hands," Mr. Bureau-Blouin said.
Ms. Marois took her campaign to the Montreal streets on Thursday, riding the subway, shaking hands and posing for pictures. At a rally she took pride in being labelled the party of street protesters. "Jean Charest said we are the party of the streets. He's right. It's true. And I'm proud of it."
Ms. Marois defied Mr. Charest to take his campaign to the streets as she has done after the Liberal Leader accused the PQ of being the party of protesters while the Liberals represented the silent majority.
"The only silent majority here are the Liberals who remained silent on the issue of corruption," Ms. Marois lashed back.SCP-2089
SCP-2089-1, as seen during its last recorded video (Dated 09/25/20██).
Item #: SCP-2089
Object Class: Euclid
Special Containment Procedures: The domains containing SCP-2089 are to be blocked from all public service providers. Any original or re-posted content related to SCP-2089-1 (including videos, images, gifs, comments and fan-derived works) are to be taken down by Foundation Agents. Personnel actively viewing SCP-2089-1 related content are to be rotated on a bi-weekly basis.
Information pertaining to the location of SCP-2089-1 is to be reported to the project lead. Current research has proven inconclusive.
Description: SCP-2089 refers to a blog located on the site www.██████████.com. The blog features images, videos and other related content centered around the user named "John_████████_Is_Here" (referred to as SCP-2089-1). SCP-2089-1 claims to be male, and wears a hooded jacket resembling a skeleton. Audio samples taken from videos of SCP-2089-1 have proven inconclusive in supporting this claim.
SCP-2089-1 and its blog feature a Q&A style format, in which users ask questions and SCP-2089-1 provides appropriate responses through comments. SCP-2089-1 is noted to immediately answer most questions asked, regardless of the time of day.
Videos posted by SCP-2089-1 feature the entity inside a dark room. The topic of these videos discuss questions SCP-2089-1 failed to respond to, references to other blogs, and subjects pertaining to SCP-2089's followers. In 48% of recorded videos, SCP-2089-1 will attempt to commit suicide, with only 11% of those attempts being successful. Following videos indicate no physical harm inflicted onto SCP-2089-1.
Any follower who regularly views content related to SCP-2089-1 becomes an instance of SCP-2089-2. All instances of SCP-2089-2 re-post and create new content related to SCP-2089-1 whenever possible. Instances of SCP-2089-2 are noted to post content indicating a marked prejudice against SCP-2089-1. Some of the content includes:
Comments expressing dislike towards SCP-2089-1
Fan art depicting SCP-2089-1 being physically harmed
Encouraging SCP-2089-1 to commit suicide.
"Anti-Blogs" established by followers to expose others to SCP-2089-1 related content.
As of 9/25/20██, SCP-2089 has 10,872 followers.
Interview Log:
The following is an interview of a subject (referred to as D-90327) conducted by Junior Researcher Roger ██████. The subject was exposed to SCP-2089-1 related content for two weeks. Note that the subject has expressed disliking towards explicit content prior to exposure.
+ Interview + Close <Begin Log> Researcher: Hello, D-90327. I will be interviewing you today. D-90327: Ok. Researcher: How do you feel about SCP-2089-1? D-90327: [shrugs] Don't like him. Researcher: What is it that you particularly don't like about him? D-90327: I told you. I don't like him. Researcher: Ok, fine. Why do you think others might dislike SCP-2089-1? D-90327: For shits and giggles, mainly. Researcher: What would you say is the motive behind this hatred? D-90327: [chuckles] For fun. It's more like a … well, I guess like a high, right? Head Researcher: Interesting. Why do you think… D-90327 takes out a piece of paper from the back of his pocket. Words are written on the paper. Half of it is written is ink, while the rest appears to be written in blood. D-90327: Hold that thought, doc. Check out what I made. D-90327 hands over the paper. Upon closer inspection, it is a poem titled "Fuck John". Researcher: Huh. [holds the paper up to the light] Did you write this in blood? D-90327: Oh, yeah. I didn't have a pen, so I just picked at this scab on my arm. [rolls up sleeve] Can you believe it's been there for three weeks? Anyways, considering how many times I picked at this thing, it probably took me three days to make that. I think I can even post it online. What do you think? D-90327 glares at the researcher. A smile slowly spreads across his face. Researcher: Uhh … I'll think about it. <End Log> Conclusion: The paper was confiscated from D-90327 after the interview. Approval to test if the paper exhibits the same effects of other SCP-2089-1 related content is currently pending.
Addendum 2089-01: The following is an excerpt recorded from a video posted by SCP-2089-1.
+ Video excerpt + Close SCP-2089-1 is facing the camera Hey guys, it's John here. And today marks our 10,000th follower special. To celebrate, we're going to first ask some questions by some of my fans. First question. Asked by Anonymous: Have you drank bleach today? Good question, anon. I'll get back to you on that later. Next question. Asked by ExplodingPopTart: Hi. I really love your blog. I'm just wondering: How do you deal all the haters? Oh, my haters. Should I even call them that? How about fans? I live for them. But I really know they love me. Next question. Asked by Anonymous: How do we know you're not an attention whore? Hi again, anon. I promise I'll answer you later. Next question. Asked by Aryanne: Disgusting as fuck. I want to kill all of you. And nuke whoever decided to make this shithole of a god damn blog. I agree with you on a lot of things. Don't kill everyone, though. You can kill me, and I'll be ok with it. [chuckle] Next question. Asked by Anonymus: Why are you a faggot? You know, now that I think about it, I've always been a faggot. Not a bundle of sticks, but rather a legitimate, internet faggot. To answer your question, I owe my faggotry to my amazing followers. But I would especially like to thank anon. Thanks anon. I can always rely on you.
Addendum 2089-02: The following is a list of notable SCP-2089-1 related content taken down by Foundation Agents.
Item: SCP-2089-I-374
Date Posted: 06/14/20██
Description: A video recorded by SCP-2089-1 featuring itself using a circular saw to cut off its left arm. SCP-2089-1 proceeds to hold its severed limb with its remaining arm and waves towards the camera. This continues for 33 seconds until SCP-2089-1 passes out, presumably from blood loss.
Notable Comments:
MrBRASIL |
Federal City Road NJ State Historic Preservation Office Opinion Date 6/23/1982
Lawrence Township [ edit ]
Hunt Farmstead (Rosedale Park) [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1690 197 Blackwell Road https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/87002555_text SR 12/3/1987 See Main Entry / Filed Location: Mercer County, Hopewell Township
Joseph Inslee House [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1716 Cold Soil Road NJ State Historic Preservation Office Opinion Date 6/23/1982
Isaac Brearley House [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 5391 2 Lewisville Road NJ State Historic Preservation Office Opinion Date 12/17/2014 (a.k.a. Spring Grove Farm)
Israel Stevens House [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 4389 2167 Brunswick Avenue https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/05000176_text SR 12/6/2004
King's Highway Historic District [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 353 US Route 206 and NJ Route 27, between Lawrenceville and Kingston https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/00001493_text SR 10/23/2000 See Main Entry / Filed Location: Mercer County, Princeton
Princessville Inn [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1722 3510 Princeton Pike https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/80002497_text SR 2/1/1980 (Demolished; de-registered 6/11/82)
Noah Reed House [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1723 330 Cold Soil Road NJ State Historic Preservation Office Opinion Date 6/23/1982
Stuart L. Reed Farmstead Archaeological Site [ edit ]
(Smithsonian trinomial ID 28-Me-130)
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 3850 NJ State Historic Preservation Office Opinion Date 6/12/1985
Smith-Ribsam House [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1724 45 Pine Knoll Drive https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/88000722_text SR 4/26/1988
Vaccaro II Prehistoric Archaeological Site (29-Me-131) [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 3851 NJ State Historic Preservation Office Opinion Date 6/12/1985
Van Cleve House [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1725 Rider College, US Route 206 NJ State Historic Preservation Office Opinion Date 3/28/1991
John White House [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1726 Cold Soil Road https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/73001108_text SR 5/1/1972
Lawrence Township Historic District [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1717 US Route 206 between Pennington-Lawrenceville Road and Carter Road https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/72000799_text SR 7/31/1972
William Gulick House [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 5273 3601 Lawrenceville-Princeton Road COE: 7/26/2013
Lawrenceville School [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1718 Main Street NHL: 2/24/1986 https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/86000158_text
Delaware and Bound Brook (Reading) Railroad Historic District [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 4540 NJ State Historic Preservation Office Opinion Date 9/9/2005 See Main Entry / Filed Location: Mercer County, Ewing Township
Nathan Moore House [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1719 256 Cold Soil Road NJ State Historic Preservation Office Opinion Date 6/23/1982
Joseph Pearson Farm [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1720 Cold Soil Road NJ State Historic Preservation Office Opinion Date 6/23/1982
Salathiel Pearson House [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1721 230 Cold Soil Road NJ State Historic Preservation Office Opinion Date 6/23/1982
Pennsylvania Railroad New York to Philadelphia Historic District [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 4568 NJ State Historic Preservation Office Opinion Date 10/2/2002 See Main Entry / Filed Location: Hudson County, Weehawken Township
The Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 65 US Route 206 COE: 6/3/1997
Pennington Borough [ edit ]
First Presbyterian Church of Pennington [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1727 13 South Main Street https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/11000591_text SR 6/2/2011 COE: 10/6/2008
Pennington Railroad Station [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1728 Corner of Green Street and Franklin Avenue https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/74001170_text SR 11/4/1974
Potential Subsurface Remains [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1729 NJ State Historic Preservation Office Opinion Date 10/2/1975
Princeton [ edit ]
Archaeological Site [ edit ]
(Smithsonian trinomial ID 28-Me-201)
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 3262 NJ State Historic Preservation Office Opinion Date 6/21/1988
94 Bayard Lane [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1730 94 Bayard Lane Date of Entry 2/12/1985 NJ State Historic Preservation Office Opinion Date 9/16/1983
Erkuries Beatty House [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 70 19 Vandeventer Street COE: 6/4/1997
Cherry Valley Road Site [ edit ]
Smithsonian trinomial ID 28-Me-304
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 4441 NJ State Historic Preservation Office Opinion Date 7/12/2005
Grover Cleveland Home ("Westland") [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1731 15 Hodge Road NHL: 6/23/1965 https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/66000463_text SR 5/27/1971
5 Cleveland Lane [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1732 5 Cleveland Lane Date of Entry 2/12/1985 NJ State Historic Preservation Office Opinion Date 9/16/1983
10 Cleveland Lane [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1733 10 Cleveland Lane Date of Entry 2/12/1985 NJ State Historic Preservation Office Opinion Date 9/16/1983
Coventry Farm [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 5393 549 Great Road NJ State Historic Preservation Office Opinion Date 12/19/2014
Delaware and Raritan Canal Historic District [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1600 Entire Canal bed and all land 100 yards to either side of the center line https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/73001105_text SR 11/30/1972 (Extends through five counties from the Delaware River to the Raritan River) See Main Entry / Filed Location: Hunterdon County, Lambertville City
Drumthwacket (Olden-Pyne Houses) [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1744 344 Stockton Road https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/75001142_text SR 5/8/1975
Edgerstoune (Russel Hall) [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 381 176 Edgerstoune Road COE: 6/19/2000 (Hun School campus)
Albert Einstein House [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1734 112 Mercer Street NHL: 1/7/1976 https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/76002297_text SR 1/1/1976
Amelia Gulick House [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 3263 315 River Road NJ State Historic Preservation Office Opinion Date 9/3/1986
Joseph Henry House [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1735 Nassau Street NHL: 1/12/1965 https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/66000464_text SR 5/27/1971 (Princeton University Campus)
Donald Grant Herring Estate [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1745 52, 72, and 75 Arreton Road https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/91001927_text SR 11/25/1991
Institute for Advanced Study Historic District [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 4655 Einstein Drive NJ State Historic Preservation Office Opinion Date 10/10/2006
Jugtown Historic District [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1737 Portions of Nassau and Harrison streets; Evelyn Place https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/86003670_text SR 12/16/1986
King's Highway Historic District [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 353 US Route 206 and NJ Route 27, between Lawrenceville and Kingston https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/00001493_text SR 10/23/2000 Also located in: Mercer County, Lawrence Township Middlesex County, South Brunswick Township Somerset County, Franklin Township
Kingston Mill Historic District [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1746 Portions of River, Herrontown, and Princeton-Kingston roads, and the Millstone River https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/86000707_text SR 3/5/1986 Also located in: Middlesex County, South Brunswick Township Somerset County, Franklin Township
Lake Carnegie Historic District [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1747 Lake Carnegie (Millstone River) between NJ Transit Princeton Branch Railroad bridge (south end) and dam adjacent to NJ Route 27 (northend) https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/90001000_text SR 1/22/1990 Also located in: Mercer County, West Windsor Township Middlesex County, Plainsboro Township Middlesex County, South Brunswick Township
Maybury Hill (Joseph Hewes House) [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1748 346 Snowden Lane NHL: 11/11/1971 https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/71000502_text SR 11/11/1971
Morven [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1738 55 Stockton Street NHL: 7/17/1971 https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/71000503_text SR 9/11/1970
Mountain Avenue Historic District [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1750 73-143 Mountain Avenue https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/94001604_text SR 12/9/1994
Mountain Lakes Preserve Rural Historic District [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1749 US Route 206 https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/{{{reference}}}_text SR 7/22/2005 NJ State Historic Preservation Office Opinion Date 9/11/1991
Nassau Hall [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1739 Nassau Street NHL: 10/9/1960 https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/66000465_text SR 5/27/1971 (Princeton University Campus)
Old Kingston Bridge [ edit ]
Society for Industrial Archeology reference 1105151 NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 5121 Old NJ Route 27 over Millstone River NJ State Historic Preservation Office Opinion Date 10/20/2011 (Listed as part of Kingston Mill Historic District) Also located in: Middlesex County, South Brunswick Township Somerset County, Franklin Township
Prehistoric Archaeological Site [ edit ]
(Smithsonian trinomial ID 28-Me-199)
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 3261 NJ State Historic Preservation Office Opinion Date 6/21/1988
President's House (Maclean House) [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1740 Nassau Street NHL: 7/17/1971 https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/71000504_text SR 7/17/1971 (Princeton University Campus)
Princeton Battlefield [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1752 Princeton Battlefield State Park NHL: 1/20/1961 https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/66000466_text SR 5/27/1971
Princeton Battlefield Addendum [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1753 Princeton Battlefield State Park https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/{{{reference}}}_text SR 5/12/1972
Princeton Battlefield / Stony Brook Village Historic District [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1751 Portions of Mercer, Lawrenceville, Quaker, and Stockton roads https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/89000761_text SR 4/10/1989 (Expands previous Princeton Battlefield listings)
Princeton Battlefield/Stony Brook Village Historic District Boundary Increase [ edit ]
(IAS Site, Smithsonian trinomial ID 28-Me-363)
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 4656 NJ State Historic Preservation Office Opinion Date 10/10/2006
Princeton Historic District [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1741 Parts of Mercer, Nassau, Prospect, Williams, Stockton, Wiggins, and Olden streets; Alexander, Springdale and College roads; Lovers Lane and Library Place https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/75001143_text SR 10/29/1973 (See also National Historic Landmark listings)
Princeton Railroad Station [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1742 University Place https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/{{{reference}}}_text SR 3/17/1984 (Thematic Nomination of Operating Passenger Railroad Stations)
Princeton Ice Company [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 4716 https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/07000874_text SR 6/25/2007
Prospect (Woodrow Wilson House) [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1743 Princeton University campus NHL: 2/4/1985 (National Historic Landmark, 2/4/85)
P. Tulane Historic Site [ edit ]
(Smithsonian trinomial ID 28-Me-305)
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 4592 NJ State Historic Preservation Office Opinion Date 7/12/2005
Roadbed of the Trenton and Mercer County Inter-Urban Trolley Line [Site] [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 3265 NJ State Historic Preservation Office Opinion Date 6/21/1988
Upton Sinclair House [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1754 Province Line Road NJ State Historic Preservation Office Opinion Date 6/13/1982
Stony Brook Friend's Meeting House [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 3264 470 Quaker Road NJ State Historic Preservation Office Opinion Date 6/21/1988
Tusculum [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1755 Cherry Hill Road https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/78003171_text SR 4/15/1977
University Cottage Club [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 175 51 Prospect Avenue https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/99001315_text SR 9/14/1999
Witherspoon/John Street Historic District [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1736 John Street, (both sides), south to Wiggins Street, Witherspoon (both sides) north to Birch Lane NJ State Historic Preservation Office Opinion Date 8/9/1994 (Previous SHPO opinion date 2/22/90)
Witherspoon Street School for Colored Children [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 4390 35 Quarry Street https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/05000125_text SR 1/6/2005 COE: 6/12/2003
Lake Carnegie Historic District [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1747 Lake Carnegie (Millstone River) between NJ Transit Princeton Branch Railroad bridge (south end) and dam adjacent to NJ Route 27 (north end) https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/90001000_text SR 1/22/1990 See Main Entry / Filed Location: Mercer County, Princeton
Maxkw Site [ edit ]
(Smithsonian trinomial ID 28-Me-368)
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 4922 NJ State Historic Preservation Office Opinion Date 6/30/2009 (Pronounced "muh - kwah")
9-Mile Marker [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 3288 US Route 1 NJ State Historic Preservation Office Opinion Date 5/20/1988 (Removed by NJDOT)
Penns Neck Baptist Church [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1819 US Route 1 and Washington Road https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/89002160_text SR 11/14/1989
Penns Neck Cemetery [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 3289 North of Washington Road NJ State Historic Preservation Office Opinion Date 3/10/1997
Pennsylvania Railroad New York to Philadelphia Historic District [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 4568 NJ State Historic Preservation Office Opinion Date 10/2/2002 See Main Entry / Filed Location: Hudson County, Weehawken Township
Port Mercer Historic District [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1820 Roughly bounded by D&R Canal, County Rte 533 and County Rte 569 NJ State Historic Preservation Office Opinion Date 12/7/1992
Prehistoric Archaeological Site [ edit ]
(Smithsonian trinomial ID 28-Me-91)
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1821 Date of Entry 2/12/1979 NJ State Historic Preservation Office Opinion Date 12/13/1978
Princeton Operating Station, AT&T Building [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 3677 3794 Brunswick Pike, US Route 1 NJ State Historic Preservation Office Opinion Date 8/5/1998
Princeton Junction 2 Archaeological Site [ edit ]
(Smithsonian trinomial ID 28-Me-281)
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 4382 NJ State Historic Preservation Office Opinion Date 7/31/2003
RCA 1 Site [ edit ]
(Smithsonian trinomial ID 28-Me-55)
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1822 NJ State Historic Preservation Office Opinion Date 9/13/1976
RCA 2 Archaeological Site [ edit ]
(Smithsonian trinomial ID 28-Me-2)
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1823 NJ State Historic Preservation Office Opinion Date 9/13/1976
RCA 3 Archaeological Site [ edit ]
(Smithsonian trinomial ID 28-Me-86)
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1824 Date of Entry 11/11/1976 (Enlarged site boundaries; Previous Date of Entry 9/9/76)
RCA Nursery Archaeological Site [ edit ]
(Smithsonian trinomial ID 28-Me-190)
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1826 NJ State Historic Preservation Office Opinion Date 9/13/1976
RCA Archaeological Site [ edit ]
(Smithsonian trinomial ID 28-Me-23) NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 3290 NJ State Historic Preservation Office Opinion Date 3/10/1997
John Rogers House [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1827 South Post Road https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/78001770_text SR 12/27/1976
Sarnoff Site [ edit ]
Smithsonian trinomial ID 28-Me-291 NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 4379 NJ State Historic Preservation Office Opinion Date 7/31/2003
Washington Road Elm Allee [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 3291 Washington Road (County Route 571) https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/98001571_text SR 11/12/1998 NJ State Historic Preservation Office Opinion Date 3/10/1997 (Between US Route 1 (Penns Neck circle) and the Delaware and Raritan Canal)
Wastewater Facilities Archeological Site [ edit ]
NJ State Historic Preservation Office ID 1828 Date of Entry 11/11/1976Republican US House Speaker John Boehner’s office hosted a meeting today in the US House of Representatives to learn Russia’s and Uganda’s “best practices” for terrorizing their gay and, more generally, minority populations.
The meeting by the World Congress of Families was originally set to take place in the US Senate, until Republican Senator Mark Kirk of Illinois intervened last night and canceled the Senate-provided meeting space.
Speaker Boehner then, this morning, offered the anti-gay anti-gay groups meeting space in the US House under his auspices, so that Americans can hopefully someday import the Russian and Ugandan way of dealing with, as the group’s spokesman put it, “the policies of decline, death and disease promoted by the Sexual Radicals.”
Speaker Boehner’s Russia best practices
Here are the Russian methods that Speaker Boehner apparently thinks are worthy of possibly importing to America.
Russian anti-gay legislation
In Russia, the preferred method for dealing with the gay problem is a new law that throws you in jail for being openly gay, or saying, doing, or writing anything that is perceived as pro-gay.
For example, it is now illegal in Russia to wear rainbow suspenders, and the Russian government recently launched an investigation as to whether the flag of its Jewish Autonomous Region broke the anti-gay law because the flag contains a rainbow.
Russia also is now threatening to prosecute a newspaper that reported on a gay teacher being fired, and in its reporting quoted the teacher saying “My very existence is effective proof that homosexuality is normal.” That quote is now illegal under Russian law – because the quote is itself pro-gay – even though it simply quotes the victim of discrimination in an unbiased manner.
The Russians are also considering legislation that would forcibly remove children from their gay parents, potentially affecting several million families in Russia. The legislation was recently “temporarily postponed,” prlikelyobably because it was causing the Putin government too much embarrassment in the months leading up to the Olympics. Expect it to come back after the 2014 Sochi Games in February.
Russian government’s tacit approval of neo-Nazi anti-gay violence
The second effective way that the Russians have dealt with their gay problem is by tacitly condoning, and participating in, violence against their gay and trans citizens.
For quite some time now, neo-Nazi have been organizing across Russia to systematically kidnap young gay men and boys and terrorize them through threats of, and actual, violence, including a recent rape with a bottle that was jammed up the rectum of a young gay Russian with a baseball bat. The rape was intended to “cure” the young Russian of gay gay orientation.
The kidnappings also often involve forcing the victim to drink urine, as another “cure” for being gay.
Some of the victims have been as young as 15 years of age:
The Russian government has let the neo-Nazis organize nationwide with no real threat of prosecution. The vigilantes happily include their faces, and images of their easily-recognizable town, in their videos, knowing the government will do nothing. In fact, the man who is putatively organizing the nationwide effort is well-known in and out of Russia.
Racism
The final lesson that has apparently impressed Speaker Boehner enough to host this august meeting is Russia’s systematic and violent abuse of any minority considered “non-white” (which, in Russia, is practically anyone not blonde).
In addition increasing violence against migrant workers, the neo-Nazi groups are now targeting foreign gays based on race, including this young South African who was held hostage, had his head shaved, was forced to run like some stereotype of an African t, then had a watermelon shoved in his face, presumably because he’s black. The attack on him, was videotaped and posted on Russian social media, with the perpetrators faces in clear view, as they always are. Yet again, there is no news of any Russian arrests.
Wiretapping of American human rights advocates
The final admirable lesson that Speaker Boehner apparently wishes Americans to learn from Russia is the secret wiretapping of human rights group, including Americans.
Speaker Boehner’s Uganda best practices
Uganda’s efforts to eradicate gays, which Speaker Boehner apparently so admires, is more direct than the Russian way.
In Uganda, the legislative efforts have focused on putting gays to death – legislation that one of the “leaders” attending the Speaker’s meeting has praised.
Like the Russian anti-gay law, the proposed Ugandan legislation would make it illegal to say anything critical of the measure. But unlike the Russians, who have chosen to use (mostly) third parties to exact violent revenge on its gay minority, the Ugandan legislation includes the death penalty for crimes as simple as renting an apartment to a gay couple that then has sex in the apartment, or the “crime” of a gay person having sex with a person with a disability.
Again, these are the “best practices” that Speaker Boehner felt were so laudatory, and so important to potentially import to America.
Keep all of this in mind the next time anyone tells you that the Republican party has changed, that the Republican party isn’t racist, and that the Republican party isn’t run by a bunch of hateful old men. Because it is.
And while it’s great that Republican Senator Mark Kirk is really the hero of this story, Mark Kirk doesn’t run the Republican party. Hateful, intolerant, bigots like John Boehner, Mitch McConnell, and Ted Cruz run the Republican party. And there’s no indication of that changing anytime soon.
Follow @aravosis
(I’m told that in order to actually see my Facebook posts in your feed, you need to “follow” me – so say the experts.)A little over 1 year ago Boston Paintball and Planet Eclipse introduced the TWSTR LV-1 to the world, with iconic 3D twister milling, wild color schemes and refined electronic and mechanical tuning... proof to the paintball world that a true custom experience can still exist in the modern day market. This vision became reality with 143 guns... The return of an icon, the resurrection of legend and the most limited non-team Private Label release in the history of Planet Eclipse.
We are proud to present the final production TWSTR LV-1... CXL-III.
So how is the CXL-III different than the standard TWSTR LV-1?
Taking our already milled/lightened TWSTR LV-1 body and working closely with the best annodizing and metal finishing companies in the industry we were able to create a first of it's kind finish to be applied on a full gun. The marker sports a "Super Gloss" platinum mirror finish featuring a UV-spectrum additive which allows the gun to display a dust white finish under blacklight. Every aluminum element of this marker has been treated (marker, all barrel backs/tips & GS rail drop) and this is the first FULL marker to feature this coating, as it has previously has only been applied as accenting. Additionally the CXL-III package will also include (2) sets of "Heritage" Inlay Jewels previously featured on the Heritage Series TWSTR release..
From a performance standpoint the CXL-III features the latest TWSTR3 ePortal setting flash and mechanical trigger adjustments via the XCII tuning package, Anno-matched 5-piece Shaft4 Barrel Kit w/ "super gloss" honing for self-clearing, Anno-matched GS Rail Drop and a pair of Blue Virtue laser eyes.
1-off Custom AlienWard Lexan Marker Display Case - featuring motion activated wireless LED Blacklight case lights.
Hand-held Blacklight unit (batteries included)
Factory Replacement LV-1 Eye Sensor
2 sets of "Heritage" TWSTR Inlay Jewels
A Committed/Boston Paintball Sticker sheet
Laser Etched Aluminum Boston Paintball Certificate of Authenticity
Boston Paintball Vintage Cut T-Shirt
Color & Serial # matching OCD Paintball Blacklight Reactive TWSTR headband
A little over 1 year ago Boston Paintball and Planet Eclipse introduced the TWSTR LV-1 to the world, with iconic 3D twister milling, wild color schemes and refined electronic and mechanical tuning... proof to the paintball world that a true custom experience can still exist in the modern day market. This vision became reality with 143 guns... The return of an icon, the resurrection of legend and the most limited non-team Private Label release in the history of Planet Eclipse.We are proud to present the final production TWSTR LV-1... CXL-III.So how is the CXL-III different than the standard TWSTR LV-1?Taking our already milled/lightened TWSTR LV-1 body and working closely with the best annodizing and metal finishing companies in the industry we were able to create a first of it's kind finish to be applied on a full gun. The marker sports a "Super Gloss" platinum mirror finish featuring a UV-spectrum additive which allows the gun to display a dust white finish under blacklight. Every aluminum element of this marker has been treated (marker, all barrel backs/tips & GS rail drop) and this is the first FULL marker to feature this coating, as it has previously has only been applied as accenting. Additionally the CXL-III package will also include (2) sets of "Heritage" Inlay Jewels previously featured on the Heritage Series TWSTR release..From a performance standpoint the CXL-III features the latest TWSTR3 ePortal setting flash and mechanical trigger adjustments via the XCII tuning package, Anno-matched 5-piece Shaft4 Barrel Kit w/ "super gloss" honing for self-clearing, Anno-matched GS Rail Drop and a pair of Blue Virtue laser eyes.1-off Custom AlienWard Lexan Marker Display Case - featuring motion activated wireless LED Blacklight case lights.Hand-held Blacklight unit (batteries included)Factory Replacement LV-1 Eye Sensor2 sets of "Heritage" TWSTR Inlay JewelsA Committed/Boston Paintball Sticker sheetLaser Etched Aluminum Boston Paintball Certificate of AuthenticityBoston Paintball Vintage Cut T-ShirtColor & Serial # matching OCD Paintball Blacklight Reactive TWSTR headband
WWW.COMMITTEDPAINTBALL.COM
BOSTON PAINTBALL - Committed to the sport since 1992.
BNKR KINGS / RETRO-25 GOGGLES /
- Committed to the sport since 1992. The Legendary Twister
Check out the Committed Facebook for updates on all of our projects and product releases. __________________ Last edited by Committed Paintball : 08-02-2014 at 07:01 PM.FINRA focuses on FinTech and blockchain-based innovations for the securities industry.
On June 13, 2017, The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) declared the establishment of the Innovation Outreach Initiative, in order to properly assess FinTech's industry impact.
FINRA's Innovation Outreach Initiative comes after the launch of its FinTech site that’s dedicated to emergent topics in the field, and literature on blockchain technology and digital investing. In addition, a team working across departments is being led by its Office of Emerging Regulatory Issues. Leading the initiative, the team will cooperate with participants in the industry to gather real-time intelligence.
To kick off the initiative, on July 13, 2017, FINRA will host a Blockchain Symposium in New York City, aimed at discussing blockchain use cases amongst regulators and heads of industry.
In an announcement, Robert W. Cook, FINRA President and CEO, said that FINRA's initiative is underpinned by a collaborative effort:
“FINRA has long been engaged in discussions about fintech issues with member firms and other key stakeholders. The Innovation Outreach Initiative will enable us to better track fintech developments across the rapidly changing industry environment in order to support innovation in the industry while maintaining investor protection and market integrity.”
The initiative will consist of program elements, such as enhancing FINRA's processes, timely publication of regulatory technology applications, regional outreach roundtable discussions (comprised of FINRA members and nonmembers), and the creation of a FinTech Industry Committee. The committee will help to assist with ongoing discussions about how FINRA's programs and rules will intersect with FinTech innovations.
FINRA will use the knowledge gained from the Innovation Outreach Initiative to calibrate further steps necessary for the development of FinTech in the securities industry.The University of Victoria's sixth Ideafest will be held between March 7th and 12th, showcasing the work of some of Canada's best researchers. As a part of this event, the Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium (PCIC) and the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions (PICS) are presenting a panel discussion on hydro-climatic change in BC. Titled, Hotter, Drier Summers? Implications and Adaptations for BC, the discussion will feature topical presentations followed by a conversation between researchers and experts in agriculture, fisheries, water supply and forestry in which they will discuss the climate impacts in their sectors. Finally, there will be a general discussion on how our knowledge informs adaptation and solutions strategies for B.C.
The panel will be moderated by PICS’s Executive Director, Dr. Sybil Seitzinger.
Climate Scientists:
Faron Anslow
Faron has been the Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium's Lead of Climate Analysis and Monitoring since April of 2011. He comes to Victoria by way of Master's research in glaciology at the University of Calgary and PhD research in paleoclimatology at Oregon State University. His postdoctoral work at the University of British Columbia investigated the projected effects of climate change on all glaciers in British Columbia. Faron's work now centres on improving our understanding of BC's climate over the period since instrumental weather observations began to be recorded in the late 1800s. This work includes assembling and disseminating the observational data within the province and developing spatial climate data products over BC for the use of scientists and individuals worldwide.
Trevor Murdock
Trevor is a climate scientist and Lead of PCIC's Regional Climate Impacts Theme. For the past 17 years, he has worked on applications of climate research to assist decision-making and planning, with a focus on the BC-Yukon region, helping both public and private sector stakeholders. Trevor’s work has focused on climate scenarios and online mapping tools, downscaling to high resolution, indices of extremes, analysis of historical climate data and the improvement of seasonal climate predictions.
Panelists:
Emily MacNair, Coordinator, British Columbia Agriculture & Food Climate Action Initiative
Since it's inception in 2008, Emily has been the coordinator of the BC Agriculture & Food Climate Action Initiative. This has included developing the BC Agriculture & Climate Change Action Plan, leading a project to evaluate the agriculture sector’s risks and opportunities in relation to climate change and the managing, development and delivery of current adaptation programming for the sector in B.C. From 2004 to 2008, Emily was a Program Manager with the Investment Agriculture Foundation. Prior to this Emily led projects for various non-government organizations.
Kim Hyatt, Research Scientist, Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Kim holds a PhD in Aquatic Ecology from the University of British Columbia and has worked as a teacher, an environmental consultant and is currently a fisheries research scientist with DFO. He has held adjunct faculty positions at SFU, UBC, RRU and UNB. He served as the National Fisheries Sector representative to the Canadian Climate Impact and Adaptation Research Network and is DFO’s Pacific fisheries lead for its’ Aquatic Climate Change and Adaptation Services Program. Dr. Hyatt heads the Salmon in Regional Ecosystems Program at DFO’s Pacific Biological Station in Nanaimo where his research focus includes: (1) the status of salmon populations in the Pacific Region, (2) climate effects on the life history and population dynamics of salmon, and (3) the development of new “tools” to support fisheries management.
Robbie Hember, PICS post-doctoral fellow
Robbie is a research scientist with the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions’ Forest Carbon Management project focusing on the impacts of environmental change on forest productivity in British Columbia. He is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of British Columbia and is stationed at the Pacific Forestry Centre in Victoria BC. There he works closely with Natural Resources Canada’s Carbon Accounting Team. Robbie is a graduate of Trent University and the University of British Columbia where he studied physical geography and plant biology and went on to study areas of climatology and the carbon cycle of forest ecosystems.
Anna Warwick Sears, Executive Director, Okanagan Basin Water Board
Anna is the Executive Director of the Okanagan Basin Water Board, a collaborative local government water agency. Raised in B.C., she received a PhD in population biology at the University of California - Davis. Before returning to Canada in 2006, Dr. Sears was Research Director of a watershed NGO in California. Dr. Sears is passionate about using science to solve real-world problems and building bridges with community stakeholders. She serves on the Board of Governors of the Real Estate |
attracted high profile civil rights lawsuits from groups such as the ACLU and the NAACP. The thinly veiled racial aspect is palpable.
Amidst the outrage, Seventy-six former federal judges jointly wrote and signed a letter to the Department of Education arguing that, while Ms. DeVos is technically right that the Constitution does not explicitly dictate the governmental responsibility for protecting poor children from socio-economic discrimination, the spirit of the Constitution foundationally directs the government to not act like a total dick.
The controversy has been wide-ranging, with state and municipal governments across the nation contemplating how to pick up the federal government’s slack in promoting educational equality.
Local D.C. Democratic Socialist Party member Adam Denver described the issue as being indicative of much greater governmental corruption and failure.
“This is exactly why the public and democratic government need to exert more guidance and assistance in society. It’s the classic recipe for Republican politics: add a middle man. It’s straight-up chicanery. Societal solutions that aren’t profitable to pursue—and shouldn’t have to be profitable—like education, can be done in two ways: the government does the work itself with our tax dollars, or we cover the expense ourselves, individually. Two options.
“Now, in an ideal world, taxpayers pay the government to fix problems because our government in particular famously prides itself on being of the people for the people and by the people. The issue in this case is that we as a society don’t want to have ignorant, stupid children, and we don’t want to begin producing generations of unprepared and incompetent citizens too unmotivated to solve the world’s problems, right? Like, we can all agree that we have a communal responsibility to help give our children every opportunity to have good lives and progress human civilization further, right?
“So we have a great democratic government that we run ourselves, in theory, as equal citizens, and the solution to stupid kids is to organize and operate public schools. This is an achievable goal, right? To have a good public education system that stays efficient with at least minimum attention on our part as civic participants? But somehow conservatives have been brainwashed by envy of those who earn obscene profits from the schooling of children. They can’t guess why we bother making the government solve the problem of illiteracy, and ask why we don’t just have private charter schools to do all the work just because taxes can be a little lower that way. They don’t want the government involved in almost anything, save the military, and think the government is the root of all their problems because public governance means public taxation.
“The issue of tax paying in America has been framed around the idea that taxation is theft and that the government steals our money to waste it, but no wants to identify all the benefits that come from operating a public government that effectively serves us, the people. They especially don’t want to imagine potential benefits that could come from a more efficiently, and any thinker caught imagining such a dream is labeled a communist with ignorant enthusiasm. The Obama era idea of raising the tax rate for the richest people by 3% to help pay off the debt that every American acknowledges is a pressing national security threat earned President Obama the designation as a communist: a mere hike from 35% to 38% is communism. But that’s the kind of pavlovian resistance the concept of quality government is up against.
“Yet the idea of socialism is accepted in many areas of public life. For instance, no one advocates the government getting out of the military protection business and reverting to free-market, capitalistic personal mercenary corporations. Everyone is willing to pay for roads, and bridges, food and water safety regulators, and FDIC banking insurance of our life savings. America used to take education very seriously like it does these other issues, but we have practically given up on the idea that public education and intelligence is a public good worth investing into. We have profited from the efforts of past generations in making sure Americans were better educated than much of the rest of the world, but we are slipping and it’s going to take a revolution in schooling to give the United States a better opportunity to thrive in the 21st Century. But no one wants to pay for it! This kind of thing should be a national effort!
“The alternative to governmental idealism is for the government to say, ‘fuck it, you and your children are on your own,’ and let private enterprise organize the schools so all parents have to pay private schools to teach their children. Now obviously this will exacerbate societal inequalities and economic disparity. Of course it will. But it stands to reason that we as a society would be paying roughly the same amount of money to educate the next generation on a family by family basis for private schooling than if we just paid taxes to a government to do it as a societal mission. But in the second case, the money to educate the next generation is going to an entity whose premier motive is profit. It’s true that private enterprise can sometimes outcompete the government financially and operate more cheaply, but only because the government intrinsically intends to adequately give the whole nation the same opportunity, or at least should strive for that. A government’s goal in public education is the outcome of quality education for the public, as in everyone. A private company’s goal in private education is profit. If financial gain wasn’t possible, no person would strive to do what the government could just as well do. But, even though the government obviously will struggle to provide perfect education that is equally accessible to all, a government is at least held accountable by a free press clawing public information into day light and held accountable personally by democratic elections to elect, reelect or abandon civic leaders and organizers.
“A private company, however, is kept rigidly separate from the people, and is not forced to comply with inconvenient laws regarding public oversight like the government is. No wonder private enterprises typically always do a worse job than the government would do—i.e. mine safety, oil spill prevention, and anything else that should ethically be taken care of—because governments are less obsessed with adding coins to a personal bank account. Meanwhile, once settled in to our society and after private enterprises are fully placed in charge of what should be mutual, public obligations of the people’s self-government and are fully out-monopolizing and excluding the public government, those private companies are free to destructively pursue higher profits and end up costing the citizenry even more money than the government would collect in taxes for a more society-wide approach. And again, there is no legal public mechanism for mandatory improvement of private companies, save public shame. But this is where contemporary conservatism has successfully brainwashed the very victims of this public theft: conservatives welcome the de facto robbery by agreeing that the government is still the problem even when the problems arise necessarily from the government’s conspicuous absence. We blame government for subpar education results, and act like charter schools will get better national results. But its not like people are anxious to found charter schools in the inner cities. There’s no profit there. So charter schools aren’t really the society-wide solution, are they?
“Currently, in the macro view of things, we as a society are getting to a point theorized as ‘Late-stage Capitalism’ where private enterprises have failed us so drastically that a sudden pendulum shift back toward involved, public, socially democratic self-governance is both required and inevitable. Viewed in this way, it literally makes no sense to pursue laissez-faire governance in an area of public concern such as general education. Betsy DeVos is entirely on the wrong side of history in her whole perspective of education. Quite frankly, such a private-minded, free market ideologue has no business being involved in public government at all.”
Thanks, man.
(Picture courtesy of Gage Skidmore.)
Share this: Twitter
FacebookAirline passenger traffic in Southern Ontario is expected to more than double by the 2040s, exceeding the combined capacity of all the airports in the region to handle it, says a white paper done for the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA).
More than 42 million passengers travelled through airports from Windsor to Kingston, last year – 38.6 million through Pearson International in Toronto – but by 2043, traffic will rise to about 90 million airline passengers at airports that have capacity to serve about 70 million people.
That means a system of regional co-ordination among airports needs to be established so they function as an integrated group rather than a collection of individual facilities, says the report, scheduled to be released Thursday at the CityAge conference in Toronto.
Story continues below advertisement
"The key difference in this scenario is that each airport takes on a particular role – an air travel division of labour – so that the overall air travel capacity is optimized to best meet the range of demands," the report says. "Air travel capacity in Southern Ontario and, as importantly, the associated ground transportation connections, will not meet future demand unless there is immediate, pro-active and co-ordinated planning."
The projected growth in passengers through Pearson, the country's largest airport, and airports in such cities as Hamilton, Waterloo and Oshawa comes from an increase in travel and a forecast for strong growth in population.
Airports and transportation officials need to begin planning now to establish a co-ordinated system and the transit system to support it, the report added.
"In the world of planning a large infrastructure like an airport, 20 years is the blink of an eye," said Eileen Waechter, the GTAA's director of airport planning.
The demand at Pearson, where travel was up 7 per cent last year, an increase higher than at John F. Kennedy in New York, Heathrow in London and Dubai International among others, is strong enough that the GTAA is ready to discuss expanding Terminal 1.
That's the main hub of Air Canada, the country's largest carrier and one that is pinning much of its growth strategy on an increase in international traffic.
Pearson's role as the airport that deals mainly with international traffic will remain, but the airport system in Southern Ontario could end up being similar to that of New York, where JFK is the international hub, LaGuardia handles short- and medium-term flights, Newark, N.J., is a key centre for low-cost carriers and Teterboro, N.J., is the business and executive airport.
Story continues below advertisement
Story continues below advertisement
Southern Ontario is already evolving to a similar system on its own, the report noted. Billy Bishop Airport on Toronto Islands picks up a chunk of short- and medium-haul traffic, Hamilton is developing cargo and courier traffic, and Oshawa Municipal Airport focuses on private executive travel.
"There may be other places where we would like business aviation growth or flying schools or maintenance," Ms. Waechter said. "Those are the kinds of questions we're going to be working through with the other airports."
Pearson projected in 2008 that it would need to add a sixth runway, but it appears that may not be necessary for at least another two decades, she said, because airlines are using larger planes and have increased the number of seats they have on all sizes of planes.
Boeing 747-400 aircraft, one of the types of plane operated by Air Canada between 1990 and 2003, contained 421 seats. The newer Boeing 777 used on international flights such as Vancouver to Hong Kong can carry as many as 458 passengers.Labour’s weak poll rating can be overturned, Diane Abbott said today, as she accused Theresa May of a “massive u-turn” over the shock general election.
Abbott, the shadow home secretary, toured broadcast studios to make the case for Corbynism after two polls put Labour 21 points behind the Tories.
She told the BBC’s World at One that “now we are in a general election campaign, and people have got to make a choice between Theresa May’s Britain and Jeremy Corbyn’s Britain.”
“They need to make a choice between an unpleasant, xenophobic, hard Brexit, and a Brexit that will protect jobs and living standards. There’s no question in my mind the Tories will fight a very unpleasant campaign and the electorates going to have to make a choice,” she added.
“I was an MP in the 80s and people said we were finished then, people said the SDP was going to be the natural party of government, it wasn’t true then, it’s not true now.”
“My point is this, the Labour party has a history, it has a base, it has values and the Westminster elite may try to knock us out, but out in the country I think they’re going to be prepared to listen to what we have to say.”
“We are ready for this general election now. And I believe the British public is ready to listen to what we have to say. Faced with Theresa May’s Britain, faced with the sort of Britain that Theresa May and her colleagues want to bring about, and faced with our positive offer: a more equal Britain, a fairer Britain, a Brexit that protects jobs and living standards, I believe the British people will come behind us.”
Abbott told Sky News that the pollsters have got it wrong recently both in Britain and the US, and that as such there is a good chance Labour could be successful in the snap election.
“We’re going to go out there, and we’re going to fight this election to win.”IN the wake of the news that Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce is a New Zealand citizen and may be ineligible to serve in Parliament, Pistol and Boo – the dogs at the centre of the Johnny Depp quarantine scandal – have called for Mr Joyce’s execution “if he doesn’t bugger off to New Zealand.”
Following multiple political resignations under Section 44 of the constitution, the ALP and Greens have both called on Joyce to step aside, but Pistol and Boo have argued that such an act simply isn’t enough.
“He made us the centre of a scandal and threatened to kill us because we were unwittingly in breach of the law,” barked Pistol, “and we didn’t even come by boat.”
“If he refuses to step aside then he should be shown the same mercy he was willing to give us – or at least sent to Manus Island.”
The culpable canines stated they had no preference to how the matter was resolved, whether Joyce was put to sleep on a veterinarian’s table with his family standing around him crying, or if the matter was dealt with in an ‘Old Yeller’ style.
Both Pistol and Boo did agree, however, that the Deputy PM should be castrated.Didn’t get what you wanted for Black Friday? Now’s your chance to score the awesome orange Bandit Carver mount in WildStar! You can only get this exclusive item here, so get yourself a Bandit Carver mount before supply runs out.
Critically acclaimed and now free-to-play, WildStar is a sci-fi MMO of epic proportions set on the mysterious planet Nexus. Blast off to a huge and amazingly vibrant world packed with unique characters, exotic locations, thrilling challenges, and dark mysteries. Experience exhilarating action combat, deep character customization, and one of the most powerful housing systems ever seen in an MMORPG as you work alongside the citizens of Nexus to solve the primordial puzzles of the universe itself.
If you haven’t jumped into WildStar yet, download it for free and test out your new mount!
These codes are Instant Win (while supplies last) and are available to anyone. When you enter, you win a code. It's that simple! To enter you're going to need to fill out our form and then you Must do one of the following tasks:
Like us on Twitter
Follow us on Instagram
Subscribe to our Youtube channel
Subscribe to our Twitch channel
Already following us on social? Great! You'll still need to click "follow" simply to verify that you're still with us on social.
Download Instructions
Go to www.wildstar-online.com/en/freetoplay to create a WildStar account (if you don’t have one already). Once you have a WildStar account, go to https://login.ncsoft.com/login to log inWhy go shopping with bodyguards when you can take humanoid robots out with you to carry your purchases?
Related: A man built this $50,000 robot that resembles Scarlett Johansson
A middle-aged man said to be part of China’s nouveau riche circle has made local headlines after he was photographed shopping in Guangzhou while escorted by eight robots dressed like maids on Thursday.
View photos
But instead of inciting envy among people, Chinese netizens have criticised the man for his crass behavior.
View photos
Chinese media outlets are also openly calling the man a “tuhao” — the slang word that’s commonly used in China to describe people who got rich overnight, but displays a lack of taste.
View photos
Humanoid robots are quite the rage across China. On Monday, the first robot wait staff restaurant opened in Guiyang City, Guizhou.“Seeing my biological name written down, it sparked something inside of me. It was then that I began the 60-year search for my biological family.”
VALPARAISO — Shelly Foster’s heart raced as she knocked twice on a hotel door in Shreveport, Louisiana.
If the door opened, it would mean Foster had completed the last task written on her life-long bucket list. A task that read: “Meet someone who looks like you.”
The 78-year-old Valparaiso woman said she always knew she was adopted.
However, it wasn’t until she saw a birth certificate in the U.S. Air Force recruitment office in New Jersey that she saw a name she didn’t recognize — Ruth Mary Anthes — and thought of searching for her biological family.
“I never knew what my birth name was until then,” Foster said. “Seeing my biological name written down, it sparked something inside of me. It was then that I began the 60-year search for my biological family.”
In the years following, Foster said wherever she traveled she would take time to search through phone books and public records for the last name Anthes.
“It was a lot harder to search for people back then,” Foster said. "It wasn't until the computer age that we were able to really start searching."
Five years ago, she said, when she found her first clue — a 1940s Census record for a woman named Marion Anthes.
.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; }.embed-container iframe,.embed-container object,.embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }
With the name she now believed was her mother’s, Foster joined several ancestry websites in search of more information on Marion Anthes. Six weeks ago, she found a Florida obituary of a Marion Vanderwoude, with the maiden name of Anthes.
“It said she was survived by her son, Fredric Vanderwoude,” Foster said. "That meant I had a half brother.”
Through a bit of cyberstalking, Foster’s children were able to track down Vanderwoude, 76, at a remote trailer park in Breckenridge, Texas. After just one phone call with Foster’s son, Vanderwoude, who had no idea he had a sister, agreed to take a DNA test.
“He was very cooperative and willing to believe it,” Foster said. “Marion had kept him and raised him. He said he always wanted a brother or a sister.”
Vanderwoude, however, was not raised by, nor had ever met, his biological father. He was instead adopted by his stepfather when he was just 6 years old.
To Foster’s shock, the DNA test came back with a complete match – the siblings shared the same biological mother and father.
“As soon as I called and told him he said he wanted to give me a big squeeze,” Foster said. “We just had to see each other. It was then we decided to meet halfway in Shreveport.”
It was in the Shreveport hotel room where Foster and Vanderwoude embraced for the first time.
"I looked into his eyes and saw me," Foster said as her eyes swelled with tears. "We both had hazel eyes. He hugged me and said, 'Where have you been all of my life?'"
Foster learned her mother was adopted herself and became pregnant as a teenager. Foster speculates she gave her up for adoption because Anthes' adoptive parents were devout Catholics.
.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; }.embed-container iframe,.embed-container object,.embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }
"I don't hold any bitterness towards her," Foster said. "She was an unwed Catholic girl giving birth to a child. That's what happened back then."
As Foster told her story, she held tightly to a necklace her newfound sister-in-law gave to her in Shreveport.
"It's a necklace my mother hand made," Foster said before breaking into tears. "Just having something of hers is overwhelming."
Now, Vanderwoude said he's making plans to move his family to Florida, where he will be closer to his sister. The siblings hope to make up for long-lost time by getting the entire family together sometime this year.
Foster said she's now making it her mission to find their biological father, whom neither sibling had ever met.
"Maybe we'll find some half siblings," Foster said. "Finding Fred was the last thing on my bucket list. Even if we don't find half-siblings, my life is now complete."
For Vanderwoude, however, he said there is no reason to search any further.
"We've got each other now," Vanderwoude told Shelly over the phone. "There's no reason to search for anything else."On Friday the 17th October the Swedish Armed Forces received credible information on foreign underwater activity in the Stockholm archipelago. An intelligence operation including naval-, ground- and air units was initiated immediately. Apart from the military resources, observations from the public provided important data.
- The decisive observation is made by the Swedish Armed Forces’ sensors. It is a result of a highly skilled operational conduct. The observation meets the requirements for the highest level of assessment grading, confirmed submarine, says Supreme Commander Sverker Göranson.
The Swedish Armed Forces will not account for details on this observation since it could disclose information on Swedish abilities and capacities. The analysis cannot determine the nationality of the intruder.
In addition to the decisive observation, a number of other observations have been analyzed and reach the second highest level of assessment grading. A picture taken by a member of the public shows an object moving at a speed of approximately 1 knot. The picture also shows the kind of spray that arises when water is pushed out of scuttles at the top of a submarine.
A second observation was made by a naval corvette. Following strong indications on its sensors, a closer examination of the area was conducted and recently made traces were found on the bottom. Another observation was made by a resident in the archipelago, observing an underwater body with distinctive features. Sensors from the Swedish Armed Forces also confirmed echoes in the area. Similar observations were made by multiple credible sources.
- Each of these observations has a high credibility. Together with other observations, and a confirmed submarine, they generate a pattern. Thus, the intelligence operation confirms that a foreign power has violated Swedish territorial integrity. The gravity of this is obvious, says Supreme Commander Sverker Göranson.New York (CNN) -- A girl taken to a clinic for a skin rash had to be treated with a drug cocktail to prevent HIV and hepatitis after she was accidentally pricked by contaminated needles on the floor, according to the attorney for the family.
Hailey Rodriguez, who turned 3 on Monday, is sick from the side effects of the drug cocktail she was given by Montefiore Medical Center after the ordeal, Susan Karten, Maklad's attorney told CNN.
Nadia Maklad took her daughter to the Montefiore Medical Pavilion in the Bronx on October 7 because Hailey had a minor skin rash. Maklad was talking to the doctor in the examination room when she heard her daughter screaming and crying.
"I asked her what happened. She lifted up her dress, her stomach was bleeding and her hand was bleeding. She pointed to a bin: it was a red bio hazard bin on the floor," Maklad told CNN. "The top wasn't securely on, the opening where you put the needles was broken, the bin was full of uncapped dirty needles."
Steve Osborne, a spokesman for Montefiore, told CNN, "We've been consulting with the family regarding the incident, and working with them to see that appropriate care is provided."
"How this could happen at an institution like Montefiore is beyond me," Susan Karten, Maklad's attorney told CNN.
Rodriguez is at risk for HIV infecton and hepatitis; she is taking the drug cocktail as preventative treatment as it takes six months to find out if she is infected with HIV, Karten explained to CNN.Raider linebackers work through a drill during rookie minicamp on Friday, May 5, 2017, at Oakland Raiders Headquarters, in Alameda, Calif. Benjamin Hager Las Vegas Review-Journal @benjaminhphoto
LaTroy Lewis competes during the NFL Pro Day on Friday, March 31, 2017, in Knoxville, Tenn. Lewis earned a contract with the Oakland Raiders this weekend after attending a three-day rookie minicamp. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
ALAMEDA, Calif. — Last Thursday was Orientation Day at the Raiders’ facility. But it was not all handshakes and introductions.
When dozens of rookies and other NFL hopefuls arrived, they were sized for football equipment and met their coaches and peers. Soon thereafter, they were hit with a message, a message sent in their first meeting and then repeated Friday before practice.
This three-day rookie minicamp, they were told, was about competition.
By Sunday, the message was received.
Three players who began the weekend with NFL jobs no longer have one. The Raiders confirmed Monday that former Wagner College linebacker Najee Harris, Tennessee defensive lineman LaTroy Lewis and Faulkner defensive lineman Chris Casher were signed after participating at camp on a tryout basis. Former Oklahoma safety Ahmad Thomas, Oklahoma defensive tackle Jordan Wade and Duke linebacker Dwayne Norman were waived in corresponding moves.
A tone has been set for later this month when the Raiders begin organized team activities (OTAs).
Competition has begun.
Thomas and Wade received signing bonuses as undrafted rookies added on April 29. Those thousands of guaranteed dollars did not matter. They are gone. Norman was signed to a future/reserve contract in early January. He participated in the Raiders’ workout program prior to the rookies arrival, meaning he had weeks of a head start in the team’s system.
He, too, is gone.
Now the Raiders’ rookie class has a good sense for how its time with the team will go. If the players perform like Harris, Lewis and Casher did, they will be rewarded, potentially passing up a more-experienced or better-compensated player on the depth chart. If they do not perform adequately, their roster tenure is at risk of expiring as it did for Thomas, Wade and Norman.
That was the message all along, and it wasn’t empty talk.
The Raiders followed with action.
Meanwhile, a fourth tryout player could be added to the Raiders’ roster soon. Former Kentucky safety Marcus McWilson also impressed this past weekend. There is belief he will be signed at some point, perhaps as early as this week, a source said Monday.
Michael Gehlken can be reached at [email protected]. Follow @GehlkenNFL on Twitter.Smart light bulbs are probably the first thing everyone getting into home automation buys. It is easy to see the applications for them – have the lights come on at night, turn off when you’re home, etc. It’s very satisfying to have the lights react to the day and your activities, and my goal with automating lighting has always been to not have to think about it, for it to work in the background.
In my initial post about Home Assistant and Node-Red, I explained the initial hoops you have to jump through to get both pieces of software up and running and talking to each other. Now we will start using them together in some very simple flows to control lighting, to get a better understanding of how Node-Red works, and to start to delve into this powerful tool.
SPLIT PERSONALITY
The way I approach making automations is to think of Home Assistant as a state machine. It’s job is to track all the states of the devices, and to call services to change those states. All the hardware interfacing – the communication between the hub and the device and interpreting that information – is all Home Assistant. Home Assistant is a giant catalog of data (states) and actions (services) that Node-Red can draw from.
Node-Red, on the other hand, is our brain. Node-Red performs the logic. Node-Red doesn’t have to keep track of states or know how to talk to a Philips Hue bulb and a Wemo smart switch, Node-Red just asks Home Assistant when it needs to know the state of something. When Node-Red makes a decision, it sends the command (service) back to Home Assistant to handle. Node-Red is all about the big picture.
This simple separation of duties in our automations will make integrating much easier.
LIGHTING ONE: SIMPLE BINARY
I have a light bulb in an awkward crawl space that is really hard to reach. Every once in a while I need to reach a breaker in there and can never find the switch. So I replaced the bulb with a cheap smart bulb and added a door sensor. When the door opens, the light comes on, when it’s closed, the light is off.
[{"id":"70a001ee.bfd2e","type":"server-state-changed","z":"18835ede.3f82d1","name":"Crawl Space Door","server":"8ac3cd7f.58d3e","entityidfilter":"binary_sensor.crawl_space_door","haltifstate":"","x":131.4206886291504,"y":544.5259022712708,"wires":[["d0ccbd28.cb728"]]},{"id":"d0ccbd28.cb728","type":"switch","z":"18835ede.3f82d1","name":"","property":"payload","propertyType":"msg","rules":[{"t":"eq","v":"on","vt":"str"},{"t":"eq","v":"off","vt":"str"}],"checkall":"true","outputs":2,"x":299.98705673217773,"y":544.2827610969543,"wires":[["5e9a8806.36d148"],["6123b169.361c9"]]},{"id":"5e9a8806.36d148","type":"api-call-service","z":"18835ede.3f82d1","name":"ON","server":"8ac3cd7f.58d3e","service_domain":"light","service":"turn_on","data":"{\"entity_id\":\"light.crawl_space\"}","x":444.8025550842285,"y":516.2688345909119,"wires":[]},{"id":"6123b169.361c9","type":"api-call-service","z":"18835ede.3f82d1","name":"OFF","server":"8ac3cd7f.58d3e","service_domain":"homeassistant","service":"turn_off","data":"{\"entity_id\":\"light.crawl_space\"}","x":445.87427139282227,"y":567.6973919868469,"wires":[]},{"id":"8ac3cd7f.58d3e","type":"server","z":"","name":"Home Assistant","url":"http://localhost:8123","pass":"XXXXX"}]
Our input is a Home Assistant state node that monitors the door sensor. When a state change is detected, it’s sent as a message to the next node, a switch.
If the message (msg.payload in Node-Red terms) is on, route to output 1, if it’s off, route to output 2. These outputs end in Home Assistant service calls that turn the light on or off.
You must hit the “DEPLOY” to save and activate your flow.
Congrats, this is the entire process of creating an automation with Node-Red.
LIGHTING TWO: MOTION TIMER
Let’s do something more interesting. For this example we will need an extra node called stoptimer, which can be installed through “Manage palette” in the Node-Red menu. When stoptimer receives a message, the timer starts. If it receives another message the timer is reset. If it gets a message that says “STOP” then it cancels the timer. Pretty useful.
I have a motion sensor under my office desk, when I sit down the lights come on. If I walk away I want the lights to turn off – say after 20 minutes of no activity.
[{"id":"6b710453.81dbac","type":"server-state-changed","z":"4056fc4f.0baa64","name":"Office Motion","server":"8ac3cd7f.58d3e","entityidfilter":"binary_sensor.office_motion","haltifstate":"","x":190,"y":380,"wires":[["994dd149.e4555"]]},{"id":"19caec7f.e0b4d4","type":"stoptimer","z":"4056fc4f.0baa64","duration":"20","units":"Minute","payloadtype":"num","payloadval":"0","name":"20min","x":550,"y":420,"wires":[["a9408fec.408e1"],[]]},{"id":"a9408fec.408e1","type":"api-call-service","z":"4056fc4f.0baa64","name":"OFF","server":"8ac3cd7f.58d3e","service_domain":"homeassistant","service":"turn_off","data":"{\"entity_id\":\"group.Office\"}","x":1010,"y":414,"wires":[]},{"id":"fa446f4f.1df58","type":"api-call-service","z":"4056fc4f.0baa64","name":"ON","server":"8ac3cd7f.58d3e","service_domain":"homeassistant","service":"turn_on","data":"{\"entity_id\":\"group.Office\"}","x":1010.1666526794434,"y":373.95236015319824,"wires":[]},{"id":"994dd149.e4555","type":"switch","z":"4056fc4f.0baa64","name":"","property":"payload","propertyType":"msg","rules":[{"t":"eq","v":"on","vt":"str"},{"t":"eq","v":"off","vt":"str"}],"checkall":"true","outputs":2,"x":350,"y":380,"wires":[["19caec7f.e0b4d4","da14546c.577218"],["19caec7f.e0b4d4"]]},{"id":"da14546c.577218","type":"api-current-state","z":"4056fc4f.0baa64","name":"Already On?","server":"8ac3cd7f.58d3e","halt_if":"on","entity_id":"switch.office","x":748,"y":373,"wires":[["fa446f4f.1df58"]]},{"id":"8ac3cd7f.58d3e","type":"server","z":"","name":"Home Assistant","url":"http://localhost:8123","pass":"XXXXX"}]
We’ve added a few nodes to our first example, let’s follow the flow.
If Office Motion is on, the switch sends it down two paths simultaneously:
A state node that looks up the state of group.office. If it’s already on, the flow halts, otherwise the lights are turned on
. If it’s already, the flow halts, otherwise the lights are turned on Starts or resets the 20 minute stoptimer if it’s already running. If no other state changes come from the Office Motion sensor, the msg.payload terminates in an off service command.
If Office Motion is off, it starts or resets the timer.
This keeps the lights on as long as something is happening with the motion sensor. When there’s been no activity for 20 minutes, the timer reaches it’s conclusion and the msg.payload is sent to the output to turn the light off.
Note in the “Already On?” node we can halt the flow according to the state it returns:
The alternative would be to use a switch node, but this saves us the trouble. In Home Assistant terminology, this is equivalent to a condition.
LIGHTING THREE: MOTION, TIME RANGE, & OCCUPANCY
Now that’s we’ve done two simple examples, let’s start to show off the real power of Node-Red. For this one we’re going to need another additional node, the time range switch. I’m also using a meta-motion sensor that shows where Home Assistant last saw motion.
[{"id":"4876c05d.90497","type":"server-state-changed","z":"4056fc4f.0baa64","name":"Bathroom Motion","server":"8ac3cd7f.58d3e","entityidfilter":"binary_sensor.bathroom_motion","haltifstate":"off","x":220,"y":420,"wires":[["e25bff84.3451d"]]},{"id":"e25bff84.3451d","type":"time-range-switch","z":"4056fc4f.0baa64","name":"After 6AM","lat":"","lon":"","startTime":"06:00","endTime":"23:59","x":403.333309173584,"y":419.9999780654907,"wires":[["e6559f89.5c606","ec4009c3.5b4c48"],[]]},{"id":"e6559f89.5c606","type":"api-current-state","z":"4056fc4f.0baa64","name":"Light Off?","server":"8ac3cd7f.58d3e","halt_if":"on","entity_id":"switch.bathroom_light","x":573.3334007263184,"y":381.33339405059814,"wires":[["13aee75f.de9699"]]},{"id":"13aee75f.de9699","type":"api-call-service","z":"4056fc4f.0baa64","name":"ON","server":"8ac3cd7f.58d3e","service_domain":"switch","service":"turn_on","data":"{\"entity_id\":\"switch.bathroom_light\"}","x":1034 |
cursed myself at one point.) In other words, if placebos are hope, nocebos are fear.
Scientists have found that nocebos are easier to create than placebos — and last longer. So fear is more powerful in the body than hope. Saying "fear is a powerful thing" is a little like saying "money can come in handy" — it kind of undersells it. Fear is the No. 1 tool for selling newspapers, insurance, snake-oil medicine and Swedish cars. Sometimes that's a good thing, and sometimes it's not. It's what kept our ancestors alive for millions of years, and it's history's favorite way of selling political ideology.
So it's not surprising that fear forces people to accept some strange ideas about medicine. The most tragic and extreme of these are cancer patients so terrified of modern cancer therapies that they turn toward more "natural" solutions and shun proven treatments that could have saved their lives.
I would gladly suffer a few rounds of chemotherapy to prevent harm from coming to my child. The bottom line is that what happens to me when I go in for my kid's shots has nothing to do with vaccines or mercury or thimerosal or any science whatsoever. It's about fear and a loss of control.
Maybe I've done one too many stories on autism and crossed some kind of threshold. So that is how I ended up sweating when I was in the doctor's office again two weeks ago, waiting for the 18-month vaccination that would protect him from diphtheria, meningitis, whooping cough and tetanus. Here I was again, deeply ashamed yet still wondering whether we should put off the shot until it was "safe."
But I knew I could never make the shot, or the world, as safe as I would like. Safe from what? I don't know, I just want my baby to be safe all the time, OK? And do you have any smaller needles?
The doctor asked me to restrain my son, who looked at me a little bewildered but trusted his daddy. Then the doctor injected four neutralized pathogens into his legs. The baby screamed for a few seconds with what I assumed was a deep sense of personal betrayal before the doctor deftly pulled out a tin of lollipops and slipped one into his mouth. I gotta give the guy some credit; the kid shut right up and went to work on the candy.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Courtesy of Erik Vance Courtesy of Erik Vance
Then at that moment, I had a realization. If fear is more powerful than hope and this could happen to a fundamentally rational person like me, then what hope does science really have? What chance does "This is a well-studied, safe intervention" have against "Holy s***, I might be ruining my child!"?
Now go beyond that to other issues where fears and tribal loyalties conflict with reason, like GMOs, climate change or evolution. How can rationality win when irrationality is so much more attractive? I sat in the doctor's office staring into space, now terrified of something totally different.
The doctor looked at me for a second, then grabbed his tin and pushed it at me. "Maybe Daddy wants a lollipop, too?"
Vance is the author of Suggestible You, which was supported in part by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. A version of this essay appeared on the blog The Last Word On Nothing.Even the great Stephen King might find this story implausible.
Republican leaders in the House and White House wanted to implement a massive tax cut for the wealthiest Americans (the health care bill passed Thursday) as a prelude to adopting a second massive tax cut for the wealthiest Americans and big corporations (the tax bill that’s next on their agenda).
"You’d think the 217 heartless legislators who voted for this monstrosity would be hiding their heads in shame. Instead they engaged in a raucous celebration, wheeling a sled full of beer into the Capitol and then holding a victory rally in the White House Rose Garden with President Trump."
They needed the first tax cut so they could pass both bills through a process called “reconciliation” which allows them to enact both massive gifts to the 1 percent by a simple majority in the Senate without the 60-vote threshold in the Senate for other legislation.
The first tax cut for the very rich is called the American Health Care Act, the not so hidden fine print in a bill that is also a horror story for tens of millions of Americans who would be deprived of health coverage and millions more who are threatened with bankruptcy for being sick.
And, no doubt many of the 217 Republican Congress members who narrowly passed the bill are among those expected to benefit from the nearly $600 billion tax cut in the AHCA, most of which goes to those with incomes of over $1 million a year.
What does the rest of America get? A nightmare, which ought to violate the Constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
The bill was rushed through for a final vote without a Congressional Budget Office analysis which predicted the last version, which failed in March, would slash health coverage for 24 million people. And, to line up votes from the most far right members of the House, they made it worse.
Most notably, the legislation, if enacted, would eviscerate $880 billion from Medicaid, affecting low income Americans, with a cap on federal reimbursements to states, an open invitation for states to cut eligibility and reduce covered services.
It is especially punitive for people with what the insurance companies endearingly call pre-existing conditions, which is virtually any existing health status from asthma to cancer, with the added discrimination against women, notably higher costs for pregnancy.
SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT Help Keep Common Dreams Alive Our progressive news model only survives if those informed and inspired by this work support our efforts
Under the AHCA, 40-year olds could be hit with massive increases in costs for premiums of $142,650 for metastatic cancer, $26,580 for rheumatoid arthritis, $18,720 for congestive heart failure, $17,320 for pregnancy, $8,490 for certain mental health conditions, $5,600 for diabetes, and $4.340 for asthma, according to the Center for American Progress.
While most of the focus has been on those on Medicaid, or under the Affordable Care Act newly able to buy individual insurance coverage with restrictions on all the noxious those insurance industry abuses, the bill also undermines employer-based coverage.
An inconvenient truth uncovered by the Wall Street Journal exposes that the bill would allow individual states to opt out of the ACA minimum benefit standards. Employers could just reduce covered benefits they offer by hunting the most bare bones standards offered by the most regressive state, limiting, for example, existing ACA requirements that cap out of pocket expenses.
There’s far more to this sadistic show. The bill would:
Eliminate the Prevention and Public Health Fund, which will worsen the health of our communities, spread infectious disease, and increase health system costs;
Phase out coverage for Medicaid expansion in Medicaid expansion states beginning in 2020, while preventing new states from receiving enhanced Federal Medical Assistance Percentage in order to expand Medicaid;
Eliminate funding to Planned Parenthood which will worsen women’s health, and create burdens for women, families and society from unsafe pregnancies and other health conditions no longer treated;
Eliminate the definition of “essential benefits” – a move that makes all patients vulnerable to the distortions and marketing games of insurance companies;
Repeal the cost-sharing subsidies of the ACA, and destroy the ability of 80% of people currently buying insurance on the Exchanges to maintain coverage;
Open the door for junk insurance. The bill includes a penalty for lack of continuous coverage, creating a big incentive for patients to buy low-cost, no-coverage plans;
Fail to encourage low-cost coverage, because the legislation shifts thousands of dollars in spending from insurance company spending to the individual’s out of pocket costs;
Reproduce the failed “high – risk pools” of the 1990’s and 2000’s, through the “Patient and Stability Fund”. It is inevitable that the number of eligible patients will overwhelm the resources of these high risk pools;
Repeal the Medicare Hospital Insurance Tax, which will reduce funding and destabilize for the Medicare program that our nation’s seniors rely on;
Allow insurers to charge seniors five times the amount of a younger person. This revision will prove to be deadly for our nation’s seniors, and it reveals the extent to which this reform will benefit the profit margins of insurance companies, at the expense of patients’ lives.
You’d think the 217 heartless legislators who voted for this monstrosity would be hiding their heads in shame. Instead they engaged in a raucous celebration, wheeling a sled full of beer into the Capitol and then holding a victory rally in the White House Rose Garden with President Trump.
Their joy may be short lived the next time voters in their districts, who have been protesting this disgrace for months, go to the polls.
Let’s not let Democrats off the hook here either. The Affordable Care Act, with its improvements, also was undermined with significant weaknesses, that included leaving 28 million uninsured, and failing to control ever increasing out of pocket costs.
The solution is not making our broken healthcare system even worse, it’s by achieving real reform, once and for all, by improving Medicare, one of the signature reforms in U.S. history, and expanding it to cover all Americans.The video will start in 8 Cancel
Get the biggest Liverpool FC stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email
It was a great weekend to be a Liverpool fan.
Saturday's early kick-off threatened to go wrong after Ramires' early header gave Chelsea the lead at Stamford Bridge but a Philippe Coutinho double and clincher from substitute Christian Benteke sent the army of travelling Reds into raptures.
The rest of the weekend had a warm glow for Liverpool fans but it's fair to say the same was not true for the regulars at Stamford Bridge.
One in particular found it difficult to cope. He did seem to have lost his plastic flag to be fair.
You can find your own adjective for this character who seems to think his team is managed by someone called Morino.
If you're easily offended look away now because lots of people are to blame for his teams' recent demise including it seems us or as he brands us "Scouse Scum".
Asked by fan website Neek Sports about Mourinho's position he started slow but built to boiling point outside Stamford Bridge.
"There is no-one better than Mourinho. Can you name a better manager out there, available or not?
"Ancelottii's not better than Mourinho and he's older, Mourinho's a better long-term prospect.
" (losing it)...why do you think the Scouse Scum are singing 'you're getting sacked in the morning' when we sang to Benitez 'we want you to stay' when he was managing Liverpool.
"Even those nasty, horrible people know that Mourinho is the best manager in the world - they're scared".
He goes on to blame a conspiracy against Chelsea by the referee and the FA for the 3-1 defeat.
Jose had nothing to say after the match apparently - but we think he'd have been proud of this fella's efforts.The United States spent up to $28 million more than it had to on camouflage uniforms for the Afghan National Army because of the sartorial tastes of a single Afghan official, an American government watchdog said on Wednesday.
A report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction found that the Pentagon needlessly spent millions to license a proprietary camouflage pattern that replicates lush forests. Most of Afghanistan’s landscape, however, is desert, and the Defense Department owns dozens of similar patterns it could have used free, the report said.
“They picked the pattern based on a fashion preference, not by experts, but by the minister of defense,” said John F. Sopko, the special inspector general. “That was a dumb decision.”
By 2007, six years after the United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan, the ragtag soldiers of the Afghan Army wore a hodgepodge of uniforms. The United States and its allies have spent millions on overhauling and training Afghanistan’s security forces. Purchasing matching uniforms was one expense.Crossposted at Approximately 8,000 Words
Today I join Occupy Austin and members of Occupy San Antonio (in its newest incarnation as Occupy Bexar) travel to Addison, Texas with a wide coalition of unions and activist organizations at the Out of the Shadows Rally and March. This protest is a demand for transparency and accountability in the negotiations of the TransPacific Partnership (on Twitter, #TPP, hijacking the hashtag of the ‘Tea Party Patriots”).
This is the latest secret deal being cut by the 1% and world leaders. Over 30 legal professionals begged US Trade Representative Ron Kirk to make the process more transparent:
We write as legal academics from the US and current or potential future Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) member countries to express our profound concern and disappointment at the lack of public participation, transparency and open government processes in the negotiation of the intellectual property chapter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP). We are particularly and specifically concerned that the United States Trade Representative (USTR) took the opportunity of its hosting of the latest round of negotiations in Dallas, Texas, to begin this week, to further restrict public involvement in the negotiations by eliminating the full-day stakeholder forums that have been hosted at other rounds. We call on the USTR and all TPP negotiating countries to reverse course and work instead to expand, rather than contract, the opportunities for public engagement in the formation of the TPP’s intellectual property chapter.
Kirk blew them off. The agreement would be wide-ranging in its influence, affecting environmental law, jobs, and more, but it is the intellectual property and copyright portions which are raising the most ire on the Internet among activists and Anonymous. Like the similar ACTA, they see TPP as another round in the retaliation from the 1% over the defeat of laws like SOPA & PIPA. If they can’t be forced through Congress, it seems they’ll be turned into global mandate instead. Activists are further angered by the obscure choice of meeting location which is seen as another way to avoid scrutiny.
The bus from San Antonio and Austin will arrive in the Dallas suburb this afternoon. where we meet at a park and march on the negotiation site. This event is permitted, but I’ve heard reports from those already on site that police seem nervous; we will see how they react if there are acts of civil disobedience.
Occupy Austin’s livestream will be active around 2pm Central Time (12pm FDL time). I will livetweet throughout the day, and update this blog when I am able.
1:45pm: The rally has swelled to about 300 or more while we went from lunch. Hearing from occupiers, activists and unions as we prepare to march.
5:00pm: I am riding back to Austin after a strange day of action. We marched at about 2pm. The teamsters assigned as parade marshals tried to keep us on the sidewalk, but as usual Occupy Austin were among the first off the sidewalk, leading the others into the streets. By the time police and the marshals reacted, our numbers were too strong and marched in the street until we were past the barricades closing the road around the hotel.
When we reached the hotel, further barricades kept us from the parking lot and hotel property. If we crossed them we were told we would be arrested. Then, 3 older women surged forward past the barricades and the crowd followed. A line of cops, greatly outnumbered, blocked our path.
Though heavy riot gear was present earlier in the week, none was in evidence now. The energy was building & it seemed as if the crowd would be ready any minute now to press the outnumbered police lines. Federal police in dark suits appeared in greater numbers.
Then, strangely, the same women who led us over the barricades turned right around and abruptly led almost the whole crowd away. We had barely been at the hotel for 20 minutes. Soon all that remained were occupiers from Austin, San Antonio, and Dallas along with a few bolder members of the union crowd.
Our numbers were suddenly reduced by hundreds. Police physically forcded us back. Determined to continue anyway we marched around the hotel, repeatedly encroaching on the property and being forced back. Finally we marched at the main entrance, waving signs and disrupting traffic. But we were tired, a little discouraged, and running out of time. Our main organizers were visibly frustrated; one took to his phone to discover the group had all returned to the park & dispersed.
We came back as a group and spent a little time relaxing at a local pub until it was time to board the bus for home.
Thanks for reading my liveblog. I will post a full wrap up of today’s events with more media on Monday.
If you enjoyed this post, please support Kit on Patreon!
Share this: Twitter
Facebook
Reddit
Pinterest
WhatsApp
Pocket
EmailA century before Izera the keyboard guy, the flute-playing ‘bikie’ or the pipe guy, Adelaide’s street corners and thoroughfares hosted a different generation of memorable musical characters.
Whether it’s a pair of seven year old violinists squeaking through Silent Night, teenage boys strumming Jason Mraz covers or longtime favourites drawing a crowd, Adelaide has no shortage of buskers. Half a century ago, the streetscape was not so different. Often driven to music by sheer economic circumstance, these forgotten street performers were the bane of traders and authorities, but won the public’s favour as they earnt a crust with a tune and a smile.
Percy Lines, date unknown, Photographer: Colin G. West, image courtesy Gay O’Neill
One of the earliest names to win a degree of notoriety and public affection was Patrick ‘Patsy’ Weldon, who for many years played a hand cranked organ, despite suffering from a limb deformity. By 1915 his instrument was said to have “lost half of its teeth and omitted 50 percentum of the notes”, but Weldon defiantly rejected any offers to replace it. “Those notes that won’t go are worth more cash than the others that do,” he reportedly said. “They cause people to pity me for being too poor to have a new organ, and so they give me more money.” While details on Weldon’s life are scant, it seems he met a quiet end at Parkside Mental Hospital, where he was last seen by a reporter in 1918.
Perhaps the best known and longest-running busker of the early 20th century however was Percy Lines, who spent 45 years busking in the same King William Street spot. Blinded at 28 in a Broken Hill mining accident, by 1911 Percy had picked up the accordion and taken to the streets to support his wife and children. Lin es was circumspect about the hand life had dealt him. “Blindness is my lot,” he once said. “I don’t like it but I do try to reconcile myself to it … I have learned to put up with myself, and like it. Life has been worth living after all.”
Percy Lines sits with hit cup and accordion
But his path to becoming a beloved local icon wasn’t always smooth. Early in his busking career, Lines walked into the offices of the Daily Herald to register his frustration at recent moves to outlaw blind people from earning money on the street, arguing that the pension could not support his large family, nor should he have to forego his financial independence when he could just as easily earn his own money. Something, he said, that Salvation Army bands and other non-blind performers did without issue.
Around the same time, ‘Piccolo Pete’ captured the public’s imagination despite his apparent musical limitations on the tin whistle. “People have often wondered who I am, and what I am,” Pete told The Truth in July 1946. Rarely speaking to passers-by, rumours of his true origins flourished. Some speculated that he was a wealthy, educated man with years of musical tuition; others spun tales of a failed love affair that drove him to his tinny vocation.
Piccolo Pete c. June 1935, The News
The true story of the man born Francis Roland Bee was much humbler. “The housing shortage and lack of accommodation struck me like hundreds of others,” he said in the same interview, published soon after his arrest for sleeping rough on the grounds of the School of Mines (now part of UniSA’s City East campus). “But the Adelaide people have been good enough to have kept me off the dole for the last 15 years. There is no big money in doing the work I do; I work long hours for a few odd shillings, but I like the outdoor life and at 59 years of age I have little to live for,” he said. Indeed, ‘Pete’ would pass away just weeks later, having been hospitalised for the second time that year.
Attempts to reign in street performers were frequent. In October 1931 the City of Adelaide, supported by city traders, passed a bylaw to regulate street performance via a permit system. Complaints continued however, with one Rundle Street trader “enduring” a brass band in front of his building. The new system mandated performers maintain a respectable appearance, move on when asked by a nearby resident and only perform for 15 minutes at a time within a 100 yard radius.
credit: State Library of South Australia, B35394
If required, musicians could also be compelled to audition in an ante-room in the Town Hall. According to The Advertiser, singers were the subject of a blanket ban – they were deemed to make “too much noise”. ‘Piccolo Pete’ was frequently in trouble for playing, fined £1, 2s January 1933 for refusing to move on after being ordered to move by police, despite having a permit. He told the court that the police “regarded street musicians as vagrants, which was wrong.”
Despite such attitudes, the presence of street performers continued unabated, becoming an important part of Adelaide’s fabric. “People say that we look able-bodied and healthy, but you can bet we would not be doing this if there were other jobs,” an anonymous performer told The Mail at the time of the bylaws. “It is hateful. But we have others to think of beside ourselves”.
Unearth more hidden stories from the past, present and future of Adelaide’s music scene in ‘City Of Music’, part of the new Adelaide Tours guided walks program.
Detours is presented in partnership with National Trust South Australia and The Adelaide ReviewThe 11-day old blackout of CBS on Time Warner Cable systems seems to be having a minimal effect on the network’s ratings.
Last week, the first full week of blocked service for more than three million Time Warner customers, the network topped its competitors in total viewers and in all the ratings categories important to advertisers.
One reason perhaps: RadioShack reported Monday a “double-digit” increase in sales of high-definition antennas in the three big cities being blacked out — New York, Los Angeles and Dallas. (The company provided no specific numbers.)
Time Warner Cable has been suggesting that customers try watching CBS the old-fashioned way – on a broadcast signal to an antenna — since it removed the network from its cable systems on Aug. 2 in a dispute over what are known as retransmission fees.Well, this is my first time participating in such an event. And I got matched with a girl from Alaska:) And I had to wait a little longer, but it was definitely worth waiting for! The present came just in time for a New Year) It was even delivered straight to my hands, which is great, because usually I have to go to the post-office to pick up something like that.
So, the box full of surprises arrived and I opened it right away! There were a loot of beautifully wrapped presents)) I had a REALLY amazing time opening them:)
The first thing I saw was a very large “Happy Birthday” postcard (I was born on Christmas Eve), it also turned out to be a huge letter (plus some photos with my SS) which I like a lot!! (and not gonna show it here:)) My SS got me a lovely teapot and, of course, her favorite tea that I’m going to drink a lot while having exams. She got me a few pairs of wonderful earrings, she even made one of them herself:) There is also a book that I’m going to read on holidays, after passing my exams. When I just opened the box there was an interesting smell, but after unwrapping gifts I found out that it’s a lavender soup:) Also found six amazing chocolate bars, one of them with bacon and one of them with chili and cherry (that’s pretty interesting, I’ve never tasted chocolate like that before). My SS also included a loot of CD’s with music that she listened to when she was younger (also going to listen to them on holidays) :)
And finally, there was a beautiful white scarf (always wanted one, but was afraid to buy it, because it’s white:)) and two amazing pairs of socks! I just love them!:)
THANK YOU A LOT, MY DEAR SS! You really made my winter:)
In two hours I will already be living in 2012, so Happy New Year everyone!The Ancient Magus' Bride's seventh volume opens with the story at its most personal, centering on the relationship that is its heart. Chise has spent long volumes learning from her mentor Elias, but as Elias has come to care for her, he has changed as well. Elias' development of human emotions is a generally positive thing, but as a creature from outside humanity experiencing hurt and love for the first time, his reactions are like those of an angry child. Though Elias has often acted as something like a father for Chise, in this volume, it becomes clear that she is becoming the emotional guide of the two of them. Their uneasy relationship has never been more fraught than here, or more rewarding.
Chise's growing sense of responsibility towards Elias is underlined both in her skillful defusal of his tantrums and in a later visit to her friend Angelica. Meeting Angelica's human husband for the first time, he reflects on the odd negotiations of family and love, and how connecting yourself to another means you're no longer fully your own. From the title on down, The Ancient Magus' Bride has never been afraid to embrace the thorny, uneven implications of familial closeness, and this volume continues its difficult balance of clear danger and well-earned warmth. Chise's nature makes it very unlikely she'll outlast Elias, but it's clear that she's already beginning to outgrow him.
After a pair of chapters that acknowledge the inherent melancholy of this shift, The Ancient Magus' Bride spreads its wings both literally and figuratively, diving into an adventure that ropes in the dragon aerie, alchemist college, and even the auction house where Chise was sold.
At seven volumes in, The Ancient Magus' Bride has established a wide array of distinctive characters and magical institutions, presenting a world of marvelous individual attractions without demonstrating their interlocking parts. This volume's later chapters remedy that lack, roping close to a dozen of the manga's various players into a plot to reclaim two stolen dragons. It's a refreshing and largely positive change - while it's been easy to invest in Magus' Bride's vignettes for their own sake, demonstrating how all these organizations actually interact gives the story a new sense of holism.
That change does open the story up to a new kind of worldbuilding-focused criticism, too. In the past, we didn't have enough information on the world surrounding any individual vignette to question if alchemist shops or magical auctions made sense in this world. In spite of tying together a variety of distinct institutions, this volume still doesn't necessarily convey the sense of a full-fledged magical world. Institutions like the alchemist college lack the lived details of places like Elias' home, and the volume's final spectacle relied on a dramatic twist that made me question how the magical auction house had survived this long. Revealing the skeletal mechanics of your invented world only works if those bones can actually bear its substance.
That said, this volume's dramatic shift easily succeeds both as a propulsive narrative and as a continued reflection on the manga's characters. The competence that saves Chise in the volume's early chapters here makes her perfectly believable as a key player in a dragon heist, validating all the work Magus' Bride has done to build her character. Elias' unsustainable relationship with Chise prompts satisfying sparks with the alchemists, and the auction sequence offers the opportunity for many new kinds of drama. Altogether, Magus' Bride's story embraces its new dramatic scale with relieving grace.
Visually, this volume is a bit more conservative than most. The show's character art is as attractive as ever, but much of this volume is taken up by close panels of faces exchanging words. The manga's tendency to often avoid background art entirely feels like a real missed opportunity here, as new settings like the alchemist college and magical auction aren't given the visual context necessary to inspire wonder or feel real. And while the actual kidnapping of the dragons is a real visual feast, the confrontation at the auction house gets somewhat muddled, its overreliance on closeups somewhat dampening its drama. That said, a below-average volume of Magus' Bride is still a very pretty thing, and there's plenty to marvel at here.
Overall, The Ancient Magus' Bride's seventh volume demonstrates both slight growing pains and satisfying payoff, as Chise starts to become a truly great mage. If this is the beginning of her legend, it's a fine place to start.CLOSE NASA's Kennedy Space Center rolled out their concept vehicle for the new Mars rover. It looks like something out of a sci-fi film, complete with real technology that could be used by astronauts to explore Mars. USA TODAY
This undated image made available by NASA shows an artist's rendering of the Space Launch System. Still in development, the super-sized rocket is meant to eventually send astronauts to Mars. (Photo11: AP)
WASHINGTON — NASA Acting Administrator Robert Lightfoot said the agency’s goal of sending human to Mars by 2033 remains on track despite concerns raised about future funding and independent assessments that suggest such a mission is unlikely without a sizable, long-term increase in funding.
President Trump’s 2018 proposed budget treats NASA relatively well compared to other non-Defense agencies. Even though the $19.1 billion would be more than $500 million less than what Congress allocated to the agency this year, other agencies would have to absorb much deeper cuts under the White House plan unveiled last month.
At two separate House hearings Thursday, Lightfoot told lawmakers the $3.9 billion in the budget proposal for human exploration would allow NASA to continue developing its two key pieces of hardware: the Orion vehicle that will carry astronauts into deep space and the Space Launch System rocket that Orion will ride on past the moon and toward Mars.
Both systems are scheduled to be tested: first, in an uncrewed flight in 2019, then with astronauts into lunar orbit, no later than 2023.
“The budget we proposed has got the systems we need in 2018 to keep making the progress we think we need,” he told members of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee.
The budget proposal, which Congress is expected to adjust over the coming months, comes three years after a National Research Council report warned that any mission to take astronauts beyond lunar space is impossible without significant budget increases over time.
CLOSE NASA chose 12 new astronauts Wednesday from its biggest pool of applicants ever, selecting seven men and five women who could one day fly aboard the nation's next generation of spacecraft. (June 8) AP
Virginia Democratic Rep. Don Beyer said flat budgets over the past five years have cost the agency about $4.5 billion in purchasing power.
“So how can we argue that this is a long-term budget that truly reflects our robust commitment to space?” he asked Lightfoot.
“We have concerns about the out years but the ’18 budget is good for us,” the NASA administrator responded.
Read more:
Democrats had concerns about other aspects of the budget as well, chiefly the elimination of the education office and cuts in Earth science programs measuring changes to the planet’s climate.
The budget proposes eliminating five Earth science missions designed to measure a number of global warming factors such as ocean ecosystems and carbon levels. The budget also would cut funding for Earth research grants and would terminate the Carbon Monitoring System, a project that NASA developed in 2010 in response to congressional direction.
Lightfoot responded that there are 20 other Earth science missions NASA is still planning to conduct. And Texas Republican Lamar Smith, who chairs the science committee, welcomed the change under Trump who has called climate change a hoax perpetrated by China for economic advantage.
“There are many other federal agencies involved in earth science research, but only one that promotes space exploration,” Smith said. “This budget reflects the idea that while NASA can continue to develop state of the art Earth sensing systems, it is not a piggy bank for funding climate activities already addressed elsewhere in the federal government.”
But some Republicans had issues with the proposal, including Hal Rogers of Kentucky who questioned the elimination of the education office when Lightfoot came before members of the House Appropriations Committee.
“The education programs hopefully have been spreading the word about NASA’s (accomplishments),” Rogers told Lightfoot. “I can’t understand why you would want to cut that.”
The administrator said NASA is trying to weave education outreach and promote space careers into other areas.
“I don’t deny that the (education) programs have been pretty successful for us but we felt like in the balance of things we could do this more effectively in a different way,” he said.
Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2s1h1zzFor hackers, scanning for an open “port”—a responsive, potentially vulnerable internet connection on a would-be victim's machine—has long been one of the most basic ways to gain a foothold in a target company or agency. As it turns out, thanks to a few popular but rarely studied apps, plenty of smartphones have open ports, too. And those little-considered connections can just as easily give hackers access to tens of millions of Android devices.
A group of researchers from the University of Michigan identified hundreds of applications in Google Play that perform an unexpected trick: By essentially turning a phone into a server, they allow the owner to connect to that phone directly from their PC, just as they would to a web site or another internet service. But dozens of these apps leave open insecure ports on those smartphones. That could allow attackers to steal data, including contacts or photos, or even to install malware.
"Android has inherited this open port functionality from traditional computers, and many applications use open ports in a way that poses vulnerabilities," says Yunhan Jia, one of the Michigan researchers who reported their findings at the IEEE European Symposium on Security and Privacy. "If one of these vulnerable open port apps is installed, your phone can be fully taken control of by attackers."
Port of Call
To determine the full scope of the port problem, the Michigan researchers built a software tool they call OPAnalyzer (for Open Port Analyzer) that they used to scan the code of around 100,000 popular apps in the Google Play app store.
They found that 1,632 applications created open ports on smartphones, mostly intended to allow users to connect to them from PCs to send text messages, transfer files, or use the phone as a proxy to connect to the rest of the internet. Of those, they identified 410 as potentially having no protection or only weak protection—such as a hardcoded password that can be derived from the code and used by any hacker—meant to control who can access those open ports. And of that subset, they manually analyzed 57 that they confirmed left ports open and exploitable by any hacker on the same local Wi-Fi network, another app on the same device (even one with restricted privileges), or more disturbing, a script that runs in the victim's browser when they merely visit a website.
And that may just be a partial list of exploits, says Zhiyun Qian, a computer scientist at the University of California at Riverside who has followed the Michigan researchers' work. When a phone's IP address is publicly visible on the internet—a situation that depends on whether the phone is connected to Wi-Fi and the user's carrier—the attacker can simply scan for open ports from anywhere, and start attacking that vulnerable phone. In those cases, "this is completely, remotely exploitable," says Qian. "It's definitely serious."
Of the 57 apps they identified as the most vulnerable to the open port attacks, two struck the researchers as particularly dangerous. One app with more than 10 million downloads called Wifi File Transfer allows users to connect to an open port on their phone via Wi-Fi, and access files like photos, application data, and anything stored on the phone's SD card. But Jia says that due to the app's lack of any authentication like a password, an intruder who connects to that open port can also get full access to the same sensitive files. "That’s intended functionality for the user, but because of that poor authentication it allows anyone to do it," Jia says.
The researchers also point to AirDroid, a similarly popular app with an eight-digit number of downloads, designed to allow users full control of their Android phone from their PC. Researchers found that AirDroid had an authentication flaw that also lets malicious intruders access ports. But in AirDroid's case, that flaw only allowed for the hijacking of existing connections. To perform the attack, malware on the phone would likely have had to intercept the user's attempt to establish that legitimate connection. And when the Michigan researchers say that AirDroid's developers patched the problem quickly after being notified.
The developers behind Wifi File Transfer, by contrast, haven't fixed their app's security problem even after the researchers contacted them, Michigan's Jia says. WIRED reached out several times to Smarter Droid, the company that makes the app, but didn't get a response.
'The User Can Do Nothing'
In the videos below, the researchers demonstrate attacks on two other apps, PhonePal and Virtual USB, both of which Jia says remain vulnerable. Neither has nearly as many downloads as Wifi File Transfer, however—Virtual USB has less than 50,000, and PhonePal has only a few hundred. Neither company responded to WIRED's request for comment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7T7FBuCFM6A
Aside from those four apps, the researchers' full paper details analyses of half a dozen others—several of which are mostly popular in the Chinese market—that are also vulnerable to varying degrees to open port attacks. More than half the 1,632 apps that create open ports on phones have more than 500,000 downloads, the researchers found.
To test just how widespread the most vulnerable apps might be, they at one point even scanned their local university network and immediately found devices with open, potentially hackable ports. "That so many developers have made this mistake is already an alarming sign," says UC Riverside's Qian. "There will be other apps they haven't looked at |
so.”;
2) “Until such time, the religious obedience of the Grand Master, and other professed knights or the Order, is commanded by the Pope ‘in accordance with the Constitution and the Code’ (Code of the Order, art. 62), that is, fully respecting the Order’s independence and sovereignty regarding its governance”;
3) “For the Vatican commission to be legitimate, the Pope would need to sign a formal, legal act, officially and expressly abrogating the Order’s sovereignty and authorising the investigative commission to act. This formal act would need to be sent to the Order. If the Pope wanted Cardinal Parolin, or any other curial official, to have the power to authoritatively communicate with the Grand Master on his behalf, this too would need to be explicitly and legally set out by the Pope directly to the Grand Master, in a way which accounted for the necessary abrogation of sovereignty.”
Put simply, it appears that the Vatican is not following canon law or acknowledging the rights of the Order. Some have put it in very strong terms. “But the unprecedented papal intervention,” writes Phil Lawler at Catholic Culture, “into the affairs of that venerable body fits into a pattern that should, at this point, worry all faithful Catholics. Under Pope Francis, the Vatican is systematically silencing, eliminating, and replacing critics of the Pope’s views.” Lawler points to the recent “wholesale replacement of the prelates on the Congregation for Divine Worship”, the sudden dismissal of three priests from the staff of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and the refusal to respond to the dubia submitted by four cardinals about the proper interpretation of Amoris Laetitia. Damien Thompson of The Spectator says “the Order of Malta was effectively stripped of its sovereignty in what appears to be a brutal power-grab by the Vatican” and cites a source who says, “It’s like an invasion. Nine hundred years of sovereignty wiped out overnight.”
The latest news indicates the situation is now a full-blown crisis. Two days ago the Grand Master, Matthew Festing, met with Pope Francis, who asked him to resign at the end of their meeting. And today, as reported by Edward Pentin from the Vatican, Francis has taken further steps:
Pope Francis has declared that all actions taken by the head of the Order of Malta and its governing council since the dismissal of Albrecht von Boeselager last month are “null and void,” including the election of Boeselager’s replacement.
Writing on the Pope’s behalf to members of the Order’s governing council Jan. 25, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin stated that the Holy Father, “on the basis of evidence that has emerged from information he has gathered, has determined that all actions taken by the Grand Master after December 6, 2016, are null and void.”
He added: “The same is true for those of the Sovereign Council, such as the election of the Grand Chancellor ad interim.” The Council elected Fra’ John Critien as Boeselager’s temporary replacement.
Cardinal Parolin began his letter by re-emphasizing that the Grand Commander, Ludwig Hoffmann von Rumerstein, is now in charge of the Order, adding that “in the renewal process which is seen as necessary,” the Pope would “appoint his personal Delegate with powers that he will define in the act of appointing him.”
Cordon concludes that Boeselager and his allies in the Vatican “have triumphed. These allies have carried out a sordid campaign of leaked letters from Cardinal Parolin’s department, which served the sad and obvious end of framing a public narrative in which Fra’ Festing supposedly ‘defied’ the explicit wishes of the Pope. In fact, even according to the confused and changeable timeline constructed by his friends, it was clear that Boeselager was dismissed well before Cardinal Parolin’s apparent (and still illegitimate) intervention.”
There is much more—three things in particular:
1) Freemasonry: Pentin reported on January 7th that Cardinal Burke had been asked by Pope Francis to expose problems within the Order: “Hopes that the contraceptive scandal would be addressed came on Nov. 10, when Cardinal Burke was received in private audience by Pope Francis. During that meeting, the Register has learned, the Pope was ‘deeply disturbed’ by what the cardinal told him about the contraceptive distribution. The Pope also made it clear to Cardinal Burke that he wanted Freemasonry ‘cleaned out’ from the order, and he demanded appropriate action.” What, exactly, does that mean? If true, observes Robert Moynihan of Inside the Vatican, it “would suggest that the two men have a different relationship than the one most of the world seems to have concluded they have…” Personally, I struggle to see that making much sense, unless Francis shifted focus and goals midstream, as he appears to have done with Cardinal George Pell.
2) Germans: Moynihan—in an e-letter sent on the 26th but not yet on his site—writes:
As all this is happening, there are whisperings in the underbrush, here and there, in articles and on the internet, that influencing this affair is a struggle between the “German” and “Italian” wings of the Order (the General Chapter of May 2014 reportedly ousted Italians from most of the top spots in the Order, and there are decisions to take on the possible sale of many ancient properties in Italy owned by the Order), and also the question of what to do about a considerable sum of money, $120 million, reportedly left in a bequest to the Order several years ago by a wealthy French gentleman named Jehan du Tour.
He indicates that the sources for this are shaky. However, I know via other, solid sources that this story, as they say, has legs. In short, the German wing is poised to take over control of the Order. Why?
3) Money and power: The money part is touched on above; the power part has to do with the approach desired by the Germans. As summarized by Sandro Magister:
The dispute, in any case, goes deeper and involves the opposition between defenders of the original religious profile of the Order – reduced today to a few dozen voting members – and the proponents of its “secularization,” particularly strong in the German camp, the most numerous and active in the field of humanitarian aid.
In fact, it was German leadership directly behind Boeselager’s decisions regarding the distribution of condoms. Christopher Lamb of The Tablet sums up the situation from the progressive perspective:
While the more progressive German branch of the order want [sic] to promote its lay-centred work with the poor and sick, Festing has pushed a more conservative agenda by trying to build up the the elite quasi-monastic arm of the knights. Although numbering only around 50 of the 14,000 members of the order, they are the ones who hold the leadership positions of the world-wide knights, and elect its leader.
As I’ve been told by those close to the situation, the Germans in question do not care about the Magisterium or the traditional moral teachings of the Church. Period.
Finally, back to Moynihan:
Reportedly, the $120 million have been administered since the death of the donor several years ago by an expert in offshore fund management named Ariane Slinger, who lives in Geneva, and who is reportedly the trustee for the funds, keeping the principal safe and giving out the interest to the four name [sic] heirs, one of which is the Order of Malta in France. Allegedly, Chancellor Boeselager in 2014 decided to negotiate with Slinger about these funds, and was assisted by Odendall and Sehnaoui, who allegedly helped draw up a detailed proposal. Boeselager, Odendall and Sehnaoui are said to have exchanged numerous emails with Tomasi and Slinger on a proposed plan for these funds. But, reportedly, the Grand Master, Festing, has refused to engage in any transaction, even as recently as December 7.
The younger brother of Boeselager, Georg, until last year the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Merck Finck & Privatbankiers AG Monaco of Bavaria, has recently replaced Carlo Salvatori in the Council of Superintendence of the IOR, showing the close relationship between the Germans in the Knights of Malta and the Vatican. … The younger Boeselager was chosen by the Cardinals Commission of Vigilance of the Institute of Works of Religion. The announcement of the appointment was made on December 15, 2016, just days after the elder Boeselager was removed from his top post in the Knights of Malta.
He concludes: “It is not clear whether Pope Francis himself has been told of all of these connections.” Once again, as with the letter by the bishops of Malta, there is confusion as well as many hints and clues forming a picture that is unclear in some ways and yet oddly familiar in its lack of clarity.We are unable to take new orders at this time. We apologize for the delay in processing existing orders. Thank you for your patience!
Philharmonic Audio Loudspeakers are designed to meet the needs of audio enthusiasts who value serious engineering over exotic wires, designer capacitors, or cabinetry fashion statements. We strive to provide the most accurate loudspeakers possible at an affordable price. Prices range from $290/pr for our Affordable Accuracy Plus Monitors to $3,500/pr for the top-of-the-line Philharmonic 3.
Our three-way floor-standing models feature an open-back midrange configuration to provide added depth and spaciousness to the soundstage without imposing restrictions on room placement. These speakers incorporate transmission line bass tuning optimized by Paul Kittinger, based on precise mathematical models developed by Martin King. Paul also designed the transmission line cabinets for the popular Salk Song Tower and HT2 loudspeakers. The crossover networks for all Philharmonic speakers were developed by Dennis Murphy, who has a proven track record in crossover designs for Salk Sound, Ellis Audio, and many popular public domain kits, such as the MBOW1 and CAOW1. The cabinets for our 3-way speakers are hand-crafted to order in the USA. Click on the "Cabinets" tab for details on the cabinet makers and available veneers.
The Philharmonic Lineup
The BMR Philharmonitor Our new 3-way bookshelf design delivers the bass response and accuracy of a premium tower speaker for only $1,350/pr with custom piano black cabinets. The BMR Philharmonitor features a RAAL ribbon tweeter, an innovative Balanced Mode Radiator midrange, and a heavy-duty Scan Speak 7" woofer with bass reach down to 34 Hz. For details and measurements, click here.
The BMR Roadshow We recently sent a pair of BMR's on a trans-continental tour of the United States, with stops in homes in over 15 cities. Click here to see what participants thought of the BMR's.
The Mini Philharmonitor Announcing the new Mini Philharmonitor. We've had many requests for a smaller speaker that could serve as a very high quality surround or as a desk-top monitor. Our new Mini Philharmonitor is equipped with a RAAL tweeter to match the sound signature of our other premium speakers, and a five-inch aluminum woofer that can function either in a small.25 cubic foot sealed cabinet, or in a slightly larger ported cabinet for extended bass response. The Mini Philharmonitor is priced from $695/pr to $750/pr depending on cabinet size. For details and measurements, click here.
The New Affordable Accuracy Plus Monitor Due to substantial increases in the component costs for the Affordable Accuracy Monitor, we have discontinued this model and replaced it with an improved version that features the premium Morel MDT32S tweeter. The new Plus model provides smoother highs and even better driver integration than the previous AA monitor. We don't think you can find a speaker with this level of refinement or bass extension close to the new Affordable Accuracy's price of $290/pr. Click here for more information. And Affordable Accuracy Center Channel This modified Pioneer C22 MTM center channel from our previous Affordable Accuracy line is available for $150 plus shipping. Click here for details.
The Philharmonic M T M Center Channel We now offer a compact and affordable center channel speaker that will integrate seamlessly with any of our other speaker systems in home theater installations. Click here for details.
The Philharmonic 3 Our flagship speaker spans the entire audio spectrum using a RAAL ribbon tweeter, an open-back planar midrange, and the Scan Speak Revelator 8" woofer in a folded transmission line cabinet. For details and measurements, click here.The new Update is on a gradual roll out over the next 24 hours. Version 1.31.1 is not a grand update but it still has some interesting features.
New Agents start with a “Welcome Basket” of 4 L1 Resonators, 4 L1 Bursters, and 1 L1 Powercube. It may not seem like much but this puts a potential new Agent at 2,000 AP if they claim 4 neutral Portals. Better than nothing.
New Agents also start with 2 invites of their own right out of the gate.
There is a supposed AP gain when you invite another person, but we haven’t seen the gain yet. There could be a delay, but we’ll keep you posted.
The Horizontal Scrollbar is now clickable in the Inventory screen, enabling you to skip through the carousel.
Various Bug fixes as well.
Minor Graphical Upgrades (Items are now colored when they’re coming out of portals for easier identification.)
If you’re desperate to have this new update, we found an APK here [link is down]. (thanks to EvilWitch and JR Dykes aka Cringer for hunting the APK down)
Back by Popular demand we have a new Mirrors:Bernie Sanders Dines With Al Sharpton In Harlem
Enlarge this image toggle caption Richard Drew/AP Richard Drew/AP
The morning after his New Hampshire primary victory, Bernie Sanders made a highly publicized visit to Harlem to dine with Al Sharpton, one of America's most prominent civil rights activists and media personalities.
The two dined at Sylvia's, the same New York City restaurant where Sharpton huddled with Barack Obama during his 2008 presidential campaign.
Wednesday's meeting was a not-so-subtle recognition of Sanders' pivot to South Carolina and Sanders' effort to broaden his appeal to the state's decisive African-American voters.
Hillary Clinton has been heavily favored in polls to date to win South Carolina, in part due to Clinton support among African-American voters.
But Sanders' strong finish in New Hampshire and fresh appeal to younger voters will further test Clinton's perceived strength in the Feb. 27 primary.
More than half of South Carolina's primary voters were black in the 2008 contest pitting Clinton against Obama, the first competitive black candidate for president.
She lost by a 29 percentage point margin.
Now facing a white liberal from Vermont in 2016, Clinton has led by double-digits in South Carolina polls. But Sanders has 17 days to close that gap.
Clinton's strength among black and Latino voters is critical to her electability argument.
"It will be very difficult, if not impossible, for a Democrat to win the nomination without strong levels of support among African American and Hispanic voters," Robby Mook, Clinton's campaign manager, wrote in a Tuesday memo to reporters.
Speaking to reporters after breakfast, Sharpton said he also plans to meet with Clinton next week. An endorsement in the race would likely come after that, he said.
Sanders did not take questions from reporters waiting for him outside the restaurant.One of the world’s leading accelerators for Fintech Startups, Starupbootcamps, announced their first round of companies that will join their inaugural program in Mumbai, India. These startups beat out nearly 300 other companies from Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East.
Since its launch in 2014, Startupbootcamp Fintech has become a world leader. It hosts programs in London, New York, Singapore, Mexico City, and now Mumbai. This new program is India’s first global accelerator for Fintech startups and is backed by ICICI Bank, ICICI Lombard, RBL, Capital First, AZB and Partners, and PwC.
The 10 startups will have access to leading Indian financial corporations that can assist with with pilot customers and market data. They will also have the opportunity to utilize Startupbootcamp’s connections with mentors and investors to create the best advisory board possible.
In addition to these resources, each team will also receive €15,000 and three months of free office space. During this time, they will go through intense acceleration and end with a company presentation to over 500 investors and industry experts at Demo Day.
Startupbootcamp’s Managing Director, Adrian Johnson, said:
“India is the fastest growing economy in the world today, and Startupbootcamp’s expansion into the country aims to build on this momentum. We specifically decided to venture into India with our Fintech accelerator because our global FinTech programs had been witnessing significant participation from Indian companies, with some of the most unique innovations intended to address the financial need-gap of the Indian economy. We are really excited about this years’ cohort. We will be focusing on giving them the foundation to enhance and scale their business models and make them market-ready at the end of three months, with the support of our rich network of mentors, partners and industry experts.”
Abhay Hawalder, an Advisory Director and General Atlantic, noted the impact that accelerators have on a startups journey:
“Entrepreneurship is one of the loneliest professions in the world and entrepreneurs always feel the need for company of their own kind. Startupbootcamp has touched the lives of many such entrepreneurs globally, and brings with it the richest insights and industry information to benefit its expanding family of startups. The FinTech Mumbai Cohort brings together more such companies, that possess a distinct understanding of the challenge they aim to solve with technology and the ambition to make it happen. I look forward to interacting with each of the ten selected startups over the next few months, to familiarize them with the nuances of building a platform for financial services in the Indian FinTech ecosystem”
Startupbootcamp described the 10 winning startups in their press release as follows:Treisman said that while she was not looking for a story that touched on topical issues of sexual agency specifically, when this piece came in, she did hope to get it into the magazine “sooner rather than later.”
The piece—which you can read here if you haven’t already and save yourself both spoilers and holiday-party alienation—follows a 20-year-old college student named Margot as she goes on a date with an older man, Robert, then breaks things off with him. And while it’s fiction, for many women, it felt a little too real.
hi i'm halfway thru the cat person new yorker story and i'm taking a break to find a support group please help please send help i'm. i'm. not even done yet — darcie wilder (@333333333433333) December 10, 2017
In the piece, Margot comes off as polite, a little narcissistic, and more than a little confused. Like most young daters, she relies primarily on Robert’s short texts to divine his personality. And Robert is a creepy enigma who nevertheless does nothing technically wrong, until the end of the piece.
At one point, Margot goes over to Robert’s house (willingly) and (presumably) to have sex. And then, she experiences this emotion:
It wasn’t that she was scared he would try to force her to do something against her will but that insisting that they stop now, after everything she’d done to push this forward, would make her seem spoiled and capricious, as if she’d ordered something at a restaurant and then, once the food arrived, had changed her mind and sent it back.
What is the word for this emotion? It’s not quite regret, because you haven’t done anything yet. It’s not quite disinterest, because, well, you’re at his house, aren’t you? Is it guilt? More importantly, if she feels so uneasy, why is she going ahead with it? Is she just afraid to be rude? Is it out of self-protection? What are we to make of a sexual encounter that is technically consensual, but which Margot still considers to be “the worst life decision” she’s ever made?
In the recent powerful-man purge, and in the rape-on-campus crisis before that, there’s been a reckoning over the true meaning of consent. Some have questioned whether women who get drunk, go to men’s dorms, and even initiate intercourse could later have a genuine claim of sexual assault. Margot was at his house, wasn’t she? To some women, this passage in the story underscored the importance of the “enthusiastic” part of the new “enthusiastic consent” standard.
tl;dr: We need sex education that focuses on pleasure, not just on risk. We need to create a culture of enthusiastic consent. And we need to talk about all of the nuances of consent in order to fix our broken culture. — ella dawson (ft. olivia newton-john) (@brosandprose) December 9, 2017
Treisman said she hopes the piece might make people, “stop and consider what’s driving them in any given encounter of a romantic kind... I think the fact that it’s generated this conversation has been a healthy thing.”WASHINGTON - A descendant of the Toomer's Corner oak trees will be planted on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol Friday morning, the idea of a Florida congressman who is a 1981 Auburn University alum.
U.S. Rep. Dennis Ross, R-Fla., started the process of getting permission to plant the tree well before the original oaks were poisoned, but the attack gave the idea even more merit, he said.
"That just made it more important that we get it done," Ross said Friday.
The architect of the U.S. Capitol, plus House and Senate leaders, had to approve the tree's addition to the Capitol grounds.
Although the oaks have become famous for their sports-related celebrations, he said it's Auburn's contributions as a land grant college he wants to honor.
"It symbolizes the heritage that land grant institutions provide this country," Ross said.
Ross, the youngest of five children growing up in Florida, started his freshman year at the University of Florida but wanted something different, so he hitchhiked to Auburn, "fell in love with the campus," and finished with a business degree.
He planted a Toomer's oak in his Florida front yard in 2005 and heard about the one planted at the Alabama Capitol in Montgomery a couple of years ago, so he started thinking about doing the same in Washington D.C.
The tree planting was postponed by the tornadoes, and it has been sitting in the office of the capitol architect for the last few days. He said it's about four-feet-tall and will eventually be marked with a sign or plaque so tourists can identify it as they stroll by. It will be near the intersection of First Street SE and Independence Avenue SE, on the House side of the Capitol.
"It's a small little tree with lots of room to grow," Ross said.How hard is it for a restaurant or bar to accept Bitcoin?
Many brick and mortar small businesses seem to think that accepting Bitcoin is too complicated and not in their best interest. This happens due to misconceptions about Bitcoin and money, as well as previous experiences with POS systems and the cost of NFC equipment. As I have written about in my previous post (https://bitbybitbybitcoin.wordpress.com/2013/10/11/why-your-small-business-should-accept-bitcoin-paypal-vs-google-wallet-vs-coinbase-vs-bitpay/), accepting Bitcoin by signing up with an existing Bitcoin payment processor has significantly lower per transaction and monthly fees and restrictions than if you were to use Paypal or an equivalent service. Furthermore, businesses can choose how much exposure they would like to have to fluctuations in the Bitcoin exchange rate, and a vast majority take their Bitcoin earnings in their native currency at the end of each day via bank deposits courtesy of Coinbase and Bitpay. While the benefits of a larger consumer base and elimination of overseas internet credit card fraud are more pronounced with businesses with online facing storefronts, accepting Bitcoin at a brick and mortar business such as a restaurant or a bar has little to no setup costs and will increase your revenue and hence your profits by attracting new Bitcoiners eager to spend their money in real life.
Both Coinbase and Bitpay have apps for both the Android and IOS platforms as well as tools on their website that make accepting Bitcoin at any brick and mortar business, especially a restaurant or a bar, very very simple. All that is required is an internet connection and an existing internet enabled device [tablet, desktop, laptop], or a smartphone with 3G or 4G data. Around the world, these are fast becoming staple items in any business’s arsenal.
Even if the business does not have a reliable internet connection and none of the regular employees have smartphones that can the provided applications, Coinbase’s Charles Lee has created an SMS interface to interact with Coinbase that negates the necessity for even a smartphone or internet connection to accept bitcoins. After setting up an account with Coinbase, a bartender could simply text ‘req [email protected] $20’ to 1 (650) 316-5555 and a request for $20 worth of bitcoins at the current Coinbase rate will be received by the customer. The customer may complete the transaction via SMS as well or any method he or she may choose.
Accepting Bitcoin at your restaurant or bar through a Bitcoin payment processor is the ideal method for streamlining the process by eliminating confirmation time waits and allowing the merchant the option to receive the payment in their native currency, all with significantly lower per transaction fees.
PS: It would not be unreasonable for brick and mortar businesses to require that bitcoins spent at their location come from an established Coinbase wallet if they use Coinbase as their payment processor. The benefits of this arrangement go to both the business and the customer: Neither have to wait for transaction confirmations and neither have to pay a transaction fee to the miners: this is an example of an off-the-chain transaction that relies on a trusted third party.
If your restaurant or bar would like any help accepting Bitcoin, feel free to email me at [email protected]
Don’t forget to buy your ‘BITCOIN ACCEPTED HERE’ stickers: http://www.btcgear.com/bitcoin-sticker-bitcoin-accepted-here
AdvertisementsAs the 2017 season gets started in earnest tonight with Ohio State traveling to Indiana (8 p.m. ET, ESPN), it's time to break out the crystal ball and predict the College Football Playoff field and eventual champion. It's no surprise that Alabama and Ohio State dominate these lists, but some picks are sure to surprise (hello, Stanford!)
ESPN EXPERTS' PLAYOFF PREDICTIONS Name Champion Playoff Playoff Playoff Kirk Herbstreit Lee Corso Desmond Howard Rece Davis Booger McFarland Todd McShay Chip Kelly Greg McElroy Ivan Maisel Adam Rittenberg Myron Medcalf Mark Schlabach Joel Anderson Ryan McGee Heather Dinich Tommy Tuberville Dari Nowkhah Kevin Negandhi Rod Gilmore Jen Lada Adnan Virk Andre Ware Joe Tessitore Brad Edwards Edward Aschoff Alex Scarborough Beth Mowins Tom Luginbill Jordan Rodgers Chris Low Jake Trotter Andrea Adelson Sam Khan Jr. Dan Murphy David Hale Mitch Sherman Kyle Bonagura Tom VanHaarenThe Fight Over Drones, As Seen From A Drone
NPR YouTube
There are entrepreneurs who would love to fly drones all over the country. They dream of drones taking photos for real estate agents and helping farmers survey their fields. But there's a battle in the courts right now standing in their way. The battle is about whether it's legal for drones to take to the sky.
The question at the core of the battle: Who owns the air? We explored this question in a recent story and in the video above.
Right now the Federal Aviation Administration says it is illegal in the United States to operate a drone for commercial purposes, but the agency is considering exemptions for certain kinds of industries like film and agriculture.
Here are five things you should know about the current drone debate:
I'm a hobbyist. When am I breaking the law?
Breaking the law is probably the wrong way to put it. Back in 1981, the Federal Aviation Administration issued voluntary guidelines for hobbyists flying model airplanes (which, as it happens, are pretty similar to those things we now call drones). Basically, regulators asked hobbyists just not to fly near airports and to fly below 400 feet.
What else besides making videos and taking images can these drones be used for?
Skynet-like surveillance notwithstanding, you could sort of think of a drone as a cellphone or a little computer with wings. It could be equipped with any kind of sensors that monitor air quality or emit a Wi-Fi signal. Both Facebook and Google are investigating ways to use solar powered drones to supply cheap Wi-Fi connections all over the world.
There's a small startup in Silicon Valley called Matternet. It is exploring ways a network of drones could be used to help connect people in disparate parts of the world. It hopes drones could help alleviate poverty for close to 1 billion people who are cut off at least part of the year because the roads where they live are impassable. It has also experimented with using drones to deliver medical supplies to places affected by disasters.
What is going to happen when these drones are everywhere? If I see one out of my window, what can I do?
When it comes to drones and your privacy rights, the only laws on the books are being written by state legislatures, and so far the results have been all over the map. Though grabbing your shotgun and shooting a drone out of the air is still likely to get you in some trouble.
Do drones pollute the air? Are they dangerous?
Most drones run on batteries, so there's no direct air pollution. Interestingly, many environmental groups would like to use drones with sensors to monitor air pollution around facilities such as smokestacks. Some have argued that this could be a cheap way to enforce environmental laws that often go unenforced.
Can a drone be dangerous? Sure. A little drone could be as dangerous as any other 5-pound object dropped from 400 feet in the air. With more drones in the air, that's a greater possibility. And if a drone hits a plane, it could be very, very bad.
Is anyone talking about a legal age limit for drone owners? Or a drone license?
The FAA has been talking a lot about drone licenses. It has opened a series of test sites around the country. Those sites may ultimately end up certifying the airworthiness of drones and those who fly them.In Tim Hudson's major league debut, Tony Phillips was his second baseman, Olmedo Saenz played third base and Tim Raines played left field. Hudson doesn't seem like he's that old, but that was back in 1999 in a game at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, which means he has been doing this baseball thing for a bit of time now.
Hudson pitched five innings and struck out 11 Padres, leaving with a no-decision.
"He's got outstanding stuff," Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane said after that game. "He needs to learn the league, learn pitch selection and get better with experience. He's an athlete and has the opportunity to be an outstanding pitcher in this league for a long time."
Beane was right about that one.
He also went 1-for-1 at the plate with a walk. The man always could hit. He earned his first win five days later over the Los Angeles Dodgers, earning a beer shower from his teammates. "Who knows where Hudson goes from here? For now, he's a show worth seeing, a slender right-hander who can throw three pitches for strikes," wrote Gary Peterson in the Contra Costa Times.
Tim Hudson not only had a homer to celebrate against Washington, but his 200th career victory, too. AP Photo/John Bazemore
Fourteen years later, Hudson is still going strong -- strong enough that there's an outside shot he's heading to the Hall of Fame. As Beane said on that June night so many years ago, Hudson is an athlete. He was a star two-way player at Auburn and that athleticism has helped him adapt through the years as his stuff has changed and his velocity has dropped. It has helped him to recover quickly from Tommy John surgery in 2008. It has helped to overcome his status as a short right-hander (he's listed at 6-foot-1, but that article written after his first start said he was 5-11, which he may reach in his spikes). It has helped him to remain a solid, underrated starter at the age of 37, a key reason for Atlanta's success in recent seasons.
Hudson beat the Nationals 8-1 on Tuesday night to earn his 200th career win and did so in style, taking a no-hitter into the fifth while pitching seven brilliant innings, doubling off the wall in left-center to start a two-run rally in the second and then hitting on opposite-field home run off Zach Duke -- and off Bryce Harper's glove -- in the fifth inning for his third career homer. That's a night worthy of another beer shower.
"It was a fun game," Hudson said. "Obviously, it's kind of surreal. No one expects to hit a home run."
For the Braves, it was their fifth victory in five games against the Nationals. For Hudson, it was one of the defining moments of his career, as he became the third active pitcher to reach 200 wins (joining Andy Pettitte and Roy Halladay) and the 110th pitcher reach 200.
As for that Hall of Fame thing, we can start here, with the highest winning percentages since 1901 for pitchers with 200 wins:
1. Whitey Ford (236-106,.690)
2. Pedro Martinez (219-100,.687)
3. Lefty Grove (300-141,.680)
4. Christy Mathewson (373-188,.665)
5. Roy Halladay (201-103,.661)
6. Roger Clemens (354-184,.658)
7. TIM HUDSON (200-105,.656)
8. Mordecai Brown (239-130,.648)
9. Randy Johnson (303-166,.646)
10. Pete Alexander (373-208,.642)
The next three guys are Mike Mussina, Jim Palmer and Andy Pettitte. OK, this is all pretty impressive company, and while winning percentage is obviously team-dependent to a certain extent and Hudson has played on two successful franchises in Oakland and Atlanta, it's certainly not insignificant. It's at least a starting point to put Hudson in a Hall of Fame discussion if he continues pitching well for another three or four years and gets into the 240-win range.
His career ERA of 3.43 may not blow you away, but remember that he pitched much of his career in the middle of the high-octane PED-era. His park- and league-adjusted ERA+ of 125 is tied with Palmer and John Smoltz at 20th among the 89 pitchers since 1901 to win 200 games. That's a better adjusted ERA than Juan Marichal, Bob Feller, Don Drysdale, Warren Spahn, Bert Blyleven, Tom Glavine, Gaylord Perry and Steve Carlton, to name a few big names.
The point: The guy can pitch. Sure, the ERA will eventually rise a few ticks and the winning percentage will likely drop a few points as he ages. Some would argue that Hudson has never been the best pitcher in his league, which is a fair statement. But a lot of Hall of Fame pitchers were never the best in their league and Hudson has been one of the best -- seven times in the top 10 in ERA, seven times in the top 10 in WAR (with a best of 7.5 in 2003, ranking third among AL pitchers), seven times in wins and six times in innings. His career WAR of 54.4 is 77th all-time.
He's not there yet, which is OK. That means hopefully we'll get to continue watching the guy with the great sinker for a few more years. Have a beer with your shower, Tim.The case has captured the attention of many in Brampton’s huge Punjabi-Canadian community as details have been revealed of how Mandeep Punia killed Poonam Litt, how family members allegedly dumped her body and concealed their crimes for three years.
A 39-year-old Brampton woman who stabbed her pregnant sister-in-law in the neck as the victim held her 2-year-old daughter, and then watched the woman bleed to death, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison.
In the sisters’ victim-impact statement, included in Ontario Superior Court Justice Steve Coroza’s sentencing decision, they spoke of the family’s pain over their loss.
“Go to hell,” a woman screamed at Punia as she exited the courtroom. She was later identified to the Star as one of Litt’s sisters.
For years, his own family, including his sister, as well as his father, Kulwant Litt, who allegedly helped dispose of the body, maintained they did not know what happened to Litt, according to Coroza’s August 4 sentencing decision. According to the decision, they told Manjinder Litt and police they never saw her after she left for workthe morning after she was stabbed.
The impact of Litt’s death and three-year disappearance led to her husband Manjinder Litt’s heroin addiction, according to the judge’s ruling. Manjinder was in India at a family wedding when his wife was killed by his sister.
That’s when a corner of the courtroom erupted. “You murdered two people,” another woman yelled at Punia following her outburst at the judge. Punia, as she left the courtroom, yelled behind her, “Judge didn’t know everything.”
Punia also lashed out in court, yelling at Coroza after hearing her sentence: “If anything happens to my children, who will be responsible?”
“Those three years, we were not sure to mourn for her or to wait for her to come home... mom would barely speak... her eyesight worsened and her health did as well due to stress, depression and the heartache she was feeling from the emptiness of losing her daughter.”
Coroza pointed out that Punia’s husband, Skinder Punia, was found guilty of being an accessory to manslaughter for helping dispose of Litt’s body. He has been sentenced to seven years in prison, less credit for time already served awaiting trial.
The Crown had sought a sentence of 12 to 14 years, after Mandeep Punia was found guilty of manslaughter in April. Coroza said the 2009 stabbing was a “one off” situation and that he did not believe there was an “intention” to kill, but he did |
Medicaid. And that will be coming out tomorrow. But based on what I’ve seen, given the inflation rate that would be applied in the outer years to the Medicaid program, the Senate bill is going to have more impact on the Medicaid program than even the House bill.
STEPHANOPOULOS: So that means, if that’s true, and that is confirmed by the Congressional Budget Office, you’re a ‘no’?
COLLINS: I want to wait to see the CBO analysis, but I have very serious concerns about the bill.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office analysis of the House bill concluded that the $800 billion in cuts would end access to the vital program for 14 million vulnerable Americans.
Conway, as she has always done in service to Trump and party, refused to admit the reality of the proposed Republican cuts.
But this time her distortion was immediately debunked and denied, not just by the press, but also by a prominent member of her own party.
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSaveFrom horrifying foot-binding practices in Imperial China to life-threatening surgeries in modernity, humanity has been finding harmful ways to modify the body since the dawn of civilization. The Victorians were no exception to this.
The Victorian era, roughly the 1830s to 1900, is notorious for its bizarre notions of beauty, and its even more bizarre secrets to attaining it. The ideal of the time was modeled after those afflicted by consumption (tuberculosis). Pale skin, dilated eyes, rosy cheeks, crimson lips, and a meagre and fragile figure. From swallowing ammonia to bathing in arsenic—which they knew to be poisonous— to using figure-molding corsets in a never-ending quest for the “perfect” 16-inch waist, there was no limit to what fashionable Victorians would do.
An illustration of what Victorian doctors believed to be the consequence of tight-fitting corsets. Public domain.
Most of these practices have, thankfully, gone out of style. We no longer swallow ingredients present in rat poison, and corsets no longer disfigure women’s internal organs. There is one gruesome dietary idea, however, that has managed to survive—the tapeworm diet.
The idea is simple, and gross. You take a pill containing a tapeworm egg. Once hatched, the parasite grows inside of the host, ingesting part of whatever the host eats. In theory, this enables the dieter to simultaneously lose weight and eat without worrying about calorie intake.
Both ideas fit nicely into Victorian ideals, as illustrated by The Ugly-Girl Papers by S.D Powers, one of the most popular beauty guides of the era. First and foremost, the guide states that “it is a woman’s business to be beautiful.” Beauty takes time and effort and no plain girl could forego the tediousness of beauty regimes if she wanted to find a husband. One can therefore conclude that Victorians were very much willing to make sacrifices to attain ideal beauty.
But the guide also recommends that women find a “healthy” balance in the pursuit of beauty. When it comes to maintaining the figure or losing weight, the author claims:
“If stout, [a girl] should eat as little as will satisfy her appetite; never allowing herself, however, to rise from the table hungry.”
The tapeworm diet may thus have been the perfect solution. Allegedly, a woman would never rise hungry from the table, yet she would continue losing weight. All concerns for health and discomfort could be dismissed with the claim that beauty is pain, and sacrifices must be made.
Luring a tapeworm out with a bowl of liquid has been a common technique in different cultures. Daizennosuke Koan (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)/Public Domain.
And sacrifices were most certainly made once the desired weight was achieved. To get rid of the now-unnecessary parasite, dieters would employ the same methods as those unwillingly afflicted by the worms. In Victorian England, this included pills or special devices. One such invention, created by Dr. Meyers of Sheffield, attempted to lure the tapeworm by inserting a cylinder with food via the digestive tract. It comes as no surprise that many patients choked to death before the tapeworm was successfully removed. Other folk cures prescribed holding a glass of milk at the end of either orifice and waiting for the tapeworm to come out. Whether this actually holds any validity remains an issue of debate, as we have yet to prove that parasites have a preference for bovine lactose.
What’s scariest about this diet is not that it may have been used by the same people who willingly ingested carbon, but that its idea continues to be around. Like air pollution and zombie films, it simply refuses to die. Its presence is evidenced by the numerous online forums dedicated to the question of the diet’s efficiency, and the (fairly dubious) reports of Mexican clinics that will give you the treatment for a couple thousand dollars.
With both Victorian and modern dieters, the actual popularity of this radical diet is murky. Historians disagree on whether people actually ingested tapeworm pills, or whether the advertised products were simply placebos meant to dupe desperate people. Likewise, reports on Mexican tapeworm clinics are hard to believe, as are most of the testimonies of its advocates. Moreover, rumors of stars like Maria Callas losing weight with the diet have often turned out to be simple manipulation of facts. It seems, then, that at no point of its history has the tapeworm diet been an actual fad.
Nobody wants this in their system. Mogana Das Murtey and Patchamuthu Ramasamy/CC BY-SA 3.0
This doesn’t negate, however, that there are people willing to try it. If the “tapeworm pills” of the Victorian era were indeed a farce, it does not change the fact that people bought and swallowed them in the hopes that a gigantic worm would live in their digestive system. Likewise, a simple Google search on the diet will pull up dozens of diet blogs that cover the topic. The comments sections will take you on a sadly humorous trip full of obvious scams and willing participants asking for more information.
Even reality TV star Khloe Kardashian suggested that she wanted to get a tapeworm on Keeping Up With the Kardashians. The statement evoked an article from Vice on the legitimacy and dangers of the diet. Claiming concern for public health, the FDA has officially banned tapeworm pills. Unrealistic expectations of female beauty, it seems, retain its parasitic grip on pop culture.
Update, 10/27: An earlier version of this story incorrectly cited charcoal consumption as a sketchy Victorian trend. It is not. We regret the error.The Post Sports Live crew debates whether the Nationals should make a move to add a missing piece or stand pat before the July 31 trade deadline. (Post Sports Live/The Washington Post)
The Post Sports Live crew debates whether the Nationals should make a move to add a missing piece or stand pat before the July 31 trade deadline. (Post Sports Live/The Washington Post)
If a bat doesn’t feel right to Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper, he’ll toss it right away. Harper can just tell it’s all wrong.
He likes ash wood bats in the winter. Maple wood bats are for the summer. Maples are harder, and that feels right.
Harper, like most baseball players, relies on instinct rather than science when it comes to his preference in the wood used to make his bats. He’s picky because a bat is more than just a piece of wood; it’s an extension of the hitter, moving when he does in hopes of launching a ball somewhere someone can’t get to it.
When it comes to wood preference for their bats, players know what they like and don’t like. Some swear by one type of wood. Others use multiple kinds. Their explanations for why maple is better than ash, or yellow birch is better than maple, or whatever their preferences, are rooted in perception, researchers said. In the case of wood, perception isn’t reality.
Perception
When catcher Jose Lobaton was in Class AAA, someone told him he should use a yellow birch bat because it hardens with each impact. After Lobaton joined the Nationals, fellow catchers Wilson Ramos and Sandy Leon convinced Lobaton to try a maple bat.
When the Nationals signed Jayson Werth for seven years and a $126 million in 2010, the move was largely criticized. The Post Sports Live crew reassesses the outfielder's huge contract and whether the move was worth it. (Post Sports Live/The Washington Post)
“I use both now,” Lobaton said. “Sometimes I’ll pick up a birch, then get a base hit. At the next at-bat, I’ll use the same one. And if I don’t get a base hit, then I’ll use the other one.”
Maple is the wood of choice for the Nationals. Last season, about 70 percent of Major League Baseball players used maple bats, with 25 percent using ash and 5 percent yellow birch, according to MLB Players Association spokesman Greg Bouris.
Fifteen years ago, nearly everyone used ash.
“I think originally when maple came out, guys tried it because it was something new,” first baseman Adam LaRoche said. “Ash was all we’d ever had. Then maple came out and the thought was that it was a lot harder. Ash has the little grains through the middle of it, and over time, those kind of bury into the wood and make the ash harder, but it takes a while of hitting balls on that spot. Maple was just hard right out of the box, and there wasn’t really a breaking-in process.”
Several Nationals said their preference was maple because it’s the harder wood. Nationals hitting coach Rick Schu said that’s why the ball will go farther off a maple bat. Yellow birch is rising in popularity because it’s also a hard wood.
Ash is softer and tends to flake after repeated use, so players prefer maple’s durability. Maple breaks less often than ash, but it also breaks more violently, prompting MLB to add regulations for the slope of grain in maple bats.
Some players, like Harper and shortstop Ian Desmond, are so careful with their bats that they keep them in a temperature-controlled humidor, a practice popularized by the Yankees’ Ichiro Suzuki.
1 of 30 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × 2014 MLB All-Star Game View Photos The Yankees’ Derek Jeter, playing in his final All-Star Game, is saluted during the American League’s 5-3 victory. Caption The Yankees’ Derek Jeter, playing in his final All-Star Game, is saluted during the American League’s 5-3 victory. Nelson Cruz of the Baltimore Orioles takes a selfie with fellow American League all-stars Ian Kinsler, center, of the Detroit Tigers and Erick Aybar of the Los Angeles Angels during batting practice before the MLB All-Star Game in Minneapolis Jim Mone/AP Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue.
“There are a lot of guys that can just look at the bat — they can roll it on the ground and put it through their little test to tell if it’s good wood,” outfielder Denard Span said. “I’m not that good with bats. I have a model that I like, and I just get that.”
Reality
Schu was playing Class AAA ball in Ottawa when he first encountered a maple bat. Players tried the bats out in batting practice, and Schu found them too heavy.
Sam Holman, the founder of the maple bat company Sam Bat, was the first to introduce maple bats to professional baseball. He eventually patterned his maple bats to be lighter with smaller barrels. Then former Giants star Barry Bonds started using a Sam Bat and maple’s popularity exploded.
After Bonds used a maple bat to break the single-season record for home runs in 2001, the perception that the harder surface made the ball go farther after impact was difficult to break.
“If Barry Bonds had not been swinging maple when he broke that record, I don’t think anybody would even be talking about maple right now,” said Lloyd V. Smith, a professor at Washington State’s School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering. “There is no magic about maple hitting the ball further. We’ve tested all kinds of wood bats — bamboo bats, beechwood, ash and maple — and wood is wood when it comes to hitting performance.”
Schu’s initial hesitation with maple was right: It’s a denser wood than ash. Even though maple bats can be ordered in lighter weights, they’ll still be heavier than their ash bat equivalents. Smith said a heavier bat increases the hit-ball speed, but it also slows the swing speed, which results in a lower ball speed.
The competition between the two factors leads to virtually no difference between woods. Certain weights and profiles of a bat suit some hitters better than others.
Smith used iconic slugger Babe Ruth as an example. Ruth’s bat was extraordinarily heavy — 40 ounces, Smith estimated — and because Ruth had the strength to control the bat, he had success with it.
“If you’re big and strong and you’re going for the long ball, then you want to get the heaviest bat you possibly can,” Smith said. “On the other hand, if you’re not putting it over the fence because you’re not that kind of hitter, then what you’re trying to do is placement and getting the ball in the hole, and then you don’t want a heavy bat. You want to be getting as light a bat as you can because then at that light weight, you’ll be able to control it better.”
Aggressive drying techniques are often used on maple bats to rid them of any moisture that would make them heavier. A biography of former Red Sox outfielder Ted Williams said he used to put his bats in an industrial clothes dryer in an effort to dry them out. But drying can make maple bats more brittle and leads to breaks.
Smith and physicist Alan Nathan said ash wood is a better choice on average, but both agreed that the type of wood does not affect how the ball comes off the bat. It only affects perception.
“It’s kind of a confidence thing,” Schu said. “Anything that’s going to give you a little bit of an edge mentally, if you think it’s going to help you, then it works.”CLOSE SportsPulse: USA TODAY Sports' Paul Myerberg identifies the players to have on your radar this bowl season. USA TODAY Sports
Stanford running back Bryce Love carries the ball during the second half against Washington. (Photo: John Hefti, USA TODAY Sports)
The three Heisman Trophy finalists pace the USA TODAY Sports 2017 All-America teams for 2017, which includes a heavy dose of the Big Ten Conference and several representatives from the four teams set for the College Football Playoff.
Led by quarterback Baker Mayfield, the Oklahoma offense had three players earn first-team honors. The defense had a Big Ten flavor with the conference earning five first-team selections, including both cornerbacks.
Several players from the Group of Five ranks earned All-America honors. San Diego State running back Rashaad Penny was a first-team pick, and Northern Illinois’ Sutton Smith and Houston’s Ed Oliver made the first-team defensive line.
FIRST TEAM
OFFENSE
QB: Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma
The Heisman Trophy winner and unquestioned first-team pick put together a second season in a row that ranks among the best by a quarterback in Football Bowl Subdivision history.
RB: Bryce Love, Stanford
Stanford’s big-play star may have slowed down a bit in the second half, but Love’s 1,973 yards and 17 scores on 8.3 yards per carry make him a no-brainer pick.
MORE: 10 leading candidates to win Heisman in 2018
MORE: Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield wins 2017 Heisman Trophy
MORE: Classic rivalry takes a turn: Now Navy is down, looking up at Army
RB: Rashaad Penny, San Diego State
The nation’s rushing leader at 2,027 yards, Penny closed the regular season with four games in a row of 200 or more yards.
WR: James Washington, Oklahoma State
Washington topped the FBS during the regular season with 1,423 receiving yards and averaged 20.2 yards per catch as the Cowboys’ explosive downfield threat.
WR: Anthony Miller, Memphis
The former walk-on had another fantastic year as a senior, ranking second nationally with 17 touchdown grabs for a Memphis team that spent much of the regular season with a national ranking.
TE: Mark Andrews, Oklahoma
Andrews has been one of the nation’s most productive tight ends (58 receptions for 906 yards) and a matchup nightmare for defenses.
OL: Orlando Brown, Oklahoma
The third member of Oklahoma’s offense to earn first-team accolades, Brown was outstanding from his spot on Mayfield’s blind side.
OL: Will Hernandez, UTEP
Hernandez put together another dominant season along the interior of the offensive line while toiling in relative obscurity for the lone winless team in the country.
OL: Billy Price, Ohio State
Price won the Rimington Trophy as the nation’s best center to put a nice bow on one of the top careers by an offensive lineman in Ohio State’s history.
OL: Quenton Nelson, Notre Dame
The Irish will round out the offense with two starting linemen, with Nelson once again putting together an underrated yet praiseworthy season at guard.
OL: Mike McGlinchey, Notre Dame
McGlinchey was great all around but at his best on the ground, where he set the tone and cleared the path for Notre Dame’s vastly improved running game.
DEFENSE
DL: Bradley Chubb, North Carolina State
Chubb more than lived up to preseason expectations and justified his decision to return for his senior season in leading the Atlantic Coast Conference in sacks and tackles for loss.
DL: Maurice Hurst, Michigan
The numbers may not pop — though he did notch 13.5 tackles for loss — but Hurst’s impact on another elite Michigan defense went far beyond the box score.
DL: Ed Oliver, Houston
Unstoppable and often simply impossible for any single offensive lineman to handle, Oliver was even better than during his breakout true freshman campaign.
DL: Sutton Smith, Northern Illinois
Other linemen and defenders earned far more national praise and attention, but Smith paced the entire FBS with 28.5 tackles for loss and 14 sacks.
LB: Josey Jewell, Iowa
Once a two-star recruit with no FBS offers other than Iowa, Jewell led the Big Ten in tackles and two interceptions and 4.5 sacks.
LB: Roquan Smith, Georgia
Smith serves as the backbone of Georgia’s defense and stands as one of the main reasons why the Bulldogs were able to win the Southeastern Conference and reach the Rose Bowl.
LB: T.J. Edwards, Wisconsin
After injuries decimated Wisconsin’s linebacker corps, Edwards stepped up with 75 tackles, 11 tackles for loss and four interceptions to get the Badgers within one win of the Playoff.
CB: Denzel Ward, Ohio State
The Buckeyes’ latest All-America defensive back, Ward often negated the opposition’s top target and showed a nose for the football with 15 pass breakups.
CB: Joshua Jackson, Iowa
Jackson led the FBS with seven interceptions, three coming in the Hawkeyes’ win against Ohio State, and returned two for touchdowns.
S: Derwin James, Florida State
After missing almost all of last season due to injury, James rebounded to again stand among the top safeties and defenders in college football.
S: Minkah Fitzpatrick, Alabama
From defending the pass, doing the dirty work against the run and even getting after the quarterback, Fitzpatrick compiled one of the most complete seasons of any player in the country.
SPECIALISTS
K: Matt Gay, Utah
Gay made an FBS-best 27 field goals and connected on five of his six attempts of 50 or more yards.
P: Michael Dickson, Texas
Coaches in the Big 12 Conference call Dickson not just the best punter in college football this year but one of the best at his position in recent history.
RET: Dante Pettis, Washington
Pettis returned four punts for touchdowns to give him nine such scores in his career, a new NCAA record.
CLOSE SportsPulse: USA TODAY Sports' college football reporter Paul Myerberg breaks down the upcoming playoff. USA TODAY Sports
SECOND TEAM
OFFENSE
QB: Lamar Jackson, Louisville
RB: Saquon Barkley, Penn State
RB: Jonathan Taylor, Wisconsin
WR: Michael Gallup, Colorado State
WR: Steve Ishmael, Syracuse
TE: Adam Brenneman, Massachusetts
OL: Mitch Hyatt, Clemson
OL: Cody O’Connell, Washington State
OL: Frank Ragnow, Arkansas
OL: Braden Smith, Auburn
OL: Tyrell Crosby, Oregon
DEFENSE
DL: Nick Bosa, Ohio State
DL: Vita Vea, Washington
DL: Hercules Mata'afa, Washington State
DL: Clelin Ferrell, Clemson
LB: Micah Kiser, Virginia
LB: Tremaine Edmunds, Virginia Tech
LB: Devin White, LSU
CB: Isaiah Oliver, Colorado
CB: Darious Williams, Alabama-Birmingham
S: Quin Blanding, Virginia
S: DeShon Elliott, Texas
SPECIALISTS
K: Daniel Carlson, Auburn
P: Johnny Townsend, Florida
RET: Tony Pollard, MemphisFrance's best-known 20th century architect, Le Corbusier, was a "militant fascist" who was far more anti-Semitic and a fan of Hitler than previously thought, two new books reveal.
The unsettling disclosures about the links of one of the world's most famous modern architects to France's wartime collaborationist Vichy regime have been released just ahead of a major Paris exhibition of his work.
It has long been known that Le Corbusier, famed for his revolutionary concrete creations, including a housing project in Marseille called La Cité Radieuse, had some ties to France's collaborationist regime under Field Marshal Philippe Pétain.
But the latest, far more damning, revelations have shocked admirers and threaten to cast a shadow over commemorations of the 50th anniversary of his death.
Paris's Pompidou Centre, which is to open a three-month long exhibition dedicated to Le Corbusier on April 29th, faces allegations of totally failing to mention the controversy.
Xavier de Jarcy, a journalist who wrote about the find in his book "Le Corbusier, un fascisme francais" (Le Corbusier, a French fascism), told AFP: "I discovered he was simply an outright fascist."
The architect "was active during 20 years in groups with a very clear ideology" but that "has been kept hidden", confirmed another author, Francois Chaslin, who published Un Corbusier.
Born in Switzerland in 1887 as Charles-Edouard Jeanneret-Gris, the architect moved to Paris at 20 and in 1920 adopted his nickname Le Corbusier from an ancestor. Ten years later he took French citizenship.
Known as one of the main pioneers of the modern movement in architecture, he influenced France's post-war planning policy for decades with his ideas of functional apartment blocks with parks. The policy ended in 1973 over claims these were soul-destroying and led to urban ghettoisation.
Paris only narrowly avoided seeing its historical centre wiped off the map in favour of one his 1925 "plans".
The new books show Le Corbusier embraced fascism in Paris in the 1920s, and was close to Pierre Winter, a doctor who headed France's Revolutionary Fascist Party.
Together they created Plans, an urban planning journal, followed by another called Prelude.
Mr Jarcy said that in "Plans" Le Corbusier wrote in support of Nazi anti-Semitism and in "Prelude" co-wrote "hateful editorials".
In August 1940, the architect wrote to his mother that "money, Jews (partly responsible), Freemasonry, all will feel just law". In October that year, he added: "Hitler can crown his life with a great work: the planned layout of Europe."
Mr Chaslin said he had unearthed "anti-Semite sketches" by Le Corbusier, and ascertained that the French architect had spent 18 months in Vichy, where the Nazis ran a French puppet government, where he kept an office.
The Le Corbusier Foundation, which works to promote the architect's memory and works, barely touches on this side of his life, relegating his Vichy role to an "extended stay" in the town.
One of the foundation's experts, Jean-Louis Cohen, said he was "shocked by this controversy", saying it was "manipulative", but conceding that the research was thorough.
The organisers of The Measures of Man, the Pompidou Centre exhibition on Le Corbusier, said they had glossed over the fascism controversy because their display "doesn't address the entire work" of the architect, but that a previous 1987 exhibition had done so.
However, Serge Klarsfeld, a famous French Nazi-hunter, dismissed such arguments as insufficient.
"All the aspects of Le Corbusier's personality" should be included in the Pompidou Centre exhibition, Mr Klarsfeld told AFP.
Mr Chaslin said the current controversy corresponded to what psychoanalysts call "le retour du refoulé" (the resurfacing of suppressed memories), saying: "When you hide something too much, one day it explodes."Cast your information net beyond these shores, however, and you will soon discover that Abbott is swimming against a mighty strong international tide. For, almost every country with a resource base, rich and poor, has begun tightening the screws after witnessing in the past decade one of the greatest wealth transfers in history - away from the citizens who owned the minerals and towards the companies exploiting those resources. It is a global trend that will make it increasingly tougher for the big<!-- orginalstoryid:33674169 continue pg 7-->resource houses to maintain their earnings growth, regardless of whether commodity prices continue to surge as they have done since the turn of the century. More on that later. First up, let us put a couple of the tax issues into perspective. The new mineral resource tax does not apply to all minerals. It applies only to iron ore and coal. Gold, copper, nickel and uranium miners all are off the hook. And at 30 per cent, it sits well below the 40 per cent petroleum resources rent tax introduced by the Hawke government in 1986. It is worth noting the petroleum tax has not deterred a single cent of foreign investment, either in exploration or production, in the quarter of a century since it was introduced, so there is no reason to suggest the new mineral tax will either.
Given the diluted minerals tax is much lighter than proposed new tax regimes in Indonesia and across Africa, it is likely to be a big attraction. Add in a sophisticated and independent legal system, an advanced democracy, modern infrastructure and an open policy on foreign investment, and Australia wins hands down as a place to dig for minerals. During the past three years, the rest of the resources world has taken aggressive steps to ensure the one-off windfall gains from the resources boom are not lost forever. Following is a brief summary. When it comes to taxing resource companies, Australia is a soft touch, a virtual tax haven. Not that you will read that anywhere else. More than likely you will continue to be beaten about the head with dire predictions of impending doom and threats of mass defections from our big mining houses. Indonesia: By 2014, miners must process minerals such as iron, nickel and coal into value-added products before export. Last month, the government announced possible export bans to avoid a minerals rush before the new laws come into place. Foreign companies will be forced to gradually reduce stakes in local entities after five years of production. In the sixth to 10th year, foreign ownership in any resource project is limited to 49 per cent.
South Africa: The world's biggest mineral producer is debating a 50 per cent windfall tax on ''super profits'' and a 50 per cent capital gains tax on the sale of mining tenements. Ghana: Africa's second biggest gold producer plans to raise mining taxes from 25 per cent to 35 per cent, with a windfall tax on ''super profits''. Existing 5 per cent royalties on output remain in place. Guinea: The new frontier in iron ore and bauxite demands a 15 per cent stake in all mining projects, with an option to lift it to 35 per cent. Namibia: All new mining and exploration to be state-owned. Zimbabwe: Locals will own 51 per cent of all foreign miners.
Nigeria: Wants all offshore oil contracts renegotiated. Mongolia: Wants a bigger stake in its Oyu Tolgoi project. Add to that list new mining taxes in India, Peru, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chile, Kazakhstan and Zambia, all of which either are on the drawing board or have been introduced in the past three years. China, which is driving the resources boom, has gone one step further. It recently hit the headlines for its attempt to curb supply and inflate the price of its rare earths - minerals used in a variety of applications from aeronautical to industrial uses, and crucial to Japanese manufacturing - by implementing export quotas. Since the boom started in the early part of the new century, the earnings from our big resource houses increased more than tenfold. And in the years before the global financial crisis, the big companies were at a loss as to what to do with this embarrassment of riches.
Resource booms, typically with a life span of about three years, traditionally delivered the big miners just enough cash to survive another decade of lean times. It is for that reason mining companies always traded at a discount to ''normal'' industrial-type companies. But the past decade has changed everything, including the way governments view their non-renewable natural resources. Irrespective of how minerals are perceived, life has changed permanently for resource houses. Size and scale has become even more crucial as they prepare to battle not just each other but governments. Loading A new round of rationalisation is already in the wings as it has become cheaper to snap up existing, and once considered second rate operations, than start from scratch.
The big two, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, will be eyeing off potential takeover targets as they nervously watch the merger of Xstrata and Glencore and the bidding war that is likely to erupt for Anglo American and perhaps even Fortescue.It’s hard for me to imagine what it must be like to be a woman gamer. As a man, after all, my gender is overrepresented in the world of video games. Most game developers are men. On those rare occasions when games offer up compelling, nuanced characters, they’re almost always male. Plus, when I venture into the online gaming world, no one is going to threaten to rape me or call me a slut.
Unfortunately, the opposite is true for female gamers. In short, there’s a pretty stark divide between the experiences of male and female gamers, and that’s why I think Anita Sarkeesian is an important pundit at the moment.
Sarkeesian runs a video blog called Feminist Frequency, and since 2011 she’s published a series of YouTube videos called “Tropes vs. Women.” In them, she examines pop-culture tropes that she sees as perpetuating stale or offensive ideas about women. (The first centered on the “Manic Pixie Dream Girl,” a female archetype that she referred to as “The shining beacon of childlike joy that will rejuvenate our fallen hero” — think Zooey Deschanel in “(500) Days of Summer.”)
Advertisement
In 2012, she launched a Kickstarter campaign to create a new series of videos, this time focusing on portrayals of women in video games, and asked backers for $6,000. This resulted in a campaign of brutal online harassment, including pornographic drawings (such as one of the video game character Mario raping her) and an online game, since taken down, in which players could physically assault her.
Get The Weekender in your inbox: The Globe's top picks for what to see and do each weekend, in Boston and beyond. Sign Up Thank you for signing up! Sign up for more newsletters here
The silver lining was that the abuse brought the problem of misogyny in gaming some much-needed attention, and Sarkeesian’s Kickstarter campaign ended up raising almost $160,000 (which, of course, led to complaints that she’d somehow “scammed” backers into ponying up so much cash).
“The funding gave us the opportunity to go a lot deeper than we had originally planned,” Sarkeesian said in a recent interview, in both the number of videos and their breadth and depth.
So far, she appears to have put the money to good use. The videos, produced in a nightly news style with plenty of clips from the games being discussed, are quite well done and benefit from the high production values her Kickstarter windfall allowed her to pursue. The first two videos focus on the “Damsel in Distress” trope, a common one in gaming (she plans to release videos on 10 tropes in total). Damsels in distress are more objects than people, women “reduced to a state of victimhood” and little else, as she puts it in one of the videos.
When developers embrace this trope, Sarkeesian argues, they “trivialize and exploit female suffering as a way to ratchet up the emotional or sexual stakes for the players.” The classic example is the princess in “Super Mario Bros.,” but Sarkeesian cites dozens of recent games that display the full range of developers’ creativity when it comes to figuring out new ways to torture, assault, and brutalize women characters to provide male protagonists a reason to get up in the morning. To Sarkeesian, this isn’t just lazy writing; it’s “building game narratives on the backs of brutalized female bodies.”
Advertisement
The videos have sparked a predictable bevy of responses on YouTube, as well as what Sarkeesian describes as an “exhausting” barrage of harassment delivered to her daily via e-mail, Facebook, and Twitter — some of it quite explicit.
She thinks the heat directed her way “goes back to gaming culture. There is a deep sense of entitlement coming out of a section of the male gaming community that feels entitled to their games, and they’re threatened by the mere idea of someone even talking critically about [games], especially a woman talking critically.”
Does she ever feel physically endangered? “That’s complicated,” she said. “Sometimes there are certain types of harassment that are very graphic and specific or that are immensely violent or threatening and are tied to concerns about location. Those are very worrying, for obvious reasons.”
What makes Sarkeesian’s videos so strong is that, like any effective debater, she’s deft at anticipating rebuttals. In her videos, she explicitly denies the idea of a one-to-one causal link between what a gamer sees on-screen and how he or she acts in real life. At one point, she allows that “game creators aren’t necessarily all sitting around twirling their nefarious-looking mustaches while consciously trying to figure out how to best misrepresent women as part of some grand conspiracy. Most probably just haven’t given much thought to the underlying messages their games are sending.”
“Cultural influence works in much more subtle and complicated ways,” she says later. But taken in the aggregate, these games do, she argues, have a powerful ability to shape “cultural attitudes and opinions,” an argument she will likely continue to flesh out in future episodes, which will cover tropes like “The Sexy Sidekick” and “Women as Reward.”
Advertisement
We’ve reached a pivotal point with narratives in video games. Developers now have at their disposal all the technical tools they need to tell whatever stories they want to tell, and the more creative among them have begun making truly resonant games that push the emotional frontiers of the medium. Overall, though, especially among mainstream titles, the industry is stuck in something of a rut when it comes to gender, with the same tired tropes resurfacing over and over.
‘There is a deep sense of entitlement coming out of a section of the male gaming community that feels entitled to their games, and they’re threatened by the mere idea of someone even talking critically about [games], especially a woman.’
That’s why Sarkeesian’s work matters. There simply aren’t enough women working at high levels in the gaming world for it to correct course on its own, so only external pressure can improve matters. “As critics and as fans and interested parties, we need to put pressure on the industry... [to say] ‘we expect more from you,’ ” she said.
So what would improvement look like? To Sarkeesian, it’s not that complicated. Developers “need to make these amazing, awesome, AAA titles with a female protagonist,” said Sarkeesian. “And not a highly sexualized female protagonist, but an actual well-rounded, awesome, complex and deep female character.”
Jesse Singal can be reached at [email protected] (Reuters) - The Russian rouble staged an uncertain recovery on Tuesday as traders saw modest foreign-currency sales on the final day of trading before the New Year holidays.
A man uses a cash dispenser to receive roubles in central Moscow, September 2, 2014. REUTERS/Maxim Zmeyev
At 7.30 a.m., the rouble was around 2.6 percent stronger against the dollar at 56.81 rubles per dollar RUBUTSTN=MCX and 2.1 percent firmer against the euro at 69.52 EURRUBTN=MCX.
Within the first hour of trading, the rouble had surged to trade as much as 6 percent higher against the U.S. currency, before sliding back into negative territory and then rising once more.
The Russian currency has swung wildly in recent weeks after the central bank floated it and panic gripped the market, threatening to shatter the economic prosperity on which President Vladimir Putin’s popularity partly rests.
“We think that state companies were ‘explicitly recommended’ to sell foreign currency today so that the rouble ends the year on a beautiful note,” said Vladimir Miklashevsky, a trading desk strategist at Danske Bank.
“Today the authorities will do everything so that the rouble ends below 60 (to the dollar), whatever happens.”
A forex trader at a Russian bank said the central bank was unlikely to have intervened on Tuesday, citing the small volumes that were moving the market.
“Our market is very thin ahead of the New Year’s holidays. With just $700 million in tomorrow trades, the rouble had moved by over 5 percent,” the trader said.
Analysts at Nordea Bank said the early surge was probably driven by forex sales by one of Russia’s state exporters, which were recently ordered to sell part of their overseas revenues to support the rouble.
A Finance Ministry official was unable to immediately say whether the ministry had sold foreign currency left over on its accounts on Tuesday.
The Russian currency |
community events and private engagements, and enjoys providing free and reduced-price training for users who are new to learn Drupal.
Why is this class free?
Providing this class free of charge is one of the many ways we give back to the open source community.Glentoran sign ex-Rangers star Nacho Novo BelfastTelegraph.co.uk Glentoran have confirmed the signing of ex-Rangers legend Nacho Novo. https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/irish-league/glentoran/glentoran-sign-exrangers-star-nacho-novo-34912414.html https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/incoming/article34912466.ece/2aa10/AUTOCROP/h342/NOVOVOVOVO_3_2.jpg
Email
Glentoran have confirmed the signing of ex-Rangers legend Nacho Novo.
The 37-year-old Spaniard is set to be unveiled at The Oval tonight.
With the new Danske Bank Premiership season just 10 days away that will send excitement levels through the roof, particularly among Glenmen.
More: Rangers legend Nacho Novo celebrates the Twelfth in Belfast
Novo won three league titles during a six-year spell at Rangers, as well as appearing in the 2008 Uefa Cup final defeat to Zenit St Petersburg alongside current Northern Ireland captain Steven Davis.
He has played in his native Spain, Poland and England since leaving Ibrox in 2010 and most recently had two seasons in America's second tier with the Carolina Railhawks, who are managed by former Northern Ireland international Colin Clarke.
Nacho said: "I would like to thank the Chairman and Directors of Glentoran FC for giving me this opportunity to play for such a famous club with a long and proud history in East Belfast and beyond.
"I look forward to helping Glentoran FC become successful again and would particularly thank Simon Kitchen (Commercial director) and Bill Peden (football agent) for working so hard to make this move possible. Bless them all!!”
Manager Alan Kernaghan, who was a coach at Rangers during Nacho’s playing career there, said: “Nacho played at Rangers while I was a coach there. I’ve seen him play on many occasions and I have always admired his work ethic and professionalism both on and off the pitch. We need experience and leadership in the changing room and off the pitch and I’m confident Nacho’s obvious enjoyment of being part of the team unit will be crucial in helping us push forward this season and to secure the progress we all want to see.
"In addition to what he brings on the pitch as a player I also believe that Nacho – along with our other more experienced signings this window – will give our younger players the guidance, and encouragement they need and that he will lead by example. He will be based in Northern Ireland and will train with his team mates 3 nights each week.
We hope to be in a position to announce two new signings later today. Watch the OS for confirmation. — Stephen Henderson (@LeJeuAvantTout) July 26, 2016
"This and our other signings demonstrate are a clear sign of intent from this club as we seek all work together to re-establish Glentoran at the upper end of the NIFL Premiership and compete successfully in the cup competitions."
Novo's arrival in the Irish League comes during a summer when three high-profile Northern Ireland internationals have also signed for local clubs.
Roy Carroll joined Linfield after returning from duty with his country at Euro 2016 and he was joined at the Blues last week by Sammy Clingan, who is attempting to rebuild his career after injury.
Paddy McCourt, who spent five seasons on the opposite side of the Old Firm from Novo, has joined Glenavon after deciding to return home to his native Londonderry when his wife was diagnosed with a brain tumour.
Glentoran's statement in full
Glentoran is delighted to announce the signing of Nacho Novo on a one year contract.
Nacho joins the club following a spell Carolina Railhawks in the North American Soccer League. However, he is best known for the 6 phenomenally successful years he spent with Rangers in the SPL.
During his time at Ibrox Nacho made 253 appearances for the Light Blues, scoring 72 goals. Among his most famous goals were the only goal of the game away to Hibs that clinched the Championship on “Helicopter Sunday” 2005, a long range wonder strike to give Rangers a 1 v 0 win over Falkirk in the 2009 Scottish Cup Final at Hampden Park, and perhaps most famously the winning penalty against Fiorentina in Florence to win the UEFA Cup semi final in 2008. He played in the subsequent UEFA Cup Final against Zenit St Petersburg in Manchester
While at Rangers Nacho won 3 Championship winner's medals, a Scottish Cup Winners Cup medal and 3 League Cup winner's medals. In 2014 he received the highest possible personal accolade at Ibrox when Rangers supporters voted him into the Rangers Hall of Fame. He also won a Polish Cup winners medal in 2012 when playing for Legia Warsaw.
Apart from his standout years at Rangers, Nacho has also played in La Liga in his native Spain for Sporting Gijon and Huesca, for Legia Warsaw in Poland, Dundee and Raith Rovers in Scotland, and Carlisle United.
Manager Alan Kernaghan, who was a coach at Rangers during Nacho’s playing career there, said today: “Nacho played at Rangers while I was a coach there. I’ve seen him play on many occasions and I have always admired his work ethic and professionalism both on and off the pitch. We need experience and leadership in the changing room and off the pitch and I’m confident Nacho’s obvious enjoyment of being part of the team unit will be crucial in helping us push forward this season and to secure the progress we all want to see.
"Throughout his career Nacho has always proven to be a player who has thrived on the big occasion and on the expectations associated with playing for a big club. He has consistently excelled and scored goals in high profile games and high pressure situations. That is essential at a club like Glentoran.
"In addition to what he brings on the pitch as a player I also believe that Nacho – along with our other more experienced signings this window – will give our younger players the guidance, and encouragement they need and that he will lead by example. He will be based in Northern Ireland and will train with his team mates 3 nights each week.
"This and our other signings demonstrate are a clear sign of intent from this club as we seek all work together to re-establish Glentoran at the upper end of the NIFL Premiership and compete successfully in the cup competitions.”
Nacho: “I would like to thank the Chairman and Directors of Glentoran FC for giving me this opportunity to play for such a famous club with a long and proud history in East Belfast and beyond. I look forward to helping Glentoran FC become successful again and would particularly thank Simon Kitchen (Commercial director) and Bill Peden (football agent) for working so hard to make this move possible. Bless them all!!”
Chairman Stephen Henderson: “This signing would not have been possible without the most generous financial assistance from key sponsors and supporters. We also owe a debt of gratitude to our Commercial Director, Simon Kitchen for his amazing efforts in successfully securing this funding at such short notice".
Belfast TelegraphThe Turkish Protests the World Ignored
by Tasbeeh Herwees
In December of 2011, a group of 38 young Kurdish men were detected travelling through a smuggling route near the town of Uludere by an American predator drone. Not long after, a Turkish military jet flew over the same spot and dropped a bomb on the caravan. Of the group, 34 were killed. The attack was intended for PKK fighters, but the men — many of them teenage boys — were only civilians attempting to smuggle gasoline from Iraq into Turkey. The massacre was so vicious families looking for their loved ones couldn’t identify the remains. The slaughter signalled complete disregard by the Turkish government for Kurdish life. Erdogan’s response was seen as dismissive and insufficently repentant for the tragedy.
When Kurds took to the streets in Diyarbakir in massive numbers to call for government accountability and a thorough investigation of the matter, police responded with violence. Protesters were attacked with police batons and tear gas, and they vollied back with stones and molotov cocktails. In Istanbul, more than a thousand Kurds flooded Taksim Square in anger, and police dispersed the crowd once more with tear gas and water cannons. In Ankara, Kurdish protesters peacefully carried images of the dead and rallied for an investigation into the incident.
Though these demonstrations of opposition were widespread and the calls by the Kurdish community for government accountability loud and constant, the event barely registered in Turkish media. Newspapers barely covered the attack. The news item only began making traction in Western media when the U.S.’s role in the massacre was revealed, and even then it was periphery news, a minor aside in bigger news on American-Turkish relations.
But these protests were larger in size and scope than the initial Gezi Park protests that have now enraptured the world. News analysts and journalists were quick to herald these recent demonstrations a “Turkish Spring” as Turkish activists attempted to stop the demolition of Taksim Square’s Gezi Park with protests, sit-ins and an occupation of the park. The display of defiance at Taksim Square inspired comparisons to Egypt’s Tahrir Square and even China’s famous Tiananmen Square. The protests have grown, galvanizing broad support all across Turkey, not just for the preservation of Gezi Park but for dramatic reforms in Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan’s administration. This, all spurred by an effort to save the trees that lined Gezi Park.
What makes these protests more worthy than the Uludere Massacre demonstrations? Kurdish protesters calling for the justice of their dead loved ones suffered the same response by Turkish police as did the Gezi Park protesters: water cannons, tear gas, batons. Kurds in Turkey have been participating in protests long before the Uludere Massacre, demanding reforms to Erdoğan’s government to stop the human rights violations of their community– and Taksim Square has long been the site of these protests. In April 2011, more than 2000 Kurdish protesters took to the square to condemn the Turkish elections board for banning 12 Kurdish politicians from running. Police pelted them with tear gas cannisters.
Kurds have born the brunt of police aggression for years, continuing to protest despite the threat of arrest, imprisonment and abuse, and seldom have non-Kurd Turks joined in the struggle. But it was the threat of the Gezi Park demolition, not the brutal death of 34 young Kurdish men, that compelled non-Kurd Turks to finally take to the square in anger. If media attention is any measure, the Gezi Park protests bear a stronger threat to the Erdogan administration than did the Kurdish protest for the Uludere victims. It’s a discouraging insight into the inferior appraisal of Kurdish lives by their fellow Turks — worse, it indicates a Turkish denial to legitimize Kurdish agency. Not only are Kurdish protests not afforded equal media coverage, they also don’t warrant support by their Turkish countrymen.
The Gezi Park protests could very well culminate into revolution. If anything the past few years has shown us, it’s that the power of protest is no easy thing to devalue. But it’s not just about bringing about change — it’s about the kind of change Turkey is willing to usher in. Change must be transformative; change must be all-inclusive. If a ‘changed’ Turkey looks like the same one we have now — a place hostile to its minorities — is it one worth fighting for at all?The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs really wants the military veterans it is charged with serving to know that it isn’t going to do anything to help them access medical marijuana.
While longstanding VA policy has been to disallow government physicians from helping veterans qualify for state medical cannabis programs, a new update to the department’s website sends the message even more clearly — even though it misstates what the law actually is.
“Veterans should know that federal law classifies marijuana – including all derivative products – as a Schedule One controlled substance. This makes it illegal in the eyes of the federal government,” the department’s VA and Medical Marijuana webpage was updated to read this week. “The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is required to follow all federal laws including those regarding marijuana. As long as the Food and Drug Administration classifies marijuana as Schedule One VA health care providers may not recommend it or assist Veterans to obtain it.”
That’s not true, at least inasmuch as there is no overarching federal law that prevents V.A. from allowing its doctors to recommend medical cannabis, even though the drug is still considered illegal under federal law.
A leading Congressional champion of veterans’ medical cannabis access told Marijuana Moment that he’s concerned about the new VA website edit.
“This new language is very disturbing, but sadly, comes to no surprise. For years, the VA has been throwing up serious barriers to veterans’ safe access to cannabis,” Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) said in an emailed statement. “Yet, it’s had no problem prescribing them highly addictive opioids that have killed thousands. It makes no sense. Our veterans deserve better. They deserve equal treatment from the VA doctors who know them best.”
“VA clinicians may not recommend medical marijuana,” the newly update page says. The older version more correctly, though somewhat misleadingly, said, “VA clinicians may not prescribe medical marijuana.” [Italicized emphasis added.]
The distinction between recommendation and prescription is an important one. No physician in the U.S. — government or private — can prescribe marijuana, because prescription is a federally-regulated process and cannabis currently falls under the Controlled Substances Act’s restrictive Schedule I. That category is supposed to be reserved for drugs with a high potential for abuse and no medical value.
That’s why the 29 states with medical cannabis access allow doctors to simply recommend the drug, circumventing the prescription process.
Even with marijuana’s Schedule I status, there is nothing in federal law that prevents V.A. from allowing its doctors to fill out medical cannabis recommendation forms in states where it is legal.
The only thing standing in the way is V.A.’s own internal policy, something that Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin can change at any time.
VA SECRETARY MISSTATES FEDERAL LAW
Shulkin has on a number of occasions indicated that he does see medical potential for marijuana but has consistently falsely claimed that Congressional action is needed before he can do anything to increase veterans’ access. And he has often used the term “prescribe” — intentionally or not — as something of a distraction from the real issue of recommendations. But the new VA website update addresses recommendations, albeit incorrectly.
During a White House briefing earlier this year, Shulkin said that state medical cannabis laws may be providing “some evidence that this is beginning to be helpful, and we’re interested in looking at that and learning from that.” But he added that “until time the federal law changes, we are not able to be able to prescribe medical marijuana for conditions that may be helpful.”
In a separate interview, he said, “From the federal government point of view, right now we are prohibited by law from doing research on it or prescribing it… We are not going to be out there doing that research or prescribing these different medicinal preparations unless the law is changed.”
In another interview, he said that it is “not within our legal scope to study that in formal research programs or to prescribe medical marijuana, even in states where it’s legal.” He added, “if a law change at the federal level is appropriate, that could happen.”
Shulkin, who previously served in the Obama administration as V.A.’s undersecretary of health, wrote in a letter last year that he “wholeheartedly agree[s] that VA should do all it can to foster open communication between Veterans and their VA providers, including discussion about participation in state marijuana programs.” He went so far as to say that he “recognize[s] that the disparity between Federal and state laws regarding the use of marijuana creates considerable uncertainty for patients, providers, and Federal, state, and local law enforcement personnel.”
Under a current internal V.A. administrative directive, the department’s policy is “to prohibit VA providers from completing forms seeking recommendations or opinions regarding a Veteran’s participation in a State marijuana program.” The directive technically expired on January 31, 2016, but remains in force in practice until a new one is instituted to replace it.
In July, Shulkin announced that a new directive is in the final stages of internal review. While he didn’t reveal what it will say, he wrote in a letter to a U.S. House member that it would “maintain the same policy” as the earlier directive.
CONGRESSIONAL EFFORTS
A bipartisan group of members of the House and Senate has tried over the years to pass legislation forcing the VA’s hand on medical cannabis, but has been consistently blocked by Congressional leadership.
Most recently, Republican-controlled House Rules Committee blocked an amendment on the issue from even being considered on the floor this summer. But a rider preventing VA from spending money to enforce its existing internal ban is in the Senate version of 2018 spending legislation, and so the issue will be decided by a conference committee that later merges both chambers’ bills into a single proposal.
Last year, however, both the House and Senate approved different version of the medical cannabis language but the conference committee removed both of them from the final bill.
VETERANS ADVOCATES PUSH FOR CHANGE
The American Legion, which represents more than 2.4 million military veterans, has been pressuring the federal government to evolve on medical cannabis. Most recently, in August, it adopted a resolution calling on VA to let its doctors write medical marijuana recommendations.
“More than half the states in the union have passed medical marijuana laws to date,” the group’s resolution reads. “The American Legion urge the United States government to permit VA medical providers to be able to discuss with veterans the use of marijuana for medical purposes and recommend it in those states where medical marijuana laws exist.”
The Legion and other medical cannabis advocates have also called for rescheduling and pressed VA to stop blocking federally-approved researchers from recruiting veterans for research on medical cannabis.
One such study on marijuana’s effects on PTSD has been prevented from reaching veterans at the Phoenix, Arizona VA hospital.
“This study needs 50 more participants and the Phoenix VA is in the best possible position to assist by simply allowing principle investigators to brief [VA] medical staff on the progress of the study, and by allowing clinicians to reveal the existence of the study to potential participants,” the Legion wrote to Shulkin last month. “Your immediate attention in this important matter is greatly appreciated. We ask for your direct involvement to ensure this critical research is fully enabled.”
MORE VA WEBSITE CHANGES
Other new changes to the V.A. webpage include the removal of bullet points that read, “VA doctors and clinical teams may advise Veterans who use marijuana of the drug’s impact on other aspects of the Veterans’ care such as pain management, PTSD or substance use disorder treatment” and “VA doctors and clinical staff will record marijuana use in the Veterans VA medical record along with its impact on the Veterans treatment plan.”
In their place, the page now says, “VA health care providers will record marijuana use in the Veterans VA medical record in order to have the information available in treatment planning. As with all clinical information, this is part of the confidential medical record and protected under patient privacy and confidentiality laws and regulations.”
An existing point reading, “The use or possession of marijuana is prohibited at all VA medical centers, locations and grounds,” was followed up with a new clarification that says, “When you are on VA grounds it is federal law that is in force, not the laws of the state.”
The department does make it clear that “veteran participation in State medical marijuana program does not affect eligibility for VA care and services.” That longstanding policy means that patients won’t lose access to their government-provided healthcare just because they use medical cannabis.
But, until Shulkin acts to change the internal prohibition or Congress steps in and forces his hand, the VA isn’t going to do anything to help veterans get medical cannabis.
Photo courtesy of U.S. Air Forces Special Operations Command.Executives from major American corporations are calling for greater transparency in election spending, alleging the shadowy, secretly-funded groups that spent hundreds of millions on the 2010 elections are distorting the democratic process. Groups like Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS, they say, will spend an increasing amount in future elections and political scandal will follow. Meanwhile, Wisconsin leaders promote even greater election secrecy.
A record $560 million was spent on the 2010 midterm elections, and around 50 percent of it was kept secret. "The use of hidden money in elections undermines First Amendment guarantees and is contrary to the basic values of our democracy," states a report (pdf) issued Monday by the Center for Economic Development (CED) and signed by thirty two business executives and university professors, including representatives from corporations like Citigroup and Prudential Financial.
"The system we have now takes good men and women who are elected and corrupts them," said Edward Kangas, former chairman and CEO of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu in a press conference announcing the report.
Supreme Court and Business Group Supports Transparency
The U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, while greatly maligned for lifting bans on corporate election spending under the guise that the U.S. Constitution protects corporate "speech," actually expressed strong support for disclosure. The majority opinion stated:
the First Amendment protects political speech, and disclosure permits citizens and shareholders to react to the speech of corporate entities in a proper way. This transparency enables the electorate to make informed decisions and give proper weight to different speakers and messages.
The signatories to the CED report support this view, writing "disclosure and transparency are essential to the proper functioning of our democracy and economic system." Shareholders, the true owners of any publicly-traded corporation, have been left in the dark about whether CEOs are using their investment dollars for political activities. The report states shareholders "need to know how the funds in which they have a financial interest are being spent if they are to make informed political and economic decisions." The anonymity marking the current electoral landscape was made possible by a series of Federal Elections Commission rules and advisory opinions that dismantled election disclosure laws. Much of the secret spending comes from groups organized as "social welfare" nonprofits under the 501(c) section of the tax code.
"Since many of these organizations have generic sounding names," the report states, "such as Americans for Prosperity, American Action Network, and American Future Fund, citizens cannot be expected to know the interests behind their efforts without effective donor disclosure."
IRS Asked to Investigate 501(c) Groups
An unrelated petition to the IRS this week asked the tax agency to investigate the nonprofit status of the American Action Network, which spent around $16 million in the 2010 elections, as well as Rove's Crossroads GPS and the Obama-affiliated Priorities USA.
"The idea that these organizations are social welfare groups is nonsense," said Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, which sent the IRS letter along with the Campaign Legal Center. "The overriding purpose of these groups is to participate in and influence elections, which makes them ineligible for tax exempt status."
In 2010, Republican-affiliated organizations dominated the secret-spending field, but Democrat groups have been jumping into the fray. Former White House aides Bill Burton and Sean Sweeney launched Priorities USA in spring, with Burton telling the Los Angeles Times "while we agree that fundamental campaign finance reforms are needed, Karl Rove and the Koch brothers cannot live by one set of rules as our values and our candidates are overrun with their hundreds of millions of dollars."
Democracy 21 and the Campaign Legal Center asked the IRS last year to investigate Crossroads GPS, but no major action has been taken.
Wisconsin GOP Efforts to Maintain Secrecy
Election boards in states like Wisconsin have tried to rein in this unlimited secret spending by tightening state disclosure rules. However, Wisconsin's rules were promptly challenged in court by the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity, and in the past month, the state GOP used a parliamentary trick to block the disclosure rule and protect secret corporate spending.
On Thursday, Wisconsin Sen. Glenn Grothman (R-West Bend) announced a plan to further limit election transparency, ending the long-standing requirement that those donating directly to a candidate's political campaigns disclose their employers.Homestar Runner
Due to popular demand, we're adding a second show! Atlanta Cartoon Icons The Brothers Chaps will celebrate the 20th Birthday of Homestar Runner with a show at Venkman's on Friday, October 7th!
They'll be backed by the guys from the Yacht Rock Revue (including Venkman's owners Nick and Pete) to perform hits by Strongbad, Homestar, Limozeen and all of your flash cartoon favorites.
We will be performing songs from the website including the hits "Trogdor" "The Cheat Is Not Dead" "Everybody to the Limit" and "Fish Eye Lens." Some of the performances will include video content, and we will be showing classic cartoons.
The Homestar Runner site frequently features songs and videos within their animated shorts or as stand-alone entities. These are primarily sung and performed either by the characters or by fictitious artists serving as parodies of various genres. Real-life musicians They Might Be Giants have also appeared occasionally, performing with a Homestar puppet, or with the characters in the video to their song Experimental Film.
In Strong Bad Email #58, dragon, Strong Bad is asked to draw a dragon, creating “TROGDOR, THE BURNiNATOR,” and performing his heavy metal theme song. Trogdor's popularity saw the character appear on merchandise such as T-shirts, hoodies, and posters, with an extended version of the song appearing on the CD Strong Bad Sings.
In 2002, a faux hair metal band, Limozeen, was introduced as a parody of 1980s hair metal bands like Skid Row, White Lionand Poison; with songs including "Because, It's Midnite" and "Nite Mamas". On March 17, 2008, "Limozeen" (actually the Atlanta indie band Y-O-U along with Matt Chapman on vocals) performed a live show in Atlanta, Georgia,[21] and again on November 8, 2008, opening for indie pop band Of Montreal.[22] A college rock band called Sloshy (with the logo stylized in lower case and rotated 180 degrees, with the "o" being a different color, as "ʎɥsoןs") was introduced in 2007. Sloshy features songs in the musical vein of Pavement such as "We Don't Really Even Care About You" and "The B-est of B-Sides". Other fictitious artists include Scandinavian death metal parody Taranchula, rapper Peacey P, with a singing style resembling that of Snoop Dogg, and the self-absorbed R&B artist Tenerence Love.
2 of the songs from the "Strongbad Sings" Album were on Guitar Hero.
TICKETING & RESERVATION INFO:
Purchasing a General Admission ticket does not guarantee a seat/table.
Bar area and patio seating are first-come, first-serve.
Additional reservations are not required if table, booth, or banquette tickets have been purchased via Ticketfly.
Reservations for the Captain's Room (private dining room) can be reserved for parties of 12-20 guests. For more info call 470-225-6162.The Ultima IV Upgrade Project
From Aradindae Dragon & Wiltshire Dragon comes the ultimate upgrade for Ultima IV, adding 256 color graphics and MIDI support to the original RPG classic. You may switch the graphics between new and old at will. Screenshots appear at the bottom of this page. What Does It Do?
Upgrades Ultima IV to 256 color graphics with MIDI support. The patch replaces the tileset, font, game, and cutscene graphics, as well as correcting several conversation bugs within the original.TLK files. Adds command keys to Reload the last saved game and Exit to the OS.
Can I Use These Graphics For My Own Project?
Yes, provided that you understand you may be sharing the base tile set with other developers. Download links are here. What You Need
You must have the game Ultima IV from Origin Systems, Inc. running under Windows 95 or higher. The patched version will not run in straight DOS. Download and Install
- Download the U4UPGRAD.ZIP file (632,072 bytes).
- Unzip to your Ultima IV directory.
- Run SETUP.BAT
- Run Ultima IV as you normally would, enjoying the new graphics and sounds.
- Three icon files are available for your Ultima shortcuts. Optional Installation Type:
Use with xu4 - Ultima IV Recreated
Follow this process if the patch doesn't work or you have general trouble running Ultima IV on a modern PC.
- Download and install XU4 from http://xu4.sourceforge.net.
- Download the U4UPGRAD.ZIP file (632,072 bytes) from this site.
- Place 'U4UPGRAD.ZIP' into the xu4 directory. Do NOT unzip!
- Enable VGA graphics within the options menu in xu4. Optional Components:
The Ultima IV Music Machine v1.0
Customize the music you hear in the patched version of Ultima IV.
(Patch version 1.2 or greater)
- Download the U4XMI.ZIP file (121,223 bytes).
- Unzip to any directory (the Ultima IV game directory works).
- Copy any midi file you want to use into the same directory.
- Run 'U4XMI.EXE' to create a custom music file from the midi files.
- Please see 'U4XMI.txt' for program instructions and midi file preprocessing rules. Important Note
If you are upgrading from the original 16 color Ultima IV Graphics Pack, you must not run PARTY.EXE. It is no longer supported and may corrupt the new graphic files. I am exploring new party icon-switching options.
Acknowledgements Auric 1,000 thanks for the server space! Lord British For changing the way I think about computer games... and life. Cabirus Dragon (aka Frank Wolter) has created some cool Ultima Icons, one of which he gave us to include in this patch. Check out his icon page, where the collection is available as "e-mail-ware." Current Version 1.3, of March 9th, 2001 Direct comments to: Wiltshire Dragon (Joshua Steele)
(Graphics, Web) Aradindae Dragon (R. Wiener)
(Music, Programming)In recent years, design thinking has becoming an increasingly common buzzword in many different sectors, including education. Over the past few months we have been working to refine a design thinking model for educators to use in the classroom. We did this because we believe design thinking is a powerful way to build students' skills. Here's three reasons why:
At its heart, design thinking is about creativity and critical thinking. That's two of the four key learning skills identified by the Partnership for 21st Century Learning. If students work on problems in groups, this brings in communication and collaboration too.
The type of the exercises students do in design thinking let teachers stretch them beyond what they would normally do in the classroom - into Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development.
Working on real problems using authentic tools to arrive at meaningful solutions casts students in the role of 'little scientists', 'little engineers', and so on. By encouraging them to take on these roles, design thinking deepens their engagement and accelerates their learning.
Tim Brown is the CEO and president of IDEO, an innovation consultancy which has been evangelising design thinking for years. He describes it as "a human-centered approach to innovation that draws from the designer's toolkit to integrate the needs of people, the possibilities of technology, and the requirements for... success." Importantly, design thinking is just as concerned with 'problem finding' as it is with 'problem solving'.
Brown and his colleagues at IDEO have not only built a robust model for design thinking over the years, they have also retooled it for educators wanting to innovate. At the same time, the Institute of Design at Stanford University (better known as d.school) has also developed a range of open source design thinking tools and their own initiative to foster innovation in education.
If you search for diagrams of the design thinking process online you'll find plenty. Most are made up of about five stages. Some emphasise the blend of divergent and convergent thinking, others the iterative nature of the process. Invariably they will highlight the need to understand and empathise with the audience you are designing for, and the importance of building and testing prototypes as part of the design process.
As a human-centred, solutions-focused approach to creativity and innovation, design thinking has much to offer the primary of secondary classroom. However, the process as described by IDEO and d.school doesn't necessarily feel like a good fit in several ways. Firstly, it's relatively complex, particularly for younger kids. It also involves lengths of time that may not be feasible. It asks for a deep engagement with the real world that isn't always be possible. It relies heavily on written content, making it hard for students still building literacy skills to focus on the challenge. Finally, and perhaps most interestingly, some of the key parts of design thinking come naturally to kids. Working with adults, facilitators will often encourage them to 'think like children', letting go of unnecessary constraints and inhibitions.
Given all of this, we wanted to create a process for design thinking specifically tailored to school students. A process that simplified the design thinking model, and focused on the elements that kids could learn the most from. We wanted to emphasise the 'what if' aspect of innovation, and the pragmatism of solution-focused thinking. We wanted to encourage students to be comfortable outside their comfort zone, and to experience the 'learning through failure' that comes from prototyping. We wanted to scaffold'researching for empathy', and to challenge kids to see beyond their first attempt through multiple iterations of a solution. Our belief is that design thinking can provide an approach that does all of this.
The heart of our design thinking model for kids is a three-stage process: LEARN, IMAGINE, MAKE. At the beginning of a project, only the general area to be explored is defined. By the end of the LEARN stage a clear problem is identified, phrased as 'how can we...?' By the end of the IMAGINE stage a solution has been identified, and the MAKE stage uses prototyping and testing to refine that solution.
Students might work through all three stages in one session, or each stage might be tackled as an individual lesson. There are numerous different exercises that can be used in each stage, depending on the nature of the project and the available resources. The process map we created for high school students explicitly discusses the different stages, and gives examples of some of the exercises.
For younger students we wanted something simpler, more immediately engaging, and less reliant on conceptual language. The reverse of the process map provides a simpler narrative - while it has more'steps', each is made up of a single, straightforward exercise. Obviously, once familiar with the process, teachers may which to drop in different exercises with younger students too.
There are two ways we envisage teachers running design thinking projects in their classroom. The first is individually, where each student pursues their own research and develops their own inventions - though there will be many opportunities to share with classmates throughout the process, such as testing each other's inventions. The second way is in groups of three to six students, where each group collaboratively identifies a problem, then a solution, finally building and testing a shared prototype.
Regardless of which approach is taken, the teacher will guide the class through the three stags of LEARN, IMAGINE and MAKE. The remainder of this article touches on some of the exercises that make up each stage.
The first stage is all about finding a problem. Most of the time students are given very specific problems to solve, so for many this can be quite a challenging - but hopefully liberating - stage. The key to design thinking is designing 'for' an audience - understanding the behaviours and needs of another group, empathising with them, and developing a solution that they will benefit from.
The most obvious way to get an understanding of the world from someone else's perspective is through observation. Sometimes you might be able to go and look at a real environment, other times you may need to engineer things to observe. The key with observation is to really take the time to look, and make note of what you see.
Drawing is an excellent way of documenting observations, particularly for younger children who are more comfortable drawing and perhaps annotating than simply writing. They might draw a scene, or an object. Perhaps a process might be better captured in a storyboard or a flowchart. Spatial observations might be represented best on a map of some sort, and so on. There is no reason to be limited to one type of drawing. A visit to the zoo may produce sketches, maps, process flows and much more.
Creating a persona is a great way to encourage children to think explicitly about the intended audience. A persona can be as simple as a sketch of a typical ‘user’ of the solution accompanied by some notes about them and about their relationship with the topic area.
Conducting interviews is a fun way to inform a persona, or just to capture interesting insights about a topic. It can be very powerful to actually interview someone you want to design a solution for. If that’s not possible, kids can interview friends or classmates who are playing the role of a typical ‘user’. Even with relatively little preparation it’s amazing how many useful observations can come from a role-play interview.
Design thinking places lots of emphasis on gaining insights from real world exploration. Having said that, there’s nothing wrong with doing some ‘desk research’ too.
Personal experience can also be one of the most powerful tools in gaining an understanding of an area and uncovering useful insights. While there might not always be the opportunity to ‘get hands on’, if there is it’s always a catalyst for a deeper level of thinking.
There are a number of techniques by which information gathered in these ways can be captured and shared. A mindmap is a simple, useful tool for capturing thoughts about a topic, and helping kids to explore associated ideas. Make a pros and cons list of all the ‘best’ and ‘worst’ parts of an experience, environment, product or topic helps students appreciate the perspective of the audience they are focusing on.
To create possible challenges, students review the most interesting and provocative learnings that have been uncovered. They think about the biggest pain points - where is there a demand for better solutions? We want them to capture a challenge clearly and succinctly, which they do by writing it as a question in the form “How can we...?”
Having clearly articulated their challenge, students move on to |
well and has a good all-around skill level. Think of a -type defender as a comparable. A steady and dependable bottom pairing defenseman.
15. (16), C, 6.5D
Drafted 6th round, 172nd overall, 2010
Friesen returned to the's Niagara Ice Dogs for his over-age season and put up some solid all around numbers. The well-rounded forward scored 26 goals and 45 assists in 62 games while boasting a spectacular plus-39 rating and 106 penalty minutes. His strong play has carried over into the playoffs as well where he has continued to score at over a point-per-game pace. He is undersized, but he more than makes up for that with a high effort and compete level each and every night. He plays with a lot of energy and as his high penalty minute totals attest, he excels at getting under the oppositions skin. He'll need some AHL seasoning, but he has the requisite skill set to eventually evolve into a pesky bottom-six forward at the NHL level.
16. (11), G, 6.5D
Drafted 3rd round, 71st overall, 2011
Honzik had a bit of a rough go at it this year and slightly regressed, which explains his slip down the rankings. He was outplayed most of the season by the younger. He still managed to dress in 43 games for Victoriaville, however he didn't do enough to take the Tigres number one job and run with it. Goaltenders often take a long time to mature and develop so while his season was a bit disappointing, there is no need to panic. There is still a lot to like about the big and athletic Czech goaltender and with the depth the Canucks have at the position, they can take their time with him.
17. (10), LW, 6C
Signed as a free agent, August 19th, 2010
Though his numbers dipped slightly in his second pro season, Sweatt still had a solid season for the Wolves, posting solid numbers across the board. He had 16 goals and 34 points to go along with a steady plus-nine rating. Sweatt's calling card is his speed. His good defensive aptitude combined with that high-end speed makes him an effective penalty killer. While he's likely never going to be a high-end offensive player, he has the makings of evolving into a top-notch, two-way third-line forward.
18. (15), LW, 6C
Drafted 7th round, 187th overall, 2009
Anthony started his professional career in the with Canucks secondary minor-league affiliate in Kalamazoo. He only played in 34 games but managed to put up a respectable eight goals and 12 assists. More of a playmaker than a scorer, Anthony has good size, but he is still very raw at this stage in his development and is a long ways away from realizing his full potential. The Canucks hope he can make the jump to the AHL next season.
19. (17), D, 6C
Drafted 4th round, 113th overall, 2009
Price set a career high in points with 23 in his junior season for Colgate and in fact led all Red Raiders defenseman in points. A high-scoring blueliner in the Ontario junior ranks before beginning his collegiate career back in 2009, Price has slowly but surely matured into a much more well-rounded defenseman. At this point, it appears likely that Price will return to Colgate for his senior season next year and will then turn pro in 2013-14.
20. (NR), LW, 6.0 C
Drafted 4th round, 120th overall, 2011
Blomstrand split time this year between Djurgardens junior and senior club. He broke out offensively with the junior club, scoring 31 points in 41 games, which in-turn resulted in 18 games with the senior club in the Swedish Elite League. Blomstrand's bread-and-butter are his size, speed and work ethic. He's also not shy about getting involved physically. All of those traits seem to add up to the resume of a potential checking line/role player with a modicum of skill once fully developed. The Canucks will likely continue to let him mature in Europe for another season or two before bringing him to North America.Hello! I'm Ramanand aka Ram one of the programmers in Unforgiven and due to the massive request to add replication / multiplayer to our Hoverbike System we at Unforgiven have decided that is time to do it. This is something I've been wanting to do since last year but didn't have the time because of university related stuff but now that I have graduated I find myself with more time in my hands.
This series of articles will be focused in the addition of multiplayer to the Hoverbike System you can find here in the Unreal Marketplace. It’s not a tutorial because I’m not an expert in replication in Unreal Engine (yet) but is a log of the steps I did to make the replication work for the Hoverbike. I'll try to show most of the things I did that worked and do my best explaining them but if something is not clear you can ask me in the comment section.
As learning material I used the Unreal Engine documentation found here and this Unreal engine stream that you can watch here.
Week 1: Testing what works and what doesn’t
My first step to tackle this project is to check how much does the hoverbike system breaks when I try to use it for multiplayer out of the box. First set up the number of players to 2 and play around the level to check which problems arise. The player movement is controlled by the Character Movement Component so we don’t have to worry about that.If you watched the Atlanta Hawks game on Friday, you noticed the team was wearing blue and green throwback uniforms.
The team even changed its Twitter profile to match the color scheme.
It was a fun way to remember when the team wore those colors in the early 1970s. There was only one problem — the timing was a bit off.
The Seattle Seahawks use a very similar blue and green color scheme. And, it just so happens the Seahawks play the Atlanta Falcons in the playoffs. On Saturday. In Atlanta.
The Hawks have had the event planned for months. The matchup between the Seahawks and Falcons was only set a week ago. That didn’t keep fans from noticing the similarities.
I find it odd the @ATLHawks switch colors to green and blue and share the same name as the @Seahawks the same weekend they're in ATL. — Walter John (@JHENNEBAUL) January 13, 2017
@ATLHawks that's some bad timing to play on those throwback colors tonight fam #TrueToAtlanta — Stefan (@Steffnov) January 13, 2017
No, the Hawks aren’t rooting for the Seahawks. No, the Hawks didn’t lose a bet with the Sonics. The colors will be back to red in no time, well before kickoff between the Falcons and Seahawks on Saturday.A passport from a country like the United States (US) or Britain, can be very powerful, as it allows you to travel across the globe without needing a visa.
To be exact you can travel to 147 countries if your an American or a British citizen, according to financial firm Arton Capital, who has compiled a ranking of the world’s passports that shows which one is a traveller's dream. India ranks 59; Indians can travel to 59 countries without needing a visa.
A passport from a country in good global standing is a powerful thing, allowing its holder to move across borders without dealing with the nightmarish bureaucracy of a visa application. Arton Capital says it “empowers individuals and families to become Global Citizens”, by connecting clients to citizenship-purchasing programmes
The countries are ranked by the number of other countries a passport holder can visit visa-free or upon arrival. The countries whose citizens have the most travel freedom are developed countries. The lowest group includes South Sudan and the Palestinian Territories both who can only visit 28 countries.
Here’s the top 10 ranked by Passport Index:
1 The United Kingdom : 147 countries
2 The United States : 147 countries
3 South Korea: 145 countries
4 Germany: 145 countries
5 France: 145 countries
6 Italy: 144 countries
7 Sweden: 144 countries
8 Singapore: 143 countries
9 Japan: 143 countries
10 Finland: 143 countriesMichael Reynolds/European Pressphoto Agency
The Senate on Wednesday approved a bill to cover the cost of medical care for rescue workers and others who became sick from breathing in toxic fumes, dust and smoke after the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center.
The measure, which passed by a voice vote, came soon after a deal was reached between conservative Republicans and Senators Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten E. Gillibrand, Democrats of New York. Mr. Schumer and Ms. Gillibrand agreed to changes demanded by the conservative lawmakers, who raised concerns about the measure’s cost and prevented the bill from advancing in the Senate. After drawing criticism in recent days from Democrats and Republicans alike, the Republican senators backed down.
Under the new agreement, the bill provides $4.3 billion over five years for health coverage to the 9/11 workers, instead of the original $7.4 billion over eight years.
In a joint statement issued on Wednesday, Mr. Schumer and Ms. Gillibrand called the deal a “Christmas miracle.”
“Over the last 24 hours, our Republican colleagues have negotiated in good faith to forge a workable final package that will protect the health of the men and women who selflessly answered our nation’s call in her hour of greatest need,” the statement said. “This has been a long process, but we are now on the cusp of the victory these heroes deserve.”
One of the main critics of the bill, Senator Tom Coburn, Republican of Oklahoma, expressed satisfaction with the legislation’s final price tag.
“Every American recognizes the heroism of the 9/11 first responders,” he said. “But it is not compassionate to help one group while robbing future generations of opportunity.”
The new version of the bill calls for providing $1.8 billion over the next five years to monitor and treat injuries stemming from exposure to toxic dust and debris at ground zero; New York City would pay 10 percent of these costs. The legislation also sets aside $2.5 billion to reopen the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund for five years to provide payment for job and economic losses.
An additional provision allows for money from the Compensation Fund to be paid to any eligible claimant who receives a payment under the settlement of lawsuits that 10,000 rescue and cleanup workers recently reached with New York. Currently, those who receive a settlement are limited in how much compensation they can get from the fund, according to the bill’s sponsors.
There are nearly 60,000 people enrolled in health-monitoring and treatment programs related to the 9/11 attacks, according to the bill’s sponsors. The federal government provides the bulk of the funding for these programs.
The deal reached on Wednesday was a major turn of events for a bill that had been stalled in the upper chamber. Only 12 days ago, Senate Republicans blocked the legislation from proceeding to a floor vote.
But the lawmakers relented after facing a barrage of criticism — not just from Democrats, but also from traditional Republican allies, including former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani of New York, and conservative news outlets like Fox News.
Later in the day, the House swiftly approved the measure and sent to President Obama for his signature.In my comments section recently, I was asked to shed some light on the velocity penalty created by moving from 20″ long rifle barrels as in the M16 to 14.5″ long carbine barrels as in the M4 Carbine. Our readers’ wish is my command, and so here we are.
In the very first edition of the Modern Intermediate Calibers series, I talked about the 5.56x45mm and its performance from both 14.5″ and 20″ barrels. However, the graphs produced for that post lack the clarity we’d like to discuss this issue in detail, partly because they are a little crowded, and partly because I hadn’t quite balanced them for clarity and size yet. So, to begin answering this question, let’s take another look at that data, only this time we’re going to clear out the other loads and just focus on M855 from 14.5″ and 20″ barrels:
Looking at just the velocity curves for a moment, how do we interpret this data? Well, one of the primary criticisms of the M4 focuses on the fragmentation threshold of the Carbine versus its longer, older brother. Critics say that while the M16 has an adequate fragmentation threshold for normal combat, the M4 – due to its lower muzzle velocity – has a much shorter fragmentation threshold.
However, this talk to fragmentation thresholds is too simplistic, at least when talking about M855 (M855A1, due to its more consistent fragmentation properties, is a better candidate for this metric). Still, fragmentation thresholds are really a subject for another day, so for now let’s take it for granted, and compare the two curves. Before we continue, let’s lay out our assumptions:
1. M855 will produce 2,920 ft/s from the 14.5″ barrel of an M4 Carbine.*
2. M855 will produces 3,150 ft/s from the 20″ barrel of an M16A2 Rifle.*
3. Out to the distances we care about, the velocity curve given by the 0.151 G7 BC figure accurately represents the real-world velocity curve of M855, under standard conditions.
4. For convenience, we will assume a fragmentation “threshold” of 2,500 ft/s, even though this subject deserves a much more in-depth treatment, which we will reserve for another day.
Alright, so where does the data get us?
From the data, the M4 Carbine with its 14.5″ barrel and 2,920 ft/s muzzle velocity meets our velocity threshold at 125 meters, while the M16A2 with its 20″ barrel and 3,150 ft/s muzzle velocity meets the threshold at 190 meters.
In other words, the difference in velocity between the two rifles is enough to create a “gap” in performance of 65 meters, or put differently, the M16A2 has by this model a 52% fragmentation range advantage versus the M4.
These numbers are nice, but immediately we should understand that this model has some serious limitations due to its four assumptions. We’ll worry about assumption 3 another day, but let’s take a look at assumptions 1 and 2 for a moment. Do these velocity figures represent the actual muzzle velocities produced by service rifles and carbines, and if these figures are changed, how does that affect the end result? I would characterize these figures as being “nominal” for both weapons, which means that I would expect a brand new rifle of either type firing in-spec ammunition made by an American manufacturer to produce velocities close to these figures. Or, put another way, these are “high” figures that represent the maximum muzzle velocity produced by either type of rifle assuming no errors in quality control and a temperate environment.
What if we don’t have these things? What if our rifles are worn out, or our ammunition was “cooler” because it came from a manufacturer that didn’t load so hot as IWI or Winchester, or what if it’s just damn cold out? Well, we have a good idea how these things affect the weapon, for two reasons. First, because barrel life in the context of ammunition testing is defined by a velocity drop of 200 ft/s or greater, over the course of usually 10,000 or 15,000 rounds. Second, we have a very good test from Small Arms Defense Journal written by Dr. Philip H. Dater & Jason Wong, which chilled the ammunition for consistency reasons before testing commenced. From a 14″ barrel, their chilled M855 ammunition gave them muzzle velocities about 200 feet per second below our nominal M4 muzzle velocity above.
Therefore, it stands to reason that some weapons in service will – due to any one or combination of these factors of cold, barrel wear, and ammunition “hotness” – produce muzzle velocities as low as 200 ft/s below the numbers quoted above. This makes our next step pretty clear:
In this situation, the difference becomes more pronounced. The M16A2 with a compromised muzzle velocity gives us just a shade more fragmentation range than the fresh M4 under ideal conditions – 133 meters – while the M4 with a compromised muzzle velocity gives a very disappointing fragmentation threshold of 66 meters. This means that in these less than ideal conditions, the M16A2 has a 67 meter – or 101% – advantage versus the M4.
Before I leave you there, let’s briefly challenge assumption 4 by changing focus from M855 to the new M855A1 round. We’ve already noted that the entire concept of a “fragmentation threshold” is overly simplistic and really deserves its own post, but one wrench we can throw into the gears right now is that we know Enhanced Performance Rounds like M855A1 seem to have much lower fragmentation thresholds than their predecessors. We have seen that M80A1, M855A1’s 7.62mm counterpart, can fragment very violently at velocities as low as 1,930 ft/s. Therefore, our “2,500 ft/s” value is likely far too high for these rounds, and not at all representative.
Fortunately, M855A1 has a close enough ballistic value to M855 over the distances we are considering that we can simply take the data we’ve got and stack it up against a different fragmentation threshold value, let’s say, 1,900 ft/s. If we do that:
M16A2 (V0 3,150 ft/s): 391 m
M4 (V0 2,920 ft/s): 326 m
M16A2 (V0 2,950 ft/s): 335 m
M4 (V0 2,720 ft/s): 268 m
Immediately, we see that by changing our assumption for fragmentation threshold velocity, the entire ball game changes. Without questioning these thresholds for the time being, we see that a velocity-compromised M4 loaded with M855A1 has a 78 meter (41%) fragmentation range advantage over a brand new M16A2 loaded with hot M855 and fired under ideal conditions. The ideal M16A2 loaded with M855A1 enjoys a full 201 meter (106%) advantage over its counterpart loaded with M855.
So, in the end, what do we make of this? Well, it’s tough, and the only basic conclusions we can come to are “it’s complicated”, and “the M16 generally enjoys an advantage over the M4”. However, the most obvious conclusion is that if a longer fragmentation range is desired, the right answer is not a longer barrel, but a bullet that fragments at a lower velocity. Something, it seems, the Army has already realized.Image copyright Reuters Image caption Demonstrators against SB4 gathered outside a court hearing in June
A US federal judge has halted a new Texan immigration law on "sanctuary cities" just two days before it is scheduled to go into effect.
The bill aimed to force local law enforcement to obey requests from immigration officers to hold illegal immigrants for deportation.
"Sanctuary cities" came under fire from Donald Trump in an executive order during his first week as president.
The Texan law was due to come into effect on Friday.
But on Wednesday, a federal judge ruled it was unlikely to withstand constitutional tests, and prevented implementation of key parts of the bill, called SB4.
In a 94-page decision, US District Judge Orlando Garcia commented: "There is overwhelming evidence by local officials, including local law enforcement, that SB4 will erode public trust and make many communities and neighborhoods less safe."
"There is also ample evidence that localities will suffer adverse economic consequences which, in turn, harm the State of Texas."
He said the court could not "second guess the legislature" but the state could not violate the constitution.
What is a'sanctuary city'?
The term applies to cities in the US that have policies to limit the assistance given to federal immigration authorities
Officials in those areas, including local law enforcement, are not allowed to enquire as to an individual's immigration status in the course of their duties
It is not a legal term so the way it is implemented can vary, but the policies can be set in law or just part of local policing practices
The idea got traction in the 1980s after Los Angeles told its police force to stop questioning people solely to determine their immigration status, in a bid to encourage immigrant communities to work with police
More than 400 jurisdictions across the US, including New York, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago and Seattle, have enacted policies protecting undocumented immigrants
Critics say these policies undermine federal law enforcement efforts and encourage illegal immigration
More about'sanctuary cities'
Life as refugees in US'sanctuary cities'
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said the decision made "Texas' communities less safe".
He said he would immediately appeal the decision and was confident the law would eventually be upheld.
Mr Trump's executive order in January covered a range of immigration issues but specifically targeted the 400 or so jurisdictions with policies protecting undocumented immigrants - nicknamed "sanctuary cities".
The presidential order authorised the federal government to withhold funding from cities with such policies.
The Texan bill, passed by the state legislature earlier this year, was set to be one of the first laws of its kind since Mr Trump's order.October 17, 2017
William Underwood and Juliana Locke report on the years of organizing by University of Chicago graduate workers that led to a representation election.
GRADUATE EMPLOYEES at the University of Chicago (U of C) are voting today and tomorrow for the recognition of their union, Graduate Students United (GSU).
The vote comes a year after the National Labor Relations Board ruled in a Columbia University case that students working at private colleges and universities are employees covered by the National Labor Relations Act--and is the culmination of 10 years of organizing work on campus and a yearlong card campaign for union recognition.
Facing sustained resistance from the university administration, its union-busting legal team at Proskauer Rose and its new allies in the Trump administration, U of C graduate workers hope to secure fair payment, better access to health care and a more equitable university.
GSU formed in the spring of 2007 when a small group of students came together in distress and outrage over the university's $50 million "Graduate Aid Initiative," a program designed to offer competitive packages to incoming students while ignoring the needs of current students, many of whom were struggling to afford basic expenses. The campaign focused GSU's work on fair funding, fair teaching conditions and better health insurance--motivations that continue to inspire our union's work today.
Graduate employees rally for a union at the University of Chicago (Graduate Students United | Facebook)
From its inception, GSU was forced to work without the benefit of legal recognition. Working closely with other campus and local groups, however, GSU secured gains such as pay raises for teaching assistants, improved health care for all students and stipends to cover workers' childcare.
GSU has also been involved in various political campaigns, including participation with Phoenix Survivors Alliance (a sexual assault victims' advocacy group), Black Youth Project 100, the campaign for a trauma center at the university-affiliated hospital, the R3 Coalition and a recent week of action for racial justice.
GSU has also spearheaded efforts to combat hate groups and manifestations of Trump's agenda on campus, maintaining an active database of all neo-Nazi posters on campus and offering legal aid to students affected by Trump's travel bans.
This commitment to solidarity stems from our belief that organizing at the university--particularly at a fiscally irresponsible corporate university that develops over neighboring communities, fails to provide for the well-being of its students or workers, and patrols its territory with one of the largest private police forces in the country--necessitates a broad political vision of what a democratically controlled university can and should look like.
As graduate student and course assistant Charlotte Heltai rightly notes:
This university is not only our employer; it is the largest employer on the South Side of Chicago. The actions of U of C have consequences for many people who do not live, work or study on its campus. A union like GSU, which has taken anti-racism and solidarity as pillars of its activism, being a recognized power block within, could be very important in broader battles against racism, policing and gentrification...The university is not going to better our quality of life if we do not have the power to force them to. Without a union, we have no power.
OUR COMMITMENT to these ideals clashes with the university administration's efforts to fight the unionization campaign.
U of C officials have used every means at their disposal--including legal challenges, active misinformation campaigns, and more recent efforts to strike students from voting rolls, require IDs at polling places and restrict students by name to particular polling locations.
They have also consistently denigrated graduate employees and their work. During hearings held before the NLRB in May, for instance, now Executive Vice Provost David Nirenberg suggested that the work of teaching assistants is a burden to him.
"It doesn't help the faculty member because it's more work to make sure that the [graduate assistant] is grading in a way that is consistent and reflects what you're trying to communicate," Nirenberg said. "I would say that from my point of view, especially in a class of 19, having some grading is not a relief to me."
Zachary Fasman, legal counsel for the university, took aim at graduate students in the sciences while betraying a fundamental misunderstanding of the scientific method:
Their financial package which they receive is in no way dependent on how many hours they work or whether their experiments fail or succeed...most of their experiments fail. And what employer would employ people whose experiments constantly fail?
Such tactics are consistent with other private universities' union-busting efforts. At Yale, for instance, the university refused to negotiate with a legally certified graduate workers' union, leading to a hunger strike and protest at the university's commencement ceremonies in May.
Columbia University challenged the validity of a pro-union election result, and Harvard refused to provide a complete voter list for its graduate employees' election last November.
These strategies are specifically designed to drag out the unionization fight until new Trump appointees to the NLRB reverse the Columbia decision that granted graduate employees at private universities the right to unionize in the first place.
In other words, many university administrators who regard themselves as liberal leaders see the Trump White House as an anti-labor ally when it comes to handling their workforce.
THE FIGHT for graduate workers unions is part of a larger struggle over the shape of universities in years to come.
In 2015, Trish Kahle and Michael Billeaux described in Jacobin how the fight for graduate worker unions to assessed higher education trends such as the adjunctification of teaching labor, the growth of central administrations through shared services initiatives, and increasing emphasis on marketable degrees:
The attacks on graduate students are part of a broader restructuring of the U.S. university system that has proceeded on a number of fronts: students are treated as "consumers" making an "investment;" declining state aid causes tuition to soar; universities increasingly push the pursuit of profitable research and the privatization of research as public funding dries up. More broadly, university structures are increasingly corporatized--administrations act as profit-maximizers and are treated as high-paid corporate executives, while university workers are increasingly casualized.
In this situation, unions like Graduate Students United offer a compelling alternative vision. In organizing to demand recognition and representation, we hope to achieve a more democratic university where priority is given to quality education and the wellbeing of workers and students, rather than to the demands of profit.
A crucial step toward achieving that future can happen with today's vote.RDF Bullet - ( Reduced Drag Factor )
Flattest Shooting Match Bullet On The Market
For those wanting to squeeze the most performance from their competition rifle, Nosler’s new RDF (Reduced Drag Factor) match bullet line is the ideal choice.
Nosler’s RDF line was designed from the ground up to provide exceptionally high BCs, which create the flattest trajectory and least wind drift possible. The keys to the RDF’s outstanding performance are Nosler’s meticulously optimized compound ogive and long, drag reducing boattail, which make handloading a snap and create an incredibly sleek form factor. RDF bullets also have the smallest, most consistent meplats of any hollow point match bullet line, so there is no need to point or trim tips.
Highest B.C.’s, smallest meplat, tighter groups – Nosler RDF.Despite escalating tensions with North Korea, CIA Director Mike Pompeo said Sunday that nuclear war is not “imminent.”
Appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” Mr. Pompeo said it’s clear North Korea’s nuclear capabilities are progressing rapidly, but he downplayed any immediate risk to the United States.
“Each time they test another missile, or if they should conduct a nuclear weapons text, they develop expertise, they expend the envelope. It is probably fair to say they are moving toward that at an ever-alarming rate,” he said when asked whether North Korea has nuclear weapons capable of hitting the U.S.
Still, he said Americans shouldn’t be alarmed.
“There’s nothing imminent today,” Mr. Pompeo said.
Moving forward, he said President Trump’s tough talk and global unity against North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is working.
“He’s pretty isolated today for the first time,” he said. “We’re creating conditions for the leader there to make it clear to him that it’s going to be unacceptable to continue to develop his missile program.”They used to see Jeremy Corbyn as an unelectable throwback to the 1970s - but that was before the general election. Do Conservatives now think he could be the next prime minister?
"I am afraid I have to say yes. That doesn't appeal to me but I can see it."
Like many Conservatives who were in Manchester this week Ron Allcock is struggling to get his head round the idea of the Labour leader as a credible opponent.
"He is grabbing all the headlines and people are now thinking 'well, he isn't a bad guy after all'. It's astonishing. Really astonishing."
Image caption Ron Allcock says the party needs to do something "dramatic"
What worries the 80-year-old Chelmsford councillor is that Mr Corbyn appears to have grown in confidence since the general election and that young people still appear to be flocking to his side.
"We have to think of something really dramatic to get their attention," he says.
Everyone you speak to here admits they underestimated the Labour leader - but opinions are divided over how to fight back.
Image caption Jane Hunt and Hilary Fryers think the Corbyn bubble will burst
Some, such as Jane Hunt, whose dreams of unseating Labour's Lilian Greenwood in Nottingham South crashed and burned in June, believe the Corbyn bubble will burst.
"We need to get through the stage where Jeremy Corbyn is sexy. He is going through a phase where people think he is a Messiah almost. That will soon die off. It's built on absolutely nothing as far as I can see."
Like others you speak to, she claims Mr Corbyn "hoodwinked" young people by promising to abolish tuition fees and "sort" their debts.
"I am afraid I think the students were absolutely conned and I think they will switch off from politics once they realise they've been conned. They'll be switched off for a generation and that's really unfortunate."
It certainly cost her her own chances, she says, as students queued up outside polling stations to cast a ballot for her opponent, who got 10,000 extra votes.
Mrs Hunt's friend, Hilary Fryers, from Market Harborough, agrees that Corbynmania is "built on sand" and will eventually crumble.
Image caption Anthony Clarke says the election campaign was too negative
Some Tories - including Theresa May's Parliamentary aide George Hollingberry - believe it was a mistake to attack Mr Corbyn on his record at the general election.
"It's not good just harping back to the 1970s, talking about Hamas, trying to do Jeremy Corbyn down, there's a message out there that people are listening to and we've got to tell them why it's dangerous, why it's wrong for the country and why they shouldn't fall for it," he told BBC Radio 4.
Anthony Clarke, the election agent for former Bath MP Ben Howlett, who lost his seat to Liberal Democrat Wera Hobhouse in June, says many Tory voters were turned off by the relentless attacks on Mr Corbyn's character.
"You could argue that we would have done much better if we ignored him, sidelined him," he says.
Image caption Diana Beech says Corbyn's polices need to be 'unpicked'
But he has his doubts about whether the Labour leader will ever walk through the doors of Number 10.
"He is potentially quite a difficult opponent, for one reason or another. I still don't rate him as somebody who is capable of ruling this country.
"When we have got Brexit out of the way and everything has settled down I don't think he will be in that position."
One thing everyone does agree on is that the party urgently needs to do more to attract younger voters.
"I think there is such a momentum growing out there, to coin a phrase", says Diana Beech, director of policy and advocacy for the Higher Education Policy Institute, and a Conservative Party member,
"People feel disillusioned. They want change. I just think there is a growing momentum from the grassroots, helped by social media."
But she does not think the party should try to ape Jeremy Corbyn's policies.
"I think the only way to bring it down is to unpick the economic arguments."
Josh Rendall, of Chelsea and Fulham, pictured above, agrees.
"The party didn't appeal to under-40s at the last general election. There was no overall vision.
"What the prime minister has done this week is a good step forward but having Labour-like policies, I don't think really works for anyone."
As for Mr Corbyn, he says: "I personally underestimated him.
"Just look at his conference speech last week, compared to the one a year ago or even two years ago. He was a man who had confidence, he wasn't flailing about. He was confident in himself and I think the party underestimated that."
The Conservatives need better policies on housing and student finance, not just watered-down versions of Jeremy Corbyn's policies, he argues, in what is becoming an increasingly familiar refrain at this conference, "but I don't know what they are".Update: In March, the U.S. Department of Labor announced it closed its investigation of the Oakland Raiders, and concluded that the Raiders are exempt from paying its cheerleaders minimum wage, since they are considered “seasonal amusement,” which is any establishment that runs for less than seven months a year. The case will now go to private arbitration.
Every game day Alexa Brenneman, 24, a Ben Gal cheerleader for the Cincinnati Bengals, woke up at 4 a.m.to get ready. Her hair and make-up had to be perfect before she reached the stadium at 8 a.m. for two practices and autograph signing before the game started. After that, it was four straight hours of cheering, dancing, and smiling.
And she loved it.
Until she did the numbers on what she was being paid and realized she was being exploited.
The Brief Newsletter Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now. View Sample Sign Up Now
Then she took action. Brenneman filed suit against the Bengals franchise on Tuesday. She is the second NFL cheerleader to take legal action against her team alleging that her hourly wages are so low, they’re less than minimum wage. In January, Lacy T. (her full name is not disclosed) filed a class-action lawsuit against the Oakland Raiders for wage theft. And just last week, another fellow Raiderette, Sarah G., 29, joined her.
Lacy T.’s lawsuit—which was the first to make waves in the cheer community–is on behalf of the current 40 Raiderettes and former cheerleaders, and states that the Raiders are in violation of California labor laws, which require a minimum wage of $8 per hour—even for part-time workers (all cheerleaders are fully informed it’s a part-time gig). The Labor Department in San Francisco confirms it is investigating the case.
The Raiderettes are paid a flat fee of $125 a game, which the women say is a nine-hour commitment. That’s about $1,250 for a 10 game season, which the lawsuit says breaks down to around $5 an hour if you include the unpaid hours in practices, events and photo shoots. And they don’t see a paycheck until the end of the Raiders’ season—in January.
On the Ben-Gals squad, Brenneman was paid a total of $855 for her time as a Ben-Gals cheerleader, and says she spent over 300 hours performing, practicing and attending events. (The one week she missed a game for a funeral, she wasn’t paid.) Minimum wage in Ohio is $7.85, but Brenneman’s pay comes to about less than $2.85 an hour.
Similar payment for cheerleaders is common across the NFL—although Super Bowl champions, the Seattle Seahawks, pay minimum wage and overtime for their cheerleaders, the Sea Gals. “We have been doing this for years, and I have never seen a contract like this. This women don’t understand that this is illegal,” says Leslie Levy, one of the cheerleaders’ lawyers.
If the numbers alleged by the plaintiffs are correct, NFL cheerleader wages are at something close to or less than those of unskilled minimum wage workers. But advocates say cheerleading is a profession that demands specific skills and not everyone can land the job. It’s considered a sport in of itself and requires significant training that’s intensively competitive and physically demanding. It’s also one of the most injury prone activities in which a high school or college athlete can participate. The American Academy of Pediatrics says football cheerleading accounts for 70.8 percent of injuries to female college athletes.
Cheerleaders are not the primary money-makers for the NFL, but they are an important and arguably essential part of the draw for many teams. Having a squad is evidence of a successful franchise. A famous squad like the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders can still rake in about $1 million per season for their franchise. And as a whole, the NFL is the most lucrative sport in America. In 2012, the Oakland Raiders were valued at $825 million, with revenue of $229 million. The NFL, a tax-exempt organization, brings in about $9 billion in revenue annually, and hopes to bring in $25 billion by 2027.
Lacy says she realized she wanted a |
photographic images for the cinema. It is closely related to the art of still photography, though many additional issues arise when both the camera and elements of the scene may be in motion.
Independent filmmaking often takes place outside of Hollywood, or other major studio systems. An independent film (or indie film) is a film initially produced without financing or distribution from a major movie studio. Creative, business, and technological reasons have all contributed to the growth of the indie film scene in the late 20th and early 21st century.
Other [ edit ]
Avant-garde music is frequently considered both a performing art and a fine art.
Electronic Media —perhaps the newest medium for fine art, since it utilizes modern technologies such as computers from production to presentation. Includes, amongst others, video, digital photography, digital printmaking and interactive pieces.
Textiles, including quilt art and "wearable" or "pre-wearable" creations, frequently reach the category of fine art objects, sometimes like part of an art display.
Western art (or Classical) music is a performing art frequently considered to be fine art.
Academic study [ edit ]
Africa [ edit ]
Asia [ edit ]
Europe [ edit ]
South America [ edit ]
Brazil: The Institute for the Arts in Brazilia has departments for theater, visual arts, industrial design, and music.[15]
United States [ edit ]
In the United States an academic course of study in fine art may include the Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art, or a Bachelor of Fine Arts, and/or a Master of Fine Arts degree — traditionally the terminal degree in the field. Doctor of Fine Arts degrees —earned, as opposed to honorary degrees— have begun to emerge at some US academic institutions, however. Major schools of art in the US:
References [ edit ]When I was in my early thirties, and looking moreorless good still, I recall complaining to my hair stylist that I was starting to go grey. He replied that many of his clients complained of ageing, as they sat there staring at themselves and him in the mirror, and he would reply:
“We are all going in the same direction at the same speed.”
Wise man. As far as most of us are concerned, even if we have managed to escape a serious illness up ‘til now, just getting older and uglier is calamitous on a personal level. We don’t like losing our looks, our muscle tone, our smooth skin, our shiny thick hair, etc. We don’t like the effects of gravity on our body. But, as Buddha taught and we can easily observe, getting older and uglier is also entirely universal – it happens to all of us who are lucky enough to remain enough years in a human body. So why are we so fussed just about ourselves? When it is this inevitable, why do we allow ourselves to get this fussed at all?
If I were any good at drawing graphs, I could draw one to represent the rise and fall of our looks that went something like this… the line would go up gradually starting at birth, peak in our late teens and twenties, go down slightly in our thirties, and then start to drop precipitously in our forties. From then on, it would all be downhill ‘til our body is disposed of entirely.
We might as well accept it happily. Otherwise, regardless of how much increased effort and money we put into looking good, we are in for decades of diminishing returns.
On a flight to San Francisco a few years ago, I was standing behind three teenage Californian girls on the walkway to the plane. This is what I overheard. The first girl remarked: “I saw your mom the other day. She looked good. How did she manage that?” The second girl replied: “She does Botox. Yeah, and she really works at keeping in shape, it’s like she thinks about it a lot.” The third girl asked: “How old is your mom?”, and the reply was “She’s like forty already!” There was a collective shudder as they took that in, then the first girl said: “I’m soooo going to have Botox if I get that old. It’ll be better then. I’ll never let myself go.” A pause as they thought ahead to the dismal day when they would turn forty and ugly. Then the third girl decided against it, to head nodding all around:
“I’m soooo not going to get old.”
I couldn’t help smiling, but I had to relate. I remember in my teens and early twenties thinking that middle-aged people had somehow just lazily let themselves go — how with just a little more attention to what they ate and a little more exercise (and how hard is that for goodness sake?!) they’d look far better and younger. The grey hair, the pot belly, the wrinkles — it all felt somehow optional. I figured I’d follow my own advice and thus escape the trap they’d fallen into, that I’d look very much the same at their age as I did now. But, guess what. I do eat pretty well and I do still exercise, but I look nothing like I did when I was nineteen. Those girls on the plane did not throw me a second glance – as far as they were concerned, I had clearly failed. One part of me wanted to butt in and say, “Just you wait…!” but of course I didn’t.
Which reminds me of another time after I first moved into Madhyamaka Centre in 1986. A bright, healthy, relatively shapely young twenty something, I was sauntering down the beautiful driveway and, it being a Sunday, there was a local couple up ahead of me, walking very, very slowly. As I got closer to them, I could see that they were both entirely old and decrepit, and I remember this ignoble thought popped into my head: “I’ll never let myself get like that!” At which point, the old man turned around, looked me straight in the eye, and said, not without kindness: “You think you’ll never be old like us. You think you’ll always be able to walk fast down this road. I thought that too when I was your age. But you wait.” I had to chalk that one up to an emanation of Buddha. Despite years of studying ageing, sickness and death already, even teaching about them in branches and on Foundation Programme, this old man’s simple words struck home.
And I didn’t have to wait long, at least before the process of ageing got well underway. Now it has got to that point when every peek in the mirror yields seemingly another wrinkle, grey hair, crevasse, or jowl. It would be scary if it wasn’t funny. (Or funny if it wasn’t scary, I’m not sure which.) Are you at that point yet when you cast around for photos that are several years old for your Facebook page, or at least photos that were shot in dim lighting?! Well, just you wait.
It makes much better sense to focus on improving the beauty of our mind through developing love, compassion, patience, wisdom and so on. This beauty will never let us down either in this life or in any future lives.
Apparently Americans per capita spend more on skin care each year than they do on education. Yet someone I know working in the skin care industry told me the conventional wisdom is that even the best creams and surgical procedures will take only a few years off someone’s looks. Of course, if we try too hard, at some point it backfires — we end up looking unnatural and off-putting, the opposite of what we signed up and paid so much for.
We are attached to an image of ourselves, not accepting who we are and where we are at. Talking of this body image, though, have you noticed how on some days you think you look hot (still) and on others you can’t quite believe how much you’ve aged – yet a casual observer would not be able to tell the difference between these two you’s (and probably couldn’t care less if they could?!) It is all in our mind.
Have you ever seen those pictures of the most attractive people on our planet, the movie stars, when the Enquirer has got hold of them at an unguarded and un-photoshopped moment? Like those stars, we generally don’t allow that to happen. We approach our bathroom mirror deliberately and with certain preconceptions, and this usually determines what we see – “Look, I still look quite nice!” We add our own photo-shop: We angle our head in a certain complimentary way, perhaps smile seductively at ourselves, hold our stomach in, and stand up straight (don’t tell me this is just me!! I’ve seen you…) But how often have you heard someone relay how they were travelling up an escalator in a mall the other day when they caught sight of a middle-aged overweight grey-haired person with terrible posture in the mirror, only to realize with horror that it was their own reflection?! And you wonder what others see sometimes. The other day I wandered down to an open-air blues concert in my town and an ancient man (who was probably my age) tried to pick me up, as if he stood a chance! I felt I was way too young for him, but he probably thought I was just the same age.
When we’re young, we take it in our stride when someone says: “You’re gorgeous!” But the most we can hope for as we get older is: “You’re looking good for your age.” The Buddhist scriptures talk about “the mask of youth”. That smooth flawless skin must fall off sooner or later, even if we try to resist it like some kind of Dorian Gray making a pact with the devil of self-pre-occupation. We can be the opposite of Dorian Gray – becoming more beautiful on the inside, even as our face and body succumb to the years and gravity. (Of course I’m not suggesting we entirely neglect what we look like, just that we don’t exaggerate its importance.)
Why am I saying all this? Only to encourage everyone, or perhaps just myself, to not worry about getting uglier because it is inevitable, at least superficially at skin level. We can cut mold out of an orange, but it is still only a matter of time before the whole orange succumbs. And though there may be more oranges in the fruit bowl, we only have this one body, so our ageing is an indicator that it is time to get out of samsara, the cycle of impure life, by focusing on what we can control, our mind.
If you are beautiful inside, you’ll never be ugly. People will always find you attractive and want you around – that is one of the main benefits of patience, for example. So we could save ourselves a lot of time and heartache by taking Buddha’s advice on board. And sooner — learning to see it coming while we’re relatively young — rather than waiting until the last minute, when we really can kid ourselves no longer but have left ourselves little to fall back upon. Luckily, we are not our bodies so we don’t have to identify with them so desperately. There is a great deal more to us. Our body has a limited shelf life, but the continuum of our mind does not.
Finally, we don’t even have to focus on our bodily age if we are interested mainly in the inner life of our mind, for our mind is ageless. I always find it fascinating how, from a Buddhist perspective, all of us are the same age because our mental continuums have existed since beginningless time.
Over to you: Do you agree? And have you ever met anyone who is more beautiful as their body grows older? What is their secret?
p.s: Ageing happens to everyone who lives long enough, even George Clooney, who claims to be scared of getting old and dead. The London Times quoted him last week:
“There’s only a certain amount of time” (about 10 years he thinks)—“when you get the keys to the kingdom. I’m terrified of the moment when you’re the guy who goes to the studio and says, ‘I’ve got this idea,’ and they’re like, ‘Thanks for stopping by,’ and you walk out and they roll their eyes.”
Please share this article with all the old geezers you know, if you like it.
Like this? Please share it: Facebook
Twitter
Reddit
Print
Email
Pocket
Google
LinkedIn
Tumblr
Pinterest
WhatsApp
Skype
Like this: Like Loading... RelatedBerkeley Connect, an academic mentoring program on campus, could be defunded and eliminated because of budget restrictions.
In the past, the program has been funded through donations made to the campus, according to Michele Rabkin, the associate director of Berkeley Connect. Starting next year, however, because of the campus’s current budget crisis, those funds will no longer be available. Rabkin said Berkeley Connect requires $1 million in funding to be sustained, the majority of which goes to sponsoring fellowships for graduate students working in the program as mentors.
“There is a great urgency to raise new funds,” Rabkin said. “There isn’t a safety net.”
Catherine Koshland, vice chancellor for undergraduate education, confirmed that the status of Berkeley Connect is under review because of budget constraints.
“The Berkeley Connect Program has been a highly successful mentoring program for undergraduate students,” Koshland said in an emailed statement. “In the current budget situation, its funding was reduced for this academic year although every effort was made to reach as many students as possible.”
Berkeley Connect was originally allotted a budget of $2 million per year in order to fund 10 departments, according to Rabkin. In the 2017-18 school year, Berkeley Connect’s total costs were dropped to about $1.4 million with smaller campus allocation, according to campus spokesperson Dan Mogulof.
“Berkeley Connect found creative ways to run the program, though this did result in fewer fellowships and 200-300 fewer undergraduates able to participate,” Mogulof said in an email.
The program went from serving 1,500 students a semester and taking on 37 full-scholarship graduate fellowships to serving 1,200 students a semester and taking on 29 fellowships, Rabkin said.
Berkeley Connect offers courses taken on a pass/no pass basis and gives students the opportunity to build relationships with other students, professors and alumni in a smaller, personalized setting, according to its website. The program also includes weekly lectures from professors and group discussions about career opportunities and graduate school.
The program has reached over 10,000 students and serves 13 academic departments, according to Maura Nolan, the director of Berkeley Connect. Nolan added that Berkeley Connect is a program that brings people together and deserves a place on campus.
“I’m resolved to fight for the program, because I believe that Berkeley Connect transforms students’ experience of college life, making it not only a better social experience but a better learning endeavor,” Nolan said in an email “I believe that Berkeley Connect is the kind of program that can heal the divisions that exist on our campus.”
In its seven years of existence, the Berkeley Connect program has contributed to students’ academic success. Transfer students in the Berkeley Connect program have a higher average GPA than transfer students out of the program, according to the Berkeley Connect’s 2016-17 progress report.
Berkeley Connect has also united various divisions of the campus to create an enriching experience for students, according to campus English professor C.D. Blanton.
“It has integrated the two resources in which Berkeley is richest: the disciplinary depth and expertise of a research university and the range and diversity of talent of a public university,” Blanton said in an email.
Professors involved in Berkeley Connect, such as former English department chair Samuel Otter, emphasized the importance of the program and called its potential defunding a “significant loss.”
“Berkeley loses the opportunity to be a national leader as a model for large public universities. … It loses the attention that students get at much smaller universities,” Otter said.
Contact Mary Kelly Ford and Ananya Sreekanth at [email protected].Looking for news you can trust?
Subscribe to our free newsletters.
If the GOP prevails in the Sunshine State on November 6, it won’t be because of hanging chads—though there have been plenty of issues with Florida’s paperless digital machines. Instead, it might owe something to Gov. Rick Scott’s now infamous voter and the restrictive new voting laws Florida passed last year. Or the fact that about a million voting-age Floridians will be sitting on their hands this Election Day—permanently stricken from the voting rolls because they were once convicted of a felony.
Among the GOP’s myriad strategies to suppress the vote of people considered more likely to vote Democrat—many of them detailed by Kevin Drum and others in —felony disenfranchisement laws may be the biggest bonanza of all for Republican candidates. The United States incarcerates more of its citizens than another other nation. Some 2.3 million Americans are now in prison or jail, with millions more on parole or probation—together, according to a 2009 study, they account for, most of whom would otherwise be eligible to vote.
Florida leads the pack in the number of citizens excluded. But according to the Brennan Center for Justice, 48 states (exceptions: Maine and Vermont) prohibit current prisoners with felony convictions from voting and 29 of them also bar those on probation or parole. All told, felony disenfranchisement prevents more than from voting. And of the four states that permanently bar voting by former felons—Kentucky, Florida, Iowa, and Virginia—the latter three are battleground states.
The Supreme Court has ruled on the issue twice. In 1974, it determined that denying felons the right to vote was an “affirmative sanction” allowable under the 14th Amendment. A decade later, the justices struck down a provision of the 1901 Alabama constitution that prohibits from voting any individual convicted of “any crime involving moral turpitude”—not because it disenfranchised a large portion of the population, but because the provision reflected “purposeful racial discrimination.”
In other words, states can disenfranchise their citizens so long as the laws don’t have a discriminatory intent. But the effect, as noted in a brief from the American Constitution Society, can be racially biased nonetheless. For instance, black men make up 36 percent of the nation’s disenfranchised population, but just 6 percent of the nation’s general population. “While today’s felony disenfranchisement laws are facially neutral,” the brief states, “many are inherited from an underlying legacy of racist voting restrictions.”
For a while, it looked like things were changing in Florida. In 2007, Gov. Charlie Crist signed an executive order giving ex-felons a chance to vote provided they went through a cumbersome, expensive, and bureaucratic restitution process. But last year, Gov. Rick Scott reversed the reforms, forcing any former felon who wanted to regain voting rights to appeal directly to the governor. Those with a nonviolent felony must wait five years before applying for a clemency board hearing; others must wait seven years. “Essentially,” the Brennan Center points out, “the new rules give the governor, an elected official, the power to decide who will (or won’t) be allowed to vote in the next election.”
According to Desmond Meade of the nonprofit Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, “Over 1 million people in Florida right now are disenfranchised,” he says. Nearly 1 in 3 of them are African American men. If these people were able to vote, Meade continues, “Florida would no longer be a swing state.”
In Virginia, “You get your rights restored in the same way you get an execution pardon.”
Florida may have the numbers, but Virginia has perhaps the nation’s harshest disenfranchisement laws. “Part of the problem is that we have inherited laws from around 1850, which simply haven’t been changed,” says Richael Faithful of the Advancement Project, a Virginia group that aims to restore people’s voting rights. She crisscrosses the state holding clinics for activists and lawyers. “It’s in our constitution—a permanent ban on any person convicted of a felony.” At least 378,000 people are affected.
As with Florida, a former felon in Virginia must go sit through a waiting period before applying for clemency to Gov. Robert McDonnell, a Republican. “You get your rights restored in the same way you get an executive pardon,” Faithful says. For certain felonies, you must personally obtain certified copies of court records and pay all restitution fees in full, with interest—including such things as the cost of probation. The application requires specific, detailed information about your convictions and character, reference letters from three non-family-members, and a personal essay explaining to the governor why you deserve the right to vote.
McDonnell has been restoring voting rights at what’s considered a fast pace—1,350 people last year. “Unfortunately, according to our calculations,” says Faithful, “if you had the governor review one application an hour for 24 hours [a day], 365 days a year, it would take him 43 years” to restore everyone’s voting rights. The Richmond Times Dispatch recently told the story of Randy Jefferson Philpott, a moonshiner who satisfied all his legal obligations in 1992 and had his voting rights restored in 2011—19 years later.
In Iowa, the third swing state in question, there was also an earlier effort at reform, but last year the new governor, Terry Branstad, rescinded an executive order that had returned voting rights to ex-felons. As Kevin Drum ” reported last month, former felons in Iowa must fill out a 31-question application seeking information including the address of the judge who handled the conviction. Felons also must supply a criminal history report, which takes weeks to obtain, and the review itself can take up to six months. Drum writes:
Henry Straight, who wants to serve on the town council in the tiny western Iowa community of Arthur, is among those whose paperwork wasn’t complete. Straight can’t vote or hold office because as a teenager in Wisconsin in the 1980s, he was convicted of stealing a pop machine and fleeing while on bond. Straight spent a year on the effort and hired a lawyer for $500 to help. Yet he was notified by the governor’s office [in May] that he hadn’t submitted a full credit report, only a summary, or documentation showing he had paid off decades-old court costs. “They make the process just about impossible,” said Straight, 40, a truck driver. “I hired a lawyer to navigate it for me and I still got rejected. Isn’t that amazing?”
Most of the 700,000 people in jail have the legal right to vote, but “don’t have access to registration materials or absentee ballots.”
There’s also the de facto disenfranchisement of hundreds of thousands of Americans who by law still have the right to vote: those in jail, rather than prison. There are 3,000 local jail jurisdictions in the United States, and jails hold some 700,000 people at any given time. Many are there on misdemeanor charges or are being held in pretrial detention because they can’t make bail. Those lacking previous felony convictions have the right to vote, “but inmates don’t have access to voter registration materials or absentee ballots,” says Marc Mauer, executive director of the Sentencing Project.
Charles Sullivan, who heads the nonprofit group Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants, has successfully brought together jail and voter-registration officials in DC to help inmates to register and cast their ballots. “At any given time in DC jails, out of 2,500 inmates, about 90 percent are eligible,” Sullivan told the Washington Afro. But “we have never witnessed more than 400 inmates voting for an election cycle.” DC’s system is way out front on inmate voting rights, Sullivan added. “But there are many things that need to be done so that eligible voters inside jails have all the same opportunities to make informed choices.”
Additional reporting by Jennifer WedekindThe remains of a major Aztec temple and a ceremonial ball court have been discovered in downtown Mexico City, shedding new light on the sacred spaces of the metropolis that Spanish conquerors overran five centuries ago, archaeologists said on Wednesday.
The discoveries were made on a nondescript side street just behind the city’s colonial-era Roman Catholic cathedral off the main Zocalo plaza on the grounds of a 1950s-era hotel.
Conquistadors sacrificed and eaten by Aztec-era people, archaeologists say Read more
The underground excavations reveal a section of what was the foundation of a massive, circular-shaped temple dedicated to the Aztec wind god Ehecatl and a smaller part of a ritual ball court, confirming accounts of the first Spanish chroniclers to visit the Aztec imperial capital, Tenochtitlan.
“Due to finds like these, we can show actual locations, the positioning and dimensions of each one of the structures first described in the chronicles,” said Diego Prieto, head of Mexico’s main anthropology and history institute.
Archaeologists also detailed a grisly offering of 32 severed male neck vertebrae discovered in a pile just off the court.
“It was an offering associated with the ball game, just off the stairway,” said archaeologist Raul Barrera. “The vertebrae, or necks, surely came from victims who were sacrificed or decapitated.”
Facebook Twitter Pinterest The finds were made just off the main plaza. Photograph: Henry Romero/Reuters
Some of the original white stucco remains visible on parts of the temple, built during the 1486-1502 reign of Aztec emperor Ahuizotl, predecessor of Moctezuma, who conquistador Hernan Cortes toppled during the Spanish conquest of Mexico.
Early Spanish accounts relate how a young Moctezuma played against an elderly allied king on the court and lost, which was taken as a sign that the Aztec empire’s days were numbered.
Mexico archaeologists find temple to wind god beneath supermarket Read more
The building would have stood out because of its round shape among the several dozen other square temples that dominated the Aztecs’ most sacred ceremonial space before the 1521 conquest.
Aztec archaeologist Eduardo Matos said the top of the temple was likely built to resemble a coiled snake, with priests entering though a doorway made to look like a serpent’s nose.
Once excavations finish, a museum will be built on the site, rubbing shoulders with modern buildings in the capital.
Mexico City, including its many colonial-era structures with their own protections, was built above the razed ruins of the Aztec capital, and more discoveries are likely, Matos said. “We’ve been working this area for nearly 40 years, and there’s always construction of some kind, and so we take advantage of that and get involved.”Navy rescues French sailors off NSW coast after yacht sinks
Updated
Two sailors have spent the night aboard a navy frigate after their yacht sank off the south-east coast of New South Wales.
The Frenchmen were forced to abandon their yacht when it sunk in rough conditions about 360 miles east of Jervis Bay yesterday.
The men were winched from a small boat by a Navy Seahawk Helicopter.
The Navy says the recovery operation went smoothly.
"The Rescue Coordination Centre did a great job managing a number of assets including ourselves, fixed wing aircraft and the merchant vessel Williams Strait," said HMAS Perth Commanding Officer Captain Lee Goddard in a statement.
"The final piece of the rescue saw the Seahawk helicopter use its night vision capability to ensure a successful outcome."
The sailors have spent the night aboard HMAS Perth and were suffering from mild hypothermia.
Captain Goddard says the pair are now safe and well on dry land.
"The same Navy Seahawk departed HMAS Perth...and they returned to their home base at HMAS Albatross in Nowra," he said.
"When they arrived the French nationals Bernard and Dominic were met by officials and I've had reported, very happy and very safely on the Australian mainland."
HMAS Perth is participating in a number of maritime exercises in and around Jervis Bay prior to its involvement in the International Fleet Review in Sydney this week.
Topics: emergency-incidents, navy, jervis-bay-2540, nsw
First postedThe powerful House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday approved a bill to prioritize payments once the nation’s debt ceiling is reached.
The bill was reported out on party lines by a vote of 22 to 14.
ADVERTISEMENT
The $16.7 trillion debt ceiling will come back into effect on May 19 after being suspended earlier this year by Congress. The Republican bill would allow the Treasury Department to continue issuing debt above and beyond the limit just to pay the nation's bondholders.
Democrats say the bill is a sure sign that House Republicans want to use the debt ceiling to try to force President Obama to slash the budget as they did during the standoff in 2011, and the bill is a way to shield themselves from criticism.
The bill, introduced by Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) and amended by Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.), would also exempt new debt to pay Social Security benefits from the debt ceiling.
“My amendment does not raise the debt limit. Instead, it requires the Department of Treasury to roll over existing debt by issuing debt outside the limit solely for the purpose of paying principle and interest on our current debt. Importantly, this legislation defines 'interest' in a way that requires Treasury to make the interest payments necessary to ensure that Social Security benefits can be paid in full and on time,” Camp said at the committee markup.
Camp insisted that the bill would remove the threat of a “default” as lawmakers battle over the budget.
“[T]wo major credit rating agencies, Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s, have indicated that they distinguish between failure to make a debt payment and payment on another obligation of the United States,” he said. "They have said it is unlikely that failure to pay any other obligations would prompt a review of the US. credit rating."
Camp said Congress must enact deficit reduction that cuts entitlements without raising taxes.
“This Committee has already begun to examine those policies and will continue to do so over the coming months. In the meantime, we must act to make it clear to the American people and the world economy that the U.S. will not default on a debt payment,” he said.
Democrats shot back that the GOP bill makes a false distinction, and said failing to pay bills to contractors or make other benefit payments will cause an economic crisis. They said Republicans need to simply pass legislation that raises the debt ceiling.
“The party that prides itself on fiscal responsibility has become the party of fiscal folly, that is what is happening here today,” Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) said.
“Despite the damage inflicted on our economy two years ago, and against the renewed warnings of economists, Republicans are once again steering our nation toward default. Indeed, they are preparing for default. That’s what this bill is all about. Because let’s be clear: prioritization by any name is default,” said Rep. Sander Levin (D-Mich.), the committee's ranking member.
“This default preparation legislation would allow Treasury to continue paying private bondholders, including Chinese investors, while perhaps having to default on salaries for our troops in harm’s way, medical care for our veterans at home, or payments to American businesses,” he said.
"This kind of positioning is very dangerous," Levin said. "This is another nail in the coffin of bipartisanship."
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan Paul Davis RyanBrexit and exit: A transatlantic comparison Five takeaways from McCabe’s allegations against Trump The Hill's 12:30 Report: Sanders set to shake up 2020 race MORE (R-Wis.) threw his support behind the bill and accused Democrats of clinging to a “default” talking point as an excuse for not cutting spending.
“Cutting spending is not defaulting. Not redeeming a bond is defaulting,” he said.
“Nobody is talking about brinkmanship on default,” Ryan said.
Republicans signaled that they intend to use the bill to blame the White House if a default occurs. Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) said Obama would have to decide which others bills to pay if the debt ceiling is reached.
A committee aide said that the bill does not explicitly authorize new spending, but exempts transfers of funds to pay bond obligations and Social Security payments.
To prevent the administration from “gaming the system,” the bill requires a weekly report from the Treasury Secretary on how the authority is used.
As it stands, Treasury is expected to be able to use "extraordinary measures" to avoid missing any payments until August.
The Ways and Means legislation would push back the date when Treasury is expected to exhaust extraordinary measures, though sources said it is unclear by how much.
This story was updated at 12:39 p.m.Alan Mayer is a retired American goalkeeper and is currently the goalkeeper coach at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He recently was kind enough to walk me through his unpredictable career, which took even him for surprise. Over the twenty-six years of being a professional, he received six caps for the US and was named the 1978 NASL Player of the Year. He played with a blue-collar mentality and wasn’t afraid to jump at any opportunity placed in front of him. The interview went for some time so scan through the questions and read what you wish. The questions vary from just about everything you could cover in someone’s playing career. With a matter-of-fact speech, Alan outlined the differences between the 1970s and current US National Team, discussed the non-existent concussion-awareness, and told of unbelievable feuds with the Mexican National Team. Alan has a story unlike any other soccer player. How did you end in soccer? I grew up in Long Island, NY and my number one sport was basketball. I played basketball in the winter months. Tennis was my number two sport and I played that in the spring. I needed something to do in the fall and I thought, “Well you know what better way to get in shape for basketball than to put on blue shorts and run around like crazy? I’ll get in great shape and it’ll help my basketball game.” So how did you make that transition from field player to goalkeeper? In one of our big games our goalkeeper let in five goals against Kings Park (New York). A few of them he maybe should have had. On the bus ride home, the coach came up to me and said “Alan, would you have any interest in playing goalkeeper?” I had no interest before that but I said, “Whatever you want me to do I will.” Next day in practice I went out there and people started kicking balls at me and I thought “Well you know this is kind of fun.” It just progressed from that. I started playing. Around sophomore or junior year I just really liked it a lot. Had [the previous goalkeeper] not had a bad game I might not have been playing goalkeeper. Did you have any goalkeeping training in high school? None. It was all strictly done on see-the-ball-and-go-get-it. At that time there was no such thing as a goalkeeper coaches. I didn’t have any coaching, really, until I got into the professionals. I wasn’t sure about technique or form or anything like that. I’d like to say I had great training at the beginning of my career but I didn’t because I had to learn most of it on my own. How did you go from playing two to three years with no goalkeeper training at all to playing at James Madison where you started all four years? I went down to James Madison for a few reasons. I wanted to get away from home a little bit. It’s a six-hour drive so that’s perfect. If I wanted to get back home I could but no one was going to pop in on you. I wanted to stay on the east coast and wanted to go south a little bit for some warmer weather than New York. [JMU] was an absolutely beautiful campus. I really, really liked it a lot and they offered an opportunity to play soccer and tennis there. I’ve tried to notice parallels between goalkeeping and in other sports. So for example, in baseball the shortstop has a lot of similar mechanics to a goalkeeper. Did you experience an overlap between your sports? Here’s the deal. I think there’s a huge, huge crossover between a basketball player and goalkeeper. In both the sports, you’re dealing with the ball all the time. The eye-hand coordination is there. That’s number one. Number two, going up for a rebound is the same as going up for a high ball. You’re in a crowd, you go up there and you try to catch it at the highest point. Another one, you need a quick first step in both sports. As a goalkeeper you need that first step to go for the ball; in basketball you need a quick start-and-stop when you’re trying to take someone one-on-one or defend someone. Another thing was it sharpened me up mentally for goalkeeping. Also the body of the basketball player is very similar to the body of a goalkeeper. They’re tall, fairly lean and mean in a way. There is a big time correlation between basketball and goalkeeping. Was playing basketball an option at JMU? It wasn’t on the table at the beginning because I didn’t think I could play all three sports time-wise. [Basketball and soccer] overlap a little bit and I wouldn’t have any time to do anything else. They had an intramural program that I played in with my buddies. We had a decent team. One time, the varsity basketball scrimmaged our intramural team get their players some extra games and new faces. The coaches at the time were Lou Campanelli, who later was a coach at University Cal, and Mike Fratello, who is a basketball analyst now. At one point in the game, the forward went up for a rebound and brought it down. Instead of leaving the ball higher in the air he brought it down so other people could get it so I stole it from him. Coach stopped the practice and I thought he was going to yell at me for fouling him. He said, “Alan, if you want to play basketball here and you want a scholarship you come in on Monday morning and I’ll give it to you!” When did you realize you wanted to play professional soccer? It started when I was younger, when I was five or six. I always said to myself “I’d love to be a professional athlete.” Getting paid to play something was very intriguing. And I didn’t care what sport it was. Whether it was football, basketball, soccer, bowling… it could be anything. When I went to college, it never… I cannot remember one time thinking “This could lead me into professional soccer.” Soccer at the time wasn’t that big. My college coach took me to see a game and that was the first professional game I had seen. I didn’t know anything about the game. I didn’t know any players. At that time, someone said, “The best player in the world is Pelé.” And I’m like, “Who the hell is he?” I didn’t know anybody. I didn’t know anyone in the national scene. I didn’t even know you could make a living playing soccer. I didn’t know that was a career |
and why it’s so difficult to develop a vaccine against. Find out about the Aedes aegypti mosquito that carries Zika, Yellow Fever, Chikungunya and more, including that it can breed in stagnant or fresh water, why global warming is increasing its territory, and how it was first brought to the Americas from Africa – by the slave trade. And we’re just scratching the surface of everything you’ll discover in this episode. For instance, did you know that most of us carry anthrax in our guts, or that exposure to just two strains of Dengue will make you sick, but a third is fatal 50% of the time? Laurie fills us in on the resurgence of polio, the lost battle against West Nile virus, the Dengue outbreak in Hawaii, and how HIV has infected over 75 million people since 1979. It’s not all bad news, though. You’ll hear how the HPV vaccine has reduced cervical cancer by 64%, as well as about plans by the NIH and NSF to learn about potential threats from unidentified bacteria, viruses and phages, while the WHO and CDC are considering genetically modifying males to reduce mosquito populations. Plus, in “That Day in Science,” Bill and Chuck discuss the Bubonic Plague, which wiped out 1/3 of the population of Europe in just 3 years and is forever enshrined in the beloved kid’s game, “Ring Around the Rosie.”
NOTE: All-Access subscribers can watch or listen to this entire episode commercial-free here: Confronting Zika and other Viruses, with Bill Nye and Laurie Garrett – StarTalk All-Stars.
In This Episode
Host Bill Nye
The Science Guy
Bill Nye The Science Guy Co-Host Chuck Nice
Comedian
Chuck Nice Comedian Guest Laurie Garrett
Pulitzer Prize winning Science Journalist, Senior Fellow of the Global Health Program at the Council on Foreign Relations
Music in This Episode The Struggle
by Grizfolk
The Struggle by Grizfolk Conspiracy
by Paramore
Conspiracy by Paramore Tokyo Police Club
by Nature of the Experiment
Tokyo Police Club by Nature of the Experiment Zella Day
by Seven Nation Army
Zella Day by Seven Nation Army Disturbed
by Down with the Sickness
Episode TopicsIt's a plot worthy of a Hollywood action movie: 40 years ago, the U.S. Navy carried out a daring mission to retrieve a top-secret film capsule that had settled more than 16,000 feet underwater on the ocean floor. At the time, the expedition was the deepest undersea salvage operation ever attempted.
Documents released publicly by the Central Intelligence Agency on Aug. 8 detail the capsule's incredible recovery, using what was at the time the Navy's most sophisticated deep-sea submersible.
On July 10, 1971, a classified U.S. satellite, code-named Hexagon, attempted to return a mysterious "data package" to Earth by ejecting a capsule over the Pacific Ocean. The capsule's parachute failed, and the canister slammed into the water with an excruciating 2,600 Gs of force.
Hexagon satellites, which were declassified in 2011, were photoreconnaissance spacecraft that were part of an American Cold War-era spy program. Since these satellites preceded today's era of digital technology, Hexagons recorded images on film, sending them back to Earth in capsules that re-entered Earth's atmosphere and landed within a designated zone near the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean.
During the first Hexagon mission in the summer of 1971, a parachute carrying one of these capsules broke, and the precious cargo crashed into the ocean and sunk about 16,400 feet.
To recover the sunken capsule, the U.S. Navy crafted a bold rescue mission that would be carried out by its Trieste II Deep Sea Vehicle, or DSV-1. At the time, this mini-submarine was the Navy's best deep-sea submersible.
The newly declassified CIA documents include a report of the undersea mission and pictures of the Navy's DSV-1 and the film capsule at the bottom of the ocean. The report, which offers a glimpse of the exhilarating events, also explains how and why the CIA decided to retrieve the Hexagon Recovery Vehicle (RV) in the first place.
"The decision was made to attempt the deep sea recovery of the RV primarily for the intelligence value of the film record and secondly to establish a capability for deep oceanographic recovery," intelligence officials wrote.
According to the documents, the Trieste II made three attempts to salvage the film capsule: first on Nov. 3, 1971, then on Nov. 30, 1971, and finally, in a successful third try, on April 25, 1972.
The mission's planners had four primary areas of concern, beginning with the ability to pinpoint the impact area. At that time, no object the size of the film canister had been detected by sonar and been searched for underwater. Officials were also unsure how much damage the capsule had suffered upon impact, and after being submerged in sea water. Finally, the Trieste II had yet to venture below 10,000 feet before then.
These obstacles were eventually overcome, and on its third attempt, the Trieste II found its sunken treasure. In the predawn hours of April 26, 1972, the Trieste II emerged about 350 miles (563 kilometers) north of the Hawaiian Islands with the remains of the Hexagon film capsule.
"The third attempt was successful in locating and securing the film stacks; however, as the Trieste was surfacing, the film broke into pieces," officials wrote in their report. "Twenty-five feet was recovered."
The film stack underwent extensive analysis, and it was determined that the Hexagon's Recovery Vehicle broke apart as it crashed into the water. The spools of film were separated from the capsule and several pieces were cut and floated away.
But, all was not lost. The mission proved to be a valuable test of the Navy's ability to carry out deep-sea recovery expeditions. In the report, CIA officials discussed some of the lessons learned, particularly from setbacks that were experienced on all three attempts.
"The third dive, the mechanical arm failed to work, almost preventing operation of the recovery device," the report said. "The on-board computer has never worked. Much more attention is required to the use of high reliability parts and extensive subsystem testing to assure confidence in any given operation."
Still, the mission was seen as a success, even as the motivation for the capsule's recovery shifted from the potential value of the film's reconnaissance, to the usefulness of testing the capabilities of the Trieste II submersible.
"All of the men involved remained enthusiastic and determined throughout the many frustrations and are to be commended for their fine efforts," the report concluded.
This article originally published at Space.com hereCBS, NBC (Rightly) Reject “Ground Zero” Mosque Ad
Doug Mataconis · · No comments
CBS and NBC are refusing to air an ad against the building of a Muslim cultural center that some are, incorrectly, calling simply a mosque in downtown Manhattan:
CBS and NBC have refused to air a provocative ad from the confrontational, well-funded National Republican Trust PAC that calls on Americans to oppose the building of a mosque two blocks from the World Trade Center site. The ad — which has about 100,000 views on YouTube — intersperses some of the most horrifying images from the Sept. 11 attacks with the sounds of Muslim prayer and images of Muslim militants. It focuses on what’s become a divisive — and partisan — issue in New York state, the erection of a Muslim cultural center on Park Place, in the neighborhood near the fallen towers. “On Sept. 11, they declared war against us,” the ad’s narrator says. “And to celebrate that murder of 3,000 Americans, they want to build a monstrous 13-story mosque at ground zero.” In her letter rejecting the spot, NBC Universal advertising standards manager Jennifer Riley wrote: “An ad questioning the wisdom of building a mosque at ground zero would meet our issues of public controversy advertising criteria. However, this ad which ambiguously defines ‘they’ as referenced in the spot makes it unclear as to whether the reference is to terrorists or to the Islamic religious organization that is sponsoring the building of the mosque. Consequently, the ad is not acceptable under our guidelines for broadcast.”
The ad, which alternates between various images of the September 11th attacks and other acts of terrorism and refers to both the terrorists and the people building the center as “they” is below:
As a matter of law, of course, the networks are perfectly within their rights to reject any ad for any reason — with certain legal limitations that require them to accept ads from political candidates — but in this particular case I think the decision was entirely appropriate. The campaign against this center, Mosque, or whatever you want to call it has been tinged with anti-Muslim rhetoric from the beginning and this ad plays that bigotry to the hilt. It’s not even accurate to call this a “Ground Zero” mosque, of course, because the building in question is several blocks away from site of the former World Trade Center.
From my perspective, the answer to the question about whether or not the mosque should be built is simple — Do they own the property? If they do, they should be free to do whatever they wish with it.
Too bad the right’s adherence to property rights is so selective.Environmental groups are suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to force Xcel Energy to take potentially expensive steps to clean up emissions at its Sherco coal-fired power plant — emissions another government agency says obscure the scenery over two national parks in Minnesota and Michigan.
The suit, filed Wednesday, Dec. 5, in U.S. District Court in St. Paul, asks the court to make the EPA act on a 2009 finding by the U.S. Department of the Interior that identified the massive coal-fired plant in Becker, Minn., as a source of the haze floating over the Voyageurs and Isle Royale parks.
The emissions responsible for the haze also cause lung and heart disease throughout the state, said Kevin Reuther, legal director for the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, a St. Paul nonprofit organization that is one of the plaintiffs in the suit.
“It’s time for the EPA to step up and tell Xcel to clean up that plant,” he said.
The groups believe the haze also is harming the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, but the lawsuit does not cover that area because the Interior Department has jurisdiction only over national parks, Reuther said.
Joining the lawsuit were the National Parks Conservation Association, Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness, Voyageurs National Park Association, Fresh Energy and the Sierra Club.
The EPA regional office in Chicago, which oversees Minnesota, did not respond to a message for comment.
An official with Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy said Wednesday that Sherco, located 45 miles northwest of the Twin Cities, is too far from the wilderness areas to be the source of the haze.
“Sherco is not causing or contributing to visibility impairment in the distant national parks and wilderness areas in northern Minnesota,” Frank Prager, Xcel Energy vice president of environmental policy and services, said in a statement.
Sherco, or officially the Sherburne County Generating Station, which has the capacity to generate 2,225 megawatts of electricity from its three coal-fired units, is the backbone of Xcel’s fleet of plants. Xcel is the primary power utility serving Minnesota.
The utility said it is investing $50 million at Units 1 and 2, Sherco’s older units, that should cut sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions — the sources of haze — by half.
“These emissions reductions at Sherco have already been found adequate to comply with Regional Haze regulations, the Clean Air Act’s primary program for protecting visibility in our national parks and wilderness areas,” Prager said.
The differences of opinion boil down to two clean air standards. The environmental groups are using a standard from the 1980s called Reasonably Attributable Visibility Impairment, or RAVI. It allows the EPA to focus on individual sources of pollution, such as a power plant like Sherco.
The RAVI standard calls for more expensive retrofitting technologies than Xcel wants to use that could cost hundreds of millions of dollars, Reuther said.
Or Xcel could replace the two older units with less polluting alternatives, such as natural gas or renewable energy, but in either case, it would require additional investment, the environmental lawyer said.
Xcel and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency favored a newer standard under the Regional Haze Program, said Catherine Neuschler, state implementation plan coordinator for the MPCA.
The Regional Haze standard doesn’t focus on individual sources of pollution but tries to figure out how to cut haze emissions throughout a region, and utilities can get credit for work at other plants, Neuschler said.
Xcel wants credit for its $1.2 billion Metro Emissions Reduction Program through which it converted two aging coal-fired plants in St. Paul and Minneapolis to natural gas and retrofit a third plant in Oak Park Heights with better emission controls several years ago. The utility also plans to retire its Black Dog coal-fired units in Burnsville in 2015.
“The MPCA took a stance under the newer, broader Regional Haze program, but Xcel is also subject to the older RAVI standard under the EPA, and EPA has not acted,” Neuschler said.
Xcel is evaluating the future operations of its older units at Sherco, and it expects to submit its study to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission in July.
Leslie Brooks Suzukamo can be reached at 651-228-5475.
Follow him at twitter.com/suzukamo.Aug 26 (Reuters) - George Zimmerman, whose acquittal in the shooting death of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin sparked protests across the United States, will ask Florida to pay up to $300,000 of his legal expenses, his attorney told the Orlando Sentinel on Monday.
Zimmerman will rely on state law that allows a defendant who has been found not guilty to be reimbursed for costs associated with a case, the paper reported.
Mark O'Mara, attorney for the 29-year-old Zimmerman, will soon prepare a motion seeking authorization of the payments and will submit that to the judge who presided over the case, the lawyer told the Orlando Sentinel on Monday evening.
O'Mara could not be reached for comment.
Zimmerman could not recoup attorney fees under the law, but he could seek costs related to the trial such as expenditures for expert witnesses and an animated video that defense attorneys showed jurors, the Orlando Sentinel reported. The costs could range between $200,000 and $300,000, the paper said.
Zimmerman, who is white and Hispanic, was found not guilty of murder and manslaughter on July 13 in Florida after a racially charged trial in the shooting of Martin, a 17-year-old African-American, in February 2012. Thousands of people demonstrated across the United States after the verdict.Pike Brewing’s 2014 Auld Acquaintance Honors Jack Joyce, A Genuine Rogue
November 19, 2014
Seattle, Washington, November 17, 2014.
The Pike Brewery, celebrating 25 years, announces the release of Pike Auld Acquaintance Holiday Ale 2014. Founded in 1989, the brewery introduced their annual holiday offering in 1990 and has brewed it for ‘auld’ and new friends alike, ever since. It was an early entry into the ‘Winter Seasonal’ craft beer category.
Pike Auld Acquaintance is a dark, toasty amber ale seasoned with orange peel, Yakima Valley hops, and spices. When first brewed, Pike brewers complained of bruised knuckles from zesting orange peel, but since then, they have thankfully been able to source extraordinary dried orange peel. To achieve more aromatic orange notes, head brewer, Dean Mochizuki, used two varieties of orange peel: Curacao and sweet orange peel, along with coriander, cassia bark, and nutmeg. It is a refined, finely balanced, subtly spiced winter warmer- delicious with holiday foods.
ABV 6.5% · IBU 32 · OG 1.062
For the first twenty-three years of production, Jolly Ol’ Saint Nick has adorned the label. Perhaps the designer and Pike owner, Charles Finkel, was inspired by the Santa Claus role he’s played every Christmas Eve for the last 38 years, visiting neighborhood children (along with ‘Mrs. Claus,’ Rose Ann Finkel) as a benefit for Seattle Children’s Hospital. Parents leave gifts hidden outside for the chubby fellow to deliver to their kids. And Kris Kringle never forgets the adults, of course; Santa and the Mrs. always leave a bottle or two of Pike Auld Acquaintance.
To honor his old acquaintance, Jack Joyce of Rogue Ales, who passed away earlier this year, Finkel redesigned the label to feature Joyce, who, just like Santa, is toasting with a beer for the 2014 vintage
Jack Joyce founded Rogue Brewery in 1987; he and Charles met shortly after and remained friends. Nine years earlier, in 1978, Finkel had become America’s first craft beer marketer, introducing craft beers from Yorkshire, Bavaria, Westphalia, and Belgium.
Joyce, a former Nike Executive, built Rogue into one of America’s most successful and award-winning breweries, not by following others, but by staking his own claim, that of a genuine rogue. Rogue Ales are now distributed internationally. The company operates a group of brew pubs, grows their own barley and hops, and distills their own rum and whiskey.February 27, 2014
lisbon
I love the city of Lisbon. Every time I go home I wander the streets snapping away 10000 pictures and discovering new corners. This particular trip I took a lot less photos. As much as I love photographing, lately I have felt the need to snap a few pictures, then put the camera away and actually enjoy the scenery to the fullest and truly soak it all in.
I feel like sometimes taking photos takes you out of the moment. You are hiding being your camera, taking it all in through your lens, not your eyes. Instead of enjoying the moment you are shifting around camera settings and wondering if you got enough shots. That doesn’t sound particularly relaxing to me. It’s almost like you need two trips; one for really exploring and seeing it all, one for going around and taking pictures. I feel like I still need to find that balance.
I wanted to share some of these pictures from Lisbon which were taken on our way up to the castle of São Jorge and didn’t make it into the previous post.I would not dare utter the word!
It was just like the characters in the Harry Potter books who would be afraid to utter the name Voldemort out loud. Just thinking about it was scary enough, but saying the name out loud would be certain to bring impending doom.
Yes, it was just like that!
This was five years ago, and I had already, a year earlier in 2009, "come out" to my family and neighbors that I was transgender and cross-dressed to go out as a woman.
Telling them was really hard, but not the hardest choice I had to make.
Sometime in the middle of 2010 I began to understand that I was not a cross-dresser. I was a....a.....a.....
I was 63-years-old and never could say the word out loud. I was afraid that if I dared to utter it -- if the word actually formed and left my lips, it would make it true -- and then -- my life would be over. Deep down I knew it was true, I really did, and I knew it for a long, long time.
I finally summoned all the courage within me, accepted my truth and said the word. I am a...a...a...transsexual.
Telling myself this was really hard, but not the hardest choice I had to make.
Now that I reached the point of self-acceptance, the question at hand was whether or not I would transition and live the rest of my life as my true self. What if my kids could not handle their father becoming a woman? What if? If I chose my own path and journey, would that be selfish? If they abandoned me, could I deal with it? I had no idea how they would take it, and I heard so many stories of bad outcomes from people who had traveled this path before.
This was my hardest choice. My kids were all adults at this time and I was living on my own for the past 9 years after a 25-year marriage. I told myself I had to move forward. If my kids could not deal with it, that was not under my control or even my responsibly. Perhaps this was selfish, or wrong, but it was the hardest choice I ever made. This was the decision to move forward even in the face of potential losses.
I have been one of the lucky ones. I have been blessed in that I went forward and have lost no one in my family. I know that many people have not had this experience. When we choose to go on out own journeys of truth, we will force those closest to us in life to go a journey that they were most likely not expecting, and not wanting to take. I realized how hard it was for me to wrestle with my choices, but it was even harder for me to put myself in my kid's shoes to understand what must be going through their minds and hearts. I simply just wanted their acceptance first. If I was lucky, perhaps they would also understand. I did not realize how hard this latter part might be. I transitioned in 2011, and last year as I was writing my book, one of my sons and his wife shared what their experience of my journey was like for them.
In my book, No! Maybe? Yes! Living my Truth, I shared that conversation I had with my son Elie and his wife Becca. They told me how it was for them when I shared that I was transgender (I was 62 at the time). I was in Boston and they were in Tucson, so we had a long conversation over the phone. They were totally supportive. Here's a bit of what we said:
Becca: Elie talked to you a long time and I was hoping everything was OK. He came in and told me that everything was OK, but my dad just told me he was transgender. I said, "Oh! That's a surprise." Usually when there is a long conversation it is terrible news.
Grace: For some, many people this would be terrible news.
Elie: Right, for many people that would be terrible news...but what I feel like it is just news...
Becca: Surprising news.
Elie: Just a turn of events. Sexual identity, gender identity, those are just who you are. Like if you called and said you were gay, or are gay, then it would have been like, OK.. to me it didn't have a big... well, it did have a big effect on me, but it doesn't directly change who I am... or change what my relationship with you is.
During the conversation I asked them if my transition caused them any losses. Elie told me that he lost the illusion that his dad always had a happy life.
Elie: I need my life not to be living like that. My dad has been unhappy for sixty years; we need to make sure we don't do that. We always make sure we are living the life we want to live.
It appears that by choosing the path to live my truth, my son was inspired to make sure he lives his!
Later in the conversation Elie made the most important statement:
Elie: I don't understand why I would cut you off. I don't understand any situation where a parent would abandon a kid or a kid would abandon a parent. I don't understand how to do anything different but care for you, because you cared for me forever. We all care for each other, and you didn't do anything wrong...
These are the family values that are important. Love and acceptance and the realization that when you live your truth and just be who you really are -- you have not done anything wrong.
...
Yes, I have been very blessed. After decades of wrestling with myself thinking I was doing something wrong, or even worse, that I was wrong, now I know -- I have done nothing wrong! I could not utter those words until my son said them out loud. These are powerful words. Far more powerful than words that bring the feelings of impending doom, these words bring everlasting joy.
The hard choices of my journey were not only mine. They were hard choices for my family too and I am thankful for the choices they made. We will always be a family.
Reality is that our journey to living our truth is not always easy. Our hard choices often force others to make hard choices. We can only hope that the map for making these choices has a legend guided by love, compassion and understanding.
(The full conversation between Grace and her son can be found in her book, No! Maybe? Yes! Living My Truth)
###For a place where nothing happens, there’s a lot going on. After decades of neglect, the Port Lands are suddenly on everyone’s mind. That became clear last summer, when the mayor’s brother, Etobicoke Councillor Doug Ford, got very excited about the development potential of the former industrial precinct. Egged on by some slick local real estate operators, Ford was overcome with visions of monorails, malls and Ferris wheels.
Revitalizing the Port Lands is a huge project likely to take a generation. ( DAVID COOPER / TORONTO STAR FILE PHOTO )
Though his enthusiasm was not widely shared, it did lead to a city request that Waterfront Toronto (WT) look at ways to speed up the rebuilding process. Ford talked about a three-year timeline, something wildly at odds with reality. “This is a project for generations,” explains WT chair, Mark Wilson. “It will take many decades to unfold.” Regardless, the report city council demanded last September will be unveiled Saturday at an open house at the Design Exchange. Later, on Tuesday and Wednesday, public feedback sessions have been organized.
Article Continued Below
If history is any indication, the good burghers of Toronto will make it clear once again that they prefer the original Port Lands scheme, the one that won an international design competition held in 2007. The alternative would move the mouth of the Don River slightly and reduce the amount of green space for the purpose of creating a larger development parcel. Through these means and by phasing the work, the rebuild could also move faster, though not significantly so. But as Wilson points out, the key to redevelopment is the (non-existent) infrastructure. “Without flood protection, sewers, transit and so on,” he says, “We couldn’t give the land away.” “Doug Ford’s plan didn’t include the river,” Wilson notes. “And there’s no private-sector silver bullet.” In other words, don’t count on business to cover the estimated $2 billion that infrastructure will cost.
“We have confirmed a number of key elements of the original preferred alternative,” Wilson says. “We still think it’s the best approach.” Under Ford, however, the city’s focus has shifted from urban excellence to turning a profit as quickly as possible with as small an investment as possible. There’s nothing wrong with any of that, except that things are seldom as simple as they seem. One might have expected a self-professed corporate giant like Doug Ford to understand that, but obviously not.
Article Continued Below
As the Ford fiasco also demonstrates, the waterfront, let alone Waterfront Toronto, needs to be protected from ignorant and grasping politicians every bit as much as it does from floods. If WT’s mandate and vision have remained intact after Ford’s attempted Port Lands takeover last year, it is only because Torontonians intervened loudly and clearly to say no. In truth, WT was never given the powers it needs to do its job. With three levels of government peering over its collective shoulder, each unwilling to let go and trust the others, there was little chance of that. Despite the obstacles, WT’s accomplishments border on miraculous. As well as fending off Ford, it has proved the validity of its strategy, one based on the idea that public infrastructure spending more than pays for itself with the private investment it produces. That scenario has played out on Queens Quay east of Yonge, where more than $1 billion worth of building is underway or completed. It can also be seen in the West Don Lands, where the Pan-Am Games Athletes Village is under construction along with several condos and parks. If, as Ford said, that’s a “boondoggle,” Toronto could use a few more. Whatever waterfront he’s covering, it’s not ours. Christopher Hume can be reached at [email protected]
Read more about:To avoid future problems, Mr. Simitian has introduced a bill to ensure that trees planted before solar panels are installed have a right to grow in peace. If he succeeds, the state that legalized medical marijuana may soon do the same for shade.
The solar-redwoods dispute is unusual largely because it is a solar-panel owner who is mounting the challenge. Typically, solar-panel owners have to play defense.
For example, despite a 1980 Arizona law to protect homeowners who install photovoltaic panels, Henry Speak, a retiree in Avondale, Ariz., had to battle his homeowners’ association through a series of state courts to keep his rooftop solar system without adding expensive screening — screening that, like the redwoods, would have reduced the panels’ efficiency.
On both sides of the Sunnyvale backyard fence, there is evidence of environmental virtue — one Prius (Ms. Bissett and Mr. Treanor), one electric car (the Vargases), one water-free xeriscaped front yard with recycled-plastic borders (Ms. Bissett and Mr. Treanor), 128 solar panels providing almost all the power for one home (the Vargases), and eight carbon-dioxide-sipping, bird-friendly redwood trees in various stages of growth (Ms. Bissett and Mr. Treanor).
But putting the eco-accent of the feud aside, other elements of the story have universal resonance.
Carolynn Bissett, 48, a contracts administrator for the City of Palo Alto, moved back into her childhood home with her new husband in the mid-1990s. The house once backed onto a cherry orchard, but they found the orchard gone, replaced by large two-story houses, one of which was 17 feet from their lot.
Photo
Mark Vargas, 38, moved into that house in 1993 and began raising a family that now includes three children. He put a hot tub in the small backyard and planted a bit of corn that thrived in the southern sun.
There was little communication between the neighbors — until Ms. Bissett introduced three redwood trees in 1996. In the next five years, she planted five more. As they grew, the ribbon of Mr. Vargas’s backyard got less sunlight; the corn was abandoned.
Advertisement Continue reading the main story
In 2001, Mr. Vargas installed solar panels on his roof and on a trellis over his hot tub. He then informed his neighbors — brusquely, they say — about the solar shade law, saying they must cut down all of the redwoods. He says he asked them politely to remove the trees and offered to pay for removal and replacement.
Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You will receive emails containing news content, updates and promotions from The New York Times. You may opt-out at any time. You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters.
There were efforts to invoke local ordinances. Did Mr. Vargas get a permit for his solar system? Did the redwood roots interfere with a municipal storm drain easement? The backyard fence runs along the border between the cities of Sunnyvale and Santa Clara, doubling the number of agencies involved.
Mr. Vargas got no satisfaction until, in 2005, the deputy district attorney, John Fioretta, began the first prosecution under the Solar Shade Act. It ended in December with the conviction of Ms. Bissett and Mr. Treanor by Judge Kurt Kumli of Santa Clara County Superior Court.
The judge found that Trees Nos. 4, 5 and 6, which cast little shade when the solar panels were installed, were now collectively blocking more than 10 percent of the panels over the hot tub. Trees Nos. 1, 2 and 3 shaded the area when the panels were installed, so they were exempt, and Trees Nos. 7 and 8 did not violate the law, the judge ruled.
Mr. Treanor and Ms. Bissett said that after spending $37,000 on legal fees, they had no money left for an appeal. Last month, to comply with the order — even though Judge Kumli said he found it hard to call the trees a “nuisance” — the couple called the pruners. The judge postponed a decision on whether the pruning of Tree No. 6 was sufficient until after Dec. 21, the winter solstice this year, when the sun is lowest in the sky and the trees cast maximum shade.
Mr. Treanor and Ms. Bissett still do not quite believe what happened. “It was like I’d been hit in the chest,” Ms. Bissett said of her reaction upon opening the envelope that contained the criminal charge.
Mr. Vargas said it all could have been avoided. “My entire goal was to find a more appropriate tree to place between our two properties,” he said. “To have a 60-foot barrier is unreasonable.”
He said he was consulting his lawyer about filing a civil suit, possibly related to the storm-drain easement.
“We hear him typing away at night,” Ms. Bissett said.
Meanwhile, Senator Simitian’s bill is headed for a committee vote this month. It determines when trees can grow amid solar panels (if they are planted ahead of time) and when they cannot (if they are planted after a solar-panel is installed). The state, Mr. Simitian pointed out, has a law to encourage the construction of one million solar roofs. “I’m trying to avoid a million neighborhood arguments,” he said.Vikings receiver Mike Wallace won’t be back in 2016 at his current contract, which calls for an $11.5 million salary cap hit.
That’s just common sense. One doesn’t catch 39 balls for 473 yards and two touchdowns and get paid as one of the top receivers in the league.
But that doesn’t mean coach Mike Zimmer doesn’t want Wallace to return in 2016.
“I was disappointed and, really, I’m disappointed more so that it wasn’t the season that he wanted or we wanted,” Zimmer said today. “I say this from my heart: I love this kid, I love the way he works, I love the way he competes. I texted him last night basically and told him the same thing.
“I said, ‘You know, I know this wasn’t exactly how we planned it out.’ But I love him as a person, a competitor, a football player and I’m disappointed that it didn’t pan out the way I envisioned it and that really and honestly, he’s always going to be one of my kind of guys. I like this kid.”
Wallace came to Minnesota from Miami with a reputation for being a selfish malcontent as a Dolphin. He never once appeared to be that way with the media, and he routinely was the last guy to leave the field after catching extra balls from the Juggs machine.
Zimmer said today that Wallace never complained about not getting the ball, even though Wallace tied his 2009 rookie season for career low in catches while posting career lows for receiving yards (by 283 yards) and touchdowns (by three).
Asked if he thinks Wallace will return, Zimmer said, “I don’t know. Those are all things we have to determine here in the next week moving forward. I would like him back, I love the kid, I love his heart. He just went and worked every day and tried to get guys better. He loves it here, he loves Teddy. If it can get worked out, I’d like to have him back.
“But I want to do what’s best for Mike Wallace, too. I told most of the players that are free agents, that I want them to do what’s best for them. Obviously, I want them back. It’s important to me, they have shorter careers, not always than coaching, but they have shorter careers and it’s important for me to make sure that they get to the right place, whatever they feel is right.”Hillary Clinton, slated to win the majority of Super Tuesday primaries, gave her victory speech to a Florida crowd Tuesday, having already claimed five states with results still rolling in.
Echoing her previous speeches, Clinton promised a continuation of President Barack Obama's eight years, with improvements to health care and more jobs in the economy.
Drawing on her experiences campaigning in Flint, Michigan, and Boston, Clinton said the only thing America needs a little more of is "love and kindness."
"We have come too far to stop now. We've got to keep going. Keep working. Keep breaking down those barriers and imagine what we can build together when each and every American has the chance to live up to his or her own God-given potential," Clinton said.
Below is a rush transcript of Clinton's victory speech.
You know all across our country today Democrats voted to break down barriers so we can all rise together. I am so delighted to be here with you in Florida. I congratulate Sen. Sanders on his strong showing and campaigning.
I'm grateful to all of you who voted for me, to the volunteers and organizers. I know you worked your hearts out. To all my friends, many of a lifetime who traveled to all the states to tell people about the candidate they knew, and the hundreds of thousands of people who went to HillaryClinton.com to give what they could – most less than $100 – now this campaign moves forward to the Crescent City, Motor City and beyond.
We're going to work for every vote, and we will need all of you to keep volunteering, contributing, doing everything you can, talking to your friends and neighbors because this country belongs to all of us not just those at the top. Not just the people who look one way, worship one way or even think one way.
America is strong when we're all strong. We know we've got work to do. That work, that work is not to make America great again. America never stopped being great. We have to make America whole. We have to fill in what's been hallowed out.
We have to make strong the |
before. Wage shares are falling and the promise of advocates of market economies that full participation of all people in the progress of society at large would be possible is fading. However, the fact that wage shares are on the decline does not imply that the forces driving this move are those that the neoclassical model of the labor market refers to. Indeed, the political perception of pressure from emerging markets in many countries in the North was based on this model.
A closer look reveals the limits and weaknesses of this approach. The model used is taken by analogy from the competition of companies. However, the model describing competition of companies does not apply to countries, and in particular not to countries with independent currencies. In a dynamic setting, market economy companies compete through the differentiation of productivity. The supply side conditions for all companies are normally given – market forces’ tend to equalize prices of intermediate goods like the price of labor and the price of capital. Consequently, success or failure is determined by the specific value that is added at the company level to the generally traded goods and services. Companies as price takers have to honor the price of labor determined on the market for the different qualities of labor that are offered as well as the price of capital.
Companies able to generate higher productivity through innovation and new products produce at lower unit labor costs than their competitors, which will allow them to offer their goods at lower prices or make higher profits at given prices. The former means to gain market shares, the latter may mean strategic long-term advantages through higher investment ratios. As long as the prices of labor and other intermediary products are given, competitors adjust by implementing the same or a similar technology or by quitting the race through bankruptcy.
At the level of countries this mechanism doesn’t apply because wages are normally set at the level of countries. Be it through mobility of labor at the national level or through wage negotiations in a national context, countries unlike companies are wage setters not wage takers. If wages are centrally negotiated at the level of the nation state or if labor is mobile the so-called law of one price, equal pay for equal work, has to be applied. Consequently, stronger growth of productivity at this level does not increase the competitiveness of all companies against the rest of the world as advantages in productivity are normally reflected in higher nominal wages (and real wages) and unchanged unit labor cost growth.
But even if this mechanism, for whatever reason, would not work at all, a country with rather high productivity but extremely low wages and very low unit labor costs, would not automatically increase its competitiveness or the competitiveness of all its enterprises. The prices in a country using consistently wage-dumping policies to improve its competitiveness would not necessarily be lower than in the rest of the world expressed in international currency. In a world of national currencies and national monetary policy, a country supplying its goods at much lower prices would gain market shares and accumulate huge trade and current account surpluses. Political pressure to adjust wages and prices in international currency would mount and sooner or later the country would be forced to adjust its wages, measured in international currency, through a revaluation of its currency.
Nations can open their borders for trade and capital flows if it is assured that their companies have a fair chance in the global division of labor and that they are not in danger of permanently losing out against the rest of the world. This is the simple proposition underlying all international arrangements about trade in the WTO and elsewhere. If, at the level of the overall economy, the nominal remuneration of the immobile factor in one nation state, labor, exceeds the effectiveness of its use (labor productivity) consistently by a wider margin than in the competing countries, the country is getting into trouble because most of its companies are in trouble. They have to ask for higher prices and accept the permanent loss of market shares or accept lower profits to avoid the loss of market shares.
A situation like this, called an overvaluation due to an appreciation of the “real exchange rate”, is unsustainable and once the accumulated overvaluation reaches some twenty percent or so the crisis is unavoidable. The deficit on the current account is just the most visible indicator of the pathological constellation but not its core. In Europe Italy and Britain were facing such a problem as members of the European Monetary System in 1992; one opted in, one opted out, but both devalued. In systems of adjustable exchange rates, the solution is rather simple: the currency of the country in trouble has to devalue bringing the nominal wages and nominal unit labor costs measured in international currency back to a competitive level. Indeed, devaluation leads to a relative fall in real wages but that is not an important aspect of the analysis.
In a currency union the member countries explicitly or implicitly agree not to go the inflationary way (nominal wages exceeding national productivity by more than an explicit inflation target) anymore or to go altogether. With an inflation target of close to two percent the implicit contract is that nominal wages do not rise more than national productivity growth plus two percent. This means that each country can and should enjoy its productivity increase, be it 1 percent like in Germany or 2 like in Greece, in terms of real wage growth or shorter working hours or both. At the same time each country is encouraged to do whatever needed to improve its productivity performance.
The new mercantilism has been aiming at defending favorable competitive positions created by undervalued exchange rates or by very low wages in relation to productivity. However, this strategy has not been successful. In Germany it destroyed the dynamics of the domestic markets and provoked vulnerability of trading partners that will backfire on Germany. Nevertheless, there is always a risk that governments will use exchange-rate manipulation or wage compression, subsidies and lower corporate taxation to artificially improve the international competitiveness of domestic producers. This kind of “new mercantilism” has to be banned. All countries can simultaneously boost productivity, wages and trade to improve their overall economic welfare, but not all of them can simultaneously Improve their competitiveness and achieve current-account surpluses. Successive rounds of competitive devaluations or races to the bottom are counter-productive and likely to cause considerable damage. Therefore, the world economy needs a new code of conduct going far beyond the existing framework of international rules of trade policy and explicitly include national policies with huge repercussions on international markets.Get the biggest daily news stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email
This shocking footage reveals the mutant 'double-muscled' pigs being bread by a farmer in Cambodia.
The terrifying creatures are thought to be the result of genetic breeding.
Some of the super-sized animals have enormous testicles while others are barely able to walk because of their muscles.
Videos and images of the freakish pigs have gone viral after being posted on Facebook.
The page is called Duroc Cambodia, referring to a common breed of domestic pig which originated in the US.
But the farmer, thought to be based in Banteay Meanchey province, appears proud of his stock.
(Image: Facebook)
(Image: Facebook)
He has been sharing regular updates on the pigs' progress since last December.
The page offers two lots of pig semen and two artificial penises for for just £5.
The desire for increased muscle is thought to be driven by increased prices for pork by weight.
Demand has soared in recent years, especially in China which is the world's biggest pork market.
Many have been left outraged and have accused the farmer of using steroids and growth hormones to get the astonishing results.
(Image: Facebook)
(Image: Facebook)
(Image: Facebook)
Janice Short wrote on the page: "This is grotesque! Obviously bred like this. Are there no laws to stop this sort of thing. Ugh!"
Ric Tucker added: "what are you trying to show here? How much meat you can produce, or how badly these animals are treated? Whoever is looking after these should be locked up for EVER!"
Animal right group PETA have condemned the footage.
"Hulk-like pigs are the stuff of nightmares, not meals, and those who are genetically engineered are also likely to be born with painful health issues," the group said in a blog post.
Reports first surfaced in 2015 of 'double-muscled' pigs in South Korea and China that were the result of a single gene alteration.
The aim was to produce leaner meat at higher yield.
But of 32 pigs bred, only 13 survived to eight months old and only one was considered healthy.Written by Emma Llansó
The issue of cybersecurity perfectly illustrates why the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) should not be given expanded regulatory authority to include matters of Internet governance. The UN body is meeting this December as Member States renegotiate its core telecommunications treaty, and CDT and others have been warning of the risks to online freedom and innovation. In a paper issued today, we examine in detail some of the proposals pending before the ITU relating to cybercrime and cybersecurity.
On the one hand, cybersecurity is undeniably a critical issue for the future of telecommunications and indeed for global commerce, development, and human rights. On the other hand, it is ill-suited to the kind of centralized, government-dominated policymaking that the ITU represents.
Cybersecurity requires agility: Given the pace of technological change, governmental bodies are not likely to be the source of effective technical solutions. Instead, those solutions will emerge from multi-stakeholder efforts, involving ICT companies, technologists, academics, and civil society advocates, as well as governments.
Moreover, the cybersecurity issue inevitably leads straight into questions of human rights and governmental power: surveillance, privacy, and free expression. None of these are issues the ITU has any expertise in or any ability to assess and balance. Rather than adopting vague wording that could be used by governments as justification for repressive measures, the ITU should endorse existing standards initiatives such as those underway at the IETF and continue to serve as one forum among many for the development of consensus based, private sector-led efforts.Blogs In Less Than 1 Year Verizon Data Goes from $30/Unlimited to $50/1GB June 12, 2012
Today, Verizon Wireless announced its new pricing plans for mobile phones and data. If you mostly use your phone for data, this is bad news.
Let’s look at the numbers. Imagine that you want a new smartphone plan. You use it for phone calls and for text messaging, but most of your use is mobile data. You may not need to imagine too hard, since that is how consumer behavior has been evolving for a few years.
A year ago, you probably would have chosen the 450 voice minute option ($39.99), the 250 text message option ($4.99), and the unlimited data option ($30). That’s $75 for more talk and text than you need (but the least you could buy) plus unlimited data.
Fast forward to today. With Verizon’s price structure today, you would probably choose the 450 voice minute option again ($39.99), the 1000 text message bucket ($10 - Verizon eliminated its lower buckets so you have to pay for more messages even if you do not need them), and 2GB of data ($30 - sorry, Verizon eliminated unlimited data in 2011). That’s $80 for more talk and text than you need plus 2GB of data.
And what happens at the end of this month? If you are still someone who uses a moderate amount of voice minutes and text messages but mostly uses data, get ready to pay more for less.
The good news: $40 will now buy you an unlimited amount of voice calls and text messages. That is $10 less than you were paying for your voice and text plans combined before, so even if you don’t plan on increasing your voice calling or texting you come out ahead.
The bad news: you might need those voice minutes and text messages because data just got a lot more expensive. The cheapest data option will let you pay $50 for 1 GB of data (according to Verizon's calculations, that's about 30 minutes of streaming video for the month). To replicate the amount of data you can buy today you need to pay $60 for 2 GB (which will give you an hour of streaming video, but then you can't use your phone for anything else until the next month).
Where does that leave you? The cheapest option Verizon now offers smartphone customers is $90 for half as much data as $80 buys you today. And in less than 12 months $30 has gone from buying you unlimited data to not even covering 1 GB.
This is just the latest example of wireless carriers increasing costs for consumers under the pretext of doing them a favor. There does not appear to be very much competitive pressure keeping carriers from raising prices for customers – which is part of the reason that we are against even more consolidation in the market.LibreOffice was launched as a fork of OpenOffice.org on September 28, 2010, by a tiny group of people representing the community in their capacity as community project leaders. At the time, forking the office suite was a brave—and necessary—decision, because the open source community did not expect OpenOffice.org to survive for long under Oracle stewardship.
In fact, the group of 16 founders launched an independent free software project under the stewardship of The Document Foundation, to fulfill the promise made by Sun 10 years before—with the first announcement of OpenOffice.org—of an independent free software foundation capable of pushing forward the free office suite to the next level.
LibreOffice timeline by Italo Vignoli. CC0 1.0
After five years, LibreOffice is recognized as a major Microsoft Office contender, based on a sheer feature by feature comparison, and on the number of successful migrations. The Future of Open Source Survey 2015 (slides) even included LibreOffice in its list of seven most valuable open source projects, based on the answers provided by more than 1,300 professionals worldwide. And migrating to LibreOffice has never been easier, thanks to the Migration Protocol (PDF) drafted by the most experienced people at The Document Foundation, which outlines the best practices adopted by several large projects worldwide.
The LibreOffice journey has been amazing. In five years, LibreOffice developers have not missed a single time-based release—with major announcements in late January and late July, and minor announcements on a monthly basis. Thanks to this sustained pace, LibreOffice has reached a richness of features and a level of interoperability that are second to none.
LibreOffice 5.0, launched in early August, has been the most successful major release ever, triggering an unprecedented 8,000 donations in 30 days. Of course, the success has been reflected in the number of adoptions, which has soared. The icing on the cake was the announcement by the Italian Defense Organization saying that it will migrate some 150,000 PCs to LibreOffice starting in October 2015.
Join the LibreOffice community to improve documentation, help with translations, file a bug, and more.
Follow @libreofficeGet the biggest Liverpool FC stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email
News of Sadio Mane’s return to Liverpool’s Melwood training base without injury this morning will have been welcome news to Reds supporters.
Rumours of Mane sustaining an injury on duty with Senegal - suggestions since dispelled - will have caused concern just as home supporters were getting ready to welcome him to Anfield on Saturday for the clash with Leicester.
That date is now on with Mane almost certain to be in Jurgen Klopp’s starting line-up for the evening clash with Claudio Ranieri’s men.
But Liverpool will need to be prepared for losing their new star man for around a month of this season.
His Senegal team secured their qualification for the African Nations Cup last June and recorded their sixth straight victory in qualifying in Saturday’s 2-0 victory over Namibia in Dakar.
Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8 Cancel Play now
It may be a few months away - with Mane's fitness and form entirely hypothetical at this stage - but the tournament itself runs from January 14 to February 5 in Gabon and includes a third place place-off. Senegal will be hopeful of a strong run in a tournament which they have never won.
The Reds fixture list suggests Mane would join his international colleagues after the away trip to Sunderland on Monday, January 2.
That would see the £30m forward miss the third round weekend of the FA Cup (Jan 7) and perhaps more significantly the away trip to Manchester United on January 14, the home game with Swansea on January 21 and the midweek visit of Chelsea on February 1.
If Senegal did go deep in the 16-team tournament, the away trip to Hull on February 4 would be ruled out while any significant progress by Liverpool in the EFL Cup (the League Cup) would see Mane miss both semi-final legs which are due to be played in the weeks commencing January 9 and 23.
Mane would be Liverpool’s only absentee for African Nations duty with Joel Matip appearing to have stepped away from his international career with Cameroon.
The draw for the competition takes place on October 19 with the top two from four groups of four making it through to the quarter finals.
Mane has played 36 times for Senegal, scoring 10 times and would appear an automatic choice for their squad if fit.Starting January 20, insomniacs and fervid firearms enthusiasts will have a place to go: GunTV. The home shopping network television show will provide six hours of early morning programming initially, from 1:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. ET, with plans to expand to 24/7 within its first year.
The timing for entrepreneurs Doug Bornstein and Valerie Castle, each with a successful history of using late-night TV to market other items, couldn’t be better. With a record-setting number of background checks on Black Friday and the Left’s continued propaganda that somehow restricting legitimate gun owners’ rights will reduce violent crime, the market just may be ripe for an outlet such as GunTV.
Its website claims it will contain “unique” content along with safety tips and other services:
The GunTV live shopping channel will provide unique content and a wide range of firearms and related product and services to a[n] Internet audience … [and to] provide seamless fulfilment and customer service.
Pushback from anti-gun groups was immediate and predictable. Said Laura Cutilletta, the senior staff attorney at the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, “My gut reaction is this is the last thing we need. When you look at the number of gun deaths in this country every day, the idea that somebody’s ‘brilliant marketing scheme’ is to get more guns into the hands of more people is just a little bit outrageous.” Especially if they’re sleepy: “Buying a gun is a serious business. If you are going to buy a gun for your home, it’s not a decision you should be making at three in the morning because you are watching TV.”
Said co-founder Castle: “Our business philosophy is filling the need, not creating one.” She added:
People are super busy, and if they can tune into our content at a time when they are not in the throes of their busy day, and really sit and pay attention to how to safely use the product and store it, as well as get the back story of the product … you are going to get way more information about that product.
And besides, all the rules about purchasing a firearm still apply. Through an arrangement with Sports South, a Louisiana firearms distributor, when a viewer sees a product hit his “price point” on the program, he calls the toll-free number to order the item. That store then sends it to a FFL (Federal Firearms Licensee) dealer close by, and the customer picks it up there after completing the paperwork. Most FFLs charge a modest fee for the service.
When lawyer Cutilletta learned how the system will work, she backed off.
How large is the market for firearms? The founders say that “GunTV will engage America’s 85+ million outdoors men and women and owners of more than 270 million guns in the USA with world class television shopping content, broad selection of firearms and related consumer goods, original programming, gun safety, personal security and self-defense education.”
According to IBIS World, the annual revenue of gun and ammunition stores in the United States is more than $3 billion, with profit margins exceeding 15 percent.
But a real measure of the size of the market that Bornstein and Castle might be tapping into could be measured informally by examining traffic on gun-related blogs. Since John, a Tennessee resident and firearms aficionado with the username Hickok45, started posting videos on YouTube, he has had millions of visitors.
He started modestly, making his first video for family and friends requesting his advice and counsel. For convenience he posted the clumsily made video on YouTube. By September 2011, he’d had more than 100,000 visitors, and in honor of that surprising result, he reposted it. More than 550,000 have seen it since. More millions have seen the many others he has posted since.
Said John:
The cool thing about YouTube is that anybody can start a channel and put up anything that floats their boat. I do what I do, and others do what they do. I recommend others do the same and fill any gaps they perceive in what all of us are doing. There’s room for more good channels; that’s for sure. All it takes is a camera and Internet access.
For the founders of GunTV, all it takes is the Second Amendment and the free market. It’s just one more way gun owners (or prospective ones) will be able to obtain the information they need as they exercise one of their most precious rights.
A graduate of an Ivy League school and a former investment advisor, Bob is a regular contributor to The New American magazine and blogs frequently at LightFromTheRight.com, primarily on economics and politics. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..Submitted by Mike Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog,
DAVOS MAN: “A soulless man, technocratic, nationless and cultureless, severed from reality. The modern economics that undergirded Davos capitalism is equally soulless, a managerial capitalism that reduces economics to mathematics and separates it from human action and human creativity.” – From the post: “For the Sake of Capitalism, Pepper Spray Davos”
I’ve written several posts examining the dangerous cluelessness inherent throughout the ranks of the oligarch class over the past several years. One of my earliest and most viral pieces was published two years ago and titled, An Open Letter to Sam Zell: Why Your Statements are Delusional and Dangerous. That article was a response to the billionaire’s appearance of CNBC during which he instructed the less financially fortunate to “emulate the 1%,” as if their destitution was a result of personal shortcomings as opposed to egregious structural flaws inherent in the rigged, crony, oligarch-controlled Banana Republic economy billionaires such as himself helped mold. Here’s an excerpt:
Individuals, social classes, even cultures and nation-states develop storylines and so-called “myths” about themselves and how they fit into the bigger picture of current events and human history. We all see ourselves and whatever group(s) with which we identify within a particular social, political and economic context. This is obvious, yet it is much more difficult to look at your owns myths and question them. It is far easier to look at other groups’ myths and heap criticism on them. That is basically all you do. You think everyone that has issues with you oligarchs and how the 0.01% is destroying our economy and society is simply envious because you assume they think like you do. Certainly, if you were poor you would be envious of the the rich. You’ve made that clear. However, that is not the primary motivation of the anger and resentment swelling up from the underclasses. Your misdiagnosis of the root cause of the current dissent in America is a result of your obliviousness to the actual concerns of the 99%. A group about which you speak with such certainty, yet certainly know almost nothing about. In fact, my website is dedicated to highlighting all of the destructive trends happening in this nation today. From record high food stamp participation, to declining real wages and the reality that young people need to take on so much debt they become indentured serfs from the moment they enter the workforce. From a loss of 4th Amendment rights due to illegal NSA spying, to the militarization of the police force. From oligarch immunity from serious financial crimes that average citizens would be thrown in jail for life for, to trillion dollar bailouts with zero strings attached for the financial community. From the over-prosecution of some of our bravest citizens such as Aaron Swartz, Barrett Brown and Private Manning to a fraudulent two-party sham political system entirely controlled by your socio-economic class.
In that article, I outlined many of the reasons people are angry and why they should be angry. In fact, I’ve published hundreds of articles every year since early 2012 detailing exactly why the country is in such dire straights. It’s not just me of course, tens of thousands of people across the globe have been doing it for far longer and to much larger audiences. The reason billionaires are incapable of comprehending what’s going on is because doing so would contradict the life-stories they tell themselves about themselves. Make no mistake about it, billionaires think of themselves as truly exceptional people. Privately, they likely muse that their mere presence on earth is nothing short of a glorious gift to humanity from the heavens. These people are deluded, secluded and emotionally stunted in more ways than you could possibly imagine. They have zero capacity for self-reflection.
In our modern world, our culture has become convinced that extreme wealth and power are something to admire, when history shows us time and time again that “the people” must always remain vigilant against the centralization of precisely those two things. Naturally, the people who are centralizing the wealth and power for themselves don’t see the problem with wealth and power centralization. Neither does much of the fawning, inept, and soulless media.
The latest example of oligarch disconnectedness comes, quite appropriately, from Davos. So here’s the quote from Steven Schwartzman, billionaire CEO of private equity giant Blackstone:
“I find the whole thing astonishing and what’s remarkable is the amount of anger whether it’s on the Republican side or the Democratic side,” the Wall Street mogul said at the World Economic Forum in Davos. “Bernie Sanders, to me, is almost more stunning than some of what’s going on in the Republican side. How is that happening, why is that happening?”
Forbes goes on to accurately note that:
America is the richest and most unequal nation in the world — at least when you look at the wealth in 55 of the more conventionally developed countries. Median income has largely fallen behind economic growth as corporations continue to retain a bigger share of the benefits, turning into a reverse of what is usually claimed as the danger of income redistribution. But whether there are long term changes coming or not of their own accord is immaterial in this case. People in the U.S. don’t tend to think that way. What many perceive now is a basic economic unfairness. They work hard, play by the rules as they’ve learned them, and keep getting further behind. The debt funding for college and large purchases seems to be never ending for large portions of the populace, which cements in a sense of unending inequality. In a way, Bernie Sanders and the Tea Party are different expressions of the same phenomenon. People disagree over the causes and the proper fixes, but they can find common ground in the sense that things are wrong, that power and wealth are too concentrated, and that most of the country will be left holding the bag when things blow up. That the biggest banks got bailed out of an economic downturn largely of their own creation while the promised help for homeowners largely never materialized didn’t help. Of course people are angry. It’s one thing to face problems but another to face incompetent greed and manipulation. Unless people climb out of their ivory towers and recognize what is happening on the ground, there will be pain and suffering for all to pay. It’s happened time and again in the past. What makes anyone think that our age is somehow immune?
David Sirota at the International Business Times adds:
On the eve of the conference, the nonprofit group Oxfam released a report showing that the richest 62 people on the planet now own more wealth than half the world’s population. In the United States, recent data from Pew Research shows the average American’s median household worth has stagnated, as the median household worth of upper-class Americans increased 7 percent. Schwarzman, though, expressed surprise that people are enraged.
Yes, you read that right. 62 people own more than 3.5 billion of the earth’s inhabitants. Nothing to see here, move along serfs.
Of course, as I’ve maintained time and time again, this sort of aggregation of wealth only happens in rigged economies. It’s as if the entire Western world has become that Third World oil dictatorship where three guys have billions while the rest of the population eats dirt. I’m sure those dictators also see wonderful, admirable people when they fawn over themselves in the mirror, just as Steven Schwartzman undoubtably does.
Which brings me to my final point: Blackstone. It’s not like Steven Schwartzman is Steve Jobs or Henry Ford, revolutionary entrepreneurs who made their fortunes changing the world and bringing innovative products to people. In fact, you could very easily make the argument that Schwartzman has made much of his fortune by bringing misery to people, or if we want to be generous, hyper rent-seeking from the destruction of the American middle class. Need some proof? Check out the following:
Leaked Documents Show How Blackstone Fleeces Taxpayers via Public Pension Funds
A Closer Look at the Decrepit World of Wall Street Rental Homes
America Meet Your New Slumlord: Wall StreetThe education secretary has condemned an ultra-Orthodox Jewish sect’s decision to ban women from driving, saying the edict was “completely unacceptable in modern Britain”.
Nicky Morgan, who is also the minister for women and equalities, spoke as the Department for Education launched an investigation into the order issued by the Belz sect, which runs two schools in Stamford Hill, north London. A letter to parents said that, from later this year, children driven to school by women would be turned away.
Parents in the area defended the ban on Friday, saying it was part of the choice they made when they agreed to live within the Belz community. Women rejected the characterisation that they were oppressed, and the schools wrote to Morgan, saying the notice had been misrepresented.
The group runs Talmud Torah Machzikei Hadass, a boys’ primary school, and Beis Malka, a primary school for girls. Both have been rated good by Ofsted.
The schools had said that, from August, any child driven to school by their mother would be turned away at the school gates. The letter said the ban was based on the recommendations of Rabbi Yissachar Dov Rokeach, the Belzer spiritual leader in Israel.
It said that if a mother has no other choice but to drive her child to school – such as a medical reason – she should “submit a request to the special committee to this effect and the committee shall consider her request”.
Morgan condemned the edict, which was first reported by the Jewish Chronicle. In a statement provided to the Guardian, she said: “This is completely unacceptable in modern Britain. If schools do not actively promote the principle of respect for other people they are breaching the independent school standards. Where we are made aware of such breaches we will investigate and take any necessary action to address the situation.”
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Education secretary Nicky Morgan condemned the ban. Photograph: REX Shutterstock
The Department for Education later confirmed that an investigation was under way.
Outside the schools on Friday, the Guardian found parents were broadly supportive of the decree. Jacob – not his real name – who said he had sons at one of the schools, said he and his wife had actively chosen to be part of the Belz sect because of its strict regulations. “My mother drives, my mother-in-law drives, if my wife wanted to drive, she could drive tomorrow, we could take our children to another school. We’d have a discussion about it, as in any marriage.
“It’s not forbidden in Jewish law. But this is our tradition, this is our choice to be a little more pious. So my wife doesn’t want to drive. This isn’t Saudi Arabia, no one’s going to be punished, or whipped or whatever, or even ostracised.”
Jacob insisted the group did not want to impose its rules on others. “We’re not saying ‘all the women of London shouldn’t drive’, that would be ridiculous. We’re saying, let us get on living our lives how we want to live it – stop saying that we are oppressed.”
Another Stamford Hill man, who said he was part of the Belz community, said: “I agree with the policy of women not driving. Hasidic women have never driven cars. No one is unhappy. Not one of my friends would let his wife drive.”
Many women in the community expressed the same view. Outside the Beis Malka school, as schoolgirls left early on Friday to get home in time for the sabbath to start, several women drove large people-carriers close to the school, but parked some distance away.
One woman, who was walking to collect her daughter, said the letter had not bothered her. “I walk everywhere, I don’t need to drive. I have five children: I would need to drive a very big car, and that’s not an option for me. There’s maybe a few occasions where it would have been more convenient to have a car, but I can’t think of many. Everything we need is here in Stamford Hill.”
Another Belz woman said: “I don’t drive, because I want to be part of this community.”
She said the ban did not apply universally. “There’s no ban on driving in other parts of the Jewish community. I can choose to educate my children in a different schools, there are over 20 to choose from in Stamford Hill. But I believe that if you join a private school you have to abide by their rules.”
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Pupils leave Beis Malka school in north London. Photograph: Teri Pengilley for the Guardian
Another Stamford Hill mother, who gave her name as Judith, said not only was she happy with the ban, but had rejected the offer of dispensation from rabbis who said she would be permitted to drive because she was divorced and had a disabled child. “I choose to be part of this community, it’s my choice,” she said. “Family purity is exceptionally important to us, there’s no bigger priority for us than raising a pure Jewish family.”
In a letter to Morgan on Friday, the school said it regretted the language used in its original decree. “We accept that the choice of words was unfortunate and if a negative impression was created by our letter then we unreservedly apologise for that,” it said.
Ahron Klein, chief executive of the schools, said the Belz community was guided by “religious principles and strong traditional values” and that it was concerned by the erosion of these values, “caused by the proliferation of technology and the declining standards of visual and printed media”.
He wrote: “We are proud of what we stand for and we do not feel the need to excuse ourselves for our deeply held beliefs and staunchly maintained way of life. It has withstood the test of time and is not prone to the vagaries of passing fads.”
But he said “the issue of women driving cars became conflated with broader issues which we intended to address” and that those women who chose to drove would be “respected within our community”. It was unclear whether that meant that women could continue to drive their children to school.
Hackney council, which covers Stamford Hill, said it was “continuing to work with the Department of Education”, and confirmed that the Stamford Hill schools in question are independent.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews distanced itself from the decree, saying the letter was from a marginal and unaffiliated group.
A former member of another ultra-Orthodox sect said on Friday that she faced pressure from her family when she decided that she wanted to drive. The woman told Radio 4 that her husband was “very disturbed with the idea” as it was “unheard of in my immediate community, family and friends. None of the women drove.”
The woman, who left the community just over two years ago when her marriage ended, said: “This is a very insular community with very little contact with the outside world. It’s actually incredible how that works: how you can have a world that exists within a world.”SAG/AFTRA has posted an NPR contract countdown clock
As promised, SAG/AFTRA, the union that represents more than 400 on-air and off-air workers at National Public Radio, published a website Thursday complete with a countdown clock timed to Friday midnight when the temporary extension of the current contract expires.
The union says, “The Future of NPR is at stake.” And Becky Sullivan, a union shop steward and a member of the bargaining team, says she will not rule out the possibility of the union calling for strike authorization if there is no agreement by this weekend.
Here’s a GIF of the clock:
via GIPHY
The union raised the temperature of its public comments Thursday saying:
The management of NPR and their latest contract proposal seeks to tear apart fundamental workplace rights and benefits SAG-AFTRA members fought hard to establish. It threatens the core of NPR’s mission by devaluing the work of the people who have helped bring record audiences across NPR’s platforms, as is frequently touted by the same executives. Today, we have seen double-digit growth across all platforms, as well as a budget surplus. This is in spite of the executive ranks who have failed to secure the funding necessary to continue to allow NPR as a whole to innovate and grow.
The new website includes a statement from NPR Arts Critic Bob Mondello: “The mind reels — or rather unspools. NPR’s audience is up and its revenues high because of the uniquely creative work we do, and management wants to reward us by gutting our contract. If this were a movie, who’d believe that?”
Wednesday night, NPR executives released a statement to Poynter:
NPR and SAG-AFTRA are having productive discussions with the assistance of a federal mediator and continue to work toward a mutually satisfactory agreement that meets the needs of NPR’s employees and our operations. Our goal is to make this organization economically sustainable for the long-term – and, importantly, enable NPR to invest more resources in expanding audiences, innovating its multi-platform journalism, and adding newsroom staff to meet that growth and support current staff.
Sullivan told Poynter that two issues are at the center of the standoff.
“They are trying to lower salary minimums,” which she said would allow NPR to pay new hires less. And, she said, “they are really |
Jakub Kindl and Brian Lashoff held the spots for most of the season last year and performed poorly. Kindl is entering his 3rd full season with Detroit and regressed from his +15, 13 point 2013 campaign. He hit 19 points for a career high but was often caught in various situations and in his own zone, finishing with a -4 rating. Seen as expendable, it is a make or break season for Kindl as he is entering the second year of his four-year deal he signed after arguably his best defensive season in 2013. If things don’t improve, his days in Hockeytown could be numbered.
Lashoff is the same situation. Never a factor in the offensive game, he played a sound defensive game in 2013. In 2013-14, that regressed as well, as he and Kindl were a trembling pair. These two must have bounce-back seasons if they want to keep their spots, as the new wave of Red Wing defensemen is on its way.
Ryan Sproul and Xavier Ouellet only played in a few games each last year, but their pairing showed great promise. With training camp on its way, Lashoff and Kindl must work hard knowing that their minutes could be taken by up and coming youngsters looking to get their feet wet in the NHL. All in all, the defensive core may be the same as last year through no external improvements (i.e. free agency), but from internal improvements, health, and growth, the end results could be different.
Will Daniel Alfredsson stay?
It’s been a topic of conversation since he last skated in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against the Bruins.
Is he staying, or riding into the sunset denied his Cup that he has longed for?
That’s Daniel Alfredsson’s situation, and it does not look like the Wings will be getting an answer until September. Ken Holland has stated that the Wings “will probably” try to sign him, and Alfredsson does not want to go anywhere else. In his only season in the Winged Wheel, the 40-year old put up the most points he had tallied in years and his veteran presence was key with injuries plaguing Datsyuk and Zetterberg.
He wants to play for Detroit again, but only if he is healthy enough to contribute. During the season he will turn 42, and it is clear Alfie is on his last legs. However, on a team with budding young talent and current NHL superstars along with health (knock on wood), he will not be as pressured as he was last year to lead the team without the regulars in the lineup. If he is healthy, the Wings would welcome him back with open arms. If he is not, it is best for him to make the conscious decision for himself and the team.
His ongoing delay in his decision has caused some uncertainty as to who might get an opportunity on the top two lines, whether it be youth like a Nyquist or a veteran like Johan Franzen. It is better if Alfie makes his decision sooner than later, so the team can prepare in the preseason for who will get his spot if he retires. This writer would welcome him back with open arms, but the decision has to come before mid-September.
On The Rise:
Tomas Tatar:
It is said that patience is a virtue, and that virtue was tested mightily ever since Tatar was drafted by Detroit in 2009. Tatar spent the better part of four seasons in Grand Rapids playing for the Griffins, challenging the Red Wings to give him an opportunity. After being sent up and down a few times in that four year stretch, Tatar finally got his wish in 2013-14.
After a rough start to the season, Tatar emerged and settled in as the season went on. All in all he finished almost touching 40 points in his rookie season. After such a solid season, what can the Wings expect in his sophomore campaign? Well, with the emergence of young players in Detroit that Tatar had played with for years in Grand Rapids, it’s fair to assume his point total and overall play will increase with another year of growth.
He played the most games out of all the rookies who emerged and formed slick chemistry with particularly two of them, Jurco and Sheahan. The line dazzled Hockeytown and played an integral part in getting the Wings into the playoffs. A major cog in that line was Tatar, and last season was a great first step. With the then restricted free agent signing a 3-year extension worth $2.75 million a season, it is clear the Wings want to see what the Slovak can do in that window to become part of their organization for a very long time.
Riley Sheahan:
*Insert Teletubby joke*
Sheahan was not supposed to be part of the Wings’ plans in 2013-14, as the team had five centers on the depth chart above him. Of course, the injury plague happened and he was one of the later call-ups called on to see what he could do. Sheahan made a point that he did not want to go back down. Using his size to get into good scoring areas in front of the net, Sheahan showed some offensive flare with a rocket of a wrist shot and toughness to finish off rebounds. This one came with hands as well as he made some pretty passes and moves that were fun to watch as a Wings fan.
Centering the line with Jurco and Tatar most of the time, Sheahan broke 20+ points in 42 games. Not bad for a 22-year old. On July 1st he signed a 1-year extension worth $500,000 as a restricted free agent, and he could be a big time bargain in his first full season of play. That will be a big question for Sheahan, as he and Jurco along with Nyquist will be faced with playing their first official full NHL season and embracing the toll it will take. This writer feels the Notre Dame alum is ready for that challenge with the poise he showed last season and the ceiling he has for a 22-year old. If he can stay healthy, he looks like he too will be in a Red Wing uniform for a lengthy period of time.
Tomas Jurco
Of all the hyped Red Wing prospects now on the team, it seems Jurco’s value has flown under the radar. Taken in the 2009 draft, he became a Youtube sensation and showed some hands that had not been seen since, dare I say, Pavel Datsyuk broke into the league. Jurco played in Grand Rapids for only one full season, and his services were not expected to be used either.
In 36 games he had 15 points and showed flashes of brilliance but had a few cold spells, which is expected for a 21-year old getting his first real taste in the NHL. He still impressed along with the others, but seems like he could use a little more seasoning in Grand Rapids. It depends on camp however, and if he is the Nyquist of the Dan Cleary situation last year, when Cleary took his roster spot, Jurco’s seasoning could come at the beginning of the season. This writer would give him a chance at the start and send him down if he were to struggle, but with as good as the linemates he has, the seasoning may not be needed.
Darkhorse: Mattias Backman
At first one would think, who? This writer was guilty of that when the name was first mentioned. Defenseman Mattias Backman was drafted by Detroit in 2011 and played in the Swedish Elite League and Swedish Hockey League for Linkopings HC for five seasons. He came to the Grand Rapids Griffins this past season after his season in Sweden ended.
Ken Holland called his biggest challenge “transitioning from a bigger to smaller ice surface” where the play carries faster. Holland continued to point out his offensive instincts, stating he can pass the puck from tape to tape with great accuracy. Assistant GM Ryan Martin explained that he can start a rush from his own zone in a similar way to Danny Dekeyser.
Backman led the Swedish League in plus/minus and possesses a great hockey sense. Making that “first pass” out of the zone is so important in today’s NHL and the Wings have a couple of defensemen who possess the ability in Dekeyser and Backman. Jeff Blashill pointed out his two-way game being very notable and his future is bright because of it.
His idol growing up was -surprise- Nicklas Lidstrom and he models his game after Nick’s. He will be entering his first full season of professional North American hockey and will be expecting to compete for a spot on the Red Wings. He has received high praise from Holland, Blashill, and Mike Babcock, and many signs point to Backman playing for the Wings at some point in the season. From what he showed in Sweden and his taste of the AHL in Grand Rapids, it will be exciting to see how the 21-year old progresses in the organization going forward.
Could Gustav Nyquist Succeed in a Top Line Role?
Let’s face it, Gustav Nyquist was arguably the Wings’ MVP last season. Coming up from Grand Rapids in November, he scored two goals in his first game back, and never relinquished his spot on the team. He went on to score 28 more and pot 48 points, showing his uncanny offensive ability. It makes this writer wonder what he could have done had he been up the whole season.
Playing with the likes of Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg, at first glance, would be a match made in Red Wing heaven. Many have to consider however, if he is ready to take on such a position for his age. Entering a season where he will turn 25, Nyquist is still relatively young with a bright future ahead. What stands out to me about Nyquist is that he was able to make such a huge impact in a short span of time playing with Zetterberg at times and on the top line when the injuries hit. He has done it before as the organization has seen, but is he ready to do it for a full season?
If last year was any indication, it does not hurt to try, at least at the start of the year. This depends on many factors however. Babcock loves to juggle lines and have a grinding type player on his top line along with two scorers(see Justin Abdelkader). Plus, Alfredsson’s situation is still unknown. Datsyuk and Zetterberg have to stay healthy. All factors aside, this writer would like to see the experiment tested early, since the Wings are flexible while healthy. The thought of the Euro Twins setting up Gustav Nyquist and vice versa does sound appetizing visually.
Will Top Prospect Anthony Mantha Make the Team?
Anthony Mantha likes to score.
I mean, score. Lots and lots.
Wings fans got their first looks at Mantha at the 2013 NHL Draft when the Wings took him 20th overall. The only 50-goal scorer in the draft, there were questions of his consistency and commitment to working hard to succeed at the next level. He silenced those critics with authority. Potting 57 goals in 57 games, Mantha made a mockery of the QMJHL with 120 points.
This summer in rookie camp, Griffins coach Jeff Blashill called him one of the best players in the camp leadership-wise, along with 2014 draftee Dylan Larkin. Mantha has had one singular goal since being drafted: Make the Red Wings. The 19-year old did not reach his goal last year, but he seems to have worked extra hard during the summertime and seems poised to win a job in camp. Ken Holland was reported to say that the Wings are giving him “every opportunity to make the team, preferrably in a top six or top nine role.” That’s a pretty solid statement of confidence in the young man.
This writer believes if he tears it up in camp and the preseason that he should be given a shot. At the same time, a prospect as good as Mantha should not be rushed too quickly. The jump from QMJHL to NHL is massive, no matter how anyone cuts it. With a player with such scoring prowess like Mantha, he could be an exception. Mantha says he feels ready and is confident but his play must show what is coming out of his mouth. Daniel Cleary could take up his possible spot and again Daniel Alfredsson’s situation show up as obstacles from the start. If the cards fall right, Mantha could find himself in Hockeytown to start the season. Preferably, this writer would want to see him in the AHL to adapt to professional hockey, but if he shows he has the skills and beats out other players, he should be given a chance in this writer’s book.
Jimmy Howard Must Bounce Back
The Red Wings have relied heavily on their goaltender in their transition to life without Nicklas Lidstrom on the top pair.
In turn, there has been much traffic thrown at Jimmy Howard with a young blueline. In the regular season, Howard averaged 35+ wins in his first three seasons as the starting netminder. Playing often, his GAA never was at its highest 2.79 and at its lowest 2.13. Not bad at all, but that was with #5 at the blueline.
Post-Lidstrom, his numbers have not taken a huge hit, but there is room for improvement, especially after last season. In 2012-13’s 48-game season, he played in 42 of them, nabbing 21 wins with a.923 save % and 2.13 GAA. He was arguably the reason why the Wings made the playoffs.
Last season, he had the same number of wins in 51 games due to injury and the rise of Jonas Gustavsson when he played. His GAA rose to 2.66 and his save percentage went down to.910. Even with a young blueline, it was a disappointing season for Howard. Health did play a factor in his offensive support and defensive help, but he had his share of gaffes. However, he turned it on down the stretch yet again, which helped the team abundantly.
Coming into 2014-15 and entering the 2nd year of his extension, it is an important year for the Wings netminder, as he will be expected to be healthy and ready to go now at 30 years old. With Petr Mrazek in Grand Rapids and spot starting for Detroit, Howard could be challenged in the coming years if he falters. At this point however, this is Jimmy Howard’s net to mind in Hockeytown and it will be interesting to see how he performs.
Can Stephen Weiss Provide Much Needed Depth As the No.2 Center?
Last season was one to forget for Weiss. In his first year after the big contract he signed in 2013, he played only a quarter of the season and felt a nagging injury from training camp on. Weiss has been made a mockery of by fans and some called for a trade or buyout or other crazy move to get rid of him.
This writer does not agree with any one of those suggestions. It’s a five year contract and only one year has been played. Weiss’s track record displayed him as a guy that would get a team close to or over 50 points a year and provide solid depth scoring. He can still provide that to this Red Wing team, if healthy.
This summer has been a positive one for Weiss, as he is reported to have no pain going into camp versus having pain as early as that time a year ago to the day. This is very good news for Detroit, as they could have a force of a top six with Weiss slotted in, taking some pressure off the top line. Again, this comes down to health and if Weiss can stay healthy and recapture his Florida Panthers form, it could be just another piece to a long playoff run.
H-E-A-L-T-H:
What does that spell?
With the most mangames lost since the 2003-2004 season, the Wings were hit hard by the plague much of last season. Zetterberg and Datsyuk played half the season, Zetterberg not at all after the Olympic Break in the regular season. Weiss’s season was done in December. Franzen missed 28 games. The Wings were without five centers at one point. Laughable, but miserable at the same time.
Naturally the team struggled but managed to make the playoffs with an influx of youth. Looking to 2014-15, the team must stay durable.
At 33, Henrik Zetterberg was up there in NHL scoring before he went down for the season with 48 points in 45 games. Datsyuk is one of the best two-way players in the game and can still make NHL players look stupid at 36 and had 37 points in 45 games. Franzen, despite his difficulties with commitment at times, can put the puck in the net with authority (16 goals 41 points). Kronwall is durable and can get 40+ points on the back end. Howard is just touching 30. Darren Helm can be a tremendous cog to the team in various situations.
The core of the team is still intact, with the new one on the way. The young guns have shown that they can contribute offensively and look to become the next wave of Red Wing stars. The team is still a very talented and competitive team, but to be competitive, a team needs its big guns in the lineup and the Red Wings definitely need them this season. Head coach Mike Babcock called-out and challenged all who did not play much due to injury to have a “big summer”. This writer and collectively all of Hockeytown hopes that the players heeded the man’s warning.
2014-15 Season Expectations:
There are quite a few storylines for Hockeytown to digest heading into camp as the offseason winds down. Will the team be more durable? Will Alfie return? Can the rookies continue to contribute at the pace that they have? What can Weiss bring to the team? Will Mantha Mania be born? How about Howard and the Red Wing defense? This writer wished he had all the answers to these storylines and more, but the team, fanbase, organization, and Hockeytown will have to play the waiting game and see how everything turns out in the coming months. October is right around the corner, and the state of Hockeytown has many question marks. This writer believes that the Wings will answer these and more and make the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the 24th consecutive time, relatively easier this time around.
Thank you for reading. Please take a moment to follow me on Twitter – @gSchroedes16. Support LWOS by following us on Twitter – @LastWordOnSport and @LWOSworld – and “liking” our Facebook page.
For the latest in sports injury news, check out our friends at Sports Injury Alert.
Have you tuned into Last Word On Sports Radio? LWOS is pleased to bring you 24/7 sports radio to your PC, laptop, tablet or smartphone. What are you waiting for? GO!
Various statistics and bio information courtesy of NHL.com, DetroitRedWings.com, Hockey Reference, Capgeek, and Hockey DB.OpenROV is an open-source underwater robot. But it’s so much more. It’s also a community of people who are working together to create more accessible, affordable, and awesome tools for underwater exploration.
The backbone of the project is the global community of DIY ocean explorers who are working, tinkering and improving the OpenROV design. The community ranges from professional ocean engineers to hobbyists, software developers to students. It’s a welcoming community and everyone’s feedback and input is valued.
Zack accepted my invitation for an interview to tell me more stories about OpenROV. Currently, he is the project manager at OpenROV, and he used to work at a FabLab as an instructor for several years. The co-founders, Eric Stackpole and David Lang met each other in 2011 at MakerFaire. At that time, Eric was a mechanical engineer working for NASA While David was a freelancer seeking a job with Make Magazine. Eric and David came up with the idea for an expedition to find gold lost in an underwater cave. Noticing there weren’t any affordable underwater ROVs on the market, they realized that they were tapping into a burgeoning trend that enabled citizen explorers and scientists.
The first OpenROV Kickstarter project was a big success – making almost $100,000 more than their $20,000 goal. Their Kickstarter campaign also drew attention from the seed ventureship and they were funded by True Venture and SK Venture. OpenROV still keeps a pretty small team with 13 employees, 3 interns, and 3 contractors.
Open Source Motivation
When being asked about the motivation of open sourcing, Zack told me that in the beginning of the project, there was no one on the team who was anexpert in underwater robotics. Open source was the only way OpenROV could approach the global expertise and hobbyists. In order to get in touch their community, they started their online platform by simply providing an online forum and a Wiki page with project documentation. In the meantime, they open sourced their design on GitHub and other open source platforms. The current webpage is in its second version, which took them about a year to establish, and website is still under development. The OpenROV team really aims to build a platform where anyone can find his or her own way to participate into the project.
Open Source Benefits & Problems
By open sourcing the project, OpenROV creates an environment where people can participate in the project in a deeper way. In the early stage of the project, community contributed a lot to the design of the product. They bought components from the OpenROV website and gave feedback about the technologies and designs. Meanwhile, by buying pieces they financially supported the project development. Zack also pointed out that it is a great working experience to be engaged with the community, especially when people start sharing, things are becoming very interesting. The community self-generates a lot of news on social platforms, such as facebook and twitter. They showcase their work and communicate with each other, which automatically increased OpenROV’s PR resources. The community also contributed to the OpenROV brand a lot. An example is that when they have about 1000 community members, they have about 2000 sales, meaning not all the sales coming from community. People must hear them from outside of the community. With the big and specific community group, OpenROV hopes to partner with organizations like National Geographic for projects like creating an underwater map using OpenROV.
Normally, technology-copying problem is always big issue to open source companies, however, it seems not a big issue to OpenROV team. They are quite clear that there are companies now using their technologies to develop their product without any acknowledgement. “…but we are quite confident about our technology and our community. We have big enough community to make sure our design is iterating pretty fast and our next generation ROV is under development,” said Zack. They would like to open source their next generation ROV, though there will be some issues with component manufacturers who may not want to open source the communication modules.
Open Source & Sales
When asked whether open source brings in sales, Zack said “In the early stage yes, since at that time most buyers were also makers and developers. They like open-sourced stuff, since they can modify and develop the product by themselves. Now as the product is pretty mature, the buyers are more public. Now, only 1 out of 10 or 20 buyers are makers or developers. The majority buyers don’t really care whether the product is open sourced or not.” Instead they care about the product price and quality. However, developers are still playing important roles, since they are bringing add-ons and breakthroughs to the product. The openROV team can commercialize the add-ons and breakthroughs and make other people in the community being able to use it. As a conclusion, now the OpenROV community is so big that sales are relevantly independent from open source strategy.
Zack emphasized that open source is just a strategy how you are going to deal with your community. Open source products will have to become consumer products, so open source entrepreneurs should pay attention to their product quality, the price and time to deliver.
Business Model & Future Plans
The business model for OpenROV is selling hardware and kits. The sales started 4 years ago and so far it reaches about a million dollars per year. 3000 OpenROV have been sold. “Without open source and community, it would have been quite hard to reach this number,” said Zack. When talking about technological competence, Zack said that apart from fast iteration, they are sure that it is far more expensive and time-consuming if a buyer collects components outside from on their website but is free to do so if they choose.
For the future plan, the team would like to do more things to encourage their communities to share more on their social media platform. They will also devote much time in developing their Open Explorer platform to allow more people to become citizen scientist and help them getting a job, collecting data, or starting an expedition. They are trying to continue this platform and try different versions to see how community reacts to it. The next step for the product is to massive production solutions.
Don’t forget you can build your own OpenROV using the design files on Wevolver.Lez get real on this rainy Thursday afternoon.
Whether we want to believe it or not, we spend an incredible amount of time of our bleak little lives in the workplace, don't we? Especially the wildly ambitious power babes who trying to make our mark in this cruel world. It's rough waters out there for women in business, gay or straight, bi or pans.
Celine Rahman
And while I love working as much as the next employed lesbian who is fiercely passionate about her career, I never seem to land jobs with my own kind. In fact, I didn't get a lot of lesbian genetics.
I'm terrible with numbers, so I couldn't be a Wall Street maven like so many of my kind. I'm too soft to be a lesbian power lawyer (shh, don't tell anyone, I'm low-key soft). And I would make a terrible cop because I have too much of a liberal bleeding heart.
I always worked in gay boy/straight girl fields, like fashion, beauty, theater and makeup. (I'm aware of my sweeping generalizations, and you have every right to hate me. I'm just too fed up with this day to be politically correct, kittens.)
And it's great, if you want the truth. I have enough run-ins with exes, old hookups and bad Tinder dates in my own free time, so I don't need the smallness of the gay underworld to penetrate my work life. All it would take would be ONE other Manhattan lesbian to join the team and a BAM CRASH BOOM between us, and we'd have three exes in common and know way too much about one another.
On the other hand, being the only lesbian at work comes with its own set of very unique problems. And I'm not talking about just the fight between who gets to leave work early to catch the ferry to Fire Island on Friday. I'm talking about far more awkward situations:
1. Everyone comes to you when they're having a sexual identity crisis.
Marcy from HR calls you into her office, and suddenly you're full of fear.
"What the hell did I screw up?" you ask yourself as you do the walk of shame into her cubicle. A sea of concerned eyes watch you as you slowly make your way toward your doom.
Except Marcy from HR isn't upset with you. Marcy from HR met a girl at her cousin's wedding, and after three shots of tequila, they ended up wildly making out and now she's not sure if she's gay, straight, bisexual and agh, how is she going to tell her boyfriend?
2. Happy hour turns into "lesbian sex education."
Everyone is curious about how lesbians have sex, but NO ONE, dear, no one would ever be tempted to ask about such thing in the workplace, now would they, baby? Never.
Until one night, and a few too many drinks are consumed at happy hour. The next thing you know, you're being flooded with curious questions about how you and your girlfriend have sex. Jessie the intern wants to know, "like, how can you even be satisfied without a dick?"
3. You try not to make eye contact when you see your "straight" co-worker getting down at the gay club.
Little do they know you're 100 percent a follower of gay code, which means the following: What happens in the gay bar, stays in the gay bar. You don't need to kiss our asses during the eight-hour workday as you pray we don't reveal your secret (though we wholly enjoy the perks of your fear).
Your secret is in our safe lesbian hands. We'll never tell. Though, you did look really cute making out all over the dance floor with that pretty little dyke with the Justin Bieber haircut.
4. You're not quite sure how to handle it when the big conservative boss from corporate asks you about your "boyfriend."
I mean, you radiate lesbian energy, but maybe you could just, like, pretend to be straight and go on that date with his nephew he keeps suggesting.
5. You become a spokesmodel for lesbianism.
"Hey, what does the Q in LGBTQ stand for?" you get pulled aside and asked about 5,000 times per day.
That's OK. You're starting to get used to your new role as the shining, gorgeous LESBIAN SPOKESMODEL. Sometimes you're even tempted to give them the wrong information, just to see how far you can get.
Actually, the "Q" stands for "quaint," a subcultural term for small gay boy. It's totally politically correct. Tell all your friends.
6. Nobody understands HOW INTENSE AND SOUL-DESTROYING OUR LOVE IS.
Nobody can understand why you're so direly depressed and screwed up after breaking up with your girlfriend whom you've only been dating for three weeks.
That's because straight people will never, ever, ever, EVER understand the epic intensity of our love lives. They don't understand that three weeks is equal to three years in lesbian time. It's like dog years.
You've already moved in together, adopted a cat (that you're now battling for custody over), had enough mind-blowing sexual interactions to last a lifetime and met each other's families. It's practically a divorce.
7. You can't tell if the cute girl who sits two desks away is checking you out or not.
Oh yes, she's definitely bi-curious and definitely checking you out. And after your really rowdy holiday party, you're somehow in a taxi with her, locking lips. I mean, you're in a vulnerable place after your breakup.
8. Overnight, you're an office urban legend.
It was the bi-curious girl who got you drunk and insisted you go home with her who started those pesky rumors. She's told the whole office you seduced her. Now the straight boys want to be you, and the straight girls can't tell if they want to fuck you or are afraid of you.
This is when your reputation as the office lesbian predator gets started. You become a legend to the workplace overnight.
9. You experience a moment of acute joy when a lesbian joins your team.
You don't even have to discuss it with her, ever. But you'll exchange a wink as you cross her when going to use the fax machine in the back. Maybe it's just a stoic nod, if she's on the tight-lipped side.
But you felt the static energy in the office shift the moment she entered the building. Your lesbian alarms went off. You knew a gay was in the area before human resources knew she was even hired.
Suddenly, you have someone who will get your "L Word" references, understand that it's NOT weird you're dating your ex's ex (hey, our world is small) and will help you answer questions like, "Who holds the door open for whom?" to the curious office sorority girls.Yorktown was launched 17 January 1983 and was sponsored by Mrs. Mary Matthews, widow of Nick Matthews a prominent citizen of Yorktown, Virginia.[1] Yorktown was commissioned on 4 July 1984 at Yorktown, Virginia, and was designed to take advantage of the American Aegis technology. Among its various weapon systems were surface to air missiles (SAMs), anti-ship/anti-submarine missiles, torpedo launchers, and a mounted cannon. Yorktown's first deployment was from August 1985 to April 1986 and, among other things, involved the Achille Lauro hijacker intercept, two Black Sea excursions (in 1986 and 1988), and a trio of operations off the Libyan coast including Operation El Dorado Canyon and Operation Attain Document and Prairie Fire.
Yorktown received the Atlantic Fleet's "Top Gun" award for outstanding naval gunfire support in 1987. During the second deployment from September 1987 to March 1988, Yorktown participated in numerous U.S. and NATO exercises, as well as multi-national exercises with Morocco, France, West Germany, Tunisia, and Turkey. It was on this Mediterranean deployment that Yorktown gained worldwide publicity from operations conducted in the Black Sea as part of Freedom of Navigation program.[2] On 12 February 1988, while Yorktown was exercising the "right of innocent passage" through Soviet territorial waters, the Soviet Burevestnik-class frigate Bezzavetnyy (Russian: Беззаветный) intentionally collided with Yorktown with the intention of pushing her out of Soviet territorial waters.[3] The Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs at the time, Richard L. Armitage, acknowledged that the transit was not operationally necessary, but asserted that it was still a valid innocent passage under international law.[4]
In 1991, Yorktown was awarded the coveted "Old Crow's" award for electronic warfare excellence.[citation needed] In 1992 Yorktown was honored with the Marjorie Sterrett Battleship Fund Award for superb, sustained combat readiness.[citation needed]
Yorktown conducted her third and fourth Mediterranean deployments as the world watched the end of the Cold War and the coalition victory in Operation Desert Storm. During the latter of these two deployments Yorktown participated in the first U.S. military exercises with the Romanian and Bulgarian navies, and played a key role in Operation Provide Comfort, which provided humanitarian relief and security for the Kurdish refugees in northern Iraq. In the summer of 1992, Yorktown participated in BALTOPS '92. During this cruise, Yorktown made a highly acclaimed port visit to Severomorsk, Russia, becoming the first U.S. ship to visit that port since the end of World War II.
In 1993, Yorktown was awarded the Commander, Naval Surface Forces, Atlantic Ship Safety Award for a superior safety record. Yorktown has also been awarded two Navy Unit Commendations and a Meritorious Unit Commendation, and is a four-time winner of the coveted Battle Efficiency "E".
Yorktown served as Flagship for Commander, Task Group 4.1, during counter-drug operations in the Caribbean in May - July 1993. In August 1993, Yorktown participated in the joint military exercise Solid Stance in the North Atlantic. Yorktown's operations through the end of 1993 included an October - November excursion to the Caribbean to support the United Nations embargo of Haiti. In April - May 1994, Yorktown returned to the Caribbean as Force Air Warfare Commander during joint Exercise Agile Provider. While in the Caribbean, Yorktown served as flagship for Commander, Destroyer Squadron Six, coordinating a six-ship, twenty-six missile exercise. In the summer of 1994, Yorktown achieved a resounding score of 101 during naval gunfire support qualification.
In August 1994 Yorktown set sail for the Adriatic Sea as flagship for Commander, Standing Naval Forces Atlantic in support of the United Nations embargo of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. During this six-month deployment, Yorktown served as the Air Warfare Commander for the Adriatic Sea, participating in a joint task force of ships from the United States and eight European nations. In May - June 1995, Yorktown proceeded south to serve as Air Warfare Commander for the Caribbean Sea in support of counter-narcotics operations.
Yorktown firing at a target drone during a gun exercise firing at a target drone during a gun exercise
In May 1997 Yorktown (with a reduced crew aboard) completed a five-month counter-narcotic deployment in the Caribbean followed by test operations with George Washington and her carrier battle group. During these periods Navy Manpower and Analysis Center (NAVMAC) conducted a detailed review of manpower requirements, and Operational Test and Evaluation Force (OPTEVFOR) verified the ship's ability to meet all required operational capabilities in the projected operating environment doctrine for Ticonderoga-class cruisers.
On 21 September 1997, a division by zero error on board the USS Yorktown (CG-48) Remote Data Base Manager brought down all the machines on the network, causing the ship's propulsion system to fail.[5][6]
On 25 September 1999 Yorktown departed Pascagoula for a four-month counter-narcotic deployment in the Caribbean. Before beginning patrolling efforts, Yorktown embarked staff members from COMSECONDFLT. Supported by the helicopter detachment, the Second Fleet staff surveyed and photographed another island slated as a potential replacement for training exercises if the Navy was unable to continue at Vieques Island, Puerto Rico. The ship made port calls in Jamaica, Aruba, Cartagena, Rodman, Manta and Cozumel. During this deployment the USS Yorktown was the last US warship to transit the Panama Canal prior to it being turned over to Panama.
As of 2001, and since commissioning, Yorktown had completed five Mediterranean deployments. The cruiser was last homeported in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Her last deployment (Feb 2004-Aug 2004) was as part of the WASP ESG-2 (Expeditionary Strike Group 2) to the 5th Fleet AOR. She patrolled the Persian Gulf providing security for the Iraqi oil terminals and conducting maritime security operations.“Many experiments that the Obama administration launched were overly micromanaged,” said Grace-Marie Turner, an opponent of the health law and president of the Galen Institute, a research center that advocates free-market health policies. “Innovation has to percolate up from the bottom. The Obama administration tried to drive it from the top.”
Even with Mr. Price’s departure, the department still has numerous people who have advocated strongly for doctors and industry in the past. They include senior staff members who have worked representing medical device makers, pharmaceutical and hospital supply companies, the nursing home industry and physician specialty groups. The acting secretary of health and human services, Eric Hargan, is a former lawyer for the law and lobbying firm Greenberg Traur |
coast of Ecuador, is one of the most volcanically active regions in the world.
Image copyright AFP / getty images Image caption The Galapagos is a popular destination for tourists wanting to explore its unique ecosystem
There are several varieties of iguanas on the islands.
Unesco has declared the Galapagos a World Heritage Site and has warned the ecosystem is in danger from increased tourism and the introduction of non-native species.
Image copyright AFP / getty images Image caption Green turtles and iguanas are just some of the animals which live on the islands
The variety of wildlife on the island famously inspired Charles Darwin to conceive the theory of evolution.
"One general law, leading to the advancement of all organic beings, namely, multiply, vary, let the strongest live and the weakest die," he wrote in On the Origin of Species after visiting the islands.[font=" 'Stratum1 Medium'; font-size: medium; background-color: transparent;"]UPDATE 12:50PM, 21-Aug:[/font]
Greetings MechWarriors,
The final patch will be available shortly. We are aiming to begin the test now at 1PM PDT / 4PM EDT / 8PM UTC
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[font=" 'Stratum1 Medium'; font-size: medium; background-color: transparent;"]UPDATE 11:40AM, 21-Aug:[/font]
Greetings MechWarriors,
Testing by the QA team is revealing critical errors preventing us from launching the test at this time. We will have to delay until the issue is identified and resolved.
We sincerely apologize for this delay, recognizing some of you may have slotted time aside from your busy schedule to participate. In the meantime, the live version of the game remains available to play. Once the Public Test is up and running, we intend to extend the test according to the amount of time the test was delayed.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Greetings MechWarriors,
We are pleased to open up the Public Test server for our longest test yet. This test will last 24 hours and be focused in three main areas:
First, the new Unit Creation feature for Community Warfare will be available in the front-end.
Around this feature, we hope to hear from you about both the usability and art of the interface for creating units, as well as any bugs discovered in testing.
Please note, pre-registered units will not be present in this version. They will have to be generated manually by the player for the purpose of the test.
Second, we will be testing the new Industrial map, which will be present on 100% rotation in the test server.
We hope to hear from you on any issues involving collisions and textures, We’d also appreciate us your feedback on the map layout, spawn locations and more.
Finally, we will be testing the server hardware at our brand new data center to determine whether that equipment will adequately improve our current live production services.
On this subject, we would like to know about your ping and connectivity in-game, responsiveness of saved changes, and the effect of these changes on client-server synchronization during matches.
We’re especially eager to hear about how it compares to the live game!
Please see the notes below for full details of the test:
Date
21-Aug-2014
Focus
[font=" 'Stratum1 Medium'; font-size: medium; background-color: transparent;"]Unit Creation[/font]
[font=" 'Stratum1 Medium'; font-size: medium; background-color: transparent;"]New Community Warfare Feature[/font] [font=" 'Stratum1 Medium'; font-size: medium; background-color: transparent;"]Functionality Testing – Please find bugs![/font]
[font=" 'Stratum1 Medium'; font-size: medium; background-color: transparent;"]Usability Testing – Tell us what you think of the interface![/font]
[font=" 'Stratum1 Medium'; font-size: medium; background-color: transparent;"]Codename: Industrial[/font]
[font=" 'Stratum1 Medium'; font-size: medium; background-color: transparent;"]New Game Map[/font] [font=" 'Stratum1 Medium'; font-size: medium; background-color: transparent;"]Intensive Map Testing – Please find collision, out-of-world, and/or texture bugs![/font]
[font=" 'Stratum1 Medium'; font-size: medium; background-color: transparent;"]Play-Testing – Please tell us what you think of the map![/font]
[font=" 'Stratum1 Medium'; font-size: medium; background-color: transparent;"]Connectivity[/font]
[font=" 'Stratum1 Medium'; font-size: medium; background-color: transparent;"]New Data Center Systems[/font] [font=" 'Stratum1 Medium'; font-size: medium; background-color: transparent;"]Smoke/Load Testing – Can you connect? Can you get into a match? Any desyncs?[/font]
[font=" 'Stratum1 Medium'; font-size: medium; background-color: transparent;"]Performance Testing – Please tell us about your connectivity, ping, responsiveness, etc…[/font]
Test Time
Start: Noon PDT / 3PM EDT / 7PM UTC [background=transparent;] 1PM PDT / 4PM EDT / 8PM UTC [/font]
Duration: 24 hours. 26 hours.
Eligibility
All players registered before 20-Aug-2014 at 4:30AM PDT may join the test.
Testing Provisions
Your live account inventory, as of 4:30AM PDT on August 20th, plus:Last year, Helio Castroneves came within 0.06 seconds of winning his fourth Indianapolis 500 race. His last-lap duel with Ryan Hunter-Reay, where Castroneves got the short end of the stick, is the stuff of Brickyard legend.
Castroneves’ last Indy 500 win was in 2009, so this year’s storyline is familiar. Can he win that elusive fourth title and drink the champion's milk yet again? The only others in the elite four-timers club are legends A.J. Foyt, Al Unser Sr. and Rick Mears.
Castroneves just turned 40, but he looks much younger. The Brazilian starts fifth in a field of 33 this year in the No. 3 Shell V-Power car, with an average qualifying speed of 225.502 mph. That’s ahead of Penske teammate Juan Pablo Montoya, starting 15th, but behind his other two teammates – Will Power, second, and Simon Pagenaud, third.
Castroneves has had his ups and downs this month. On May 13, he had a spectacular test crash where he went airborne and flipped. But yesterday, in the the TAG Heuer pit competition, he won. "I tell you what, I believe in any omen right now and if that's where [the pit win] takes it, I'll believe it," Castroneves laughed.
Coincidentally, four-time 500 champ Mears is Castroneves' spotter for the race, giving radio advice. Mears, if anyone, knows that just because one has three wins doesn't guarantee another. "Of my four, the first will always have its place," said Mears, now 63. "But you may never win another. You get a little older and wiser and realize few people have ever won once, let alone twice. Then, after the third, only a very few guys have ever won four, so what are the odds?"
Indianapolis has been disrespectful to some of its most talented drivers. Michael Andretti, a team owner who's led more laps than most any driver at Indy (more than 400), has never won. His father, the great Mario Andretti, won it just once -- in 1969 -- despite competing in 29 races.
For his part, Castroneves downplays any pressure. When we spoke a while back he said, "From one to ten, you've got to count three and four first, so that's what I'm focusing on. The greatest spectacle in racing is Indy, and I have a very privileged opportunity.”
In addition to Indy, Castroneves also has won Dancing With The Stars, in 2007, and said more people know him for that than for his racing performances. But it is clear where his heart is. "[Dancing] was a great way to put the name Verizon IndyCar out there, having so many millions watching the show," he said. "But when you do something for a living -- racing for me -- and have incredible achievements, it's difficult to compare the two."
Life has not been all roses for Castroneves during his racing career. In 2008, he was brought up on tax-evasion charges of $5 million. But he was acquitted just before the 2009 race, and went on to win it. Perhaps his heart-breaking loss to Hunter-Reay last year will propel him to win this year.
As for Mears, he said Castroneves takes his advice on the track, but seldom needs it. "He's been talented since day one," said Mears. "The best way I can help is if I see somebody running a different pattern on the track -- a lower or higher line. Then I might make the suggestion over the radio that he try it. I'm really more of a safety backup.”
What is the last piece of advice Mears will give Castroneves as the Brazilian belts into his car Sunday to start the 99th Indy 500? "You've got to run all day before anything else can happen," Mears said. "Run all day and get the checkered flag. You'll be amazed where you are."
Castroneves can only hope he is one spot ahead of where he was last year.
More pre-race coverage:
Can Simona De Silvestro Be The First Woman To Win The Indy 500?
Townsend Bell's 'Robert Graham Special' Is Coolest Car At Indy 500. But Can It Win?
Josef Newgarden Readies For May 24 Indy 500 RaceThe head of Shiv Sena’s youth wing had demanded that eateries be open 24/7 in both residential and non-residential areas.
Mumbai: Along with the rooftop policy, the Shiv Sena also had ambitious plans for the city’s nightlife. But its plans have hit a stumbling block due to stiff opposition from the BJP-led state government, citing law and order problems. The proposal to keep all eateries and restaurants open 24/7 in the city was mooted by Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray and was also passed in the civic general body meeting in 2013. It was then sent to the chief minister for approval.
The head of Shiv Sena’s youth wing had demanded that eateries be open 24/7 in both residential and non-residential areas. According to him, in non-residential areas like BKC, Colaba, eateries can be kept open throughout night. But in residential areas, they can be allowed only after taking consent from 70 per cent of local residents and police.
The responsibility of garbage collection, keeping the noise down and traffic discipline will rest with the owner of the establishment.
However, the state government said that, “If it is decided to keep open shops till 12 midnight, there will be a rise in anti-social acts like molestation, robbery, etc which will lead to law and order problems. This will put stress on the police force, which is already reeling under tremendous work pressure. Due to this, the police too have objected to the proposal of keeping open shops till 12 midnight.”Just two weeks after its public debut at Mid-Ohio, the Acura NSX GT3 was again back in the spotlight, as the GT3 contender took part in the Pirelli World Challenge Sprint and SprintX testing and practice sessions at Utah Motorsports Campus.
Acura development driver Peter Kox and RealTime Racing team owner/driver Peter Cunningham handled testing duties of the mid-engined sports car on Thursday and Friday, following a private test at the circuit on Tuesday.
“We’ve done quite some running but it’s still early days in the program,” Kox told Sportscar365. “We’re here [at Utah] because you want a little bit of comparison.
“On the other hand, you cannot make a lot of miles on a race weekend.”
While still early in the program, the car already appears to be off to a fast and encouraging start.
Kox topped the time sheets in SprintX practice on Thursday with a lap that would have put the Dutchman second quickest overall in Friday’s Sprint field, which arguably boasts stiffer competition.
The NSX GT3 completed both SprintX and Sprint sessions on Friday, but no lap times were officially recorded due to a non-functional transponder.
“Obviously people saw unofficial times from the practice session on [Thursday]. It was a smaller sample size but everything seems pretty reasonable,” HPD Senior Program Engineer Lee Niffenegger told Sportscar365.
“It was good to be at the same track as everyone else is at the same time, as it offers a direct comparison versus going to a private test.”
The focus of this week’s testing continued to be on car development, ahead of next month’s FIA Balance of Performance test in Ladoux, which essentially locks in car’s technical configuration for next year.
The team of HPD engineers, with support from RealTime, evaluated different components and configurations, with feedback from both Kox and Cunningham playing a role in the car’s final specification.
“The car is reliable and good and we’re just going to phases of trying parts, changing parts,” Kox said. “It’s been going very well.
“I’ve done the same thing for [Reiter] Lamborghini, Prodrive with the Aston, and also for BMW. I like to do this kind of thing. It’s quite nice.”
While there was some initial consideration of having the car make its race debut in the SprintX rounds this weekend, Acura ultimately decided against it, opting to focus entirely on testing before the all-crucial BoP test.
“We’re going to have some [additional] private testing as we narrow down what we’re going to show up with in France,” Niffenegger said.
“We’re right now working through what we want to finally present to the FIA. There’s obviously lots of options on what you can do. It’s just how to get to that finale recipe.”
All testing has so far been carried out between two chassis, with Niffenegger confirming a third car will be built up for the BoP test, which will be closer to the final specification, based on the development work.
While the NSX GT3 won’t be at the next PWC round at Sonoma, due to limited track time on the IndyCar weekend, Niffenegger said he would expect to have a similar testing program in place for the season finale event at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in October.
Whether the car could potentially make its race debut in Monterey remains unclear, and could depend on the outcome of the Ladoux test.
As for Kox’s future within the Acura race program for next year, it remains to-be-determined, but the GT veteran hasn’t hidden his desire to return to the North American racing scene.
A number of drivers have already been linked to the factory-supported program, which is expected to seen in both PWC and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in 2017.
“For sure it would interest me a lot because I really like to race here,” Kox said. “I drove here in 2003-04 with Prodrive and I must say it’s really nice here.
“I like the racing in America. I’m not the right man to ask if I will race here, but I’d like to be here.”After Wednesday's announcement that Bill O'Reilly will not be returning to Fox News Channel, here's what their primetime lineup will look like in the upcoming future:
5 PM/ET – A new show, hosted by Eric Bolling, will debut on May 1st. From April 24th-28th, Special Report with Bret Baier will air from 5 to 7 p.m.
7 PM/ET – "The Story with Martha MacCallum" will debut on Monday, May 1st. Until then, MacCallum will continue anchoring "The First 100 Days" through April 28th.
8 PM/ET – "Tucker Carlson Tonight"
9 PM/ET - "The Five" (LIVE) with co-hosts Kimberly Guilfoyle, Dana Perino, Bob Beckel, Greg Gutfeld, Jesse Watters and Juan Williams.
10 PM/ET – "Hannity"
Tucker Carlson will move to the 8 p.m. slot, and "The Five" will move to the 9 p.m. slot formerly occupied by Tucker Carlson. Jesse Watters also joins "The Five" as a co-host.Ahoy! This here is the 179th Featured Article. "Tony Tony Chopper" has been featured, meaning it was chosen as an article of interest.
Tony Tony Chopper, also known as "Cotton Candy Lover" Chopper,[3] is the doctor of the Straw Hat Pirates.
Chopper is a reindeer that ate the Hito Hito no Mi which is a devil fruit that allows its user to transform into a human hybrid or a human at will. He came from Drum Island where he learned how to be a doctor, and is the first member of the Straw Hats who was born on the Grand Line. His dream is to one day become a doctor capable of curing any disease and wants to travel all across the world specifically in the hopes of accomplishing this dream.
He is the sixth member of the crew and the fifth to join Luffy, as well as being the youngest member on board. He has a bounty of 100[10] due to being mistaken for the crew's pet.
Contents show]
Appearance Edit
Most of the time, Chopper is a toddler-sized human/reindeer hybrid, but his Devil Fruit abilities allow him to change his appearance depending on the situation. Chopper's left antler is braced at the base by a metal plate because it was reattached after being broken during his search for the Amiudake when he was younger (where he thought the Amiudake can cure Hiriluk's disease) and ran into the leader of his old herd, who severely injured him.[12] He usually wears a large pale red/pink fuzzy top hat with a sideways medical cross (given to him by Hiriluk) and a maroon pair of shorts. He also sometimes wears a blue backpack that has the same sideways medical cross as his hat. He also has a remarkable blue nose. As Oda's style evolved and many readers commented on how cute Chopper was, Chopper has been given a much more "chibi" like appearance, meaning that when in his preferred transformation (which he calls Brain Point), he has a larger head and eyes and a less defined muzzle than earlier in the series. Many female characters, such as Nami, Robin, Makino, Porche, Shakky, and Vivi find Chopper very cute. There are even males that find Chopper cute such as Foxy and Breed.
A running gag is that various characters in One Piece think Chopper is a tanuki (raccoon-dog, often simply translated as "a raccoon") while in his Brain Point or hybrid form. The word "tonakai", which is the Japanese word for "reindeer", is where the "Tony" in Chopper's name is derived from. His Heavy Point or human form is likewise mistaken for a gorilla (or an abominable snowman on his home island).
Before the Timeskip Edit
Similar to most of his male crewmates, Chopper has the same outfit throughout most of the series.
In the Alabasta Arc, he wore a shirt with a green-lined collar, then a bigger one with giant sleeves that is light blue with dark blue liners.
In the Enies Lobby Arc, he wore a red leather jacket.
After the Timeskip Edit
After two years, Chopper is significantly leaner. He is less potbellied than he was in earlier seasons and his arms/forelimbs are also skinnier. It is arguable that since leaving the cold climate on Drum Island, he has lost significant body fat. The color of his fur has changed from brown to gold, and according to Nami (when she and Chopper reunite on Sabaody), the texture has gotten softer.
Chopper now wears a blue cap that has a ring of dots around the circle, while the cap has buckles hanging from it. He wears this over his old pink hat. He also wears a white and yellow vertical-striped tank top, which he takes off when he transforms into Heavy Point, and an orange pair of shorts. Aside from being slightly slimmer and having his fur changing from dark brown into a light brown color, Chopper's Brain Point form has not changed. His Walk Point (reindeer) form has grown considerably, now being roughly as tall as Usopp. His horns are larger, he has more muscle, and his fur is longer. His Heavy Point has become exceedingly larger and more muscular, being almost the size of Dosun's. He also developed new transformations through his research during the timeskip, which he debuts on Fish-Man Island, including Kung Fu Point (which he uses to defeat Neptune's soldiers) and a revised Horn Point (which he uses against Daruma).
While on Punk Hazard, he was given a black coat by Kin'emon using his unnamed Devil Fruit ability. He was later dressed up in samurai attire made from the same ability when the crew had departed from Punk Hazard.
At the start of the Dressrosa Arc, Chopper wore camouflage clothing. After the crew split up, he changed his headgear for the first time since the timeskip, putting on a football helmet with holes for his antlers that has three horizontal stripes running vertically down the middle, with two small ones beside one larger one, as well as large stars on each side of the helmet. He also put on a zippered coat with the same stripe pattern running horizontally all around the middle of the coat, with inverse coloration of the stripes on the helmet and a pattern of stars inside the large stripe on the coat.
During his stay on Zou, Chopper's outfit consists of his original timeskip hat with a crown on top. He wears no shirt and has a long open coat with fur and fancy jewelry attached. Upon leaving Zou, Chopper wore an open doctor's coat.
During the Whole Cake Island Arc, he wore a yellow overcoat and had a pink scarf wrapped around his hat. Afterwards, when meeting with the Fire Tank Pirates he wore an outfit similar to Luffy's, black suit (dark blue in the anime) with a green shirt and a yellow ascot.
References Edit
Reindeer — Wikipedia article on Chopper's actual species.
Tanuki — Wikipedia article on Chopper's alleged species.ROSEBURG, Ore. — Holding signs saying the president was not welcome, more than 200 gun-rights activists protested Barack Obama's visit on Friday to Oregon to meet with the families of victims of last week's campus killings.
The protesters stood outside Roseburg airport as Obama left a helicopter and got into a limousine that whisked him away for the private conversations at a high school.
The protesters were angry about Obama's calls for gun restrictions in the wake of the shooting rampage that killed eight students and a teacher at Umpqua Community College.
< PREVIOUS SLIDE SLIDE 1 of 6 NEXT SLIDE > Demonstrators surrounded by multiple flags wait outside of Roseburg Regional Airport for President Barack Obama's arrival, Friday, Oct. 9, 2015, in Roseburg, Ore. Angry with Obama for calling for tighter gun restrictions in the wake of last week's deadly shootings at Umpqua Community College, gun-rights activists gathered to protest the president's visit to meet with victims' families. © Ryan Kang/AP
Some of the protesters carried holstered handguns. Others had signs saying Obama was not welcome.
"By coming here, Obama is going to politicize a tragedy by saying that you have to have gun control," George Starr said as he held a small American flag.
"It's not that we are bloodthirsty, it's that we want to protect ourselves and our families," he said.
The attitude is shared by many people in the conservative region where it is common for residents to own guns for hunting, target shooting and self-protection.
"I'm here to tell Obama he is not welcome in our county. He is exploiting the local tragedy with his gun control agenda," said Bruce Rester, a retired truck driver who was wearing a handgun in a holster over his chest.
"Everybody should carry a gun. An armed society is a polite society," he said.
A number of Obama supporters lined the route taken by the limousine to catch a glimpse of the president.Defence minister says partial withdrawal will begin next March as UN cuts stabilisation force accused of outstaying welcome
Brazil's defence minister has confirmed the country's troops will begin a partial withdrawal from Haiti next March, amid growing criticism of the United Nations stabilisation mission there.
Celso Amorim told the senate foreign affairs committee on Thursday that 257 Brazilian troops, out of a total of 2,200, would leave the country as part of UN plans to reduce its numbers by 1,600.
"We should not stay in Haiti for ever, nor do we wish to – this is not good for the Haitians or for us," he said. "But we will also not leave in an irresponsible manner. It is very important that the withdrawal is not seen as Brazil disengaging. We all agree that a gradual reduction is necessary."
A few years ago the Brazilian soldiers that have led the UN force in Haiti since 2004 took journalists and politicians on photo-opportunity tours of Port-au-Prince's gang-free slums, which were occupied after former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide was forced from power. During a 2007 visit, one former UN military commander in Haiti said the UN's presence had helped transform Port-au-Prince into a "Disneyland".
In an interview, Luiz Carlos da Costa, then deputy special representative of the UN secretary general in Haiti, said the UN mission, known as Minustah, had helped bring "a situation of greater stability".
The earthquake in 2010, in which Costa and an estimated 200,000 Haitians were killed, changed everything. More UN troops were sent to the country but resentment at their presence grew following a cholera outbreak and a recent case of alleged sexual abuse.
The UN was widely blamed for introducing the cholera epidemic, which was confirmed on 21 October 2010 and has so far killed about 6,200 and infected nearly 440,000.
Friction between UN forces and Haitians was again stoked after the alleged sexual assault of an 18-year-old Haitian man by Uruguayan troops. The alleged assault was filmed on a mobile phone and circulated on the internet.
Recent protests against the "Okipasyon" have left Brazilian and UN diplomats edgy about their role in Haiti. This month police clashed with protesters outside the national palace in Port-au-Prince.Günter Schabowski (4 January 1929 – 1 November 2015) was an official of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands abbreviated SED), the ruling party during most of the existence of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Schabowski gained worldwide fame in November 1989 when he improvised a slightly mistaken answer to a press conference question, raising popular expectations much more rapidly than the government planned so that massive crowds gathered the same night at the Berlin Wall, forcing its opening after 28 years; soon after, the entire inner German border was opened.
Background [ edit ]
Schabowski was born in Anklam, Pomerania (then in the Free State of Prussia, now part of the federal state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern). He studied journalism at the Karl Marx University, Leipzig, after which he became editor of the trade union magazine, Tribüne. In 1952, he became a member of the SED. From 1967 to 1968, he visited the party academy of the CPSU. In 1978, he became the chief editor of the newspaper Neues Deutschland ("New Germany"), which as the official organ of the SED was considered to be the leading newspaper in the GDR.[2] In 1981, he became a member of the SED Central Committee. In 1985, after leaving Neues Deutschland, he became the First Secretary of the East Berlin chapter of the SED and a member of the SED Politbüro. He also served as member of the Volkskammer from 1981 to 1990.[1][3] In 2009, writer Christa Wolf called Schabowski "one of the worst" East German politicians before the Wende, saying: "I remember a few appearances of him in front of the writer's guild. You were scared of him."[4]
Tearing down the Berlin Wall [ edit ]
Günter Schabowski at the Alexanderplatz demonstration on 4 November 1989
The press conference on 9 November 1989 by Günter Schabowski (seated on stage, second from right) and other East German officials which led to the Fall of the Wall. Riccardo Ehrman is sitting on the floor of the stage with the table just behind him.
In October 1989, Schabowski, along with several other members of the Politbüro, turned on longtime SED leader Erich Honecker and forced him to step down in favor of Egon Krenz. As part of the effort to change the regime's image, Schabowski was named the regime's unofficial spokesman, and he held several daily press conferences to announce changes.[5] He had already been in charge of media affairs for the Politbüro before then. He was also reportedly named the number-two man in the SED, Krenz's old role.[6] Schabowski had spent most of his career in Communist-style journalism, in which reporters were told what to write after events had already happened. He thus found it somewhat difficult to get used to Western-style media practice.[7]
On 9 November 1989, shortly before that day's press conference, Krenz handed Schabowski a text[8] containing new, temporary travel regulations.[7] The text stipulated that East German citizens could apply for permission to travel abroad without having to meet the previous requirements for those trips, and also allowed for permanent emigration between all border crossings—including those between East and West Berlin. The text was supposed to be embargoed until the next morning.[9]
Schabowski had not been on hand when Krenz read the text earlier in the day to several Politbüro members during a cigarette break at that day's Central Committee plenum, nor had he been there when it was discussed before the full committee. However, he felt comfortable discussing it at the press conference; he later said that all one needed to do in order to conduct a press conference was be able to speak German and read a text without mistakes.[7] Accordingly, he read the note aloud at the end of the press conference. One of the reporters asked when the regulations would come into effect. Schabowski assumed it would be the same day based on the wording of the note, and replied after a few seconds' pause: "As far as I know — effective immediately, without delay." (German: Das tritt nach meiner Kenntnis … ist das sofort … unverzüglich.)[10][11] Accounts differ on who asked that question. Both Riccardo Ehrman, the Berlin correspondent of the ANSA news agency, and German Bild Zeitung (a tabloid) reporter Peter Brinkmann were sitting on the front row at the press conference, and claimed to have asked when the regulations would come into force.[12][13]
Later, when asked whether the new regulations also applied to travel between East and West Berlin, Schabowski looked at the text again and discovered that they did. When Daniel Johnson of The Daily Telegraph asked what that meant for the Berlin Wall, Schabowski sat frozen before giving a rambling statement about the Wall being tied to the larger disarmament question.[14]
After the press conference, Schabowski sat down for a live interview with NBC's Tom Brokaw. When Brokaw asked him if it was indeed true that East Germans could now travel without having to go through a third country, Schabowski replied in broken English that East Germans were "not further forced to leave GDR by transit through another country," and could now "go through the border." When Brokaw asked if this meant "freedom of travel," Schabowski replied, "Yes of course," and added that it was not "a question of tourism," but "a permission of leaving GDR."[15]
The West German public national television channels showed parts of Schabowski's press conference in their main evening news reports at 7:17 PM on ZDF's heute and at 8 PM on ARD's Tagesschau; this meant that the news was broadcast to nearly all of East Germany, where West German television was widely watched, as well. The news then spread like wildfire with news reports continuing to repeat the news throughout the night.[citation needed]
As the night progressed, thousands of East Berliners began proceeding to the six border crossings along the Berlin Wall. They demanded to be let through. Live TV reported on the gathering people which only increased the numbers of East Berliners coming to the gates. The crowds vastly outnumbered the border guards who initially tried to stall for time. However, no one was willing to order deadly force. Finally, at 11:30 pm, Stasi officer Harald Jäger decided to open the gates at the Bornholmer Straße border crossing and allow people into West Berlin.[16]
The fall of the Berlin Wall was the key event leading to the end of the East German regime, a state that had been crumbling for many weeks as citizens had been fleeing through intermediate countries surrounding East Germany. Indeed, Victor Sebestyen later wrote that when the gates were opened, for all intents and purposes, East Germany "ceased to exist." He also wrote that many of Schabowski's colleagues suspected he was either an American or West German agent, and could not believe that he had made "a simple cock-up."[5] In 2014, his wife claimed that Schabowski had been well aware of the possible consequences of what he said in the press conference.[10]
In the following purges of the "party's old guard", Schabowski was quickly expelled from the Party of Democratic Socialism (successor to the SED), in an attempt to improve the party's image. Just months earlier, he had been awarded the country's prestigious Order of Karl Marx.[1]
Political life after reunification [ edit ]
Schabowski in 2007
After German Reunification, Schabowski became highly critical of his own actions in the GDR and those of his fellow Politbüro members, as well as of Soviet-style socialism in general.[10] He worked again as a journalist and, between 1992 and 1999, as editor for Heimat-Nachrichten, a weekly local paper that he co-founded with a West German journalist in Rotenburg an der Fulda.[17]
His campaign help for the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) prompted some of his former comrades to call him a wryneck (German term: Wendehals; a bird that can turn its head almost 180 degrees; popular term used to mock Communists who have turned capitalist).[18]
Together with other leading figures of the GDR regime, he was charged with the murders of East Germans attempting to flee the GDR. In January 1995, the Berlin prosecutors pressed charges against him.[1] In August 1997, Schabowski was convicted along with Egon Krenz and Günther Kleiber. Because he accepted his moral guilt and denounced the GDR, he was sentenced to only three years in prison. In December 1999, he began serving his sentence in Hakenfelde Prison in Spandau. However, in September 2000, he was pardoned by Governing Mayor Eberhard Diepgen and released in December 2000, having served only a year.[19] He was critical of the PDS/Left Party (i.e., successor of the Socialist Unity Party); in 2001, he collaborated with Bärbel Bohley as advisor of Frank Steffel (CDU).[20]
Death [ edit ]
According to his wife, Schabowski resided in a Berlin nursing home during the last years of his life, after a number of infections and strokes.[10] He died in Berlin after a long illness on the morning of 1 November 2015, aged 86.[21]
References [ edit ]Notes on a Scandal, is a story within a story. A female teacher’s affair with a fifteen year old student, and the consequences of this, is merely a backdrop for the real tale of one woman’s agonising loneliness. Barbara is a stern and well respected teacher, nearing retirement. Her bitterly cold approach to teaching is a reflection of her personal isolation in all other areas of her life. When the new art teacher, Sheba, invites Barbara to a family meal she not only invites Barbara into her personal life but opens a door to her privacy that Barbara will steadily sneak through. A mix of foolish errors and coincidences lead Barbara to discover Sheba venturing into a relationship with an under-age student; a discovery that Barbara will take full advantage of in order to cement and protect her blossoming friendship with Sheba. Barbara is a confused and naive individual who wants more than just a platonic friendship with Sheba but is unable to view Sheba’s position, rationally. When Sheba begins to reject her intentions and tries to distance herself from Barbara, she turns Barbara into as much of a threat as her already secretive and unstable position. It is Barbara’s manipulation of Sheba and her unpredictable mood swings that make Notes on a Scandal such a creepy and terrifying tale.
Judi Dench has never been better. She brings a monster to the screen that is menacing as well as misunderstood. She is an entirely self-motivated and self-involved character which keeps her completely separated from the other characters, particularly Sheba. You feel sorry for her whilst constantly fearing her and her capabilities. Dench portrays two very different sides to Barbara; the side that performs and adapts to her surroundings and the side that is twisted, manipulative and threatening. Dench sways elegantly between the two for the majority of the film and reaches the extremes of both at several, separate, poignant moments in the narrative. Cate Blanchett gives a performance that rivals Judi Dench’s. Blanchett seems rawer and br |
amount of money’. My restaurant is the exact opposite of that. It’s ‘how good can I make it for you and this is what it costs’. I think we should look at restaurants based on their profit vs. the price on the menu.
Given all that – How is it owning a neighborhood restaurant in Seattle?
Well, my prices have to be lower than downtown due to my location. LloydMartin is in a neighborhood that deems itself to be middle class but it’s not. When you look at largest competitors on the street you have How to Cook a Wolf and Betty. We’re competing for same dollar. My diners will eat at both of those places. But diners that will eat at those places may not come here. We’re a 1% restaurant and our goal was to be a neighborhood place with excellent food.
What’s Lloyd Martin going to be a year from now? Or what does it have to be to survive? Eventually the public votes with their dollars will tell you what they want. We are Queen Anne’s special restaurant – and we were deemed that because we cook great food.
I absolutely love Seattle – I love the mountains, the water and even the weather. But the ‘new money’ challenge is so huge here that many people don’t even know how to appreciate it. There’s always a ‘meh’ part of how people relate to dining out. I didn’t know about this until I moved here.
What’s your opinion about the role of social media in the restaurant business these days?
We use Facebook constantly – I use it as much as I can. I think that social media is a great way to let your regular clientele to know what’s going on that night. It’s a great way to communicate with a lot of people with little effort. I think we’ll see a lot more of it, then it will get diluted, and it will stop as eventually we won’t be able to advertise for free.
All that being said – it took a lot of getting used to. It can be one of the more annoying things in a day. You’re taking pictures of the food you’re making. It’s self-promotion and I equal that to instant gratification. We never had to do that before and it’s such a saturated market. You constantly have to say ‘here I am!’ because if I’m not in front of your face all the time you won’t remember me or my restaurant.
We have a cultural problem with thinking in that we’ve stopped thinking our way through problems. You’re sitting in a restaurant and you can’t remember if you like single vineyard cab franc so you have to ask your phone. It’s all ultra-short term and it’s bad for us. Trying to figure out where to go to dinner should be a discussion with your friends – not with Siri.
What is your philosophy regarding food/cooking?
My philosophy on cooking is to buy the best products and work to enhance them. However, at many times in my career I have had to buy run of the mill or less desirable products and polish them into a work of art. I am not sure that in this day that chefs get to really have a philosophy on cooking.
Does organic and sustainability matter to most of my clientele? Yes, I think it does and it matters to me. So it matters to both of us until I present the price…then it becomes about just that price. I guess that to me my philosophy of cooking is – ‘what will the market bear?’ How far can I push it until I am ostracized by the price of a dish? I don’t know if that’s philosophy but it’s how I cook.
What would you like to see more of coming in from local farmers/growers?
At this point in time Farmers are teaching me every week when I go to the market. They have really groovy varieties of greens, heirloom tomatoes, etc. They are keeping food alive in our State and country. They are the second most underpaid people with Chefs. Anyone who puts food in your mouth should be paid a living wage.
What advice do you have for people looking to get into the food business?
Make sure you know someone that has a shitload of money and they’re going to give it to you. Make sure you are willing to give up everything you currently hold dear in your life to do this job. There will be no more friends. Your girlfriend won’t make you happy. Your parents won’t understand why you miss holidays at home and family gatherings. And be ready to be beaten up constantly. Emotionally, mentally, physically – every single day. And when you crack – be ready for more.
The people that push you and beat you up are those you should stick with. The ones asking if you lied on your resume, or telling you that your plates look like shit and ask you to make it again – work for those people. And fall in love with the job. You have to love it. It has to become an obsession because if it doesn’t you won’t succeed.
What’s your opinion on all the food allergies people seem to have these days?
For one – people have no idea that when they ask to change something they don’t realize how much that fucks with what‘ve been doing all day. I’ve been here since 9am and now it’s 8pm and you want me to re-create your dish!?!
Celiac and Gluten-Free Fast Facts: Celiac disease is an autoimmune digestive disease that damages the villi of the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food. An estimated 1 in 133 Americans, or about 1% of the population, has celiac disease.
1% of the world’s population is celiac. How the fuck do I have 4 of them in here at the same time?
What would you have done differently when starting out?
I wish I would have found someone that would have pushed me to go work at The French Laundry or Chez Panisse or one of those top kitchens. I wish someone would have pushed me to Europe. Maybe I wouldn’t have wasted about 4 years just fucking off. But it also makes me what I am today. So I guess it’s not all bad.
What is your favorite ingredient?
Butter. It’s just beautiful. There’s so many types – goat, sheep, whipped, raw. If there was only one cooking medium left it in the world it would have to be butter.
What trends/fads are played out?
Nothing – I don’t believe in trends. I believe in a palate. I believe in flavor, texture. I don’t think anything is outdated. I think every single thing in our culinary world is useful for certain things. And that’s something I think trends forget.
Also – everybody talks about grass fed beef. And it can be really good but it depends on the supplier. When I want a steak it better come from Nebraska or Iowa. I want corn fed, tasty Midwest beef. There’s nothing wrong with a good field steak but it’s just not my taste.
If someone invites you to their home for dinner what should they cook?
Anything. I don’t even care what it is. It could be Campbell’s chicken noodle soup. Cook me something you had that your grandma or mom made. Or your favorite dish from your country. Cook what you love to eat. I love hot dogs. I come from the hot dog and pizza capital of the world. I’m a guy that literally has a palate that enjoys everything from caviar and foie gras to hot dogs and tacos. There’s nothing I don’t like to eat.
Who is the best chef in Seattle right now?
There’s a little rest in the market called Chan – they make like Korean tapas. And the food in there is just fucking awesome. Salty, spicy, sweet, sour – I’ve eaten there twice and it’s just fucking good. Out of anyone out there right now – I think Park’s taking a lot of very interesting risks. If I’m in Seattle and I have the night off and am in the mood for that kind of food – that’s where I want to go. I eat at places like Fu Man Dumpling House. I know Tyler Moritz took over Zig Zag – he’s a phenomenal cook. Can’t wait to try their new classical French menu.
What is your last meal?
It’s got to be a jumbo chili cheese dog from Portillo’s in Chicago. Maybe two with a large chili cheese fry and a jumbo root beer.
Food = Art
I believe Chefs are artists – starving or not. Art and food become life. Good artists can become great while mediocre and bad ones merely become forgotten. The same holds true for Chefs as good ones can find success and possibly have their own restaurants while mediocre and bad ones find the line at Denny’s.
As artists, Chefs have the biggest palette in the world to play with. The multitude of ingredients, colors, flavors, aromas and presentation styles is vast. A Chef’s skill is oft measured by his or her ability to work with the ingredients available to them. Some choose to focus on a specific set of ingredients, type of cuisine or region. Others delve into specific skill sets such as preserving or sous vide and then allow those to heavily influence their menus. And still others focus on things like fusion combining cooking styles and ingredients across geographical boundaries. The number of possible combinations is endless.
Chef Sam Crannell works with nature’s palette in a creative, passionate way that comes through in his food at LloydMartin. Go, experience, eat, appreciate, share and enjoy!
If you enjoyed this interview with Chef Sam Crannell of LloydMartin then please check out my other articles in the series at Chef Interviews and stay tuned for future conversations with more of your favorite well and lesser known Seattle-based Chefs! Next up, Nathan Lockwood of Altura coming soon to The Hungry Dog Blog!
A Recipe from Chef Sam Crannell BBQ Ribs without a BBQ Serves 6 Ingredients 3 slabs of baby back ribs, we use Carlton farms or LAN roc DRY RUB enough for multiple batches of seasoning 1/4 c chili powder
1/4 c salt
1/4 c cumin
1/4 c smoked paprika
1/4 c brown sugar
2T maple sugar
1T mustard powder
1T garlic powder
1T onion powder
1T dehydrated orange peel
1t cayenne optional Maple Sweet and tangy BBQ Sauce bring to a boil and cool ¼ c chili powder
¼ c cumin
6oz of light beer
1/4 c katsup
1/4 c molasses
3/4 c prepared yellow mustard
1 c good maple syrup
1/2 c honey
1/4 c apple cider vinegar
1T brown sugar
2t Worcestershire sauce
1t hot sauce Instructions Rub pork ribs with a generous amount of dry rub and let it marinate from 6 hours to over night. Wrap with tinfoil and preheat oven to 350 cook on a sheet try for 3-3.5 hours. Baste with bbq and enjoy!The provincial budget will usher in more money for refugee housing, but will usher out the tuition tax rebate, CBC News has learned.
The rebates, which cost the government millions in tax revenue, will be phased out gradually, a government source said.
The former NDP government introduced the 60 per cent tuition tax rebate in the 2007 with the goal of encouraging new graduates to stay and work in Manitoba. Students got up to 60 per cent of their tuition paid back to them over six years through tax rebates. Students who graduated after 2007 and moved to Manitoba also were eligible for the rebate.
In 2010, the NDP introduced the advanced tuition fee rebate, which allowed students still in post-secondary school to receive a five per cent tax credit advance on tuition fees.
Both rebates are on the chopping block, the source said.
Documents from finance officials show roughly 48,000 rebate claims are made annually, costing the government about $54 million in tax revenue. About 20,000 students apply for the advance rebate, costing the government just over $4 million each year.
The Pallister government has argued the credits never lived up to their potential and there is no evidence they helped attract or keep people in Manitoba.
Instead, the government wants to focus on providing students who need assistance with an enhanced bursary and scholarship program.
"I think it is important that we focus our resources in such a way that we can help young people get the training they deserve and want," Premier Brian Pallister said last week when asked about the rebate's future.
Meanwhile, the government is boosting the amount of money it allocates for refugee housing in Tuesday's budget.
Pallister said last month the government expects to spend double the amount of money this year on services for refugees and asylum seekers following the influx of border crossings from the United States.
The government will earmark additional dollars for housing for refugees, said a source.
Pallister has made repeated pleas to the federal government to increase its contribution to help accommodate the roughly 1,200 asylum seekers the province predicts will cross over from the United States into Manitoba.
Pallister estimates the province will spend over $20 million this year on refugees.
"At some point, resources are just so stretched that you are not doing anyone a favour by bringing them into a situation where resources are being made available to others, and are diminished for them," Pallister told CBC News last month.
The source said the investment is being made because the province wasn't seeing this kind of assistance from Ottawa.
The extra funds will come through the Department of Families.
A kinder, gentler budget?
As for the rest of the budget, both the premier and his finance minister were signaling Monday it wouldn't be as tough a document as people fear.
"I think it will be regarded as a thoughtful, balanced budget that doesn't take steps to do anything but recognize that the status quo isn't good enough," Pallister said Monday morning.
That sentiment was echoed by Finance Minister Cameron Friesen later in the day.
"I think Manitobans are braced right now; they are thinking, what's this budget going to contain? Tomorrow when they crack the binding on that budget and give it a fair read, I think what they will find is our approach is balanced, it is moderate, it is responsible," Friesen said.
One thing the finance minister does say is that all departments will see something of an increase in their funding. but he added, it might not keep up with inflation.
Regardless of government rhetoric, the Opposition NDP believes the Tories are going to go deep and make cuts.
"We really hope they don't do that. That they don't carpet bomb the people of Manitoba with more austerity measures, but every indication is that is exactly where they are going," said NDP finance critic James Allum.With the iPad a few days away, now begins one of the great rituals of the release of a new Apple product: the posting of the reviews from the lucky few journalists who were given a week to play with the product.
Here are the reviews we’ve found so far:
Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal weighs in with “Apple iPad: Laptop Killer? Pretty Close.”
For the past week or so, I have been testing a sleek, light, silver-and-black tablet computer called an iPad. After spending hours and hours with it, I believe this beautiful new touch-screen device from Apple has the potential to change portable computing profoundly, and to challenge the primacy of the laptop. It could even help, eventually, to propel the finger-driven, multitouch user interface ahead of the mouse-driven interface that has prevailed for decades. […] All in all, however, the iPad is an advance in making more-sophisticated computing possible via a simple touch interface on a slender, light device. Only time will tell if it’s a real challenger to the laptop and netbook.
Ed Baig of USA Today writes “Verdict is in on Apple iPad: It’s a winner.”
The first iPad is a winner. It stacks up as a formidable electronic-reader rival for Amazon’s Kindle. It gives portable game machines from Nintendo and Sony a run for their money. At the very least, the iPad will likely drum up mass-market interest in tablet computing in ways that longtime tablet visionary and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates could only dream of. […] Apple has pretty much nailed it with this first iPad, though there’s certainly room for improvement. Nearly three years after making a splash with the iPhone, Apple has delivered another impressive product that largely lives up to the hype.
Andy Ihnatko of the Chicago Sun-Times (and Macworld!) has posted part one of a promised five part series, “The iPad is pure innovation - one of the best computers ever.”
The iPad user experience is instantly compelling and elegant. It’s not every computer and every function. It’s a computer that’s designed for speed, mobility, and tactile interaction above all other considerations. The most compelling sign that Apple got this right is the fact that despite the novelty of the iPad, the excitement slips away after about ten seconds and you’re completely focused on the task at hand … whether it’s reading a book, writing a report, or working on clearing your Inbox. Second most compelling: in situation after situation, I find that the iPad is the best computer in my household and office menagerie. It’s not a replacement for my notebook, mind you. It feels more as if the iPad is filling a gap that’s existed for quite some time.
David Pogue of the New York Times writes “Love it or not? Looking at iPad from 2 angles.”
And the techies are right about another thing: the iPad is not a laptop. It’s not nearly as good for creating stuff. On the other hand, it’s infinitely more convenient for consuming it — books, music, video, photos, Web, e-mail and so on. For most people, manipulating these digital materials directly by touching them is a completely new experience — and a deeply satisfying one. The bottom line is that the iPad has been designed and built by a bunch of perfectionists. If you like the concept, you’ll love the machine. The only question is: Do you like the concept?
Tim Gideon of PC Magazine reviews the iPad and gives it 4.5 red dots out of 5.
Kindle: I like you, but I am nervous about your future. The iPad displays books in a way that is much flashier than your black and white e-ink screen. It shows illustrations in color. Page turns actually look like page turns. And Apple gets the extras right, like being able to bookmark any word in the book you’re reading and then find it on a menu of all your bookmarks, sorted by date. […] Is the iPad a perfect product? No. And the omissions will give the anti-Apple crowd plenty of ammo. Why do I need this extra device that’s not a full-fledged laptop? Where’s the camera? What about Flash? Um, how about multitasking? These are all valid complaints, but one thing I can say about most Apple products, and certainly the iPad: There may be things it doesn’t do, but what it does do, it does remarkably well. Aside from the aforementioned limitations, there isn’t a lot else to gripe about.
Xeni Jardin of BoingBoing writes, “Apple’s iPad is a touch of genius.”
Tapping and swirling my way through iBooks (the store includes free, public domain titles in addition to the $9.99-$12.99 bestsellers), and iPad native apps provided at launch such as the spectacular, game-changing Marvel Comics app (crisp, lucid art, the ability to navigate frame-by-frame, rendering spoilers down the page obsolete), the Epicurious recipe browser, and the news browsing app by Reuters (free app in which video is, again, a seamless delight), the idea hits. This is what we wanted e-books to be all along. Rich, nimble, and dense with image and sound and navigability, right there inside the flow of the story. And this is what we wanted the web to feel like all along. We just want it to work, and we don't want to be aware of the delivery method while we're enjoying what's delivered.
Bob LeVitus of the Houston Chronicle writes that “Apple’s iPad is better than expected.”
It turns out the iPad isn’t as much a laptop replacement as I thought (though it could easily be used as one). Instead, it’s an entirely new category of mobile device. For example, now when I want to surf the Web from the couch or back deck, the iPad is the device I choose. Starbucks? Same thing. Think of the iPad as a new arrow in your technology quiver, an arrow that will often be the best tool for a given task. I had high expectations for the iPad, and it has met or exceeded most of them.
Omar Wasow at The Root says that “techies are wrong about the iPad”:
...the techie obsession with specs and obscure features completely misses how most consumers will actually use the iPad. A small percentage of power users will be disappointed that the iPad doesn't, say, have an HDMI video-out port or that it currently lacks the ability to run multiple applications simultaneously or that it fails to address some other esoteric concern. The rest of us (even most techies) will be thrilled that doing what we want to do on the iPad is generally effortless. Wanna read the news in bed before breakfast? Easy. Wanna play a casual multiplayer game of Scrabble on the sofa? Trivial. Wanna check your calendar, review a recipe, listen to a mix of indie rock, and load a map with detailed driving directions for an upcoming trip? Cake. With few exceptions, the iPad is impressively easy and fun to use.
And Stephen Fry is unpacking his iPad on YouTube.
Of course, our own iPad coverage will arrive as soon as we get our hands on one!Mark Millar Teases Hit-Girl, Mother Russia Showdown In KICK-ASS 2
Hit-Girl going toe-to-toe with a 300 pound unstoppable Russian body-builder will be part of the Kick-Ass 2 finale. Millar also shares that filming is set to commence on the sequel to Kick-Ass fairly soon, September 10th to be exact.
So much prep goes into a movie and I'm still a novice and so surprised how much. Jeff was spoken to eighteen months back and commissioned to write screenplay by Matthew almost a year ago and even though we're not shooting until 10th September all the fight scenes have been worked out by the stunt teams for several weeks.
We're all based in different countries and so most of this stuff gets viewed remotely. It means we can see costumes and set designs and so on as well as instantly view the daily castings happening in LA, Toronto and London. But the most fun is the pre-viz or pre-visualisations for the fight scenes. These are actually cut like movies and with a temp track, uncostumed stunt-people in the place of the characters and wearing wires and helmets doing the scenes we're going to love in June next year.
My favourite costume I saw this morning is The Colonel's dog. A big dog in a mask. But am torn between the Hit-Girl and Mother Russia fight and the scene with Hit-Girl fighting the super-villains on the roof of the moving van. Both are just mind-blowing. But the Mother Russia fight is going to be one of the most brutal and epic battles in cinema. Think how good Mindy is and then multiply it to 300 pounds of female muscle just pounding her and using every weapon you can imagine in the midst of that big final battle.
This looks amazing with the stunt team and a temp. Imagine what it's going to look like with the actors, Jeff's direction, Eddie's edits and a final soundtrack. I'm really, really excited. Just finishing off The Secret Service #5 today and getting back into Kick-Ass 3 tomorrow. Want to get as much work done in next 2 weeks as possible before the whole show really kicks off.
MM
RELATED CONTENT:
Mark Millar Says SUPERIOR Will Be A Family Movie, Touches On The SECRET SERVICE Adaptation
Kick-Ass 2 Will Be About The Villains, Akin To A Clockwork Orange
COMICS: KICK-ASS To End With Volume 3, Story Picks Up Two Years Later
This may come as no surprise to those that have read the comics and graphic novels (I have not, I'll wait till after the movie comes out) but Mark Millar has shared a modest update over on his website about the filming progress of Kick-Ass 2: Balls to the Wall.
DISCLAIMER: ComicBookMovie.com is protected under the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) and... : ComicBookMovie.com is protected under the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) and... [MORE]
DISCLAIMER: ComicBookMovie.com is protected from liability under the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) and "Safe Harbor" provisions. This post was submitted by a volunteer contributor who has agreed to our [LESS] : ComicBookMovie.com is protected from liability under the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) and "Safe Harbor" provisions. This post was submitted by a volunteer contributor who has agreed to our Code of Conduct. CBM will disable users who knowingly commit plagiarism, piracy, trademark or copyright infringement. Please contact us for expeditious removal of copyrighted/trademarked content. Learn more about our copyright and trademark policies HEREHow to Install Kodi on a FireStick
Below is the easiest method for installing the Kodi application on your Firestick or Fire TV. No computer is required. The guide will show you how to install the latest, stabble version or you can also choose to use the link for Kodi 18 beta which was just released meaning the stable version should be around soon.
It is becoming more and more important to protect yourself online. This can easily be done using a VPN that stops your internet provider from being able to see what you are accessing online. It also removes any blocks put in place by your internet provider. They are also great for using when you are using public unsecured Wi-Fi
2 VPNs I use and can recommend are IPvanish & StrongVPN. Below are links to their websites. Both of which will give you an extra discount.
I also have a guide for installing a VPN on Fire stick which you can find here
Turn on your FireStick
Select Settings
Select Device (or Settings if you still have the old interface)
(or Settings if you still have the old interface) Select Developer Options
Select Apps from Unknown Sources
Turn ON
You will now see a warning message regarding unknown sources. Select OK you can turn off unknown sources later but we need it on for now
you can turn off unknown sources later but we need it on for now Go back to your home screen (press home button on remote)
Highlight Apps - located at the top of the screen - and then push down on your Amazon remote to bring up a sub-menu containing Featured, Games & Categories
- located at the top of the screen - and then push down on your Amazon remote to bring up a containing, & Select Categories in the sub menu
in the sub menu Select Utility located at the bottom as it is alphabetically sorted
located at the bottom as it is alphabetically sorted Scroll down and select Downloader
Select Get to install Downloader
to install After the installation has completed select Open
You will now see the following screen. Select the URL section
Type ONE of the following and then click next: For Kodi 17.6 on 32 bit devices bit.ly/kodi176 For Kodi 17.6 on 64 bit devices bit.ly/mjdnew For Kodi 18 on 32 bit devices bit.ly/mjdk1832 For Kodi 18 on 64 bit devices bit.ly/mjdk1864
Select Download in the next screen
The version of Kodi you chose will begin to download
When the download completes you will see the following screen. Select Install
Installation will begin
When the installation completes select Open
The first run may take a short while but you should now see your Kodi home screen
I recommend using a VPN to help keep yourself anonymous and protect yourself online. You can get 25% off any package from IPVanish & 20% off any Strong VPN Package which allow you to connect 5 devices to an encrypted VPN connection at any one time.
Native apps for Android TV, Android, iOS, Mac, Linux, and more OS'
Access all Kodi add-ons anonymously
Tier 1 hardware (no speed slowdown)
Prevent ISP Throttling
Log-free, so you can’t be tracked
7 day money back guarantee
The ability to be configured right at your router, for a hassle-free experience.
You can use these links to get an extra discount to try a VPN outThem thar penguins is about to have a bad day...
You can snag this print from my Society6 store here: society6.com/NikkiWardArt/Fion…
EDIT: HOLY DAILY DEVIATION, BATMAN! Thank you all so much for the comments and faves, and a fond hello to my new followers! Huge hugs to Winged-warrior Ry-Spirit : HOLY DAILY DEVIATION, BATMAN! Thank you all so much for the comments and faves, and a fond hello to my new followers! Huge hugs tofor being sweet enough to nominate me, andfor choosing this piece! I seriously feel like I've just found Wonka's freaking Golden Ticket, thanks all! <3
Did this one afternoon while watching Kill Bill over at my friend's place. Fun fact: This is the first 11x17 poster I've ever done through traditional pencils and inking. I really enjoyed the process! Colored digitally in Photoshop.A year has passed since the imposition of life sentence without parole to Ross Ulbricht, the creator of the notorious Silk Road web marketplace. The website was launched in 2011. Since then Silk Road has been an unregulated online marketplace where customers could purchase anything starting from illegal drugs to hacking instructions. Moreover, the site used software which permitted clients to browse anonymously. Payments were made using bitcoin, a digital currency that’s difficult to trace.
Ross Ulbricht was found guilty on all seven counts ranging from money laundering to drug trafficking, engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise and computer hacking. Prosecutors described Ulbricht “as a power-hungry kingpin who used threats of violence and murder to protect his multimillion-dollar drug empire.”
Now Wired informs that Ulbricht’s defense team filed a 145-page argument for a new trial. The appeal enumerates all the improprieties and abuses in Ulbricht’s investigation and calls for a court to throw out the conviction on all seven counts. Defense states that the court erroneously suppressed information about federal agents involved in investigation.
The case was presented as if the latter used their positions to steal bitcoins from the site and even attempted to extort money from Ulbricht. In particular Ulbricht’s attorneys mention two corrupt agents participating in investigation.
According to them, crimes of Drug Enforcement Administration agent Carl Mark Force IV and Secret Service agent Shaun Bridges weren’t revealed to the defense until after the trial. However the evidence of Force’s and Bridges’s corruption was both material and exculpatory. Now defense particularly insists that corrupt agents Force and Bridges could have used their access to the Silk Road’s site to tamper with logs or even to fabricate evidence.
Joshua Dratel, lead attorney, claims that he asked Judge Katherine Forrest for a mistrial and was rejected no less than five times. He wasn’t permitted to cross-examine prosecution witnesses about alternative suspects who might have been possible owners or administrators of the Silk Road.
Dratel points as well to the breach of the fourth amendment privacy rights – Ulbricht’s laptop was searched with an overly broad warrant and his online accounts were tracked with a warrantless pen register. It turned out that there was a statement from a Silk Road employee who expressed his opinion that there were multiple people running the Silk Road under pseudonym “Dread Pirate Roberts”. The statement was fully ignored by the court.
Finally, the defense considers Judge Forrest’s sentence of life without parole to be unfair. It claims that Ulbricht can’t be blamed for deaths from drug overdoses as he just ran a website, a platform that didn’t itself sell any particular drugs. Dratel also disputed such a harsh punishment as Forrest’s stated intention of preventing future criminals from following in Ulbricht’s footsteps.
“The life sentence imposed on 30-year-old Ross Ulbricht ‘shocks the conscience’…and is therefore substantively unreasonable,” concludes Dratel’s argument. “Accordingly, Ulbricht should be re-sentenced before a different judge to avoid the irremediable taint from the improper factors the Court considered.”DEAUVILLE, France (Reuters) - The Group of Eight promised $20 billion in aid to Tunisia and Egypt on Friday and held out the prospect of billions more to foster the Arab Spring and the new democracies emerging from popular uprisings.
From L-R, G8 leaders, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, U.S. President Barack Obama and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso are seen during a round table meeting at the G8 summit in Deauville, northern France May 26, 2011. REUTERS/Markus Schreiber/Pool
Likening it to the fall of the Berlin Wall that changed Europe, G8 leaders ending an annual summit in France launched a partnership for North Africa and the Middle East that ties aid and development credits to progress on political and economic reforms by states which have thrown off autocratic rulers.
Most is in the form of loans rather than outright grants, to the two countries in the vanguard of protest movements which have swept the Arab world from the Atlantic to the Gulf. Egypt and Tunisia are planning to hold free elections this year.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said that on top of $20 billion of credits provided by the World Bank and similar regional lenders dominated by the major powers, there would be as much again from other sources — $10 billion from oil-rich Gulf Arab states and $10 billion from other governments.
Other countries could hope for aid in future. In a statement after the two-day summit in the northern resort of Deauville, the G8 leaders signaled they “strongly support the aspirations of the Arab Spring as well as those of the Iranian people.”
“The changes under way in the Middle East and North Africa are historic and have the potential to open the door to the kind of transformation that occurred in Central and Eastern Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall,” the G8 said.
Multilateral development banks “could provide over $20 billion, including 3.5 billion euros from the EIB, for Egypt and Tunisia for 2011-2013 in support of suitable reform efforts.”
SUPPORT REQUESTED
Senior Egyptian and Tunisian officials met the leaders of the G8, expanded from seven Western powers to include Russia and bridge the East-West divide after the end of the Cold War, to plead for massive support for their fragile economies.
Tourism, major sources of revenue for both Tunisia and Egypt, has been particularly badly hit by the popular uprisings that have also spooked investors.
“We are truly very satisfied with the very strong, clear and precise statements proffered by all of the G8 nations, and the financial institutions,” said Tunisian Finance Minister Jalloul Ayed told a news conference in Deauville.
“It’s very clear that everybody wants to help us.”
An International Monetary Fund report on Thursday said the external financing needs of oil-importing Middle East and North African states would top $160 billion over the next three years.
The IMF said it could provide $35 billion, but many states are implementing austerity measures to rein in budget deficits and trim public debt, which could affect the amount they are willing to stump up to help emerging Arab democracies.
The summit also backed the extension of the mandate of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development into North Africa and the Middle East. The bank was created after the Cold War to help former Communist states become market economies.
A U.S. official traveling with President Barack Obama was among several to stress that money is tight, that the credits would be forthcoming only if political change went ahead and that the main goal was to help the Arabs help themselves.
“It’s not a blank cheque. It’s in the context of overall reform programs,” said Mike Froman, a deputy national security adviser at the White House. “It’s an envelope that could be achieved in the context of suitable reform efforts.
“More important than any numerical figure, I think, is the vision that it lays out,” he added
“This is largely a case of trade not aid, investment not assistance over time. It’s really about establishing the conditions under which the private sectors in these economies can flourish and the benefits of growth are broadly shared.”
“GADDAFI MUST GO”
The World Bank on Tuesday unveiled $6 billion in new funding for Tunisia and Egypt, whose revolts have inspired popular uprisings in Yemen, Bahrain and Syria. Demands for reform have also been heard from Morocco to Saudi Arabia.
The popular movement for change has also left Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi fighting to stay in power, and G8 leaders said he had lost all legitimacy because of his use of force against civilians protesting his rule: “He has no future in a free, democratic Libya. He must go,” the leaders said.
Russia signaled it was ready to mediate in the crisis, Moscow’s special representative on Africa Mikhail Margelov telling reporters Russia had contacts in Gaddafi’s entourage.
But Sarkozy said: “Mediation is not possible with Gaddafi.” And other Western leaders stressed that they were mainly grateful for Moscow’s agreement that the Libyan leader should step down, even if Russia has opposed NATO’s bombing campaign.
British Prime Minister David Cameron, however, said he did not recall Medvedev offer to mediate and said Britain was sending attack helicopters to Libya to step up pressure on Gaddafi.
Earlier, Obama and Sarkozy said they were determined to “finish the job” in Libya.
On Syria, the G8 leaders said they were “appalled” by the killing of peaceful protesters opposed to the rule of President Bashar al-Assad, and demanded authorities stop using force against them.
They also condemned violence against protesters seeking the removal of Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh, and urged him to respect a pledge to stand down.
SUMMIT AGENDA
The world’s current crises have forced their way on to the agenda of the Group, whose importance has diminished with the rise of emerging economies like China and India.
Slideshow (6 Images)
The G8 leaders, on Thursday discussed nuclear safety and the global economy, noting on Friday in their communique that the recovery was becoming more “self-sustained,” although higher commodity prices were hampering further growth.
They renewed a pledge to wrap up talks this year on Russia’s entry into the World Trade Organization and said long-stalled global trade talks was a matter of “great concern” and that they would explore all options to get things moving.
With aid to Arab states dominating, the G8 also issued a special declaration saying it stood side-by-side with Africa and would intensify its |
.
In November 2008, a worker named Sherman Jones was loosening the cables using a hydraulic jack when something slipped. Part of the jack punctured his chest, killing him. He would be the project's only fatality.
Throughout construction of Hoover Dam, the remote site drew tourists from far and wide. Visitors came to be fixated by the daredevil work of the high-scalers, like a real-life circus act without the tent. One worker was dubbed "The Human Pendulum" because he swung co-workers and cases of dynamite along the cliff faces.
Over the months, the two fingers of the arch grew steadily together.
Carpenters built a wooden form in the shape of an arch segment. Supported by suspension cables, the form slowly traveled the distance of the arch. For each segment, concrete was poured into the form, then allowed to harden in place.
From turnouts on U.S. 93, Hoover Dam tourists stopped and gaped at the work high overhead. People worldwide flocked to a federal website to marvel at the construction photos and live webcam.
In August 2009, the gap in the arch was closed. The two segments that began 1,060 feet apart met just three-eighths of an inch off perfect. The most treacherous part of the job was done. The bridge could stand on its own weight for the first time.
"The bringing of the arch together was an incredible sense of accomplishment for the team and an incredible source of pride for the trade workers," Zanetell said.
While construction crews celebrated, Zanetell forced himself to stay away. It was the construction crews' night, and his mind was already on making sure nobody let down his or her guard for the final phases of work, he said.
It was a typical reaction from the man they called David Z, who held status meetings every Monday for six years. Goodyear, the designer, said it was the "most intensely managed project" he could remember.
Keeping everybody focused became one of Zanetell's biggest challenges.
On many big projects, work crews often compete for bragging rights and sometimes bonuses over which team can perform a task fastest. On the bridge, plaudits were earned by doing the job to perfection.
It mattered. Workers were erecting concrete columns atop the arch. A millimeter mistake at the bottom could result in an irreconcilable flaw at the top of a football-field-length column. Months could be lost.
With every new block they stacked, the entire structure settled a little. After each, engineers took precise measurements. Slowly, methodically, the bridge was finished.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt commemorated Boulder Dam on Sept. 30, 1935, with 10,000 people in attendance. The work was finished 18 months early. The dam had once borne the name of Herbert Hoover, who had been instrumental as U.S. Commerce secretary in getting the river-states agreement. But Hoover, no longer in office in 1935, was not invited, and his name was dropped. Congress restored his name to the dam in 1947.
The bridge and the new stretches of U.S. 93 leading to it will open to traffic this week. Combined, the projects came in within the $240 million budget.
Thursday commemorated the opening. Victor Mendez and his boss, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, were there, along with members of the Tillman and O'Callaghan families.
Congress had designated the name of the bridge in a 2004 transportation bill. It honors people from both of the states that the bridge connects.
Pat Tillman is the Arizona Cardinals linebacker who joined the U.S. Army after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and was killed by friendly fire during combat in Afghanistan. Mike O'Callaghan was a two-term Nevada governor and newspaper editor.
A public celebration was held Saturday, allowing visitors - some who came from as far away as Boston - the chance to walk on the monumental span for the first time. Police estimated a crowd in excess of the 20,000 predicted, as a steady stream of 60 double-decker buses continuously ferried visitors, who lingered to take photos and admire the view.
"The view is spectacular," said Mike Hoover, a 62-year-old from Phoenix whose father's name is Herbert Hoover. "The view is spectacular. People are really going to enjoy this."
Denver resident Mike Capps, 64, has relatives in nearby Kingman and visits them often.
"We've been watching this bridge being built for the last eight years," he said. "We made the trip just for this. Just to be a part of it."
Views from cars crossing the dam will be partly obscured by a barrier. But pedestrians are allowed to cross on the upstream side.
From there, they can look straight down through the railing at the rocks and river far below. They also get a new perspective on the dam. From the bridge, Hoover Dam seems more imposing, more impressive than from any other vantage point.
ADOT will finish widening the last 15-mile stretch of U.S. 93 before the bypass by year's end.
Studies from 2001 showed an average traveler will save 17 minutes when crossing from one side of the canyon to the other. On busy holiday weekends, the time savings could be more because the bridge eliminates tourist travel congestion and security checkpoints that have caused two-hour delays.
It remains unclear how significant the time savings will be on the entire Phoenix-to-Las Vegas route.
With the bridge opening, trucks will no longer be detoured to cross the river downstream at Bullhead City, as they have been since 9/11. About 2,000 trucks are expected to return to the more direct route on U.S. 93.
That is expected to add to the congestion through Boulder City, Nev., already a bottleneck 11 miles north of the new bridge. Nevada transportation officials still don't have the money or full political support for a bypass around Boulder City.
When work on Hoover Dam began, it was the depths of the Depression. About 20,000 desperate job seekers swarmed Las Vegas, then a town of 5,000 people. By the end of 1937, workers would finish the Golden Gate Bridge, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and the first bore of New York's Lincoln Tunnel.
As the bridge was being built, Arizona and Nevada construction workers were hit harder than in any other state during the recession, the worst since the Depression. Since the boom-time peak in mid-2006, about 131,000 Arizona construction jobs, more than half, have evaporated. Nevada shed 86,000 jobs, or almost 60 percent.
So while the Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge is an engineering feat, it symbolizes much more to its builders in these troubled economic times.
For Mendez, the project is a model and an advertisement to lawmakers reluctant to spend more money on public works.
"This bridge is a unique accomplishment for the nation," Mendez said. "This is the kind of smarts and attitude we need to bring more of these projects in and put more people back to work."
As the bridge rose, the 1,200 skilled workers and 300 engineers on the project found inspiration a quarter-mile upstream.
"If any one of us had a day when we felt tired or run-down or in doubt, working in the shadow of that dam really helped," Zanetell said. "Hoover Dam was the greatest engineering accomplishment in our nation's history. We had an opportunity to be as great for our generation."
Said Joseph Maietta, a carpenter who finished the arch: "We're building a national monument."At the end of most elections, the political press corps tends to focus on what campaigns call their candidates’ “closing arguments.” The use of courtroom jargon is fitting, because the point of the “closing argument” is to offer the people who decide the election a last-best summation of the case.
For candidates, this usually entails putting on their best faces. Relentless positivity, substantive heft, resume burnishing, and so on.
Donald Trump’s closing argument is that he can use a teleprompter. Not necessarily that the words he reads off the teleprompter are true or intelligent, just that he can say all of them out loud and in order. In the final days of this campaign, we have returned to where we began, with an odd fixation on whether this man who aspires to the presidency can avoid saying anything ignorant, bigoted, inscrutable, or otherwise disqualifying for an hour or so at a time, once or twice a day.
“In what many around him took as a hopeful sign heading into the final stretch of the campaign, the Republican presidential nominee did not turn to Twitter to vent his frustration, as he would have in the past,” reports Yahoo News’ Holly Bailey, a campaign vet. “Though he still regularly breaks from his prepared remarks—often to attack the ‘dishonest media’ to the delight of his supporters—Trump has been more pointed in making his case about why he should win the White House.”About 4,500 primates are in private hands in the UK – many of them suffering poor conditions. Is it time for a ban?
Primate owner Laura was scanning the internet adverts for monkeys she could try to rescue when she spotted one from a man in the Cotswolds who was clearly finding caring for two common marmosets extremely difficult. This is a common problem: primates are wild animals and keeping them is complex, expensive and demanding.
She contacted the man and agreed to collect the two adult monkeys – one male and one female. They had been kept in a tiny shed in his garden and were in a terrible condition. “He’d fed them almost entirely on porridge, baby food and fish fingers. When I asked if he had given them any fruit or vegetables, he remembered that he’d occasionally fed them grapes. Neither monkey had ever been seen by a vet. The male had severe dental problems and his tail was a mixture of matted hair and bald patches.”
Like many of us, Laura (not her real name) grew up fascinated and enthralled by monkeys, and although she had never intended to keep primates, she found herself rescuing the two marmosets. She soon realised that the female was pregnant and, two weeks later, twin males were born. Soon after, the adult male was booked in for surgery to fix his tail and teeth. While the marmoset was under anaesthetic, the vet discovered that his tiny body was riddled with metabolic bone disease caused by poor nutrition and insufficient light. Sadly the male died during the operation – though, with his twisted bones and body bloated by gas, it seemed a slight blessing when his heart finally stopped.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest A common marmoset in the Atlantic rainforest, Brazil. Photograph: Alamy
This sad story doesn’t stop there. Before he died, he’d managed to get the female pregnant again – and soon another three tiny males were born. Laura then rescued another adult male (this time from Luton), and what had started out as a single pair now turned into a family of seven – with the new male acting as a surrogate father.
They all now live in at her family home in Lincolnshire in a specially made enclosure with specialist heating, specific lighting, indoor and outdoor runs and an ever-changing regime of feeding and behavioural enrichment. A contraceptive implant has ensured no more little monkeys have since arrived on the scene and now, finally, both the monkeys and keeper are happy.
But Laura admits that primates make awful pets: “They urinate on everything to mark their territory and smell terribly; they need constant care and easily cost thousands of pounds every year to keep. People have this idea that they can touch and cuddle them but I never touch mine as they’re not tame. If I did, I’d expect to be bitten. Even with my most relaxed animal, I wouldn’t dream of it as it would stress him out too much. It’s such a selfish thing to have them as pets. Get a dog or have a baby – just don’t get a monkey!”
Welcome to the world of primate ownership: the legal position is complex, the ethics troublesome, and even the owners themselves have conflicted feelings about keeping monkeys at home. I’d tried contacting several other primate owners but, with this one exception, none would speak to me. I got a sense that they knew it was wrong at some level and were uncomfortable talking about it.
I am a primatologist and have worked with chimpanzees in Africa, orangutans in Indonesia and green monkeys in the Caribbean. I love primates and have dedicated years to working with them, but there is not a chance I would want one as a pet.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Squirrel monkeys are on the dangerous animals list. Photograph: Alamy
But there are people who want to – an estimated 4,500 primates (which covers apes, monkeys and lemurs, bushbabies and lorises) are privately owned in the UK. While some of these are owned by trained experts and represent specialist breeding groups, the vast majority are pets, living in people’s homes. Often owned by individuals with nothing more than good intentions and the misguided desire to own a “cool” pet, it is clear that there are very few privately owned captive primates in the UK in such a lucky situation as the ones Laura rescued.
Dr Sharon Redrobe – a veterinary surgeon and the CEO of Twycross Zoo, Warwicks – knows first-hand just how hard primate husbandry is. “By definition, a pet is an animal we touch and play with in our homes and in no way is it in a primate’s best interest to be constantly touched and played with by people. They need their own social groups, are extremely hard to care for and often grow up to be aggressive and impossible to control. Owners then take them to a vet, expecting them to be magically ‘fixed’. They’re wild animals and, in that respect, no different to tigers. You wouldn’t keep a tiger at home, so don’t keep a monkey.”
Redrobe is quick to point out that in the past keeping pet primates was far more socially acceptable and that places such as Twycross were actually founded by people who liked to keep pet monkeys themselves, but she says times have moved on.
“The world has changed hugely since the 1950s and 60s. We didn’t know any better then; now we do. If you really love monkeys, let them be monkeys. Maybe help them by sponsoring one in a zoo or sanctuary.”
Despite such complicated care needs, high welfare concerns and the serious risks associated with the spread of certain diseases between people and non-human primates, it is still legal to keep primates as pets in the UK – regardless of how endangered they are or how dangerous they may be.
The care of primates is covered by the Animal Welfare Act of 2006 and Defra’s Code of Practice for the Welfare of Privately Kept Primates (the “primate code”) of 2010. The act, which states that animal owners must prevent “unnecessary suffering” and must take “all reasonable steps to meet their animal’s needs”, is hard to enforce as most pet primates in the UK are kept in secret.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest The young capuchin monkey that German authorities confiscated from Justin Bieber in 2013. Photograph: Christof Stache/AFP
The primate code is primarily to explain the welfare and management needs of the animals and a breach of its provisions is not actually an offence – though it could be used as evidence in court in animal welfare cases. The code, which applies to everything from gorillas to lemurs, is further weakened as it is subject to broad interpretation – specific groups are not covered in any real detail.
The keeping of some primate species, such as capuchins, is thankfully restricted under the Dangerous Wild Animals Act (1976), but many, including marmosets are not listed. A 2014 RSPCA report found that 81% of pet primates in the UK belonged to the marmoset group originally from South America.
Other primates, such as cotton-top tamarins, are critically endangered and should receive the highest level of legal protection from international trade.
With little awareness surrounding laws and a general lack of consequences for those failing to comply with regulations, many feel that the law should change and that a total ban on the keeping of pet primates in the UK should be introduced.
Rachel Hevesi, the director of Wild Futures, a primate sanctuary in Looe, Cornwall, knows all too well just how weak the current legislation is. “We’ve had over 150 primates come to us over the years and, without exception, every single one has had physical or psychological problems or, in many cases, both,” she says.
Hervesi wants to see a full ban on keeping primates as pets and sees success lying in a “positive list” style of legislation, where any specific primate species allowed to be kept as pets would be listed. With no species being proposed as being suitable, this blanket, prohibition-type law means that there would be little room for misinterpretation. Such legislation is already present in Belgium and several other European countries and has led to not only a reduction in the overall number of primates being kept as pets, but also to an increase in members of the public reporting illicit pet owners.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Primatologist and conservationist Jane Goodall. Photograph: Diana Sanchez/AFP
Hevesi is hopeful that the British government will bring a ban into force in the near future. When the primate code was introduced in 2010, it was agreed that the government would review its success after a five-year period. Defra failed to hold that review in 2015, but has since promised to reassess the legislation this year.
Key stakeholders including the Primate Society of Great Britain, the RSPCA, the British Veterinary Association, the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (Biaza), Born Free and Four Paws all support a ban on pet primates and are gathering evidence and data for the government review.
Hevesi says: “The trade relies on the ignorance of the buyer and the greed of the breeders. We’ve never met a keeper who has deliberately set out to harm their primate pet; it’s a lack of awareness and skills.”
The image of primates as clever and interactive little human-like animals that can live alongside and play with us may seem appealing – and a recent batch of unthinking celebrities such as Justin Bieber, Beyoncé and the Kardashians posing with primates has only added to the problem – but without exception, every expert, academic, welfare officer and zoo keeper agrees that primates are wholly inappropriate as pets.
Whereas dogs and cats have been specially bred for generations as pets – to a point where we have selected specific behavioural and physical traits that make them perfect companions – most primates bred as pets are only the result of two or three generations in captivity and are, in most respects, still wild and untamed animals.
Renowned primatologist and conservationist Dr Jane Goodall has worked with wild and captive primates for decades and knows them better than anyone. “Every primate belongs in an environment that is as close to a wild setting as possible. They are beautiful and intelligent animals, but highly complex with very specific needs. They simply do not belong in our homes as pets.”
With such strong opposition to the UK primate pet trade, it is hoped that a ban can soon be drafted and introduced to protect the needs and welfare of these highly intelligent, though difficult to keep, wild animals.Telstra has offered another tantalising insight into its unfolding energy market strategy, with the suggestion the telco has plans to mobilise its existing battery storage fleet of more than 1GWh, to help balance supply and demand on Australia’s rapidly transforming electricity market.
Speaking at the All-energy Australia conference in Melbourne on Wednesday, Telstra’s executive director of energy, Ben Burge, said the the company’s extensive telecoms infrastructure – including its back-up generation, its plans for renewables, and its considerable energy storage assets – made it a key contender in the critical, grid-wide effort to balance supply and demand.
This, of course, is contingent on a few other things falling into place first – namely the implementation of a 5-minute settlement rule for the National Electricity Market, that is hoped to open the NEM up to a greater range of competition beyond the incumbent gen-tailers.
That should be in place by 2021. And Telstra’s plan will also require some significant technical manoeuvring and replacing of much of its current battery capacity – mostly of the type used in trucks – but this was happening anyway.
That 1 gigawatt hour of storage could be made available to AEMO to help manage peak demand, and provide grid security, in the same way as Tesla’s big battery in South Australia. That facility though is just 100MW/129MWh.
It would transform Telstra from one of the biggest users of electricity in the country – it accounts for 1.5 terawatt hours out of the country’s slightly less than 200TWh, but also into one of the biggest suppliers.
It is also building a large solar farm in north Queensland and plans others to help deflect its own energy costs.
Burge – who was snapped up by Telstra from his role at the helm of upstart energy retailer Powershop – sees many key synergies between the energy industry and the electricity industry. Particular in terms of reliability of service.
“Turn the power off; people get grumpy. Turn off the Facebook feed, and then you really know true hatred,” he quipped.
But of course, keeping the lights on and essential services running is a serious business, and one that the Australian Energy Market Operator is singularly focused upon in the lead up to another Australian summer.
“Since September last year, when we had the state-wide blackout in SA, there have been at least three incidences of being within 50 milliseconds of the same thing happening,” Burge told the conference.
“Yes, we’re a 1.5TWh user of energy … but we also have several hundred megawatts of generation capacity,” he said.
Add to that the coming promise of 5G telecoms technology, and a cumulative battery storage capacity that is 10 times the size of the big battery system Tesla is currently installing in South Australia, and you have some pretty hefty potential.
“Take our battery fleet, we actually have over a gigawatt-hour of batteries in our network,” Burge said.
“Now, at the moment, they’re (largely) truck batteries, so they’re not that useful from a market participation point of view.
“But with 5-minute pricing on the horizon within the next, say, three years, plus a swap-out program that we’ll roll out over the next 5-7 (years), you can see that an industrial customer like Telstra is actually sitting on something that is quite useful in terms of problem of … how you fill in the (supply and demand) gaps.
“For too long we’ve been relying on only half of the equation to match out demand and supply, b/c largely there hasn’t been a signal to the demand-side of the equation,” Burge said.
“In that medium- to long term we are actually very positive and very hopeful about where the market ends up.
“Obviously it’s going to be a bit of a choppy road, between now and then, but we’re really positive.”A Canadian company criticized by the United Nations for selling armoured patrol cars in war-torn African nations has had controversial clients closer to home, CBC News has learned.
The Streit Group, heavily promoted last year by the Global Affairs Department as a rising star in the export market, has on at least two occasions sold - or modified - sport utility and luxury vehicles to people with alleged gang connections.
Sources connected to the criminal justice system in B.C. tell CBC News the Innisfil, Ont., company was responsible for adding armoured plates to a BMW 745i, leased to the Bacon brothers (Jonathan, Jamie and Jarrod), who were well-known to the province's integrated gang task force.
The three brothers, including Jonathan who died in a 2011 gang slaying, were involved in drug trafficking and firearms offences. They were even implicated in a rash of homicides in the greater Vancouver area.
Their leased BMW, with four-centimetre-thick bulletproof glass and gun ports, was seized by authorities after it was found abandoned on Highway 1 outside Vancouver in late January 2009. Police later seized several other armoured luxury vehicles leased to the brothers.
Separately, court records and police wiretap evidence show that in late 2006 Streit sold two armoured SUVs — a Nissan Armada and a Toyota 4Runner — to an associate of Montreal's notorious Rizzuto family, whom police allege to have Mafia ties.
The records were filed as part of the case against Francesco Del Balso, who along with five other Montrealers pleaded guilty to a series of criminal charges.
A spokesman for Streit was asked several times for comment, but declined.
But in a 2008 interview with the Toronto Star, company officials described how businessmen and the ultra-rich were seeking out the protection of bulletproof vehicles.
Overseas allegations
The company recently ran afoul of the UN for selling armoured patrol vehicles in South Sudan and Libya through its United Arab Emirates branch.
The RCMP are reviewing whether two of those deals violated international sanctions, but have refused to say whether they have launched a full-fledged investigation.
At issue in those cases is whether the Streit Group knew that its unarmed vehicles intended for local police would be outfitted with machine guns and used in each country's civil war.
The company, responding to UN investigators and CBC News last summer, denied any wrongdoing. It said it was not responsible for any "modifications" and had no control over what customers did with their vehicles.
Limited market at home
A former employee, who asked not to be identified, said he didn't witness any dealings with alleged gang members.
But the ex-staffer also said the company has done very little business in Canada over the last few years, with the exception of modifying luxury vehicles with bulletproof glass and plates in a process known as "up-armouring."
The Streit Group, in a statement to CBC News last summer, said it does not sell armoured patrol vehicles — the kind that has drawn the ire of the UN — in Canada or the U.S.
It does offer Brinks-style armoured trucks, but the former employee claims the plant in Innisfil has not produced one of those in years.
"The production area just simply wasn't in operation. There were no vehicles being built," said the employee. "It didn't make a whole lot of sense. No sales of cash and transit vehicles in four years. No pursuing government tenders, and that only left the luxury and SUV market."
The former employee said Streit management reassured him.
"The company's position was, well, we do nothing illegal," said the source, who added the latest information is disappointing.
"I'm sure selling products to organized crime is not illegal. But for a company that's supposed to be an industry leader, you would think they would be able to pass on that sort of business."
The RCMP were asked if they had any concerns about the company's domestic operation, but did not respond.
Liberals stonewall
The latest revelations will likely prompt more questions about the federal government's commercial support for the company.
We were promised openness. We were promised transparency. We've got none of that. - Hélène Laverdière, NDP foreign affairs critic
Streit was founded in the mid-1990s by businessman Guerman Goutorov, a former Russian police officer who immigrated to Canada, and Anton Stefov, a mechanical engineer from Bulgaria.
In addition to touting Streit as a "world-class manufacturer" in a May 1, 2015, statement, the Global Affairs Department — two years earlier — purchased two modified armoured SUVs in a $201,626 sole-source contract.
Those vehicles were apparently intended for use at embassies in high-risk countries.
The department refused to answer questions about what it knew of the company's history. It would only say sole-source purchases are not the norm and the vehicles were bought when the government's usual supplier wasn't available.
It also refused to answer questions about the kind of backing the company received for its marketing abroad and whether it benefited from a $50-million export program.
NDP foreign affairs critic Hélène Laverdière said the Liberal government's silence is outrageous.
"We were promised openness. We were promised transparency. We've got none of that," said Laverdière, whose attempt to create a parliamentary committee to oversee Canadian arms sales was shot down by the Liberal government two weeks ago. "They won't even answer basic questions."
Relocation on hold
Barrie is a growing community and there's lots of good things happening here without ethically challenged companies presenting themselves. - Rod Jackson, CEO of Barrie, Ont., Chamber of Commerce
Streit announced with a certain degree of fanfare in January 2015 that it was building a new manufacturing facility in Barrie, Ont., replacing one in nearby Innisfil.
There was a promise of at least 40 new jobs.
But while there is still a "for sale" sign on the current property, Streit has signalled to municipal officials that the move is on hold.
The mayor of Barrie said he doesn't believe the plans are cancelled, but the recent spate of public criticism has cast a shadow.
"It's disappointing," said Jeff Lehman, who wouldn't indicate whether Streit would still be welcome in the community.
"What I would say: We don't really have any capacity as a municipality, obviously, to monitor these kinds of international arms trade [issues], but we're concerned about what we've heard and obviously the impact that will have on their move."
The head of the local chamber of commerce takes a different tack and suggested the hesitation is not entirely a bad thing.
"It's not something that I think any of our members or anyone in our business community want to be associated with, regardless of the fact that they might bring a few jobs," said Rod Jackson, the chamber's CEO. "Barrie is a growing community and there's lots of good things happening here without ethically challenged companies presenting themselves."Welcome to the War Room! This week the panel discusses Powertechs and Vanguards, with plenty of practical advice for both playing them, and playing against them. Turg, Jacket and Pez are joined by Busy, another Ranked PvP veteran who mains a DPS Powertech.
We did have some minor audio issues, which we did our best to work around; hopefully they should be resolved for the next show.
On the show this week were Turg (@TheTurg), Jacket, Pez (@MyVery0wnFlag) and Busy.
You can email questions and comments about the show to [email protected]. Follow us on Twitter via @OotiniWarRoom. Check out our website, ootinicast.com, which has links to our presence on Google+ and Facebook. You can subscribe to us on iTunes, and listen to us on Stitcher and Spreaker.
Our theme music is Achilles by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0.By Express News Service
MUMBAI: Schools in Maharashtra don’t want Aadhaar linking of students. The Headmasters Association argues that it is non-educational work. But sources say the real reason is that Aadhaar linking would confirm the actual number of students on school rolls, which in turn would expose the fact that the number of approved teachers has been inflated just to milk government funds.
The State’s Education Ministry has adopted an online software named SARAL (Systematic Administrative Reforms for Achievement of Learning by Students) to collect data on schools. Saral records information on teachers and students in each school. Now the Education Department wants students’ Aadhaar numbers to be recorded on Saral as well.
As per government data, over 1.80 crore students study in over one lakh primary and secondary schools in Maharashtra. This year, information on students, along with their Aadhaar card details, and teachers is required to be fed into Saral by October 5. With only three days left, many schools have not furnished the information yet. Sources say the delay is deliberate. If the real numbers are recorded, the inflation of teacher numbers would be exposed as well.
Ever since Saral was adopted two years ago, information on the number of students, approved teachers, excess teachers and vacancies is updated by September 30. The number of approved teachers depends on the number of students. Many schools inflate the required teacher numbers by showing artificially high student numbers and swipe the money the government sends to pay their salaries.
However, this year the government made Aadhaar numbers mandatory. Students whose Aadhaar numbers are not mentioned won’t be considered when aid is apportioned to schools.
However, schools were informed of the October 5 deadline only on September 28. The late disclosure has allowed headmasters to take the plea of lack of time and demand a rollback.
Prashant Redij, secretary of the Headmasters Association, says the Saral portal is plagued with problems. In cases where information in the school register is at variance with Aadhaar details, Saral doesn’t accept the data. Further, in many schools semester examinations will start from next week. “What should teachers do? Should they fill in Aadhaar information or prepare for examinations,” Redij asked.Image caption Stewart Milne said a negative decision could have a massive impact on Aberdeen FC
Aberdeen FC chairman Stewart Milne has warned the club faces playing European games in Glasgow or Edinburgh in future.
He was talking at a campaign launch to support a new stadium to replace Pittodrie, which he said will soon not meet the criteria to host Uefa games.
The £50m stadium and training facilities would be at Kingsford, close to the Aberdeen bypass, near Westhill.
However, objectors have called for the club to look elsewhere.
A decision is due to be taken by councillors in October. A pre-determination hearing will take place on 13 September at Aberdeen Town House.
The new campaign - called Aurora - is being spearheaded by former Aberdeen manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
Other options
Mr Milne, speaking at the launch, said of the forthcoming new stadium ruling: "The consequences of a negative decision on this will have massive bearings on the future of this club.
"At some point we will no longer get dispensation to play European games here.
"Our options are to play in Glasgow or Edinburgh.
"What sort of statement would that send out? What would our fans think?"
Image copyright Aberdeen FC Image caption A decision is due in October after a hearing in September
John Thornton, of the No Kingsford Stadium group, said: "Obviously the decision is up to the council, if they act according to planning law they will reject this application.
"There is no economic benefit for Westhill.
"There are other sites they can look at and they can still redevelop Pittodrie."
Objectors say concerns include traffic and parking issues.Just ahead of its debut at the Geneva Motor Show on March 3, Kia is teasing a new D-segment concept car which most likely previews the next-generation Optima sedan.
The 11th concept car created by the company’s European design studio in Frankfurt, Germany, features “confident, powerful lines which sweep elegantly from Kia’s hallmark ‘tiger-nose’ grille towards the rear of the vehicle,” according to the release.
Kia also says the as-yet-unnamed study has been created “as a spacious and versatile accessory to an active lifestyle, as a purposeful, energetic design study for the style-conscious, and as a sanctuary from the stresses of the modern world.”
Moving on from the press blurb, the teaser photo allows us to notice that the study does not look futuristic at all, leading us to believe it will transition into a production model quite smoothly. The photo also allows us to notice the similar shape to the current-generation Optima, as well as sporty details like the vented fenders and the alloy wheels.
PHOTOCentury-old legacy brand leverages next-level technology for sophisticated product insights
Internationally recognized outdoor retailer L.L.Bean, best known for its L.L.Bean Boots and exceptional customer service, today announced that it will be exploring the applications of blockchain technology with LOOMIA, a technology company adding intelligence to everyday objects. The companies will explore how data from LOOMIA-enabled L.L. Bean apparel can assess the extended use and performance of the outdoor retailer’s products, and provide valuable insight on the use rate of products returned under L.L.Bean’s 100% satisfaction guarantee.
“Working with LOOMIA will enable L.L.Bean to continue it’s 106-year-old mission of utilizing the latest advancements and technologies to design durable, functionally innovative products that help to further folks’ enjoyment of the outdoors,” said Chad Leeder, L.L.Bean’s innovation specialist.
This partnership will first be tested with L.LBean’s outerwear products by incorporating LOOMIA Electronic Layer (LEL) into merchandise such as jackets and boots. The LEL, which is composed of a flexible circuitry, can heat, light, and sense, all while remaining washable, dryable, and discreet. L.L. Bean will research implementing LOOMIA’s circuitry to collect data from apparel including information on temperature, motion, and frequency of wear. Once this data is collected, consumers will be able to share it back with the brand for rewards via the LOOMIA TILE– a component that allows for the secure and anonymous transfer of data.
Other use cases include the incorporation of LOOMIA’s heating elements into L.L.Bean signature products, such as enabling them to warm hikers’ toes or provide an extra layer of warmth on the coldest winter days. These solutions will present some of the first tech-enabled products to conquer the rigid and bulky design typically seen with other heating and sensing applications that have restricted wearable tech from advancing.
Janett Liriano CEO of LOOMIA said, “L.L.Bean exemplifies quality and focused innovation, centered on functionality and user experience. We are thrilled to be working with this legacy brand as we develop TILE. LOOMIA is committed to delivering meaningful experiences to both brands and buyers and looks forward to advancing that cause with L.L.Bean.
LOOMIA’s groundbreaking technology centered on the human experience is building an economy where consumers and brands are aligned on making better products through analyzing consumer-generated data. These innovative data insights are secured through blockchain technology and are governed by the expressive consent of consumers to share their data in a mutually beneficial and seamless exchange.
Today LOOMIA also announces that Carole Kerner, former president of Donna Karan Collection with more than 25 years experience in the fashion industry, will be joining the team as an advisor. Kerner has previously held the positions of president of DKNY, and a senior executive within the companies of Abercrombie and Fitch, and J Crew.
“I am inspired and motivated to work with LOOMIA, a company that provides innovative technology that can not only lend unique properties to specific products, but that also carries data that can inform a brand,” |
bathroom of the Gaylord National & Convention Center instead of the main stage if he wants to reach the biggest audience. Tea party activists said Thursday that they will walk out of the room in protest, skeptical that Bush is conservative enough to be the Republican candidate for president in 2016.
“We are going to get up en masse, and we are going to walk out on him,” Golden Isle Tea Party member William Temple, 64, of Brunswick, Georgia, told the Washington Times, one of the sponsors of CPAC 2015. “We are not going to interrupt anyone’s speech, but we are all going to exercise our right to the bathroom at the same time.”
Temple said “a lot of people” decided not to attend CPAC because Bush was one of the speakers invited to address the nation's premier conservative confab. Conservatives are wary of a Bush candidacy because of his support for immigration reform and the Common Core education standards. They also find a third Bush presidency unpalatable, according to Temple.
“We want new faces. We want younger faces,” the tea party activist said.
Bush is among the front-runners for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination, although the first primaries are nearly a year away. At 18 percent support, Bush leads potential Republican contenders in New Hampshire, according to an NBC News/Marist poll. Bush fared worse in Iowa, where he claimed 8 percent support in a Bloomberg Politics and Des Moines Register poll that had Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker leading with 15 percent.
Washington Post reporter Robert Costa tweeted that “several hundred” CPAC-goers plan to walk out on Bush’s 1:40 p.m. speech on Friday:Tamio "Tommy" Kono (June 27, 1930 – April 24, 2016) was an American weightlifter in the 1950s and 1960s. Kono set world records in four different weight classes:[2] lightweight (149 pounds or 67.5 kilograms), middleweight (165 lb or 75 kg), light-heavyweight (182 lb or 82.5 kg), and middle-heavyweight (198 lb or 90 kg).[3]
Early life [ edit ]
Of Japanese descent, Kono was born in Sacramento, California, on June 27, 1930. Kono's family was relocated to Tule Lake internment camp in 1942 during World War II.[4] Sickly as a child, the desert air helped Kono's asthma.[5] It was during the relocation that Kono was introduced to weightlifting by neighbors including the late Noboru "Dave" Shimoda, a member of the Tule Lake weight lifting and bodybuilding club and brother of actor Yuki Shimoda and his friends, Gotoh, Toda, and Bob Nakanishi. After 3½ years they were released and Kono finished high school at Sacramento High. He later worked for the California Department of Motor Vehicles and attended Sacramento Junior College.[6]
Kono was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1950 but was kept home from the Korean War after officials learned of his Olympic potential.[7]
Career [ edit ]
Kono was a gold medalist at both the 1952 Summer Olympics and 1956 Summer Olympics, and a silver medalist at the 1960 Summer Olympics under coach Bob Hoffman. Kono won the World Weightlifting Championships six consecutive times from 1953 to 1959 and was a three-time Pan American Games champion; in 1955, 1959, and 1963.[8] A knee injury prevented him from qualifying for the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo and the following year he retired from the sport.[4] He set a total of 26 world records and 7 Olympic records.[9][10]
Kono was also a successful bodybuilder, winning the Fédération Internationale Haltérophile et Culturiste Mr. Universe titles in 1954, 1955, 1957 and 1961.[11] After his retirement he turned to coaching, taking on the Mexican 1968 Summer Olympics and West German 1972 Summer Olympics weightlifting teams before becoming head coach of the United States' Olympic weightlifting team at the 1976 Summer Olympics.[4][9]
During his weightlifting career in the 1960s, he developed a pair of bands to support knees during training. These eventually extended to the elbows and became standard weightlifting equipment.[9] While he was coaching in Germany during the 1970s, his correspondence with Adidas led to the firm's development of low cut weightlifting shoes.[12][13]
Awards [ edit ]
Along with his weightlifting and bodybuilding titles, Kono was an eight-time Amateur Athletic Union James E. Sullivan Award finalist, an award given annually to the top American amateur athlete.[14] He was also one of the first members of the Hawaii Sports Hall of Fame in 1978.[15] In 1990, Kono received the Association of Oldetime Barbell and Strongmen Highest Achievement Award and was inducted into the United States Olympic Hall of Fame.[16][17] He was elected to the International Weightlifting Federation Hall of Fame in 1993.[18] In 2005, the International Weightlifting Federation named Kono the "Lifter of the Century."[19]
Death [ edit ]
Kono died on April 24, 2016 in Honolulu, Hawaii from complications of liver disease, aged 85.[3]The Magic Whip features the full Blur lineup of Albarn, Coxon, Rowntree and James, and fans can celebrate with a June gig in London’s Hyde Park
Fans of Britpop pioneers Blur had reason to celebrate on 19 February, as the group announced details of their first album in 12 years, entitled The Magic Whip.
Describing the follow-up to 2003’s Think Tank as a return to “the way we recorded when we started,” Damon Albarn said that the album was similar in style to the music David Bowie made during his mid 70’s Berlin period.
Initially conceived in Hong Kong, during downtime following a cancelled show in Japan, the band spent five days laying down ideas. It wasn’t until Graham Coxon reprised these sessions and presented them to long-time producer Stephen Street, who went on to develop them with the guitarist, that they realised they might have material worthy of a new album.
“They did some editing and some production work and sent around the initial tracks and we all realised we’d done something quite special there,” said drummer Dave Rowntree. “There was 18 months [in-between recording the songs] which allowed us to have a bit of perspective on it. When they played it back, that was the time everyone got very excited.”
The band made their announcement at a hastily arranged press conference in a Chinese restaurant in London, hosted by Zane Lowe, which was also live-streamed on Facebook. Until this point, Albarn admitted that the band had gone as far as they could go without returning to the studio: “I really felt at the end of the last gigs that that was it - there was no way we could do another gig without an another album.”
Since the album’s completion last year, the band have kept information about the new record under wraps. “We had a blood pact between us about who we were allowed to tell and who we weren’t so I’ve had to do a lot of catch up phone calling today!” said Rowntree. “A fair few angry people going ‘Why wasn’t I in the circle of trust!”
The songs featured on The Magic Whip were influenced by their surroundings in Hong Kong. “There’s nothing pastoral about it - it’s very urban,” said Albarn. “It wasn’t a flash studio, it was pretty claustrophobic and hot. We went in and knocked about loads of ideas.”
One track, Ong Ong, was described by bassist Alex James as a “banger”, while another is said to describe Albarn’s thoughts on North Korea. “It’s my impression of the place, in an abstract, veiled way,” he said.
In support of the album, Albarn, Coxon, James and Rowntree also announced that they will headline this year’s British Summer Time in Hyde Park on 20 June, the fourth time they have played there.
While Think Tank, the band’s seventh album, remains the last under the Blur banner, Coxon was absent for the majority of its recording process: the guitarist only features on one song, its melancholic closer, Battery in Your Leg. The Magic Whip marks their first proper full-length as a quartet since 1999’s 13.
In the intervening years, the group have reformed for a number of major live shows: they headlined Hyde Park and Glastonbury in 2009, not to mention the London Olympics closing concert in 2012. So far, fans have only been privy to two new tracks since their reformation: the one-off single Under the Westway/The Puritan, in 2012.
In the meantime, Albarn has been busy with numerous projects – albums with Gorillaz, the Good the Bad & the Queen and Rocket Juice & the Moon; two operas, Monkey and Dr Dee; his continuing work with Africa Express; guest appearances on albums by Massive Attack and Tony Allen, and production for the late Bobby Womack; not to mention his Mercury-nominated solo album, Everyday Robots, in 2014.
Coxon, meanwhile, released his eighth solo album, A+E, in 2012, Rowntree pursues political endeavours, and cheese-maker James’s culinary adventures have even extended to a fizzy drink franchise.
Albarn first hinted that there might be an eighth Blur album in 2013, following the cancelled Japan shows. “The opportunity came and we took it,” James told Bang Showbiz. “We were just jamming, but it was good.”
The frontman’s jam-packed schedule has often been held responsible for impeding the band’s musical progress: in 2012, William Orbit claimed that Albarn pulled the plug on a set of “amazing” recording sessions. “Damon, brilliant and talented tho he is, is kinda a shit to the rest of Blur,” he wrote.
Having formed at London’s Goldsmiths College in the late 80s, Blur’s debut album, Leisure, was released in 1991. Famous for pioneering the Britpop movement, the band went on to challenge their northern rivals, Oasis, in 1995 when the bands released singles at the same time: Blur’s Country House outsold the Oasis’s Roll With It by 274,000 to 216,000. “Blur won the battle, Oasis won the war, then Blur went on to win the whole campaign,” bassist James once said. What with suggestions that Oasis might one day re-form, perhaps the fight isn’t quite over just yet.
The Magic Whip will be released on 27 April. The full tracklist is as follows:
Lonesome Street
New World Towers
Go Out
Ice Cream Man
Thought I Was A Spaceman
I Broadcast
My Terracotta Heart
There Are Too Many Of Us
Ghost Ship
Pyongyang
Ong Ong
MirrorballCode: // ---------------------------------------SUICIDE START------------------------------------ private ["_handGun"]; _handGun = currentWeapon player; if ((_handGun in ["glock17_EP1","M9","M9SD","Makarov","MakarovSD","revolver_EP1","UZI_EP1","Sa61_EP1","Colt1911"]) && (player ammo _handGun > 0)) then { hasSecondary = true; } else { hasSecondary = false; }; if((speed player <= 1) && hasSecondary && _canDo) then { if (s_player_suicide < 0) then { s_player_suicide = player addaction[("<t color=""#ff0000"">" + ("Commit Suicide") +"</t>"),"suicide.sqf",_handGun,0,false,true,"", ""]; }; } else { player removeAction s_player_suicide; s_player_suicide = -1; }; // ---------------------------------------SUICIDE END------------------------------------
Code: private ["_Secondary"]; canAbort = true; _Secondary = currentWeapon player; player addEventHandler ["fired", {if (alive player) then { player SetDamage 1.1;};}]; cutText [format["You think about your family... 10 Seconds"], "PLAIN DOWN"]; sleep 4; cutText [format["Your little daughter, and what happened to her... 6 Seconds"], "PLAIN DOWN"]; sleep 4; cutText [format["You cant take this shit any longer... 2 Seconds"], "PLAIN DOWN"]; sleep 2; cutText [format["I come to you Sahra! Goodbye cruel world!"], "PLAIN DOWN"]; canAbort = false; player playmove "ActsPercMstpSnonWpstDnon_suicide1B"; sleep 8.4; player fire _Secondary;
Hey Guys,here is my little script for players who cant deal with there lifes in dayz anymoreThe Suicide is executed via Mouse-Wheel Option "Commit Suicide" which is only accessable if the players current weapon is a secondary-weapon with atleast 1 bullet in the magazine. Actualy there is no cancel-option, so if a player activates the self-suicide, he has 10 seconds to go to the lobby, close the game... or he is deadTo use this, you have to use a custom fn_selfActions.sqf... i will not provide a tutorial here, there are enough, so here is only the code:Add following to your custom fn_selfActions.sqf, on the bottom of the file:Create a file named suicide.sqf in your mission-files root-folder (not dayz_server.pbo), and paste the following code in it:Thats it, replace the mission-file and everything is done... if you use a anti-hack, dont forget to whitelist s_player_suicide in the dayz_actions.On 7 June 2017, following a new failure at Belgocontrol, the Belgian Cockpit Association published a Press Release urging Belgocontrol to immediately take all appropriate measures to ensure air safety.
On June 6, 2017, Belgocontrol, the air traffic control agency in Belgium, again suffered a technical breakdown. This is the third incident in two years. Fortunately, thanks to the professionalism of the air traffic controllers and the backup system, no major incident is to be deplored. However, the pilots union BeCA (Belgian Cockpit Association) is concerned about this situation and urges Belgocontrol to take the necessary measures to remedy the recurring problems that threaten aviation safety and the sustainability of air traffic control in Belgium.
According to the information available to BeCA, on Tuesday 6 June 2017, as a result of the disconnection of a cable by mistake, all the radar screens of the primary system and the secondary backup system went out for about ten minutes. The air traffic controllers were therefore forced to work on the third and last fallback system, which therefore does not have all the functionalities of the usual system. This is the third incident in two years. Indeed, on May 27, 2015, Belgocontrol suffered a power failure that paralysed Belgian airspace for several hours, resulting in the cancellation and delay of many flights. On 12 April 2016, Belgian airspace was once again closed due to a lack of air traffic controllers to provide service.
This situation is unacceptable and raises many questions about the safety and sustainability of Belgian air traffic control. As BeCA has already emphasized in a press release and in a letter to the Minister of Mobility, Mr Bellot, in April 2016, it is high time for Belgocontrol to take the necessary measures to:
Shed light on these three events and understand the underlying problems behind these incidents;
Solve the problems as soon as possible.
To date, these events have fortunately not led to any major incidents, but they reveal a serious structural problem. Belgocontrol cannot afford to remain inactive and must assume its responsibilities to ensure air safety, says BeCA.
Forum discussion: http://www.luchtzak.be/forums/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=61643Pablo Larrain and his cast braved snowstorms, hypothermia — and high-fat diets — to bring the tale of Nobel Prize winner Pablo Neruda to the big screen.
In Latin America, Neruda is like the water," says Chilean director Pablo Larrain. "Neruda is everywhere. It's the way you understand everything. It is a whole chapter of your education."
He's referring to Pablo Neruda, the much beloved, Nobel Prize-winning poet and left-leaning Chilean politician, who in 1948 became an enemy of the state to the virulently anticommunist regime that was then ruling his country. And it's that chapter of Neruda's remarkable life — the 13 months he and his wife spent hiding from police, smuggled from house to house by supporters and fans, and his subsequent escape across the Argentinian border — that Larrain, 40, has made the focus of Neruda, Chile's 2016 entry for best foreign-language film at the Academy Awards.
"He combined politics and poetry," says the filmmaker of his subject. "That's something that's missing today. Can you imagine a serious, powerful poet today writing about one of the contenders in the next election in the U.S.? It would be absurd. But in those days, it was possible."
Neruda, as it happens, isn't the only film of Larrain's that's generating awards buzz this season. In fact, he's poised to enter the Guinness World Records as the only director to have three narrative features bow in the U.S. in the same calendar year. The Club, a Spanish-language drama about corruption and depravity in the Catholic Church, debuted Feb. 5, while his first English-language film, Jackie, about the iconic first lady (played by Natalie Portman) opens Dec. 2, just two weeks before Neruda's Dec. 16 debut.
But this story of a poet on the run, being chased by an obsessed, Ahab-esque police inspector, is in many ways the most personal of the three, perhaps the most personal of Larrain's career.
Growing up in a well-to-do family of politicians — his father was a senator, his mother a minister of housing and urbanism — Larrain and his younger brother, Juan (producer of all of his films), both were reading Neruda as far back as either of them can remember. "Politics and poetry connected with your life, your future, your career," Juan says of the atmosphere of their youth. But it wasn't until 2008 (around the time the brothers were releasing Tony Manero, a Chilean crime drama about a man obsessed with John Travolta's character from Saturday Night Fever) that they started to develop a script about their favorite poet. They began by amassing a trove of research and became enamored with Neruda's more obscure and politically charged works. "The poems that I really related to are those poems that are full of fury and rage and beauty," says Larrain. "And I [previously] knew those poems very vaguely."
Despite their fervor for the project, the brothers weren't able to find funding for what they imagined would be a $5 million movie, so they instead made a different political drama, 2012's No, about a campaign adman (Gael Garcia Bernal) mixed up in the 1988 plebiscite that finally ended Augusto Pinochet's hold on power.
But Neruda kept nagging at Pablo. He handed his script over to writer Guillermo Calderon (who also co-wrote The Club) to see what progress he could make. It was Calderon who hit on the idea of narrowing the scope of the story to the two-year sliver of Neruda's life when he was on the lam. Calderon also came up with the film's least historical conceit — a fictional cop named Oscar Peluchonneau, who spends much of the film hunting Neruda across the South American countryside and down through a treacherous mountain pass in the Andes.
"We wanted something that would create tension in order for people to see a more complicated Neruda than the official version," explains the writer. "We didn't want to create yet another iconic sort of version of Neruda."
Calderon's take did the trick. Participant Media, which had helped fund No, signed up to co-finance, with various government funds from Chile to France providing additional help. "I just found this take on Neruda completely fascinating," says Participant's Jonathan King, an executive producer on the film. "It was a whole other layer of what was happening with him — internally, emotionally, thematically, artistically."
Casting the title character turned out to be the easy part — Larrain hired veteran Chilean actor Luis Gnecco (familiar to U.S. audiences as La Cucaracha on Narcos) and put him on a high-fat diet in order to bulk him up to literary-legend-sized proportions. But the actor Larrain most wanted to play the fictional detective — Bernal, his star from No — was busy making Werner Herzog's Salt and Fire.
Larrain decided to push production back six months and wait for Bernal rather than cast another actor, a decision Bernal sounds grateful for. "Because the character is an invention, the possibilities were endless," says Bernal. "Where we wanted to go with him, how he should dress, the mustache, the walk, the talk — it was all very interesting to play with."
The 55-day production began in June 2015, with the cast and crew traveling throughout Chile, Argentina and Europe. The final leg, which took place in the Andes in August — the dead of winter in the Southern Hemisphere — proved to be the most challenging of the film, with a snowstorm shutting down the set for several days. "Our [line producer] came to me and said, 'You have to stop,' " the director recalls. "And I'm like, 'What? I'm still shooting.' And he's like, 'I have people with hypothermia.' " Adds cinematographer Sergio Armstrong: "The scenes of the passages of Neruda through the mountains, they were the most extreme I've ever filmed. The white wind at a high velocity lowered the temperatures to extremes. It made it impossible to see."
Though Bernal's character spends a sizable chunk of screen time buried in a snowdrift, he downplays the hardships and waves away any comparisons to a Revenant-type shoot. "I hear many [actors] talk about, 'We went there and it was really cold,' " he says. "Yeah, it's cold and there's snow, but we are so privileged. There is always a bottle of water when you finish the take."
It didn't make matters any easier that Larrain wanted to shoot the movie in a highly stylized blend of genres, paying particular homage to Alfred Hitchcock's cat-and-mouse classics but also mashing up familiar Western motifs. The movie is crammed with sprawling rear-screen projection sequences, which Larrain achieved by shooting backgrounds with five simultaneously running cameras. "In a way, it's a movie about movies," he says. "I remember looking at Gael with the hat and leather jacket sitting on a horse, and I'm thinking, 'What are you? Where are you in cinema?' "
In the end, Larrain ended up shooting enough footage for two movies about movies — his first cut came in at three hours and 20 minutes. "We cut out quite a few scenes," says editor Herve Schneid (Amelie). "We had a beautiful scene in the tempest, which got cut to get down to less than two hours."
The editing was done in late 2015 and early 2016 in Paris, where Larrain already had begun shooting Jackie, with Neruda's final cut finished just in time to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. Upstart distributor The Orchard struck a deal for North American rights even before the eventual rave reviews came out (THR called the film "a handsomely crafted and boldly idiosyncratic contemplation of a great artist").
"You hear the description of Neruda as a biopic of the Chilean communist poet and you kind of want to go to sleep," admits Orchard executive vp Paul Davidson. "But what Pablo does best is take a genre that people moan about and completely turn it on its head."
Reinventing the biopic genre, though, isn't what Larrain originally had in mind. What he really wanted to do was present a portrait of an artist who was both a flawed hedonist and a noble patriot — and who sacrificed his comfortable bourgeois lifestyle for his politics.
"He believed in equality, and that is something still relevant today," says Larrain. "He tried to do something and actually achieved it. Through his poetry and in exile, his voice became bigger, and he was able to protect his people and ideals."
This story first appeared in a November standalone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.ViewtifulJC said: Most of the names on the HL3 list are in Ep.2's credits, so at least that's consistent. They also seem to be on L4D3's much bigger list, so no doubt that's their main priority at Valve right now. Adam Foster being one of the few exceptions; that guy came here to do Half-Life 3 and he's committed, goddamnit. Click to expand...
Only 7 of the HL:Episode 3 developers are working on HL3 currently. Not sure what happened with the project, but a lot of these developers either do no work at Valve anymore or they moved on to undisclosed projects (a couple worked on SOB as well).I think it's possible Episode 2 developers went straight to HL3, while other members continued to try to finish Episode 3. It looks like, at some point, they were being worked on simultaneously.Ever since I watched KING OF KONG I've been searching the Documentary world for more Videogame related flicks. While I've come across a couple, it's this new Documentary project about the Culture of Arcades in Japan that has REALLY got my interest. Using the number one Street Fighter IV player in the world, Diago Umehara, as their focal point and star of the Doc, these filmmakers want to take you into the world of Japanese arcades like never before - treating all of us old school gamers with a world I'm pretty sure most of us retro geeks would do anything to see again in the Western world(I miss the smelly, smokey, dark arcade rooms).
Here is a bit of info on the project:
Following gamers such as DAIGO UMEHARA (arguably the world's best STREET FIGHTER player) and speaking with gaming aficionado BRIAN ASHCRAFT (chief Japanese editor for Kotaku.com) we will explore the world of Japanese Arcades from a North-American perspective and compare/contrast the current trends of East and West gaming cultures.
Other experts include: Satoshi Numata, a professor of video games at the Osaka Electronic University; Ryan "Gootecks" Guitierrez another professional gamer from the Street Fighter scene; Bear Trickey, a game designer for Q-Games based out of Japan; and of course, we will be speaking to as many Japanese people as possible!
The overall arc of the story is as follows: The History of Japanese Arcades: 1978 saw a shortage of 100 Yen coins caused by the game Space Invaders. It is from this tidbit that we derived the name of this documentary.
Who is the arcade: The people who make up the clientele of the arcades in Japan; Daigo Umehara's rise to fame and other stories that emerge along the way.
The Future: How are arcades evolving and changing to keep up with the new technology and how are they able to compete with home consoles. What is the corporate perspective on arcades in Japan?
Check out the trailer below and get more info on this interesting Videogame Documentary.
100 YEN: The Japanese Arcade ExperiencePreviously, we had harped about ten common English words derived from mythical gods and beasts. This time around, we have decided to broaden the scope of etymological influence, and compile a list of ten often used English words that have incredible historical origin stories.
1) Admiral –
Amīr (or emir in Latinized form) was a pretty common term that was used in medieval Arabic, and it denoted a military commander (or leader) operating on land. Interestingly, this word gradually made way to a marine-based connotation only when the Normans defeated the Arabs in Sicily, in the year 1072. After the victory, the ‘Latins’ appointed a special military official as a Knight or ‘amiratus‘ of Sicily. In the year 1178, this official was also given the responsibility of the navy of the island.
Replicating this hybrid land-sea command structure, the maritime Republic of Genoa called their navy commander as the ‘amirato‘, a title which spread in popular usage in the Mediterranean during 13th century. This term finally gave way to the ‘amiral‘ in late-medieval French and English. Later on, the inclusion of ‘d’, as in ‘admiral‘ was most probably a nod to the common word ‘admire’ with Latin origins.
2) Algorithm –
The word algorithm has its origins in al-khwārizmī, which was the short name for the noted mathematician Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī. In fact, the appellation of al-Khwārizmī means – ‘from Khwarizm’ (a region in western Central Asia, north of Persia). The Latinization of this name came to Algorismi, from which the term ‘algorismus‘ was finally derived by 13th century, and continued in usage till 19th century. The English variant ‘algorithm’ came into more popular usage after 19th century, and it still denoted the Arabic decimal system in its earlier usage patterns.
In an interesting note, the word ‘algebra’ also relates to Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī. The 9th century mathematician wrote the compilation known as ‘al-mukhtaṣar fī ḥisāb al-jabr wa al-muqābala‘ (in English, it can be translated as – “The Compendium on Calculation by Restoring and Balancing”). The phrase ‘al-jabr‘ pertained to equations, and hence its ultimate Latinization to ‘algebra’.
3) Avatar –
The term Avatar originally stems from the Hindu concept of a deliberate descent of a deity or god to Earth. In simpler terms, it is roughly synonymous to ‘incarnation’ in English; but a more literal translation would pertain to ‘manifestation’ (thus making the movie’s portrayal of altered meta-identities more accurate than you would think). As for the mythological relation, the Hindu God Vishnu (who forms one of the trinity of major gods within the religious system) is said to have ten avatars (Dashavatara), with Matsya, Lord Rama, Krishna and even Buddha considered among the earthly incarnations.
There is also a bit of foretelling in these mythical traditions, with the final tenth avatar, Kalki (‘Destroyer of Filth’), still to be born. This remorseless warrior riding a white horse, will supposedly cleanse the world of its decadence and filth with his blazing sword. In essence, he is depicted as the harbinger of our end times in the current epoch; and the world will once again be ‘reset’ to the Utopian first age.
4) Desperado –
Till now, we had talked about the etymological root of the words. However, with ‘desperado’ we will take route of history-fueled hypothesis as to what inspired the term. Before that once should know, the adjective ‘desperado‘ comes from Old Spanish, and it pertains to a ‘desperate man’ (with no known usage as noun). However, the English (or rather mock-Spanish version), ‘desperado’, relates to a ‘reckless criminal’, and it has been in usage since at least 1560 AD. And quite incredibly, this pop-culturally famous version of the term might just have its historical origins in ancient Spain (Iberia), circa 3rd century BC. This passage from Greek historian Diodorus Siculus, sheds some light into the conjecture (as mentioned in ‘Spanish Armies by Rafael Trevino‘) –
There is a custom characteristic of the Iberians, but particularly of the Lusitans, that when they reach adulthood those men who stand out through their courage and daring provide themselves with weapons, and meet in the mountains. There they form large bands, to ride across Iberia gathering riches through robbery, and they do this with the most complete disdain towards all. For them the harshness of the mountains, and the hard life they lead there, are like their own home; and there they look for refuge…
Regrading the passage, one should observe how the account talks about a ‘custom’ of criminal activities (akin to the popular version of desperado), as opposed to just a ‘desperate’ man.
5) Father –
Perhaps one of the oldest words in existence, the common English term ‘father‘ is directly derived from Old English ‘fæder‘. This in turn comes from Proto-Germanic fader, which is ultimately borrowed from the term pəter that meant ‘father’ in PIE (Proto-Indo-European language). Unsurprisingly, the cognates of this word come from various geographical locations of the world – like, Sanskrit pitar-, Greek pater, Latin pater, Old Persian pita, and even Old Irish athir “father”. And, the now question remains – where did this ‘original’ PIE term come from? Well, most linguists have an easy hypothesis for the answer; the word simply came from ‘pa’, which was most probably how a baby (irrespective of nationality or race) uttered the sound when addressing his/her father.Fox & Friends devoted live coverage to a publicity stunt by a conservative group paying the difference between today's gas prices and the price when President Obama took office. Conveniently, Fox & Friends never mentioned the oil interests funding the group or the dishonest premise behind the stunt.
On its October 25 show, Fox News correspondent Heather Nauert reported live from a gas station in New Jersey where the "conservative free-market group" Americans for Prosperity (AFP) was conducting a publicity stunt in which drivers paid $1.84 a gallon for gas -- the price that gas temporarily plummeted to right before Obama took office -- and AFP paid the difference.
AFP's stunt is explicitly designed to promote an anti-Obama agenda -- the group has stated that the point is to "highlight President Obama's failing green energy policies."
Nauert effectively played into AFP's political agenda, asking drivers questions like "Would you be more willing to vote for a different administration in this election as a result of the high gas prices today?"
In a second live segment later in the show, Nauert posed similar questions to a female driver. When the driver responded that she supports Obama and plans to vote for him again, Nauert asked, "Even though you're paying more for gas?" After the interview, Nauert highlighted that "we spoke to another voter earlier today who said that he voted for President Obama four years ago but the high cost of gas is actually going to change his vote."The biting midge Culicoides (Trithecoides) anophelis Edwards is a predator of engorged mosquitoes, which was first described by Edwards in 1922 [1]. Later in 1947, Liard reported a C. anophelis sucking engorged blood from the abdomen of a flying mosquito Armigeres lacuum[2]. In the 1950s, C. anophelis was found on the mosquitoes in the genera Aedes, Anopheles, Armigeres and Culex mosquitoes in Hainan, China [3]. There are several reports of the midge in India [4, 5]. Here we report two anopheline mosquitoes that were attacked by C. anophelis, and one scene was caught on video demonstrating the act of a midge taking blood from an engorged mosquito.
1 1 6 7 1 4 1 The observation was made in the course of a mosquito collection on the evening of August 10, 2013 in Yanfeng, Haikou, Hainan Province, China. Mosquitoes were attracted and trapped in a net trap inside which a cow was placed. The trapped mosquitoes were caught by an electronic aspirator and released into a cage and brought back to the laboratory for further processing. When sorting out mosquitoes, one mosquito was found to have a midge clinging to its abdomen (Figure). The mosquito was identified as Anopheles sinensis and the midge was identified as C. anophelis. The next day, another mosquito collection was carried out using the same baited trap. Among the mosquitoes collected, another mosquito was found carrying a midge. The mosquito and midge were chloroformed lightly, the mosquito was immobilised and the midge was active and hanging onto the mosquito abdomen. The mosquito and midge were placed under a stereo microscope (Nickon SMZ745T). A video was recorded with a camera (Additional file). On the video footage, the midge firmly attached itself to the mosquito via the mouthparts that had penetrated the lateral part of the fourth segment of the engorged abdomen. The midge abdomen distended with blood in it. Periodically the legs were moving agitatedly. About 3 minutes later, the midge was trying to remove its mouthparts from the mosquito. It appeared difficult to unplug the proboscis, the midge rotated 180° with the mouthparts inside the abdomen and finally detached from the mosquito. The steady attachment may be attributed to the structure of the mouthparts [], which ensures that midges can hang onto flying mosquitoes while ingesting blood. Documented by Edwards (1922) and Chhila and Chaudhry (2010), the midge could remain attached to its host mosquito for 48–56 hr []. The mosquito was identified as An. vagus, and the midge was identified as C. anophelis by morphology [].
1 1 3 4 5 5 8 10 11 12 12 17 Mosquito species Reference Aedes vexans 3 Anopheles aconitus 1 Anopheles annularis 2 Anopheles fuliginosus 1 |
it’s time looked like it might be twice that or more. The visual effects were done dirt-cheap and we used every trick in the book. We knew all the classic tricks and we made up a few of our own. I think all the effects of the film combined – models and prosthetics and make up and all that — were all done for about a million dollars. So that’s pretty low budget considering how ambitious the film is. With Terminator 2, I had made a couple films, which had gotten progressively larger. I made The Abyss – and The Abyss was said to be the most expensive film of all time, which it wasn’t. But it was quickly followed by Terminator 2 — which I think was. We went from a six-and-a-half-million dollar movie to a hundred million dollar film…
By the time we had got to Terminator 2, there were a lot more possibilities with CG. Everyone takes CG for granted now but at that particular slice of history, The Abyss, which was released in 1989, had the first soft service CG character ever done for a movie. And even then it was composited using optical frames. Terminator 2 had one of the first digital composites ever done in a movie and it had the first CG character that was a major part of the movie. Obviously that was the T1000. The success of the film hinged on that CG — so we were really in unchartered territory at that point. That was really a milestone in CG. Except we take it so for granted now. I think the CG holds up. You can do it better now but it’s not an embarrassment. The thing that I think you should watch for is that of all the effects associated with the T1000, only a third of them are actually done with CG, two thirds are done using practical prosthetic effects and animatronic effects created by Stan Winston’s guys. Sometimes when his head pops open and things like that — effects that we called Splash Head and Pizza Face and Cleave Man and things like that — those were all sculpted and clay modeled and operated by hydraulics and things like that. So even though it was a 100 million dollar budget, there was still a lot of ingenuity in leveraging the very expensive and experimental CG effects in the film.
Cameron’s thoughts on the upcoming new Terminator film(s):
Cameron: I pay attention to [the upcoming Terminator film] but I’m not terribly concerned about it one-way or the other. I’ve let it go. There was a point in time where I debated going after the rights. Carolco Pictures was failing and in bankruptcy and the rights were in play. I talked briefly to 20th Century Fox about it. At a certain point, I think I was finishing Titanic at the time and I just felt as a filmmaker maybe I’ve gone beyond it. I really wasn’t that interested. I felt like I’d told the story I wanted to tell. I suppose I could have pursued it more aggressively and gone to the mat for it but I felt like I was laboring in someone else’s house to an extent because I had sold the rights very early on. Basically I went from being a truck driver to being a filmmaker and part of my dues was that I sold the rights to The Terminator in order to keep myself attached as a director. And the outcome was fine. The rest of my career really hinged on that. But I no longer had control of it. I thought to myself why don’t I just create my own new thing that I’ll have control over the IP.
So I let it go and in the act of letting it go, I now have to live with the consequences of that — which is I can’t get too emotionally involved. Now having said that — when Megan Ellison bought the rights [to The Terminator], she asked me if I wanted to be involved. I said ‘Look – I don’t mind standing behind the curtain and whispering some court advisory in the 13th century type thing.’ My goal in that was not to insinuate myself artistically but to try to make sure they stayed true to the Terminator character and the idea of Arnold – he’s a friend of mine and we’ve been through all the wars together — I wanted them to see the possibilities I saw for what they could do with his character. And then David Ellison took the project over from Megan and he and I met a couple times. Arnold is very much front and center in the new Terminator films. So I might have had some tiny effect on it — but obviously they had to make the right financial and creative decisions themselves so I’m not trying to take credit for the film that they’re making but that was my goal for being loosely attached to the film.
Cameron on whether he ever thought about directing any superhero films himself:
Cameron: Spider-Man. Spider-Man was kind of going nowhere. Canon — a very low budget film company back in the 80s — had had it briefly. Nobody had really done anything with it. Marvel characters in general weren’t being developed very well at that time. I got Carolco Pictures to buy Spider-Man. I was going to launch that as a series of films. I wrote quite an extensive treatment – I think eighty or ninety pages long — And then again when Carolco collapsed, those rights were in play and I didn’t pursue it because I was on to Titanic and I was doing other things. When I was a kid: to me there were all the superheroes and then there was Spider-Man. So having not gotten Spider-Man, it’s not like I’m looking around for the next comic book character.
Click here for all our previous James Cameron articles.Ever eat a whole jar of pickles in one night? Yeah, me too. I’ve recently developed a nasty and expensive pickle habit that wont quit, so I needed to figure out how to make my own pickles and fast. Grandiose ideas of pickling dozens of jars of cucumbers danced in my naive head. But yeah, who has time for that? Not I Pickle Gods, not I.
So I spent the afternoon learning how to quick pickle cucumbers with just a few ingredients for super cheap. The results: amazing homemade pickles that took essentially no time at all! To make these quick pickles you don’t need any type of special pickle making equipment, just a sauce pan, a good knife, and a bowl or jar.
The great thing about quick pickling is that you can experiment with different flavours. For this particular recipe I made simple sweet pickles, but you could add garlic, dills, bay leafs, cinnamon sticks, really anything that would add a bit of flavour and spice.
Never miss a new family recipe! Email Address: First Name:
How to Quick Pickle Cucumbers 2017-01-30 22:42:54 Write a review Save Recipe Print Prep Time 15 min Total Time 2 hr 45 min Prep Time 15 min Total Time 2 hr 45 min Ingredients 1 cup of sugar 1/2 cup of distilled white vinegar 2 medium cucumbers sliced very thin 1 TBSP kosher salt Any other spices you might want to add: garlic, cloves, cinnamon sticks, bay leafs etc. Instructions In a medium saucepan, combine sugar with 1 1/2 cups of water and bring to a simmer Stir to dissolve the sugar Remove pan from head and stir in the vinegar -- this is the brine Transfer the brine to a bowl and let cool at room temperature Toss the sliced cucumbers with salt in a colander and leave it for 15 minutes Lightly squeeze the cucumbers to release any excess liquid Add cucumbers to the brine (along with any other spices you want to add, but none are needed) Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours Notes Pickles can be refrigerated for 1 week Adapted from Food and Wine Magazine Adapted from Food and Wine Magazine You Can Eat Now http://www.youcaneatnow.com/
Did you make this recipe?
We want to know how it turned out! Share a photo on Instagram and use the hashtag #youcaneatnow!by
Recently I made the trip to Valdivia in southern Chile, and got to meet a couple of expats during my stay. That included Tanisha Mendieta from Los Angeles, California, and she agreed to share her experience with others who may be interested in taking the plunge.
1. Valdivia is a long way from California: why such a drastic change and not another part of the United States?
I chose to move to Valdivia due to the exciting Fort Galt project, which I first learned about in the summer of 2014 on Facebook. It’s the ideal intentional community that I’d been searching for in Chile, which is designed to be a supportive and inspiring environment for liberty-minded entrepreneurs and their families, and it offered affordable living options which was a huge plus. I grew up in southern California where the cost of living is high, and the cost for starting a business has become increasingly prohibitive and undesirable. As the federal government continued to expand and erode individual liberties throughout the country, I knew it was time to get the hell out of Dodge and find a place outside the United States that would be less intrusive, and provide a greater degree of economic freedom and quality of life for myself and my future family. For me, that was Chile.
2. Do you foresee a long-term home in Chile, or are you still in the wait-and-see stage?
It’s probably too soon to tell right now, as the Fort Galt project is still in its early stages, and the goal is to expand the project into other countries in the future. I like the idea of having Chile as a home base while still having the freedom and flexibility to travel to other similar communities across the world. There may be another country I’ve yet to visit that I would like even more than Chile, so I think it’s important to keep my options open.
3. Many people tout Latin America, and Chile in particular, as a haven to escape to. How does it exceed or fall short of expectations?
Right. One of the reasons why I was persuaded to move to Chile is because it ranked highest out of all the Latin American countries in terms of economic freedom and stability. As far as my expectations for living standards are concerned, I can say that most of them have been met, at least here in southern Chile where I live. There’s an abundance of lush, natural beauty down here which I absolutely love, and I strongly prefer the wetter climate versus the hot climate I grew up with. The people are generally courteous and friendly, and not once have I ever felt unsafe walking through town, even late at night. The public transportation system is very efficient and inexpensive, which is great if you don’t own a car. The best strawberries, blueberries, and olives I’ve tasted in my life are the ones I buy at my local feria. My biggest complaint would be the dearth of high-quality products and services, particularly restaurants, but my goal is to remedy that by opening a high quality restaurant in the future.
4. You mention that locals often think you are crazy for moving there. Why do you think that is?
The locals appear to have a strong fascination for American culture in general, and they perceive the United States as a country of great wealth relative to Chile, so it’s perplexing to them that anyone would want to leave it behind (unless you’re a student who’s studying abroad, which is what most people here initially assume about me). Also, not very many Chileans have adopted an entrepreneurial mindset, so it takes a little more effort to explain to them the benefits of running a business here versus the United States.
5. Have you invited friends and colleagues to join you, and if so, which types of people?
I’ve invited a few friends and colleagues here and there to join me — mainly libertarian and small-business types, but the problem for most of them is that they don’t want to leave their friends and family behind, which is understandable. Others would like to leave but can’t afford to move abroad at this time, or they’d rather wait to see how things pan out with the Fort Galt project first. I imagine that once we have a tangible structure to show to others that it will garner a lot more attention and confidence from those who may currently be on the fence about it. I feel very excited and privileged to be here when that happens!Ready to fight back? Sign up for Take Action Now and get three actions in your inbox every week. You will receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nation’s journalism. You can read our Privacy Policy here. Sign up for Take Action Now and get three actions in your inbox every week.
Thank you for signing up. For more from The Nation, check out our latest issue
Subscribe now for as little as $2 a month!
Support Progressive Journalism The Nation is reader supported: Chip in $10 or more to help us continue to write about the issues that matter. The Nation is reader supported: Chip in $10 or more to help us continue to write about the issues that matter.
Fight Back! Sign up for Take Action Now and we’ll send you three meaningful actions you can take each week. You will receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nation’s journalism. You can read our Privacy Policy here. Sign up for Take Action Now and we’ll send you three meaningful actions you can take each week.
Thank you for signing up. For more from The Nation, check out our latest issue
Travel With The Nation Be the first to hear about Nation Travels destinations, and explore the world with kindred spirits. Be the first to hear about Nation Travels destinations, and explore the world with kindred spirits.
Sign up for our Wine Club today. Did you know you can support The Nation by drinking wine?
Three days before he was sworn in as New York City’s 109th mayor, Bill de Blasio announced he would drop the city’s appeal of Judge Shira Scheindlin’s ruling finding the NYPD’s aggressive stop-and-frisk tactics unconstitutional. Ad Policy
That was good news for New Yorkers. Nearly 90 percent of the 4.4 million people the police stopped for questioning between 2004 and 2012 had done nothing wrong, according to evidence presented at a nonjury trial Scheindlin conducted last spring.
But the announcement leaves in limbo a devastating ruling by a federal appeals court panel, which removed Scheindlin as the judge presiding over challenges to the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk policing since 1999. The removal order was a crushing blow to Scheindlin’s professional standing and sent a chilling message to other judges: tread carefully when handling cases that challenge government action.
Scheindlin issued two rulings last August. One found the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk procedures unconstitutional, and the other ordered the city to implement reforms under the supervision of a court-appointed monitor.
The class plaintiffs in the stop-and-frisk challenge have asked the entire Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to review the removal order, issued by a three-judge panel of the court. But given the legal posture of the case—a new judge has already been assigned to preside over it, and the panel has ordered the request for review held in “abeyance”—it is likely the full-court review will never take place.
Should the panel’s removal order remain on the books, it would set a terrible precedent. The court’s removal of Scheindlin even before it decided the appeal was very likely unprecedented. Moreover, the ruling was so marred by departures from customary practices as to raise questions about the panel’s neutrality.
In a sign of undue haste at a court known for its attention to detail, the unsigned ruling contained a glaring error, which the three judges were forced to correct two weeks later. Further, the panel removed Scheindlin even though the city never sought her removal in the case; the panel then faulted her for taking a step the city had not objected to six years earlier—and it did so in a manner that precluded her from defending herself from the suggestion that she had been unethical.
Research by University of Virginia Law School professor Toby Heytens, soon to be published in the Stanford Law Review, underscores the aberrant nature of the panel’s removal order. Heytens found that appeals court replacements of trial judges have been highly unusual. More important, he did not find a single case issued by any of the nation’s thirteen federal circuit courts in which removal was required before an appeal had been decided on the merits.
That does not mean the city didn’t have a route to seek Scheindlin’s removal. It could have asked her to recuse herself; if she refused, it could have taken the issue to the Second Circuit, where it would have had to demonstrate her bias, and she would have had an opportunity to defend herself.
The importance of having such an opportunity is underscored by the way the circuit’s initial order was drawn. Scheindlin’s replacement was required, the panel wrote, because she “ran afoul” of her ethical duty to maintain the “appearance” of fairness. Two weeks later, the panel rolled back its misconduct finding, but the revised order did not remove the stain on Scheindlin’s reputation, and despite the softer formulation, the panel did not back off its removal. Why insist on what the court’s own precedents describe as an “extraordinary remedy” if her conduct was not serious enough to warrant it?
Nor were the panel’s reasons for removing Scheindlin persuasive. It faulted her for suggesting to the challengers in 2007 that they file a new “related case” rather than extending a 1999 settlement. In an exception to the standard practice of randomly assigning cases, a court rule permitted Scheindlin to handle both cases as long as they were related. The two cases were in fact closely intertwined. The 1999 case had been settled, and the one Scheindlin suggested be filed as “related” aimed to build on the earlier agreement by using data it generated to prove that rules it required had been ineffective in curbing unconstitutional stops.
The panel also wrote that Scheindlin had signaled bias against the city in her remarks to reporters during the trial. In the most controversial one, she told The New Yorker that “too many” of her peers who had previously worked as federal prosecutors in Manhattan had become “government judges.” That comment undoubtedly riled many former prosecutors now on the bench, but the point she was making was that she treated all litigants equally.
If the panel’s removal of Scheindlin stands, it could jeopardize a prized heritage. Since the mid-twentieth century, federal trial judges have dismantled Jim Crow and other, more recent laws that sanctioned discriminatory patterns affecting housing, schools and the right to vote. They have also tackled abysmal conditions in jails, mental hospitals, homeless shelters and foster care.
Many of those rulings generated public outrage because they ran against ingrained social norms and required public funds to remedy constitutional violations affecting the poor and powerless. Perhaps no federal judge faced more venomous attacks than Frank Johnson Jr., who issued dozens of decisions remedying racial discrimination in Alabama. Segregationist Governor George Wallace branded Johnson an “integrating, scalawagging, carpet-bagging liar.” Crosses were burned on his lawn twice, and his mother’s home was bombed. Johnson had twenty-four-hour federal protection for fifteen years. But could he have persisted if he had faced a hostile circuit court armed with the power to remove him from cases with the stroke of a pen?Rising income inequality has led to a growing number of Americans clustering in neighborhoods in which most residents are like them, either similarly affluent or similarly low-income, according to a new study detailing the increasing isolation of the richest and the poorest.
A report released Wednesday by the Pew Research Center said the percentage of upper-income households situated in affluent neighborhoods doubled between 1980 and 2010, rising to 18 percent. In the same time frame, the share of lower-income households located in mostly poorer neighborhoods rose from 23 percent to 28 percent. The percentage of neighborhoods that are predominantly middle class or home to a wider mix of income levels shrank.
“The country has increasingly sorted itself into areas where people are surrounded by more of their own kind, if you will,” said Paul Taylor, the Pew Center’s director of demographic trends and a co-author of the report, adding that the majority of neighborhoods in the country are still mostly middle class or mixed.
The Pew study is the latest scholarly analysis of census data showing the impact of a slow and steady squeezing of the middle class, which in turn has swelled the two income extremes. Because of a lag in the way census data are tabulated, the full impact of the recession that started at the end of 2007 will not become clear for several years.
What sociologists call “segregation by income” at the neighborhood level has been underway for decades, but the most recent census data suggest that the pace picked up between 2000 and 2010.
Pew found that the trend is most pronounced in the Southwest. The three cities with the most income segregation in the country are in Texas: San Antonio, Houston and Dallas. The study attributed that to an influx of, at one end, low-skilled and low-wage workers from Mexico and Central America, and at the other end, high-skilled workers and well-to-do retirees.
The Washington region experienced a small rise in the share of neighborhoods that can be characterized as mostly well-off or mostly low-income. Among the nation’s 30 largest metropolitan areas, Washington falls smack in the middle in terms of income segregation, placing it slightly above the national average, according to the study.
Pew calculated that the share of affluent households in the Washington area — those earning $171,000 or more — living in majority upper-income neighborhoods increased to 15 percent from 13 percent over three decades. Meanwhile, the share of households with incomes below $57,000 and living in lower-income neighborhoods rose to 32 percent from 31 percent.
Both Pew and a study by two Stanford University sociologists last year say the biggest factor behind the growing residential isolation is a rise in income inequality. The Stanford study said the share of families living in middle-income neighborhoods has dropped over four decades, from almost two-thirds to less than half.
Many other factors also are at play.
William H. Frey, a demographer with the Brookings Institution, sees a generational divide at work, particularly in big cities. The baby boom generation bought houses in neighborhoods where their children are now priced out.
“Younger people are still struggling to just buy a home, and the kind of neighborhoods where they end up are not nearly as nice,” he said. “Age isn’t a part of this study, but it underlies it.”
Frey said the types of developments that have fueled growth in suburbs and exurbs have exacerbated income segregation.
“They are where the McMansions were built,” he said. “As a result, these are areas segregated among the upper income.”
Sean Reardon, one of the Stanford sociologists, found a similar trend going back four decades. He said restrictions on lot size have limited the construction of cheaper houses and apartment buildings in many new developments. At the same time, he said, a lot of high-density, low-income housing has been torn down and replaced by low-density housing throughout cities.
Thomas Anderson, president of Washington Fine Properties, who has been selling real estate for more than 30 years in New York and the Washington area, said the high price of housing has added a new element to many buyers’ lists of must-haves. Many more home buyers now want to be sure that their neighbors have the financial wherewithal to maintain their properties and not have to enter into short sales, he said.
“The price of real estate is so high that people are concerned about their investment,” he said. “It’s counterproductive to work hard to invest in a home that’s going to be negatively affected by a short sale.”
The rising phenomenon of segregation by income — at a time when segregation by race is on the decline — may have implications for communities and politics.
Reardon said a neighborhood that lacks socioeconomic diversity could be less supportive of taxes to fund schools, parks and social services in other neighborhoods.
“If people with most of the money and wealth live separately from everyone else, there’s going to be less investment in the neighborhoods where the middle class and the poor live,” he said.We’re trying something new on the Internet of Things podcast where we take and respond to listener questions about connected devices, standards or whatever else y’all have on your minds. As part of that, we’ll run a variation of the response here on the weekend in case others have the same question. So, let’s hit the mailbag!
Dave writes:
Advertisement
In a follow up email, Dave mentioned that he has two garage doors to monitor thus boosting his overall cost.
Dave, not sure how you define cheap, but you could go with the dedicated MyQ from [company]Chamberlain[/company] which will work with both Nest, HomeKit and likely other systems going forward. It’s about $129 and took me 15 minutes to install. Additional sensors cost $50. Here’s my review from a bit ago before it announced its plans to be more open.
The other option is using a stand-alone sensor. I think you could try an open-close sensor stuck on the side of your garage on the inside. Almost all hub systems will have a monitor that should work for these which could cost between $40-100 for the hub and then $30-$50 for each sensor, but then you’re possibly buying a system. ConnectSense makes some good Wi-Fi sensors, but the stand-alone Wi-Fi sensors cost about $150 for each open-close sensor.
Another option that is pretty simple and versatile is a video camera. Point an outdoor IP camera (or indoor if it’s inside I guess) at your garage door for between $50 and $200. Different cameras will work with different systems, but there are tons of options. I’d look for one with a mobile app. Setting up an alert might be tricky, and if that’s your thing you’ll want a camera with a motion sensing capability and alerts.
For the rest of the podcast, which includes the details on Google’s new physical web plans as well as an interview on when we’ll get to autonomous cars and what systems we’ll need to have in place before then, click below.1950s Important News and Events, Key Technology Fashion and Popular Culture
Money and Inflation 1950's
If you have $100 Converted from 1950 to 2005 it would be equivalent to $835.41 today
In 1950 a new house cost $8,450.00 and by 1959 was $12,400.00 More
In 1950 the average income per year was $3,210.00 and by 1959 was $5,010.00
In 1950 a gallon of gas was 18 cents and by 1959 was 25 cents
In 1950 the average cost of new car was $1,510.00 and by 1959 was $2,200.00
A few more prices from the 50's and how much things cost
Chrysler New Yorker $4347
1958 Chevrolet Corvette $3631
Men's All Wool Suits $28.90
Square dance Cotton Check Dress $3.29
Electric Portable Singer Sewing Machine $19.90
Ronson Electric Shaver $28.50
Rib Roast 29 cents per pound
Ritz Crackers 32 cents
Rollaway Beds $14.95
Ring 1 carat Diamond $399.00
Mechanical Adding Machine $3.98
To provide an estimate of inflation we have given a guide to the value of $100 US Dollars for the first year in the decade to the equivalent in today's moneyIn 1950 a new house costand by 1959 wasMore House Prices In 1950 the average income per year wasand by 1959 wasIn 1950 a gallon of gas wasand by 1959 wasIn 1950 the average cost of new car wasand by 1959 wasChrysler New Yorker1958 Chevrolet CorvetteMen's All Wool SuitsSquare dance Cotton Check DressElectric Portable Singer Sewing MachineRonson Electric ShaverRib RoastRitz CrackersRollaway BedsRing 1 carat DiamondMechanical Adding Machine
What Happened in the 1950s The events listed below we have tried to put a small paragraph on the specific year page providing additional information )
1950 What Happened in 1950 History
The Diner's Club begins issuing the first credit cards. The Korean War begins when North Korea invades South Korea. Famous physicist Albert Einstein warns the world that a nuclear war would lead to mutual destruction. The United States begins the development and production of the hydrogen bomb. The FIFA World Cup is held in Brazil and Uruguay wins the title.
1951 What Happened in 1951 History
"I Love Lucy" premieres on television on the CBS network. DJ Alan Freed coins the term "Rock n' Roll." Libya becomes independent from Italian rule after about forty years. Luis Miramontes develops the first oral contraceptive. The United States ratifies the 22nd amendment, limiting a president to two terms.
1952 What Happened in 1952 History
Elizabeth II becomes the Queen of England after her father, George VI, dies. The first hydrogen bomb is successfully detonated by the United States. The Mau Mau Rebellion begins in Kenya as an effort to end the British rule of the country. Puerto Rico is named as a self-governing commonwealth of the U.S. The first issue of the comedy-driven MAD Magazine is published.
1953 What Happened in 1953 History
The Double Helix DNA Model is revealed by Francis Crick and James Watson. Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay become the first people to successfully climb to the top of Mount Everest, the tallest mountain in the world. Jonas Salk develops the first polio vaccine. The first James Bond novel, "Casino Royale," is published by British author Ian Fleming. Joseph Stalin, the leader of the USSR, dies and is replaced by Nikita Khrushchev.
1954 What Happened in 1954 History
The U.S. Supreme Court rules that racial segregation is unconstitutional in public schools in their unanimous decision of Brown v. Board of Education. U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy is censured by the Senate, ending his four year long hunt for Communists within the United States government. Frozen TV Dinners are introduced by Swanson. Ellis Island ceases to be a point of immigration into the U.S. when it officially closes. Roger Bannister becomes the first recorded man to run a mile in under four minutes.
1955 What Happened in 1955 History
The popular children's television show "The Mickey Mouse Club" premieres. The Disneyland theme park in California also opened during this year.. The Warsaw Pact is signed by the Soviet Union and seven of its satellite countries (Poland, Hungary, East Germany, Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, and Czechoslovakia). Rosa Parks is arrested in Alabama after she refuses to give up her bus seat to a white passenger, sparking the Civil Rights Movement. The McDonald's chain of restaurants is started by Ray Kroc. The United States adds "In God We Trust" to all paper currency.
1956 What Happened in 1956 History
The popular musician Elvis Presley has his very first hit song, "Heartbreak Hotel." American Actress Grace Kelly marries Prince Rainier of Monaco. The Suez Crisis begins after Egypt nationalizes the Suez Canal. The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 becomes law, allowing for the mass construction of tens of thousands of interstate highways in the U.S. Albert Sabin creates the oral polio vaccine to replace the Salk vaccine.
1957 What Happened in 1957 History
The USSR successfully launches Sputnik 1, the very first artificial satellite. They also launch Sputnik 2 later in the year, a satellite that carried the first animal into space. The "Baby Boom" peaks during this year. Nine African-American students enroll at Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas and are met with resistance by protesters and the state's governor. Federal troops end up escorting the students into the school at the command of President Eisenhower. The European Economic Community is created when West Germany, Italy, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg sign the Treaty of Rome. Malaysia and Ghana gain independence from the United Kingdom.
1958 What Happened in 1958 History
The microchip is co-invented by Robert Noyce and Jack Kilby. NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) is created. Bobby Fischer, a fourteen-year-old boy, wins the U.S. Chess Championship. The popular children's toy the Hula-Hoop is created by Wham-O. The Great Chinese Famine begins.
1959 What Happened in 1959 History
The Cuban revolution ends and Fidel Castro comes to power, creating the first Communist nation in the West. Alaska and Hawaii are admitted as the 49th and 50th states in the U.S. The Soviet Union's Luna 2 spacecraft becomes the first man-made object to touch the surface of the Moon after it crashes. The first astronauts are introduced by NASA ( John H. Glenn, Jr. and Alan Shepard, Jr. ). The St. Lawrence Seaway is completed.
Other Major Events From The 50's The 50's were the time when the shape of the political landscape in the world could be clearly defined between the Soviet dominated East and the capitalist West.
The cold war became a grim reality because both sides had the power and technology for a Nuclear holocaust, but equally both knew any war could not truly be won.
Following the end of the second world war the economies of the western world boomed which led to the start of a consumer-led economy that seemed to have no bounds.
With the forming of the EEC European Economic Community, West Germany enjoyed a growth which exceeded any expectations at the end of the war.
Following on to the break up of the British Empire which before had occupied 30% of the globe many fledgling democracies were starting to find their own identities including India Pakistan Rhodesia now ( Zimbabwe ), and having the growing pains that any new democracy would face.
During the 50's and following decades more and more of the old colonial empires would be forced to allow allow countries their independence.
Following the creation of the new State of Israel there were many conflicts in the middle east which are still occurring to this day. The Suez Crisis in 1956 begins on July 26th as the supply of oil is blocked through the Suez Canal
Like Germany in Europe Japan saw massive economic growth by supplying the goods needed for the consumer-led society in both Europe and the United States.
More About
More About First Credit Card
1950's Mens and Womens and Childrens Fashion Clothes With the economic boom in the Fifties, glamour become fashionable once again and A-line and pencil skirts were very popular form-fitting fashions. Dresses in the decade would often feature stylish ruffles or lace accents and were usually knee-length or tea-length. Going into the late fifties and 1960s mini-dresses and maxi-length skirt outfits entered the scene. The mid-50's trends in women's fashion changed again. Round-neck styles on sleeveless shirts or long sleeve shirts were popular, as well as polo-necks. Dolman sleeves dominated fashionable tops in the fifties and sixties,
The examples below are from Our new updated Fifties Fashion Section, with examples of Ladies, Mens and Children's Fashion Clothes and Accessory examples including dresses, hats, shoes and much more take a little time to browse through them.
With the economic boom in the Fifties, glamour become fashionable once again and A-line and pencil skirts were very popular form-fitting fashions. Dresses in the decade would often feature stylish ruffles or lace accents and were usually knee-length or tea-length. Going into the late fifties and 1960s mini-dresses and maxi-length skirt outfits entered the scene. The mid-50's trends in women's fashion changed again. Round-neck styles on sleeveless shirts or long sleeve shirts were popular, as well as polo-necks. Dolman sleeves dominated fashionable tops in the fifties and sixties,The examples below are from Our new updated Fifties Fashion Section, with examples of Ladies, Mens and Children's Fashion Clothes and Accessory examples including dresses, hats, shoes and much more take a little time to browse through them. Part of our Ladies Shoes and Hats From The 1950's
Ladies Dresses From The 1950's
Part of our Collection of Childrens Clothes From the 1950's
Childrens Toys From The 1950's Kids Toys From the 50s
Childrens toys offered a much wider range following the boom in babies born, but toys were very much gender designed with dolls, prams, dressmaking for girls toys and Cowboys and indians, cars and construction sets for boys.
Fifties Cars Cars From the 50s
Cadillac Convertible 1959
Tailfins the ultimate car with tailfins produced by Cadillac with the chrome to go with it and a 325 Horsepower engine and power anything and everything Prices From $5,400
1958 Nash Metropolitan
The Metropolitan foreign small car with sports car flavor Prices From $1,626
Aerocar 1951
The car with the built in freeway This seemed like a good idea, wonder why it never caught on Prices From $10,000
Austin Healey 1958
Powerful twin Carb, 102 HP, Hydraulic Brakes, 4 speed synchromesh transmission 2 occasional rear seats Prices From $3,400
Tailfins the ultimate car with tailfins produced by Cadillac with the chrome to go with it and a 325 Horsepower engine and power anything and everything Prices FromThe Metropolitan foreign small car with sports car flavor Prices FromThe car with the built in freeway This seemed like a good idea, wonder why it never caught on Prices FromPowerful twin Carb, 102 HP, Hydraulic Brakes, 4 speed synchromesh transmission 2 occasional rear seats Prices From
Sporting Changes In The 50's Our Detailed Sports History Section
Baseball
New York teams rule 50s baseball with the Yankees, Giants and Dodgers
The game spreads with whole teams being relocated to other parts of the country including Boston Braves to Milwaukee and New York Giants to San Francisco
Television begins broadcasting live games and unlike Radio a decade before had a negative impact on attendance
Basketball
Chuck Cooper drafted by the Boston Celtics in 1950, becomes the first black player in the NBA.
24-second shot clock Introduced in Pro Game In 1954 forcing a team to shoot it within that 24 seconds, or give the ball to the other team.
Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain dominate the game winning 8 out of 10 MVP trophy's from 1958 to 1968
Association Football (Soccer)
Following the end of World War II the game takes center stage in 1950 with the first world cup since 1938 held in Brazil where Uruguay won the world cup again.
Attendance at British soccer matches Skyrocket with 30 million going to stadiums around the UK.
|
net, can work on their drops.
"You want to see what's transpired over the summer and see who has gotten better. And then who gives our team the best chance to move the ball, score touchdowns and put points on the board, not turn the ball over, and probably take about anywhere from eight to 15 practices to figure that out. Historically that's what it usually takes. But we're looking forward to it."
Peters, at this point, is the most interesting case in this scenario.
He's never started a college football game, he's never taken a live college snap.
Still, Michigan's coaching staff was mostly wowed by his increased level of play this spring. The staff believes his arm talent is mostly off the charts, and now it's a matter of getting him to be more vocal and take more ownership of the offense.
If those things happen, this could get very interesting.
"He's elevated his game, Brandon Peters has really elevated his game," Harbaugh says. "I've always noticed a really good arm talent ability from Brandon. A natural thrower of the football. But he's elevated his game on a competitive level. He does have a personality that's very quiet.
"(As a quarterback) you need to take charge. Be loud. That doesn't come as natural to him. I just say 'take charge. Be loud, it's really easy. Ahhhhh, Blue 80! Blue 80!' That's the easiest thing about being a quarterback, to me. So it's 'just be louder, Brandon. Please.' "funding pressures remain in The Kingdom's financial system. Saudi bank stocks' dead-cat-bounce - following the central bank's cash injection 'bailout - is dying once again as Bloomberg reports
The interest rate banks charge one another for loans rose by the most since August on Sunday, extending a trend that’s slowing earnings and corporate borrowing in the world’s biggest oil exporter. The increase is defying the central bank, which has sought to ease the cash crunch by relaxing lending limits, offering new borrowing facilities and injecting funds into the financial system, including 20 billion riyals ($5.3 billion) pledged Sept. 25.
Financial institutions in the Arab world’s largest economy are bearing the brunt of a halving of oil prices since 2014. Economic growth in the kingdom is slowing, curtailing bank deposits just as the government increases borrowing to help plug a budget deficit that last year was the widest since 1991. “Rates won’t easily come down with one $5 billion injection,” said John Sfakianakis, director of economic research at the Gulf Research Center Foundation in Riyadh. “Bringing them down would require a significant liquidity injection effort. The $5 billion is a good step forward, but given the asset size of Saudi banks it would require several additional injections.”
And it appears investors are rapidly realizing that (as the market demands more)...
Saudi Arabia will post a budget deficit of 13.5 percent of economic output this year, the highest since 1992, declining to 9.6 percent in 2017, according to forecasts from the International Monetary Fund. Amid the shortfall, direct local government debt climbed to $63 billion at the end of August from almost $38 billion at the end of 2015,, according to forecasts from the International Monetary Fund. Amid the shortfall, direct local government debt climbed to $63 billion at the end of August from almost $38 billion at the end of 2015, according to information in the Saudi bond prospectus obtained by BloombergADVERTISEMENT
It was hard to look at the two warring camps in the Brexit vote and not think of The Clash's 1982 classic "Should I Stay or Should I Go?".
Now that the United Kingdom has officially decided to go, it's almost impossible not to think about Donald Trump. And not just because Trump landed in (anti-Brexit) Scotland on Friday, as Great Britain woke up to its brave new world, and immediately tried to make the Brexit vote about himself:
Just arrived in Scotland. Place is going wild over the vote. They took their country back, just like we will take America back. No games! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 24, 2016
I'm not being glib about the earthquake that just shook Britain and Europe's post-World War II Pax Europea. The U.K. and its leader — Prime Minister David Cameron or, more likely, whoever replaces him in October — have some big decisions and tricky negotiations ahead, and the EU's pending loss of its second-largest economy could upend the entire half-century experiment in European harmony. But Britain will work that out in due time, and the only answer they are going to get today is the one spoken by 52 percent of voters: "Leave."
America has its own big decision coming up, and if you are a supporter of Trump, Britain's decisive vote to leave the EU is glad tidings, a ray of sunshine after a few weeks of soupy London fog. If you don't want Donald Trump to be president, the Brexit vote is a wake-up call.
The first lesson Brexit has for anti-Trump America is that there's a potential majority out there that is angry, scared, and more than willing to jump into the abyss. Sober analysts and economists warned Britons repeatedly that pulling out of the EU would be an economic and security debacle. "They heard the warnings, listened to experts of every kind tell them that Brexit meant disaster, watched the prime minister as he urged them not to take a terrible risk," says Matthew d'Ancona at The Guardian. "And their answer was: Get stuffed."
It wasn't young people giving the finger to the experts, either. According to a YouGov poll, support for exiting the EU steadily rose with each age bracket, from 75 percent of those aged 18 to 24 wanting to stay, versus 39 percent for those 65 and older. If older Britons are proving less risk-averse than the young, there's no reason to think America's most reliable voters are immune to change fever. In many ways, Hillary Clinton represents a continuation of President Obama's policies, and Donald Trump inarguably represents change.
Great Britain is, technically, an island (or two), but the winds buffeting the U.K. don't stop at the water's edge. "The referendum came at a time when populist revolts against elites were gaining momentum, from Eurosceptic parties in France, Germany, Austria, and Scandinavia to Trump's brand of Republicanism in the U.S.," says The Guardian. "As ever," adds The New York Times, "referendums are not about the question asked but the political mood at the time, and the political mood is sour."
The second big lesson Brexit has for Trump opponents is that nativism, anti-immigration fervor, and elite-bashing are potent tools, not to be underestimated. There was a definite flavor of "Make Britain Great Again" running through the Leave campaign, with Brexit proponents arguing that British sovereignty was being undermined by unelected elites in Brussels. One reason the referendum passed is the unexpectedly strong support of working-class Labour voters in northern England, the rough equivalent of midwestern Reagan Democrats, who don't believe they have benefitted from open markets and open borders.
So "while leaders of the Leave campaign spoke earnestly about sovereignty and the supremacy of Parliament," says Steven Erlanger at The New York Times, "it was anxiety about immigration — membership in the European Union means freedom of movement and labor throughout the bloc — that defined and probably swung the campaign." The Leave camp urged Britain to "take control" of its borders. Instead of Mexico, the Eurosceptics pointed an accusatory finger at Turkey, which hopes to join the EU. In the hands of the U.K. Independence Party and its leader Nigel Farage — whose success in the polls pressured Cameron to call for the referendum in the first place — that anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim sentiment was not infrequently called racism.
The last red flag for those who don't want Trump to be president is that you can only trust the polls so much. Just about everybody who's anybody was in favor of staying in the EU — every living prime minister, the leader of Britain's two major parties, Obama and the leader of every other important ally, academics, business leaders, and celebrities — but a majority of everyone else said no. I mean, England ignored a plea from James Bond:
The polls before the referendum were close, and tightening, but most Britons went to bed Thursday night with the expectation that they would still be a part of Europe when they woke up. If the best polls got it wrong, it's possible that Britons were telling pollsters what all the cool kids were saying, not how they intended to vote. The American elite — Obama, academics, business leaders, celebrities, and even a good number of Republican opinion and political leaders — are wary or hostile to the idea of a President Trump.
Now, Vox's Ezra Klein makes the case for trusting the polls, noting that Trump led just about every poll in the GOP primary, but he inserts a note of caution, too. "Brexit's win doesn't predict Trump's victory, contrary to some of the chatter I've seen on Twitter," he says. But "when evaluating the likeliest outcomes, look to trustworthy polls rather than your gut. Hillary Clinton's 7-point lead over Donald Trump still makes her the favorite, but if those numbers flip, take it seriously. Pundits who stick to their priors even when the data tells them to abandon ship are not faring well this year."
It's worth remembering that when David Cameron agreed to the EU referendum three years ago, even though he opposed leaving the EU, he assumed that it had little chance of passing. Leaving the EU was "caricatured as an obsession of very rightwing Conservatives," as The Guardian puts it, but caricatures can deceive those who believe them.
All it took to bring the idea of a Brexit to the mainstream was a wealthy, colorful, New York–born, media-savvy, purposefully outrageous, peculiarly coifed, self-aggrandizing, selectively conservative, populist politician named Boris Johnson. The former London mayor was once an ally of Cameron, a fellow Tory. Now that his successful leadership of the Leave campaign has pushed Cameron out of office, he might well be Britain's next leader. If that can happen in Britain, America isn't safe from Donald Trump.Some 45,000 Palestinians living in the Shuafat refugee camp and the suburbs of Ras Shehadeh, Ras Khamis, As-Salam and Anata in Jerusalem have had their water cut off for nearly three days.
The residents said Israel’s water company Gihon started by gradually reducing the water supply nearly two weeks ago until it stopped entirely.
A member of Shuafat’s popular committee; Khaled Al-Khalidi said on Wednesday that 23,000 refugees had no access to water for three days while the residents of Ras Shehadeh; Ras Khamis, As-Salam and Anata have been without water for 20 days.
Al-Khalidi demanded “UNRWA, the camp’s service provider, to fulfil its obligations towards the refugees and prosecute the Jerusalem municipality and Gihon to oblige them to return the water supply.”
Al-Khalidi pointed out that “UNRWA and Jordan signed an agreement in 1956 to provide water service to the Palestinian refugees without charge and in 1967 the Israeli Civil administration joined the Convention. However in 1988 when Israel tried to cut off the water supply to the camp residents, the refugees prosecuted the company and forced it to return the water supply.”
The Chairman of the Ras Al-Khamis Development committee, Jameel Sandouqa, said the educational and health institutions were paralysed by the company’s actions. “We addressed the Association for Civil Rights and filed a complaint against Gihon. We also contacted Gihon’s Deputy Director General Eli Cohen, but he denied any cut off in the water supply.”
Sandouqa said his committee contacted Minister of the Knesset Effie Cole and asked her to hold an urgent meeting at the Knesset to press the water company to return the water supply to the areas’ residents.
“Gihon has cut off water to the region to force us to receive services from the Jerusalem municipality and impose a new reality in the region,” he said.
Sandouqa added that the Israeli army has closed the Shuafat military crossing for three days now for maintenance which forces the camp’s students to walk all the way around the terminal to their homes causing them great suffering and endangering their lives.A 2-year-old boy and a 26-year-old man were killed and a pregnant woman was wounded in a shooting in Chicago that was streamed live on Facebook by one of the victims.
Two-year-old Lavontay White Jr. was in the backseat of a car that was targeted by gunmen Tuesday about 1:30 p.m. in the 2300 block of South Kenneth Avenue, the Chicago Tribune reports.
Video of the shooting, which you can watch above, was recorded by the unidentified woman who was shot. The video starts with her and the male victim, who has also not been identified, singing and listening to music as they drive. Gunfire and screaming can then be heard.
The 29-minute video includes much of the aftermath of the shooting. The video goes dark about the 2:15 mark of the footage, but audio is still being recorded until someone shuts off the stream about 30 minutes after the shooting.
The pregnant woman and her fetus are expected to survive, police told the Tribune. White, the 2-year-old boy, was revived at the scene, but later died at a local hospital, according to police.
Here, Lavontay White Jr., 2, shot to death today at Ogden / Kostner. #chicago "Happy 2nd Birthday" was his last birthday pic.twitter.com/BL6m1MyHYV — Peter Nickeas (@PeterNickeas) February 15, 2017
Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said no suspects are in custody, but they believe the man killed in the attack was the intended target.
“We have very promising leads, we have video,” Johnson said. “There’s no doubt in my mind that we’ll find him.”
White was the second child fatally shot in Chicago in recent days. Takiya Holmes, an 11-year-old girl, was shot on February 11 and died Tuesday. She was with her mother and baby brother running errands when she was struck by a stray bullet, police said.
Antwan C. Jones, 19, has been charged with murder in that case.
Chicago has seen a number of violent incidents streamed live on Facebook in the past year, including two other shootings.
In two separate occasions, in March and June 2016, men were shot while streaming live video on Facebook. One man was killed and the other was seriously wounded.
And in January, the kidnapping and torture of a mentally disabled teen was streamed live on Facebook by his accused captors. That story made national headlines, as the attacks made derogatory comments about President Donald Trump during the incident. Two women and two men were later arrested and are facing kidnapping and assault charges.
And on Sunday, a Chicago activist, Jedidiah Brown, streamed live video on Facebook during a lengthy standoff with police. He held a gun to his head and threatened to kill himself in the Facebook video. He eventually surrendered without incident.Quote Hey folks!
Below you will find the answers to the top 3 Sage questions which were submitted earlier in this forum. Thank you all for your patience as we worked on getting them answered!
-eric
PvE - Survivability
Spoiler The developers stated in the Sorcerer answers that healing is intended to make up a significant part of Sage survivability and the suggestion of providing defensive cooldowns besides Force Mend and Force Barrier were rejected outright. The community believes that Sage survivability suffers from a number of inherent problems with its defensive tools.
In order to use Force Armor or Force Mend on yourself, you need to use a global cooldown. And in the case of Force Armor use 5%-10% of your resources. That's simply an unacceptable trade off in most PvE situations. For example in Nightmare content (as we saw in TFB & S&V), there are very tight enrage timers which require maximum dps to meet. There is also a lot of "random" damage (where an operation member is targeted to take damage) and a lot of instances where there is significant AOE damage to the entire operation. In many of these cases, Sages take more damage than other classes simply because the damage is first mitigated by armor and passive damage resistance and Sages have the least access to those options.
Most recently in the final fight of Dread Fortress has a very high DPS check with significant damage coming from the boss (both AOE and randomly targeted). Sages need to spend GCDs and resources rather than doing damage and that increases the chance of a defeat. Athough Sages are still able to clear the content, the community is concerned that their lower survivability makes them less suitable for progression content.
These issues have caused many in the community to speculate that Sages are intended to be a "glass cannon," frail but able to pack a punch. Sages, however, don't have the inverse advantage in damage to survival that one would expect if that was the case. Many spirited discussions have issued debating this question of the theory of Sage survivability and we invite the developers to take part.
Are the developers satisfied with Sage/Sorcerer survivability, specifically in PvE operations? What is your philosophy towards the Sage class and its defenses? Are there any plans to improve the class's current survival tools? For example, by perhaps providing a means with which to move our tools (Force Armor, Force Mend, etc.) off the GCD when cast on yourself?
We are mostly satisfied with Sage/Sorcerer survivability in Operations. If you are a Sage/Sorcerer that specializes in dealing damage, we do not expect you to use Force Armor/Static Barrier on yourself or others in an Operation. If you find this to not be the case in any given encounter, please feel free to post in the Flashpoints, Operations, and Heroic Missions forum, and let the Operations team know specifically which mechanic in which encounter is making you feel like you are required to use Force Armor/Static Barrier on yourself to survive. Also, please note that depending on how you and your healer specialize (if your group has a Sage/Sorcerer healer), your own Force Armor/Static Barrier is likely weaker and more expensive than your Sage/ Sorcerer healer’s Force Armor/Static Barrier. In addition, using your own Force Armor/Static Barrier will lockout your Sage/Sorcerer healer’s stronger and cheaper version of the ability.
Usually, damage dealt to the whole Operation group or to random Operation group members is dealt as elemental or internal damage, so that the classes with higher armor values do not have an advantage over classes with lower armor values, like the Sage/Sorcerer. Sometimes, the Operations team will intentionally decide to not make this damage elemental or internal (as is currently the case in the Dread Master Brontes encounter). If you feel that such practices leave the Sage/Sorcerer in a position that is too vulnerable, then please let us know in the Operations forum (linked above) so that we can address the issue.
Now with that said, we will definitely consider taking the global cooldown off of Force Mend/Unnatural Preservation, but the global cooldown on Force Armor/Static Barrier is there to stay, since it can be placed on others and we do not expect you to use the ability in Operations if you are a damage dealer.
PvP - Seer Spec Issues
Spoiler Currently, Sage healers have a number of issues that affect their play. First, Sages are nearly 100% reliant on casted healing abilities. Our only instant healing abilities are Force Armor and Rejuvenate. Force Armor has a long lockout and Rejuvenate is a small heal mostly used to proc Conveyance. Salvation can be cast instantly, but it requires using Healing Trance (and usually Rejuvenate) as a set-up.
In PvP, this causes great issues, because while Sage healers are capable of putting up great numbers because of Salvation spamming, under heavy pressure a static AoE heal is not ideal in the frenetic PvP environment.
The Noble Sacrifice/Consumption mechanic is really unique, and the community agrees that in PvE at least it provides Seer/Corruption with a sensible mechanic for restoring Force. In PvP, this mechanic presents very serious problems. Sage healers are one of the priority targets for being focused and in that situation purposefully sacrificing your health to maintain force is not possible. This is exacerbated by the issue of Sage healers being reliant on casts. This puts the Sage in the unenviable situation of having to stay still to restore health and Force.
Also, while Benevolence has its uses in emergency situations and off healing as a DPS, for Seer Sages this ability is very underwhelming and rarely used. In your 2.0 blog you mentioned that the ability is to be used when Force efficiency is not a concern. Unfortunately, in most emergencies efficiency is a concern as wasteful rotations will only lead to a prolonged emergency.
Are the developers considering any changes to Seer spec to reduce the heavy reliance on casted abilities or to improve force management in a way that is not detrimental to survival? For example, improving Rejuvenate, reducing the lockout duration of Force Armor, or removing the health cost of Noble Sacrifice via set bonuses?
Sage/Sorcerer healers, we hear you and we see that our data validates what you are saying – as it shows you are currently performing behind both Scoundrel/Operative healers and Commando/Mercenary healers in PvP. We do not currently have any plans to share with you on how we intend to improve Sage/Sorcerer healing in PvP, but it is a priority for us, and we would love to hear your own ideas on how you would like Sage/Sorcerer healing to be improved in PvP without also making Sage/Sorcerer healing too good in PvE. We will say in advance that, “make such-and-such ability activate instantly,” is not a solution we are likely to consider (unless it is a temporary buff triggered by something else, and not a permanent reduction of activation time). Our goal is to keep Sage/Sorcerer healing as close as possible to the way it is in PvE, while improving how it performs in PvP.
Now here are some questions for the Sage/Sorcerer community, regarding Noble Sacrifice/Consumption. Do you believe removing the health cost of Noble Sacrifice/Consumption as a PvP set bonus would be something that PvE Sage/Sorcerer healers also feel like they need, or are PvE Sage/Sorcerers happier with their current set bonuses? If it is something that PvE Sages/Sorcerers would rather have as well, then which current PvE set bonus would you want to give up for it? Do you think that having a health-cost-free Noble Sacrifice/Consumption would be too good for PvE? Do you believe it might take away too much of the challenge for healing in PvE situations?
Please let us know your thoughts about these issues in your replies to this post. We will be listening, and we appreciate your feedback.
Sage as Jedi
Spoiler
Sages and Sorcerers are force using classes and as such have the lightsaber as a weapon proficiency. In addition, our force free attack Saber Strike is a melee attack. The game mechanics, however, go out of their way to ensure that players have no incentive to use their lightsaber for any reason. Sages have only two weapon attacks and those attacks do not benefit from our main stat Willpower. This results in the unique situation of Sages (and Sorcerers) being the only class that does not use their main weapon for anything save a stat boost. This is directly LORE breaking as even the archetypal Sage and Sorcerer, Yoda and Palpatine were gifted melee combatants.
The second issue is with respect to certain animations of the Sage specifically. With the understanding that to mirror the consular and inquisitor classes, certain design choices had to be made, nevertheless many members of the Sage community question the appropriateness of two signature moves of the consular, Project and Telekinetic Throw. It is questionable whether Jedi should be using the force in this manner from a LORE perspective. Yoda tells us, “A Jedi uses the force for knowledge and defense, never to attack.” And the only force users in the movies to use telekinesis to throw items as an attack are the Sith: Darth Vader (in Ep.V), Darth Tyranus (in Ep. 2 & 3) and Darth Sidious (In Ep.3) Also, some players simply consider TK Throw particularly to be a lackluster animation that lacks the coolness factor of lightning on the Sith side – and nowhere in six movies or a host of licensed games, has debris throwing been a signature jedi move. For more information see While the majority of these class representative questions, both Sages and other classes, have been about balance issues, the Sage community has a unique concern shared in some respects with our mirror class, the Sorcerer but in some ways unique to the Sage class. Put bluntly, the class has some visual and mechanical issues that make it feel more like a traditional mage class instead of a Jedi. There are two main reasons for this: (1) We don’t use our lightsaber for anything; (2) Several animations lack the feeling of power. Discussing those in turn.Sages and Sorcerers are force using classes and as such have the lightsaber as a weapon proficiency. In addition, our force free attack Saber Strike is a melee attack. The game mechanics, however, go out of their way to ensure that players have no incentive to use their lightsaber for any reason. Sages have only two weapon attacks and those attacks do not benefit from our main stat Willpower. This results in the unique situation of Sages (and Sorcerers) being the only class that does not use their main weapon for anything save a stat boost. This is directly LORE breaking as even the archetypal Sage and Sorcerer, Yoda and Palpatine were gifted melee combatants.The second issue is with respect to certain animations of the Sage specifically. With the understanding that to mirror the consular and inquisitor classes, certain design choices had to be made, nevertheless many members of the Sage community question the appropriateness of two signature moves of the consular, Project and Telekinetic Throw. It is questionable whether Jedi should be using the force in this manner from a LORE perspective. Yoda tells us, “A Jedi uses the force for knowledge and defense, never to attack.” And the only force users in the movies to use telekinesis to throw items as an attack are the Sith: Darth Vader (in Ep.V), Darth Tyranus (in Ep. 2 & 3) and Darth Sidious (In Ep.3) Also, some players simply consider TK Throw particularly to be a lackluster animation that lacks the coolness factor of lightning on the Sith side – and nowhere in six movies or a host of licensed games, has debris throwing been a signature jedi move. For more information see http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=718365
Will the developer do anything to ameliorate these issues? Examples include allowing Willpower to affect melee attacks; providing additional worthwhile lightsaber attacks; and offering alternate animations via the Cartel Market or otherwise (Marketing take note!).
We could rather easily make Willpower affect melee attacks for Sages/Sorcerers, but we have no intention to make Sages/Sorcerers use their lightsabers more than they currently do. In terms of lore, the particular attributes that make someone a “Jedi Sage” or a “Sith Sorcerer” vary over the vast timeline of the Star Wars galaxy. And while Yoda and Palpatine were definitely inspirations for these classes, they are never identified by those terms in the films, and it wasn’t our intention to make direct gameplay clones of those characters in any case. Our feeling was that there are many players who want the experience of playing as a Jedi/Sith who relies almost solely on their mastery of the Force to resolve the challenges they face, with the lightsaber serving only as a secondary weapon; these classes were designed with that experience in mind.
As far as offering alternate animations and visual effects via the Cartel Market is concerned, only time will tell. Your message has been passed onto the team responsible for Cartel Market updates, and if it is possible, then you might see those options appear in the future.
Eric Musco | Community Manager
Follow us on Twitter @SWTOR | Like us on Facebook
[Contact Us] [Rules of Conduct] [F.A.Q.]Image copyright Ray Tabafunda Image caption Boracay is a popular beach destination for tourists
The beaches and restaurants of Boracay Island are usually bustling with tourists from around the world.
But this year, they are quieter than usual. A travel advisory issued by Beijing has caused a sharp fall in arrivals from China.
"We are worried and we are affected," said Dionisio Salme, president of the Boracay Foundation Inc., the island's resorts' association.
Since the warning was issued on 12 September, Boracay has seen a steep drop in Chinese visitors. Numbers fell from 18,479 in August to less than 7,000 in September.
This trend continued into China's week-long public holiday in the first week of October, normally one of the peak travel seasons for Chinese tour groups.
According to Mr Salme, while bars and clubs on Boracay's main beach are still crowded with Filipinos and tourists from other countries, the large resorts which take in busloads of Chinese tourists are nearly empty.
Image copyright AFP Image caption The travel advisory has caused regional budget carriers like Cebu Pacific (pictured) to cancel flights
Cancelled flights
Airlines have been hit too. Cebu Pacific (CEB), a major Philippine budget carrier, cancelled 149 chartered flights scheduled between September and December 2014, with a loss of an estimated 24,138 passengers.
AirAsia has also suspended flights from Beijing and Shanghai to Kalibo, the regional airport servicing Boracay. As the travel advisory hit its fourth week, it also reduced flights between Manila and Shanghai.
Jorenz Tanada, vice-president for corporate affairs for Cebu Pacific, remains cautiously optimistic. "CEB continues to operate scheduled commercial flights to and from mainland China," he said, adding that the airline hoped the advisory would be "lifted at the soonest possible time".
Image copyright AFP Image caption Chinese and Philippine vessels have been engaged in tense stand-offs in the South China Sea region
Regional tensions
In its advisory, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs cited a "worsened security situation in the Philippines" that may see Chinese nationals targeted.
We're just hoping and praying that this can be resolved in the shortest period of time Dionisio Salme, Boracay Foundation Incorporated
It followed an alleged bomb plot against the Chinese embassy, the kidnapping of an 18-year-old man in the southern Philippines and general concern about criminal gangs.
The Philippine military has since dismissed the alleged bomb plot, noting that the man arrested was a fringe politician whose bombs were merely firecrackers, and the Chinese embassy has yet to determine if the kidnapped man was indeed a Chinese national.
Aileen Baviera, a professor who specialises in Philippine-China relations at the Asia Center of the University of the Philippines Diliman, said it seemed hard to justify the advisory.
"There are so many Chinese in the Philippines, they're all over the country. So these are really isolated incidents," she said.
But the advisory was issued amid high tensions between Beijing and Manila over territorial disputes in the South China Sea and is widely seen in the Philippines as going beyond Beijing's security concerns for its tourists.
"Hyping up the danger to their own nationals in the Philippines is one way that they [Beijing] put subtle pressure on the government," Ms Baviera said.
Image copyright Aurora Almendral Image caption How will the Philippines cope without business from Chinese tourists?
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption China also issued a travel advisory in 2012 due to heightened tensions with the Philippines
China issued a similar travel advisory in 2012, at the height of a stand-off at the Scarborough Shoal - a reef claimed by both Beijing and Manila.
That time, it cited a protest planned outside the Chinese embassy in Manila. Of the 1,000 protesters expected by the Chinese embassy, only about 200 showed up, and anti-Chinese violence did not materialise.
The new fall in tourists has already had an economic impact. China is the fourth largest source of foreign tourists in the Philippines, after South Korea, the United States and Japan.
Chinese tourists spent 6.46bn pesos (£89.5m; $144.7m) in the country between January and August 2014, according to a report by the Philippine Department of Tourism.
But in the four days immediately following the advisory, Boracay alone announced 500m pesos in losses due to cancellations.
Image copyright Reuters Image caption The Philippines said China's territorial claims were "illegal" under a United Nations law convention of the Sea
Some of the people most affected are ethnically Chinese Filipinos who operate the travel agencies used by Chinese tourists.
James Lim is a Mandarin-speaking Chinese-Filipino guide based in Cebu City, the jumping off point for many of the Philippines's most popular tourist destinations.
Mr Lim, who is accustomed to back-to-back tour groups arriving in Cebu directly from China, said the drop in arrivals has put him on an unplanned holiday. He was spending most of his days at a cafe, or playing ping pong.
He declined to read into what the travel advisory could mean for Philippine-Chinese relations, but insisted that Chinese nationals are not specifically targeted by criminals.
Image copyright AP Image caption The Philippines has accused China of strengthening its military presence in the South China Sea
'Hoping and praying'
Like other private businesses feeling the strain of the travel ban, Mr Salme is looking for assurances and solutions.
What's going on is beyond our control - It's up to our government to find some solution Dionisio Salme, Boracay Foundation Incorporated
He has asked the Philippine government and the Department of Tourism for help, and invited representatives to the island to discuss ways to bridge the gap in revenue until the advisory is lifted.
"We're just hoping and praying that this can be resolved in the shortest period of time," he said.
Government officials, meanwhile, appear reluctant to discuss the subject. The Department of Tourism declined to elaborate to the BBC, as have some large private firms who are concerned about straining their relationship with the Philippine government over the sensitive political nature of the advisory.
In a press briefing on 6 October, Charles Jose, the spokesman for the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, said officials were "trying to map out concrete steps that we could take to basically convince China that we are taking measures and that we are guaranteeing and ensuring the safety and protection of their nationals".
On Boracay island, Mr Salme said local authorities were not aware of any incidents targeting any nationalities.
"For us, tourists are a big help and we want to really protect all nationalities," he said. "It is beyond our control what's going on. It's up to our government to find some solution."A very cool new utility has just been released by Olav Junker Kjær called Mascara which is an ECMAScript 4 to JavaScript translator (written in Python).
Using this utility you can begin writing ECMAScript 4 code today, receiving its full benefits (such as IDE integration and compile-time type-checking) while still being able to run the resulting code in all modern browsers.
A simple demonstration is up on the Mascara web site which provides a view into the translated source code, along with run-time (and inline) error messages.
A full break-down of the features currently supported are:
Type verification
Classes and inheritance, constructors, super initializers
Static members
Type inference from initialization
Parameterized types, Map and Vector
Union types
Structural types
Getters/setters
Namespaces
Nullable types
Definitely be aware, however, that while the above feature list is more than enough to get started there are still a a few items left to be implemented.
The most important question, when looking at the above code, should be: How do I begin using this today? Olav went ahead and made it easy to do IDE integration – even setting up instructions on how to integrate with Eclipse on Windows (he currently shows how to integrate using the JScript command-line interface, but it can easily be expanded). I’m quite excited by this prospect – having the ability to do compile-time type-checking and be able to succinctly write classes with inheritance will be a major boon to development.
Additionally, he provides information on how to do automatic CGI translation (naturally, you would want to do this only in a development environment).
He’s continuing to provide frequent updates on the Mascara blog – be sure to follow along if you’re interested in starting to use ECMAScript 4 sooner, rather than later.ADEN (Reuters) - Two drone strikes killed seven suspected al Qaeda militants in southern Yemen on Saturday, a local official said, nine days after U.S. President Barack Obama said he would only use such strikes when a threat was “continuing and imminent”.
In two separate attacks, militants believed to be linked to al Qaeda killed two senior police officers in the eastern part of the country, a local security official said.
Washington views al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) as the movement’s most dangerous wing after it attempted to launch bomb attacks on international airliners.
The official said the seven were travelling in two cars on Saturday morning in the al-Mahfad district of Abyan Governorate in southern Yemen where the Islamist militant group has a strong presence, when the drones struck.
In eastern Yemen, Colonel Abdel-Rahman Bashkeel, head of the criminal investigation department in the city of Seyoun in the Wadi Hadramout area, was killed on Saturday afternoon by a bomb placed in his car, a local security official said.
Militants on a motorbike also shot and killed Brigadier-General Yahya al-Omaisi, commander of the police force at the Seyoun airbase, the official said.
He said both attacks carried the hallmarks of al Qaeda, which is believed to be behind a spate of recent attacks on senior police, security and army officers, including at least three incidents last week.
Islamists linked to al Qaeda seized control of some towns in southern Yemen in 2011 after Arab Spring protests weakened the government in Sanaa. However, the Yemeni army and local tribal militias recaptured the towns last year with U.S. assistance.
Lawless, impoverished Yemen lies on major international energy shipment routes and shares a long, porous border with Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter.
President Obama has come under criticism in |
, and is arguing against imposition in the Amazon of the very same medical-commercial norms that animate MAPS’ approach.
I wish there were a clear takeaway message from this. The best I can do is to advise you to stay involved in the process, stay critical, and agitate for your interests. Most people I know who are interested in psychedelia are so thrilled that psychedelics are moving towards legitimacy that they don’t think critically about what’s going on. Unreflective support may have been necessary and constructive in 2007, but the whole ‘psychedelic renaissance’ project has advanced far enough that we, the general public (sic), have to look critically at the approaches taken and the long-term plan.
We’ve established that ESC and its adversaries have differing visions for the future of ayahuasca—now let’s look at ESC’s plan, and its activities and communications up to this point. ESC’s strategy is to identify all stakeholders and collect their opinions, reach consensus on a plan of action and a set of guiding principles (the mystical Ayahuasca Agreement) and then implement. This all checks out ethically and as best practices in work involving indigenous communities. However, the signatories argue that ESC is not qualified to do this work and that it has no indigenous representation or meaningful experience with local groups in the Amazon. Though ESC contends that it is and it has, I am inclined to side with the signatories, who as authorities on the Amazon with some hundreds of years of experience altogether are better able to make informed judgments about what constitutes an appropriate amount of experience and meaningful connection to indigenous groups. Conducting large-scale research in a context as fragile as the Amazon without the necessary experience or indigenous people in leadership roles does not check out ethically. Indigenous peoples have been on the receiving end of so much ill-conceived and unasked-for investigation over the past few hundred years that the standards for preparation and for inclusiveness of indigenous voices must be set very high. In addition to questions of research ethics, there are important issues of self-determination at play: some of the signatories that I have spoken to have expressed indignation that “the gringos” are coming into the Amazon uninvited and trying to assume a leadership role (which ESC steadfastly denies it is doing). South America has a long history of contending with Westerners acting unilaterally and with varyingly sympathetic motivations: on the basis of this past alone, I think it might be wisest to wait for an invitation before embarking on such a wide-ranging project.
However, I also believe that we need to recognize the role that these histories play in shaping the course and interpretation of this encounter. It is easy to imagine that Western ‘assistance’ is coming in unsolicited and without adequate preparation, respect for other voices, or ability to cooperate, and this narrative necessarily affects how the debate is framed. I think that these narratives, combined with a few PR blunders that have received a great deal of attention, are painting ESC in a worse light than its actions analyzed independently might warrant. Even experts can be influenced by such prominent and emotionally-fraught narratives and histories. With that said, I still find myself siding with the signatories on these issues. It is their prerogative to evaluate all data points at their disposal—tangible and narrative—and to respond as they see fit, and they are too vocal and united in their criticism for preconceived notions to be acting without significant support from fact.
Nevertheless, I am sympathetic to ESC, whose staff is honestly surprised and confused by much of the criticism, and especially its tone (my mom read the Statement and said that it was “inappropriately arrogant with too much resort to name-calling”). ESC is to some extent in the wrong place at the wrong time, and they have been incautious in how they have presented themselves, but I don’t believe they deserve to be castigated to this degree and with such evident rancor. Though there may be a kernel of truth to application of the “colonialism” narrative in this case—i.e. that ESC’s work is uninvited by the indigenous, unwelcomed by the local experts, and “top-down” (to use a favorite expression of the critics)—this kernel is surrounded and compounded by emotionality and rehashing of old antagonisms. Separating the kernel from the baggage it has dredged up is the secret to both understanding this episode and charting a path towards its resolution.
A locus of debate that is less overtly ideological is ESC’s experience and expertise. ESC bills itself as a group capable of providing a context for discussion and building of relationships among various ‘stakeholders’. Again, this is a reasonable and useful project, but one that should only be undertaken by an organization with significant expertise and experience with the groups in question. The NGO that I work for has a similar mission, but in contrast to ESC it is managed by homegrown leaders, has well over a decade of experience in its field, and has such expertise that it is regularly called upon by the government to provide technical assistance or to assist in implementation of new programs. It also fills a gap in that the private and public health sectors in India have historically been unwilling to cooperate meaningfully, and an NGO go-between has been necessary (though this may be changing). In Amazonia, with a young organization whose credentials are uncertain and a chorus of senior voices denying in unison that there is such a gap, it seems reasonable that the organization should at least adopt a more modest platform and strategy. There are certainly roles in which the experience and expertise of ESC’s staff would be very useful, but facilitation of discussion requires familiarity with the cultural context above all else.
ESC’s idea of setting ground rules for ayahuasca production and use in the Amazon and implementing a certification system based thereupon has also been a major focus of resistance. The critique in brief is that setting marketplace rules would turn the Amazon into a marketplace, that traditional systems of control are working well on the whole and adapting to new pressures (though with various degrees of difficulty), and that going in with the intention of making or even discussing structural changes without proper care may disrupt this. ESC’s response is that the Amazon is already becoming a marketplace, that its goal is to complement and extend these traditional forms of regulation to account for new pressures, and that it wouldn’t do anything without the full support of the communities in question. Though the signatories have doubts about this last bit, given ESC’s apparent unresponsiveness to differing opinions—which ESC disputes but which the signatories assert adamantly—there’s no indication that ESC would impose any unwelcome measures upon communities or ayahuasca centers. I think it more likely that at least some communities would leap at the conversations and opportunities that ESC is offering (indeed, they already have, according to ESC, which has conducted over 100 formal and many more informal interviews so far), but what the outcomes would be for them and for less-enthusiastic communities is unclear. This may be the most serious problem: the full scope of the repercussions of ESC’s plans does not appear well thought-out. Though ESC says that this is because research is ongoing, the critics for their part demand that extended preparation—including a thorough impact assessment of research as well as of any intervention—be carried out before any work in the field begins; this is reasonable and their prerogative, though ESC has expressed confusion at the failure of the signatories to mention that its preparations were inadequate before fieldwork actually began.
Again, the critics’ alternative to ESC’s approach is not distinct or formalized, to my knowledge. Their Statement alludes to development of an “informed response” (read: “handled by us”) to “emerging safety issues.” I hope that they use the opportunity provided by this episode to articulate their goals and plans going forward—public interest in this conversation is unlikely to last, and the debate over the medium-term future of ayahuasca production and use should try to find some sort of visible working resolution, with roles assigned and principles set, before it loses steam.
Since the Statement was published a few days before Christmas, a number of additional experts have lent their voices to the critics’ effort, bringing the total number of signatories to 62 (as of early January). ESC has issued a response: how effective it is depends on how one feels about the organization. The critics will view it as empty talk and missing the point. Those who support ESC’s project and are inclined to take them at their word will be heartened. In any case, ESC’s response is not a significant step towards resolution of this debate. The signatories are dead-set against ESC for complex, not-fully-public reasons that are ideological as well as pragmatic, and they will not cease their campaign until ESC drastically reduces the scope of its work.
I don’t know what will happen next; I don’t think anyone does. MAPS is sticking by ESC, though it has expressed agreement with the signatories’ concerns and has encouraged ESC to address them more substantively. Dutch ‘incubating partner’ ICEERS has not yet issued a statement. Partnering organizations PRISM of Australia and Nierika of Mexico have withdrawn their support. Debate on listservs and ayahuasca forums is vigorous and mainly against ESC, though with varying degrees of vitriol. I’m thrilled, though not so much at the opinions on display—which run the gamut from reasoned consideration of the facts and biases on display to kneejerk anti-colonialism and deference to authority—as at the simple fact that people are engaged, talking and thinking. I wish that this same fire were more present throughout the burgeoning psychedelic movement, in the forms of engagement not only emotional but intellectual and discerning, and as a continuous holding-to-account as is fitting for major and growing organizations that we have entrusted with our hopes, dreams, and cash. Perhaps the fact that it isn’t is an indication of MAPS and its allies’ successes in a complicated process, and in managing a diverse group of constituents and interests. Or maybe what we are seeing in action is the paradoxical quality of psychedelia—that the same experiences that can offer unparalleled freedom and individuality may also predispose to unreflective faith in charisma and perceived wisdom. I’m not sure that it is entirely the former. We would do well to put more effort into cultivating our own wisdom—capacity for discernment—and less into applauding the wisdom of others.
There are interesting times ahead, and the more people who meet them thinking for themselves, questioning authority, and participating in the conversations that affect them, the better things will be on the other side.
Image by Paul Hessell, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.We’re still more than a month away from the 2014 NBA season commencement but every NBA fan—maybe with the exception of anybody living in Philadelphia—has to be excited for many exciting new stories to unfold. #TheReturn of Derrick Rose that has hit Facebook and Twitter hash tags will probably be the most intriguing one to watch. Rose is one of the NBA’s most electrifying players but his return from an ACL injury is still very much a question mark. For now, here's how I see the 2014 awards being doled out:
Rookie of the Year
Nerlens Noels now has the chip on his shoulder in addition to his talent to work with in his rookie season. Unfortunately for Noels, his ACL injury will keep him out until at least Christmas and as such, the ROY running. My pick to win it is the No. 2 overall, Victor Oladipo. The former Indiana guard is set to take the stage in an Orlando team that will struggle mightily in 2014 but he can be the bright spot in the post-Dwight Howard era in the way that Kyrie Irving blossomed in Cleveland in the post-LeBron era. Trey Burke (No. 9 overall) will also compete for the award but in the end, Oladipo will take it.
Coach of the Year
edition addition Dr. Dre—that’s Andre Iguodala, a combo of Dr. J and anDre, any takers? (Awkward pause.) Moving on… Warriors coach, Mark Jackson, will make a run at this award with a much improved team headed by the newestaddition Dr. Dre—that’s Andre Iguodala, a combo of Dr. J and anDre, any takers? (Awkward pause.) Moving on…
While my hopes lean toward the Warriors coach earning the award for best coach in the league, I see it going to Doc Rivers in Los Angeles. He should be able to fix any problems in Lob City that did or did not exist between CP3 and Blake and will hopefully get rid of the “soft” label that Griffin has acquired. The West is loaded this year and the Clippers should be in the hunt…at least until the playoffs start.
Doc Jackson? Come on...you have to admit these guys look at least mildly similar.
Most Improved Player
He has that wide-eyed look about him, but Kawhi Leonard is a beast. Gregg Popovich and the Spurs may have been the perfect system for Leonard but he has taken advantage of it and is now a household name after playing some excellent defense on LeBron James and the Miami Heat in the 2013 NBA Finals. You know you’re good when the best player in the game has this reaction when you’re coming back on the floor:
Defensive Player of the Year
Dwight Howard is reviled in Los Angeles after a messy departure but at least there was no big “Decision” that was nationally televised. Now imagine if he went to the Celtics ( an idea that I briefly entertained ) then we’d have a whole different story. But for all the heat that D12 takes, he’s still a beast. He had a bad back and a bad year in 2013 but still managed 17.1/12.4/2.4. His defensive presence is as good as it gets. Maybe LeBron James finally pulls together a DPOY-worthy season in the eyes of the voters but for now, this is Dwight’s award to lose.
Sixth Man of the Year
With the addition of Dr. Dre, the odd man out of the starting lineup in Golden State will be Harrison Barnes. He is still incredibly enthusiastic and excited about this season as a Golden State Warrior. Check out his Facebook page and you’ll see just how involved he is with Dubs fans. Not only that, but Harrison Barnes did see how a position in the starting five meant relatively little last year when Jarrett Jack and Carl Landry came off the bench and played big minutes late in games. Either way, this guy is something special and yes, this is where I post the obligatory posterization:
Yup, the Warriors have this man coming off the bench.
Most Valuable PlayerWhat “accept interfaces, return structs” means in Go
Not lacking nuance
Jack Lindamood Blocked Unblock Follow Following Dec 5, 2016
I’ve mentioned a general guideline of accept interfaces, return structs in a previous post and multiple times on code reviews to coworkers, but often get the question “Why”. Especially since this isn’t a hard rule. The crux of the idea, and understanding when to bend it, is in the balance of avoiding preemptive abstractions while maintaining flexibility.
The abstract gopher
Preemptive abstractions make systems complex
All problems in computer science can be solved by another level of indirection, except of course for the problem of too many indirections
- David J. Wheeler
Software engineers love abstractions. Personally, I’ve never seen a coworker more involved in writing code than when they are creating an abstraction for something. Interfaces abstract away from structures in Go and this indirection has a non zero level of embedded complexity. Following the You aren’t gonna need it philosophy of software design, it doesn’t make sense to create this complexity until it’s needed. A common reason to return interfaces from function calls is to let users focus on the API emitted by a function. This isn’t needed with Go because of implicit interfaces. The public functions of the returned struct become that API.
Always [abstract] things when you actually need them, never when you just foresee that you need them.
Some languages require you to foresee every interface you’ll ever need. A great advantage of implicit interfaces is that they allow graceful abstraction after the fact without requiring you to abstract up front.
Need is in the eye of the beholder
when you actually need them
How do you define when an abstraction is needed? For the return type, this is easy. You’re the one writing the function so you know exactly when you need to abstract the return value.
For function inputs, the need isn’t in your control. You may think your database struct is enough, but a user could have a need to wrap it with something else. It’s difficult, if not impossible, to anticipate the state of everyone using your function. This imbalance between being able to precisely control the output, but be unable to anticipate the user’s input, creates a stronger bias for abstraction on the input than it does on the output.
Remove dead code details
Difficult way to make an egg
Another aspect of simplification is removing unnecessary details. Functions are like cooking recipes: given this input and you get a cake! No recipe lists ingredients it doesn’t need. Similar, functions shouldn’t list inputs they don’t need. What would you think of the following function?
func addNumbers(a int, b int, s string) int {
return a + b
}
It’s obvious to most programmers that parameter s does not belong. What’s less obvious is when the parameters are structures.
type Database struct{ }
func (d *Database) AddUser(s string) {...}
func (d *Database) RemoveUser(s string) {...}
func NewUser(d *Database, firstName string, lastName string) {
d.AddUser(firstName + lastName)
}
Just like a recipe with too many ingredients, NewUser takes a Database object that can do too many things. It only needs AddUser, but takes something that also has RemoveUser. Interfaces allow us to create the function that only depends upon what we need.
type DatabaseWriter interface {
AddUser(string)
}
func NewUser(d DatabaseWriter, firstName string, lastName string) {
d.AddUser(firstName + lastName)
}
Dave Cheney wrote about this point when he described Interface Segregation Principle. He also describes other advantages of limiting input that’s worth reading. The summary goal that drives home the idea is:
the results has simultaneously been a function which is the most specific in terms of its requirements–it only needs a thing that is writable–and the most general in its function
I would just add that in the same way function addNumbers above obviously shouldn’t have parameter s string, function NewUser would ideally not require a database that can also remove users.
Summarize the reasons and examine exceptions
The primary reasons listed are:
Remove unneeded abstractions
Ambiguity of a user’s need on function input
Simplify function inputs
These reasons also allow us to define exceptions to the rule. For example, if your function actually can return multiple types then obviously return an interface. Similarly, if the function is private then there is no ambiguity on function input since you control that, so bias towards not preemptive abstraction. For the third rule, go has no way to abstract out struct members values. So, if your function needs to access struct members (and not just functions on the struct), then you’re forced to accept the struct directly.Spread the love
Washington, D.C. – On Sunday, the latest ABC/Washington Post poll revealed a curious 12-point national polling lead for Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump. We say curious, as the methodology for this poll, and a number of others recent polls from the Washington Post, Reuters, and ABC have included 9-percentage point sampling bias toward registered Democrats.
METHODOLOGY – This ABC News poll was conducted by landline and cellular telephone Oct. 20-22, 2016, in English and Spanish, among a random national sample of 874 likely voters. Results have a margin of sampling error of 3.5 points, including the design effect. Partisan divisions are 36-27-31 percent, Democrats – Republicans – Independents.
What most people fail to realize is that these small sampling details can drastically alter the results of the poll, and ultimately change people’s perceptions of their candidate’s chances of winning – which can, in turn, suppress voter turnout. And while there are slightly more registered Democrats – they DO NOT have a 9-point registration advantage – as reflected in this latest polls sampling bias.
Essentially, these media organizations are using specific demographic sampling details to alter/rig the result of the polling itself.
As the website Zero Hedge so presciently notes:
As a quick example, the ABC / WaPo poll found that Hillary enjoys a 79-point advantage over Trump with black voters. Therefore, even a small “oversample” of black voters of 5% could swing the overall poll by 3 full points. Moreover, the pollsters don’t provide data on the demographic mix of their polls which makes it impossible to “fact check” the bias… convenient.
For those of you who still refuse to believe that polls are being “adjusted” to provide an advantage for a particular candidate, one of the latest Podesta emails, released by WikiLeaks yesterday, lays out in explicit detail, exactly how to “manufacture” the desired results from a given poll.
The email correspondence begins with a request for recommendations on “oversamples for polling” in order to “maximize what we get out of our media polling.”
I also want to get your Atlas folks to recommend oversamples for our polling before we start in February. By market, regions, etc. I want to get this all compiled into one set of recommendations so we can maximize what we get out of our media polling.
Perhaps most damning of all is the inclusion, as an attachment, of a 37-page guide with the following detailed demographic poll-rigging recommendations. For instance, in Arizona, the oversampling of Hispanics and Native Americans populations is highly recommended:
Research, microtargeting & polling projects
– Over-sample Hispanics
– Use Spanish language interviewing. (Monolingual Spanish-speaking voters are among the lowest turnout Democratic targets)
– Over-sample the Native American population
In Florida, the report explains that “consistently monitoring” samples is important to ensure they’re “not too old” and “has enough African American and Hispanic voters.” The report goes on to suggest that national polls over sample “key districts/regions” and “ethnic” groups “as needed.”
– General election benchmark, 800 sample, with potential over samples in key districts/regions
– Benchmark polling in targeted races, with ethnic over samples as needed
– Targeting tracking polls in key races, with ethnic over samples as needed
Many of the Podesta emails give clear insight into why the mainstream media has refused to report on the most damning allegations against Clinton — with this latest revelation simply solidifying the reality that the “consent of the governed” is, in reality, nothing more than manufactured consent by the corporate-elite oligarchy.
And this concludes our lesson on how even polling is rigged in an effort to bolster the oligarchy’s “chosen” candidate, and suppress the will of the American people. Please share this story in an effort to help wake Americans up to the propaganda they are being fed!
Below is the full strategy guide from “The Atlas Project” on “Polling & Media Recommendations.”
2016.10.23 – Atlas by zerohedge on ScribdFans will get a chance to salute five Olympic bronze medal winners at the upcoming Women’s National Team international match in Toronto this Sunday 11 June. The special celebration will honour five players who have all taken their bow from the international game: Rio 2016 star Josée Bélanger and London 2012 heroes Jonelle Filigno, Robyn Gayle, Kaylyn Kyle, and Lauren Sesselmann.
(See player and Head Coach quotes below)
Alongside Bélanger and Kyle who announced their retirement from international football earlier this year, London 2012 bronze medal winners Filigno, Gayle, and Sesselmann have all confirmed their departure from the international game. The trio were all national heroes when Canada brought home their first medal in a Summer Olympic team sport in 76 years.
Filigno of Mississauga, Ontario was a 2010 CONCACAF champion and London 2012 Olympic bronze medalist. In all, she participated in two FIFA Women's World Cups and two Women's Olympic Football Tournaments. She also won a CONCACAF youth title in 2008. She won Canada U-20 Player of the Year honours in both 2008 and 2010.
Gayle of Mississauga, Ontario was a 2010 CONCACAF champion and London 2012 Olympic bronze medalist. She played in three FIFA Women's World Cups and two Women's Olympic Football Tournaments. She won a 2011 Pan American Games gold medal with Canada and a 2002 Jubilee Trophy gold medal with Oakville SC. At the youth level, she won a silver medal with Canada at the FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship Canada 2002.
Gayle has since joined the Women’s National Team as a full-time staff member focusing on effective team culture.
Sesselmann won an bronze medal with Canada at the London 2012 Olympic Games. After making her international debut in 2011, she won a Pan American Games gold medal in 2011 and finished sixth with Canada at the FIFA Women's World Cup Canada 2015.
All three have also played professionally in the National Women's Soccer League as allocated players through Canada Soccer. Filigno played for Sky Blue FC, Gayle for Washington Spirit, and Sesselmann for Houston Dash. The NWSL was established in 2013 in partnership between US Soccer, Canada Soccer, and the Mexican Football Federation.
Canada Soccer Hall of Fame
Canada Soccer will also officially honour Amy Walsh as a member of the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame as part of the Women’s National Team match on 11 June.
Walsh has been inducted as a player as part of the Class of 2017.
A CONCACAF champion in 1998, she played in two FIFA Women’s World Cups and one Women’s Olympic Football Tournament. She made 102 international appearances, including a record 43 consecutive starts from 1998 to 2001. She served as Canada’s captain for more than 25 international matches.
Walsh, who made her international debut 19 years ago in Ottawa, will have her family by her side when she is honoured in the pre-match ceremony. She will then watch the match as part of the #CanadaRED home crowd that will be fully behind Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team.
The Women’s International Friendly match in Toronto is part of a three-match Summer of Soccer Series in Canada which includes back-to-back matches against Costa Rica (Winnipeg and Toronto) and a Men’s International Friendly match against Curaçao (Montréal). Tickets to the match in Toronto is available via canadasoccer.com/tickets.
Quotes
Jonelle Filigno-Hopkins
"I just want to thank every individual - husband, family, friends, teammates, coaches - that supported and allowed me to live out my dream and represent my country for nine incredible years. Canada Soccer has taught me some of the most invaluable life lessons and intangible skills that I have transitioned from the pitch to now corporate world. Canada soccer has played a huge role in the person I am today. I will cherish all of the incredible moments, memories, and amazing relationships I have built along the way.”
“Jonelle really found a level that not many athletes reach when she hit the Olympic Games in 2012. Her competitive spirit is one thing that always stands out to me. She would battle and fight for every single ball, and when she got into the box she just knew where that goal was. She was always quiet around the team, and respectful, but on the field she was an absolute battler. When I think back on Jonelle, I recall her composure in the box, but what stands out the most is her fighting spirit.”
-Canada Soccer Women’s National Team Head Coach John Herdman
Lauren Sesselmann
"Ever since I was a little girl I dreamed of playing on the international stage. Day in and day out I worked to make that dream come true. Representing Canada is the most surreal and incredible thing that has ever happened to me. Every moment I got to take the field with my teammates, got to put on that symbolic and beautiful red and white jersey, and got to hear the crowd cheering for us were the absolute best moments of my life. I am incredibly proud of my career and I can't thank Coach Herdman, the staff and my "sisters" for giving me this honor and making memories of a lifetime. It's never easy to retire from something you love so much, but I take with me so much and I look forward to continuing to cheer on the next generation, who I am so proud of. Thank you to my family, friends and to all the BEST FANS IN THE WORLD - your support over these years are my everything and nothing would be possible without you. I love this beautiful game and I look forward to continuing to inspire you all in every way possible."
“Lauren joined the family late in 2011, right before the 2012 Olympic games. She started out as a centre forward, converted to a left-back and finally played in centre back where she was instrumental in winning a Gold Medal at the Pan American Games and helped lead us to a London 2012 bronze medal. Lauren played out of her skin during the London Olympics, against some of the best strikers in the world, and formed a wonderful partnership with Carmelina Moscato. With Lauren, I’ll always remember those big tackles, those last-ditch tackles where everything was left on the line.”
-Canada Soccer Women’s National Team Head Coach John Herdman
Robyn Gayle
"I must express my utmost gratitude to every and any one who has played a part in my soccer journey. Reflecting on my career, I’m amazed to realize the amount of people who have influenced and supported me along the way. I wish this part of the journey never had to end, but I know the connections and memories I’ve made through this beautiful game, are for life. Thank you to my family, friends, coaches, support teams and teammates (#V’s) for making every moment of this adventure an incredible one & Thank you to Canada Soccer and our amazing fans for continuing to support our program-we have some amazing things to come! Playing the game I love, with people I love, for the country I love, has been the greatest privilege and blessing… for this, I am eternally grateful. Thank you."
“Robyn was an integral player on the London 2012 and Pan-American Games teams, but she was also the soul of the team. She is an unbelievable teammate whose values and principles are absolutely “true north”, and who always leads by example. She carried a lot of injuries in the time I’ve worked with her, and I don’t think I had the best Robyn Gayle because of the amount of injuries she was dealing with, but within any of the situations of adversity, whether with injuries or selection, she was always able to show other people how to behave, how to be selfless and give yourself to the team. Without Robyn, we wouldn’t have medaled in London, because she could bring this team together. And in 2016 she did the same. We brought her onto the staff because I can talk the talk, but Robyn can walk it every single day. When players see that - when she speaks – its very powerful.”
-Canada Soccer Women’s National Team Head Coach John Herdman
Amy Walsh, Canada Soccer Hall of Fame honoured member
"I think it is a really big thing mentally for an athlete to play at home in front of a crowd that is rooting for you, just to hear that roar that they are there for you no matter what. It is a massive thing for an athlete to play at home and really feel that unconditional support whether from family or a great fan base."Petro Poroshenko, the Ukrainian president, has said he will seek to form a coalition government within ten days after elections on Sunday returned an overwhelmingly pro-Western parliament that is likely to back the president’s attempts to negotiate an end to he violence in the east of the country.
Russia cautiously welcomed the result on Monday, saying the outcome could help the shaky peace process in the east of Ukraine but warning against the influence of “nationalists.”
With vote counting continuing on on Monday morning, six parties look set to take seats in the Ukrainian parliament.
With 40 percent of votes counted, the Poroshenko Bloc, the president’s party, and the People’s Front, led by prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, were each on 21 percent.
Self Reliance, a new Christian democratic party led by the Mayor of Lviv, was in third place with 11 percent.
Others making it into parliament include the Opposition Bloc, a pro-Russian party formed by members of former president Viktor Yanukovych’s Party of the regions, the Radical Party of maverick nationalist Oleh Lyashko, and former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s Fatherland party.
Svoboda, a far-right nationalist party that was prominent during the Maidan street protests last winter, may have lost its presence in parliament, with the current count putting it just short of the five percent threshold needed to enter parliament.
Half of the 450 seats in Ukraine’s parliament are allotted by proportional representation under a party list system. A further 198 will be taken by candidates from single-member constituencies under first-past-the post.
Turnout was 51 percent nationwide, the national election committee said.
The sweeping victory for pro Western parties partly reflects a shift in public sentiment in the wake of February’s revolution and subsequent Russian intervention.
But it is also a result of some of the country’s most pro-Russian regions being removed from the electorate.
About five million people in Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in April, and separatist-held areas of eastern Ukraine were unable to vote, and the 27 seats representing constituencies in those areas will remain empty.
Both areas traditionally backed the Party of the Regions, Mr Yanukovych’s pro-Russian party which held the balance of power in the Rada.
The election has been overshadowed by a worsening economic situation and continued fighting in the east of the country, where shelling has continued daily despite a nominal ceasefire.
"Parties supporting a peaceful resolution of the internal Ukrainian crisis won a majority. This gives them a new chance to return to the agreements made, first and foremost, in Minsk," Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said in Moscow.
But he added that the presence of “openly nationalistic and chauvinistic forces” in the parliament raised the threat of further calls for the use of force.
This appeared to be a reference to Mr Lyashko’s Radical Party and several members elected from from first-past-the-post constituencies.
Members from single-party constituencies include Dmytro Yarosh, the head of the nationalist group Right Sector. His group which rose to prominence during street fighting in Kiev last winter, ran as a party but failed to cross the five percent threshold to win seats from its party list.
Fighting continued in the east of the country on Monday, with heavy shelling reported in the outskirts of the rebel stronghold of Donetsk.
"Powerful firing has been heard from high-calibre guns and explosions," the Donetsk mayor's website said.
Shelling and rocket fire was also reported near the Ukrainian-held port of Mariupol.If you happened to miss former Vice President Dick Cheney’s speech on the Iran nuclear agreement (see above) at the American Enterprise Institute this Tuesday, don’t fret. If you’ve seen one Cheney speech on foreign policy or national security, chances are that you’ve seen them all.
Like his previous statements on Saddam Hussein’s supposed weapons of mass destruction in 2002 and 2003 (WMD’s, according to Cheney, that were going to wipe out millions of Americans if the United States didn’t go through with an all-out invasion), the Vice President’s remarks against the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action thirteen years later were nearly identical in tone. Rather than straight-up facts, Cheney relied on a combination of fear, inaccuracies, distortions, and faulty assumptions about what the JCPOA says and what it attempts to achieve.
“This deal,” Cheney said, “gives Tehran the means to launch a nuclear attack on the U.S. homeland.” This assertion was one of the more ridiculous statements that the Vice President used to drill home the point he was trying to make during his entire speech: President Obama is dangerously naïve and is basically selling the Iranians the world’s deadliest weapon.
Americans deserve all of the information on the JCPOA, not spin or hyperbole that conjures up flashbacks to the fall of 2002 or the spring of 2003 when the Bush White House was preparing the American public for a conflict that was labeled unavoidable. That information did not come out of Vice President Cheney’s mouth. Instead, what viewers got was the same old swan song with the same old themes that are so familiar that is doesn’t bear repeating: Obama is the 21st Century version of Neville Chamberlain; the next President of the United States needs to clean up the mess that Obama left behind; the Iranians are primed to wipe Israel off the map; and history will eventually deem the Iranian nuclear agreement one of the most feckless and idiotic diplomatic settlements that the world has ever seen.
Here are the facts:
Cheney: “Along with a pathway to a nuclear arsenal, President Obama’s agreement will provide Iran with funds and weapons the regime will use for the support of terror, the dominance of the Middle East, and the furtherance of Tehran’s efforts to destroy Israel, threaten Arab regimes, and prevent the United States from defending our allies and our interests in the Persian Gulf and beyond.”
The Facts : Whether we like it or not, Iran was always going to receive economic sanctions relief from any agreement that the United States and its allies negotiated. The reason that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei permitted his negotiators to sit at the same table with the United States in the first place was because he understood that reaching a viable way forward would allow his government to get access to the tens of billions of dollars that are currently held up in foreign escrow accounts. If Tehran was not guaranteed the lifting of sanctions, there was simply no reason for Khamenei, President Hassan Rouhani, and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to engage in the diplomatic track.
Cheney: “ We are asked to rely on the word of a country that has cheated on every nuclear agreement to which they have been a party that once they have the means in place to become a nuclear power, they won’t do it.”
The facts: With remarks like these, one wonders whether Vice President Cheney even bothered to sit down at his home in Wyoming and read the agreement. Without sounding like a broken record, nothing in the Iranian nuclear accord is based on trusting the regime; it is based on a strict, multi-layered verification system that compels the Iranians to provide the IAEA with access to any site that the agency requests. And, if the Iranians refuse, the U.S., Germany, France |
victory at Memphis. Led by Draymond Green and a triple-double performance for the ages that couldn't have illustrated his Defensive Player of the Year worthiness much better, Golden State quietly set an NBA record for the most wins -- 237 -- in a span of 300 regular-season games. The previous league high was 236, established by the Showtime Lakers (1984-88) and tied a decade later by Michael Jordan's Bulls. The 123-92 rout of the Bulls two nights earlier marked the Warriors' eighth victory by at least 30 points this season, which is the NBA's highest total for any team since the 1987-88 Celtics rung up eight of their own. The only other team in history to record eight such blowouts before the All-Star break was the 1971-72 Bucks, who were led by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson and lost in the Western Conference finals to the 69-win Lakers. (No joke: Milwaukee really was a Western Conference resident in those days).
2. Cleveland Cavaliers
2016-17 record: 37-16
Previous ranking: 3
On one hand, we probably shouldn't make too much of this because A) Cleveland won't see any back-to-backs in the playoffs, and B) Kevin Love is suddenly dealing with knee trouble (if you're really looking for something Cavs-related to fret about). On the other hand... Cleveland's loss Thursday night at Oklahoma City dropped the reigning champs to 0-7 on the second night of a back-to-back on the road this season. Given how talented they are, that stat has to be at least somewhat troubling. Especially so when that defeat left the Cavs as one of only four winless teams league-wide in that situation along with Brooklyn, Indiana and Dallas (all of whom are also 0-7). Interesting bit of trivia on the side: Derrick Williams' arrival on a 10-day deal means the Cavs now have three of the top four picks (No. 1 Kyrie Irving, No. 2 Williams and No. 4 Tristan Thompson) from the draft that followed LeBron James' first full season in Miami.
3. San Antonio Spurs
2016-17 record: 41-13
Previous ranking: 2
We wrote it a few years ago in our Spurs e-book in advance of the 2014 NBA Finals. And Gregg Popovich confirmed it earlier this month when he set a new league record for the most regular-season coaching victories (1,128) with one franchise. It is the idea that the Spurs, in the early days of the Pop era, looked upon the Stockton/Malone/Sloan Jazz as their role models. So you have to believe that the Spurs -- even though they're only off to a humble 2-2 start on their annual Rodeo Road Trip -- are proud of this one, too: Friday night's victory over Detroit assured San Antonio of its 20th consecutive.500 or-better season. Which is one shy of the league-record 21 consecutive such seasons established by (who else?) Team Blueprint in The SLC from 1983-84 through 2003-04.
4. Houston Rockets
2016-17 record: 40-17
Previous ranking: 6
James Harden is up to nine 40-point games this season after Saturday night's dismantling of the Suns, tying him for the league lead with Russell Westbrook. Harden also comfortably remains on course to record the first double-digit assists per game season in Rockets history, easily trumping the 9.4 APG recorded by John Lucas in 1977-78. The consolation for Luke: At least he has a wonderful seat to see Harden at work in his first season back with the team as director of basketball operations. The Rockets, meanwhile, are quietly 7-1 this season on the second night of a back-to-back on the road, second in the league only to San Antonio's 8-0 mark.
5. Washington Wizards
2016-17 record: 32-21
Previous ranking: 4
You surely know by now that John Wall is one of just three players in the whole NBA averaging more than 20 PPG and 10 APG this season, alongside Harden and Westbrook. You're likely just as aware that Bradley Beal, Otto Porter Jr. and even Markieff Morris are playing as well as we've ever seen offensively. But did you know that the much-maligned Washington bench, through Friday's win over Indy, ranks eighth in the league in net rating over the past 20 games? It's probably no coincidence that the Wiz are 16-4 in that stretch, which easily could have been 17-3 if they had closed with more conviction in last Monday's epic showdown with LeBron James and his Cavs.
6. Boston Celtics
2016-17 record: 35-19
Previous ranking: 5
Must have been quite a moment for Isaiah Thomas to get that text from Tom Brady suggesting that it's Thomas' turn "next" to taste a championship. The reality, though, is that the law of averages has to be against the Celtics when you consider all the winning that has been happening in Boston in the new millennium. The Patriots' Super Bowl comeback accounted for the 10th championship -- TENTH! -- snagged by Boston-area franchises in North America's recognized Big Four major sports leagues since 2001. Thomas, though, just keeps doing his thing. The Celts' little big man is averaging a league-best 10.7 points per game in fourth quarters this season; Kobe Bryant's 9.5 PPG in fourth quarters in the 2005-06 season was the previous NBA high over the past 20 seasons.
7. Memphis Grizzlies
2016-17 record: 33-23
Previous ranking: 9
The Grizzlies still hold the top mark this season in terms of biggest comeback with that unforgettable rally from 24 points down on the Warriors' floor on Jan. 6. Dallas has to settle for the season's second-biggest comeback in the second half, thanks to its rally from three touchdowns down in the third quarter against visiting Utah. The Grizz can also still claim a 2-1 mark in the season series with mighty Golden State despite the blowout inflicted Friday night on Memphis' floor by our top-ranked team. You have to believe Toney Douglas, meanwhile, has earned a rest-of-the-season deal in Memphis, judging by the Grizzlies' 10-2 record when Douglas gets on the court.
8. Utah Jazz
2016-17 record: 34-21
Previous ranking: 8
Gordon Hayward certainly hasn't slowed down since earning his maiden All-Star nod; Hayward has cracked the 30-point plateau in four of his past five games and remain on course to record the highest scoring average by anyone in Jazz colors since Karl Malone's 23.2 PPG in 2000-01. Utah's week, however, ended with a double thud after it hiked its record to 15 games over.500, thanks to blowing that 21-point lead in Dallas and a home loss Saturday night to Boston, suffered despite George Hill's 22 points. The Jazz are now 12-1 when Hill scores at least 20 points... as well as 19-5 when both Hill and Hayward are in the lineup. Without Hill? The Jazz are 12-13.
9. Atlanta Hawks
2016-17 record: 31-23
Previous ranking: 7
Just days before the Super Bowl, Atlantans were celebrating the Hawks' rally from 20 points down with 8:25 to go in Houston to stun the Rockets, which marked the NBA's first comeback from 20 points down in the fourth quarter since Indiana turned the tables on Cleveland in April 2013. NBA teams had lost (you can look it up) 1,306 consecutive times in that situation before the Hawks' epic resurrection. Since then, though, Atlantans have to be wondering if any lead is safe. On top of the Falcons' Super Bowl collapse, they were also just forced to endure the Hawks' failure to hold onto a 22-point edge in Sacramento on Friday night.
10. Miami Heat
2016-17 record: 24-31
Previous ranking: 13
The most improbable 13-game winning streak in the history of the NBA is over. Just three of Miami's 13 victims -- Houston, Golden State and Atlanta -- were.500-or-better teams. The streak also included a 10-game stretch that, according to ESPN's Basketball Power Index, will rank as the second-easiest span of 10 games for any team all season long. How much do you downgrade Miami's achievements based on those realities? Not much here. We want to go the other way and hat-tip these guys because all the February drama we've seen league-wide (Melo vs. Phil, Oak vs. Dolan, KD vs. OKC) kept the Heat's crazy win streak more under the radar than it should have been... no matter who they were beating.
11. Indiana Pacers
2016-17 record: 29-25
Previous ranking: 10
After all the buildup leading into Friday's trip to the nation's capital, Indiana endured a deflating reality check that spoiled the whole weekend, losing narrowly to the Wiz before returning home on tired legs and absorbing a 16-point pounding from struggling Milwaukee. The Pacers entered that showdown with Washington at 13-5 since Jan. 1, good for the league's fourth-best record in 2017 to that point. Yet they also had played the league's easiest schedule to that point, according to ESPN's Basketball Power Index, with Indy not-so-coincidentally now just two games into a 10-game stretch that serves up eight teams with.500-or-better records. The two games against sub-.500 opposition in that stretch, in case you're wondering, are Saturday's date with the Bucks that Indy just lost... and a Feb. 25 visit to the increasingly inhospitable Heat.
12. Toronto Raptors
2016-17 record: 32-23
Previous ranking: 11
The Raptors were ranked No. 1 in the league in offensive efficiency, even ahead of the mighty Warriors, through Jan. 17. But they've been a bottom-10 team in the month since (No. 23 to be exact) and have dropped 10 of 14 to grease their slide to No. 4 in the East. (Amazingly, though, Toronto is actually favored by ESPN's Basketball Index in all but two of its remaining 27 games this season.) We touched on this last week and nothing has changed in the interim: DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry are bound for New Orleans and a (presumably) fun dose of distraction at All-Star Weekend festivities, but the prime curiosity emanating from north of the border is what Toronto plans to do in the 10 days before the trade buzzer sounds. Do the Raps make a move for Serge Ibaka? For Danilo Gallinari? Someone else?
13. LA Clippers
2016-17 record: 33-21
Previous ranking: 14
The Clippers start the last week before the All-Star break in Salt Lake City in what, at the present, would represent a first-round playoff preview with Utah at No. 4 and L.A. at No. 5 in the West. (The Jazz, incidentally, are only 3-8 against the Warriors, Spurs, Rockets, Clippers and Grizzlies... so it's also a biggie for them.) Pay particular attention to the fourth quarter, because the Clips are 0-13 on the road this season in games in which they trailed at any point in the final period. (Brooklyn, at 0-23, is the league's only other winless team in those situations.) Blake Griffin, meanwhile, is starting to work himself into a nice groove as he awaits Chris Paul's return, averaging better than 25 PPG over his last seven games.
14. Oklahoma City Thunder
2016-17 record: 31-24
Previous ranking: 12
The Thunder have now lost their three encounters with Golden State this season by 26, 21 and 16 points and have sunk to 1-6 against the West's top three teams. So who even wants to see them slip to the West's No. 8 seed and open the playoffs against Kevin Durant and his new team? Yes, folks, we're being facetious. Of course we'd love to see Angry Russ and KD square off in the first round (or any round) after the considerable animus that bubbled up when the teams tangled Saturday night at The Peake. Such was the hype for Durant's return that we didn't hear a single word about OKC's stirring win over LeBron James & Co. from a mere two nights earlier during the Committee's whole weekend visit. Power Rankings Law also compels us to point out that Westbrook, after 11 turnovers in the 130-114 defeat, is up to five games this season with at least 10 turnovers. That's the most by any player in a single season since the league started tracking turnovers in 1977-78.
15. Denver Nuggets
2016-17 record: 24-30
Previous ranking: 16
The Nuggets celebrated the Nikola Jokic Show at Madison Square Garden -- The Joker scored 40 points on (yikes) 17-for-23 shooting -- by making their second trade of the season. To add to the completely salary-cap-floor-related acquisition of Mo Williams, Denver will Monday complete a far splashier swap that sends Jusuf Nurkic to Portland (along with a first-round pick) in exchange for Mason Plumlee. How many more deals will we see from the Nuggets over the final 10 days of Trade Season until June? Our over/under is a solid one... with Gallinari generating much of the buzz as we speak.
16. Dallas Mavericks
2016-17 record: 22-32
Previous ranking: 17
The latest reminder of how fast things can change in this crazy world: Mavs fans are suddenly asking themselves what happens to key cog Yogi Ferrell when J.J. Barea makes his expected return after the All-Star break, instead of wondering how on Earth they'll cope without Barea and the in-and-out Deron Williams. The Mavs are up to 11-5 since moving Seth Curry into the starting lineup and had the pleasure in the past week of A) watching Harrison Barnes advance his Most Improved Player campaign by leading the Mavs' comeback from a 21-point deficit against rugged Utah, and B) watching 38-year-old Dirk Nowitzki post his first back-to-back scoring games in the 20s this season.
17. Portland Trail Blazers
2016-17 record: 23-31
Previous ranking: 15
The Blazers will certainly have to fight through the short-term emotional hit that comes with bidding adieu to poor Plumlee -- literally robbed the same day he was traded? -- but how could they have dared to say no to Denver's offer? The chance to increase their haul of 2017 first-round picks to three and test drive a talent (albeit an enigmatic one) like Nurkic made it impossible not to part with Plumlee, who was going to be expensive for the Blazers in restricted free agency this summer. Maybe this fun bit of history will help those win-now Blazermaniacs get over the fact that their team just made a trade for tomorrow: Miami's double-digit win streak was only the second in NBA history assembled by a team without a single All-Star on the roster. The first, of course, was fashioned by Brandon Roy-led Blazers in 2007-08. (Roy, however, did make the All-NBA team that season to make up some for his All-Star snub.) Don't forget, furthermore, that it's also possible Portland makes another trade in the next 10 days because of all those picks at its disposal.
18. Detroit Pistons
2016-17 record: 26-29
Previous ranking: 19
The Pistons' rally from 16 points down entering the fourth quarter Sunday night at Toronto represents their largest such comeback in a regulation game since the team moved to Detroit in 1957-58. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was 1-for-11 from 3-point range before draining the game-winning corner 3 with 13.2 seconds to go; call it a nice early present for KCP in advance of his 24th birthday this coming weekend. Also notable from Detroit's successful rally: With Reggie Jackson averaging just 8.8 PPG and 5.5 APG over his past eight games while shooting 32 percent from the floor, Ish Smith logged 31 minutes against the Raptors... compared to Jackson's 17.
19. Sacramento Kings
2016-17 record: 23-32
Previous ranking: 24
The Kings were trailing by 11 points Sunday night at home when New Orleans' Buddy Hield was ejected for his groin strike on DeMarcus Cousins. The hosts outscored the Pels 66-49 thereafter to quietly secure their third successive win amid the understandable panic spawned by Cousins reaching suspension territory -- 16 technical fouls -- before Valentine's Day. The playoff-starved Kings have to be on edge knowing that Cousins will be suspended for every other technical he accrues over the season's final 27 regular-season games. Especially when Boogie happens to be one of only three players league-wide averaging at least 20 PPG, 10 PPG and 5 APG since Jan. 1, alongside Westbrook and Jokic. Click here, meanwhile, from some long-awaited goodness from Willie Cauley-Stein as chronicled by our own Zach Lowe.
20. Philadelphia 76ers
2016-17 record: 20-34
Previous ranking: 20
We should be lasered in on the Jahlil Okafor trade saga. Or the Sixers' big win Saturday night over Miami to bring the Heat's thoroughly unforeseen 13-game unbeaten run to a halt. But you know us. It's always going to be tough for us to get through one of these comments without dissecting the Joel Embiid latest. And it comes from our pal Adam Reisinger, who reminds us that the fewest games total ever registered by a Rookie of the Year is Patrick Ewing's 50 games in 1985-86. Embiid, who's ailing anew, has played 31 games to date. The Sixers have 26 games left on their schedule after the All-Star break, but realistically only 21 of those will be available to Embiid when you factor in Philly's five remaining back-to-backs. Gonna be close!
21. Minnesota Timberwolves
2016-17 record: 21-34
Previous ranking: 21
Sunday got sobering for the Wolves real quick when the team announced details of Zach LaVine's impending knee surgery not long after Minnesota's resounding afternoon rout of Chicago. Something tells us Wolves fans will have little interest in hearing that the advanced metrics say Minnesota has actually been better this season when LaVine is off the floor. (The Wolves outscore the opposition by 3.7 points per 100 possessions without LaVine and are outscored by 3.5 points per 100 possessions when LaVine plays.) Andrew Wiggins, meanwhile, will be bidding Tuesday night for his first win against the team that drafted him; Cleveland takes a 5-0 record against Wiggins into 'Sota despite the 21-year-old's 27.6 PPG when facing the Cavs.
22. Milwaukee Bucks
2016-17 record: 23-30
Previous ranking: 23
At the time of his latest ACL heartbreak, Jabari Parker was sporting the fourth-highest points-per-game increase in the league this season among forwards. Thanks to the hike in his average from 14.1 PPG to 20.1 PPG, Parker trails only Dallas' Harrison Barnes (plus-8.4 PPG), Miami's James Johnson (plus-7.3 PPG) and teammate Giannis Antetokounmpo (plus-6.6 PPG) in that category. But for the Jabari setback to occur on the same night Milwaukee welcomed back Khris Middleton, it means that the Bucks' three top players will have appeared in the same game just once in 82 chances in 2016-17. Depressing stuff any way you analyze it. (Ditto for the fact that the Bucks have allowed at least 100 points in 20 games in a row, sticking them with the league's second-longest such streak this season behind a 24-gamer endured by the Nets.)
23. Charlotte Hornets
2016-17 record: 24-30
Previous ranking: 22
According to the Real Plus/Minus defensive metrics ESPN maintains, Cody Zeller had been one of the league's 20 most impactful defenders for much of the season until sliding to his current rank of No. 31. No wonder, then, that Charlotte is 2-10 in games Zeller has missed in 2017. There's still time, of course, for the Hornets to right themselves and move back into playoff position, but the reality is that they sport the worst plus/minus at minus-4 -- calculated by subtracting home losses from road wins -- among the five teams realistically chasing the East's final two playoff spots (Milwaukee also is at minus-4). We'll have to see how Charlotte's recent struggles impact owner Michael Jordan's birthday celebrations; His Airness turns 54 on Friday.
24. New York Knicks
2016-17 record: 23-33
Previous ranking: 25
The Knicks needed a win Sunday over now 41-13 San Antonio to avoid the first winless five-game homestand in franchise history. And here's the crazy part amid the various ongoing Melodramas and James Dolan's unwinnable feud with Charles Oakley: The Knicks got it despite the fact that, according to this crazy stat dug out by the Elias Sports Bureau, New York had gone 0-17 over the previous 50 (yes, fifty) years in games before the All-Star break against teams that entered the fray more than 25 games over.500. One win -- even over San Antonio -- won't be enough to lift the "cloud" over this team, as Carmelo Anthony calls it. Yet we still find ourselves marveling as Elias' resourcefulness... even after all these years.
25. Chicago Bulls
2016-17 record: 26-29
Previous ranking: 18
The increasingly injury-riddled Bulls sputtered to the end of a 2-4 road trip with three consecutive losses by at least 18 points... and a rout inflicted by Minnesota that gave Tom Thibodeau an undoubtedly satisfying season sweep of his first two games coaching against the Bulls. Chicago is one of just three teams this season with multiple trips on its schedule spanning six games or more, along with Sacramento and Phoenix, but can count on plenty more bumps ahead -- home or road -- if Jimmy Butler (heel) and Dwyane Wade (wrist) don't heal quickly. As his All-Star starting assignment draws near, Butler has missed four of the Bulls' past five games.
26. New Orleans Pelicans
2016-17 record: 21-34
Previous ranking: 26
The best week of New Orleans' season starts now with another round of All-Star festivities coming to town (coinciding with Mardi Gras, even) for the second time in a span of four years. Yet the unavoidable follow-up question, of course, is what happens after everyone leaves town? Even after Anthony Davis (42 points and 13 boards) outdueled Karl-Anthony Towns (36 points) for a helpful road win Friday night at Minnesota, New Orleans is still struggling to muster significant momentum in the five-team chase for the West's final playoff spot. Could a trade for Okafor really serve as the spark?
27. Los Angeles Lakers
2016-17 record: 19-37
Previous ranking: 29
All eyes in Lakerland, honestly, are on the boardroom in the wake of Magic Johnson's revelation that, yes, "working to call the shots" is his aim in this new role as Lakers adviser to lead owner Jeanie Buss. So you're forgiven if you missed the notable on-court developments of the past week, which actually were pretty notable. The (long overdue) removal of high-priced offseason acquisitions Luol Deng and Timofey Mozgov from the starting lineup was inevitably received as unspoken buyers' remorse from the Lakers for both signings, which surely only heaps more pressure on Mitch Kupchak and Jim Buss. Friday night's 47-point first quarter at Milwaukee, meanwhile, hearkened back to some happy history for a change. It was the Lakers' most prolific first quarter in more than 30 years, right in the heart of Magic's heyday back in 1987.
28. Phoenix Suns
2016-17 record: 17-38
Previous ranking: 27
Only five starting backcourts in the NBA house a pair of 20 PPG scorers. Along with Golden State, Portland, Toronto and Washington, Phoenix can make that claim with both Eric Bledsoe and Devin Booker over the 20 PPG threshold. It's the first time that the Suns, believe it or not, have featured a pair of 20 PPG scorers since Stephon Marbury (22.3 PPG) and Shawn Marion (21.2 PPG) way back in 2002-03, two full seasons before Steve Nash returned to the desert to transform Phoenix into the high-octane squad that ushered in the pace-and-space revolution so prevalent throughout the league today. Phoenix's problem, of course, is that it has little else to trumpet for all its attempts to reload in the wake of Nash's departure in the summer of 2012. Won't be long now before a seventh successive season out of the playoffs is mathematically clinched.
29. Orlando Magic
2016-17 record: 20-36
Previous ranking: 28
It's not often that we have the opportunity to throw the Magic into the same Committee sentence as San Antonio, so permit us this rare indulgence when we make a (ridiculously) bigger deal than we probably should of the fact that the Magic are right there with San Antonio on the short list of teams sporting a better record on the road than they have at home. In real life, of course, this is nothing for Orlando to celebrate, given its status as a team well under.500 wherever it plays; 9-17 in Orlando and 11-19 on its travels. With Magic down to the 14th in the East, it's probably wisest to focus on what they might do deal-wise, amid increasing evidence that Serge Ibaka will be moved before the Feb. 23 trade deadline.
30. Brooklyn Nets
2016-17 record: 9-45
Previous ranking: 30
Perhaps no one is benefiting more from the unexpected, uh, relevance that we're getting from the Knicks in February than the Nets, who find themselves in a 1-23 funk that the Gotham tabloids don't have the time or space to recognize. Brooklyn's 12 consecutive defeats account for the franchise's longest skid since that unforgettable 18-gamer to start the 2009-10 season. The Nets, though, sure know how to inch closer to the Committee's good side. Love their move to honor 1984 Nets draftee Oscar Schmidt in a ceremony Monday night to pay homage to one of the greatest players we sadly never saw in the world's finest league.A jilted ex-boyfriend is behind at least eight of the threats made against Jewish Community Centers nationwide, plus a bomb threat to New York's Anti-Defamation League, in an effort to harass and vilify his former girlfriend, federal officials said Friday.Juan Thompson, 31, was arrested in St. Louis and will appear in federal court in Missouri on Friday afternoon on a charge of cyberstalking, authorities said.Investigators are working to determine the suspect's role in recent other threats against Jewish organizations across the country since January. The complaint uses the term "JCC threats" to also include wider incidents involving Jewish schools and institutions.Thompson is accused in what federal prosecutors called a "campaign to harass and intimidate." He's charged in New York with cyberstalking a woman by communicating threats to JCCs in the woman's name. Prosecutors said Thompson "appears to have made at least eight of the JCC threats as part of a sustained campaign to harass and intimidate" the woman after their romantic relationship ended.According to a federal complaint, Thompson dated the woman until last summer, when they broke up. The following day, her boss received an email purporting to be from a national news organization saying that she'd been pulled over for drunken driving.The harassment got worse from there, federal officials said. The Anti-Defamation League received an email on Feb. 21 that said she was behind the bomb threats to JCCs and there'd be more the next day. On Feb. 22, it received a phoned-in bomb threat He also claimed she was responsible for placing a bomb in a Jewish center in Dallas, and he emailed a JCC in San Diego saying she wanted to "kill as many Jews asap."Feb. 21 - ADL email threatFeb. 22 - ADL phone threatFeb. 21 - Council of American Islamic Relations emails threat, "bomb in the jewish center in dallas"Feb. 20 - JCC in San Diego, email threatJan. 28 - Jewish History Museum in Manhattan, received bomb threatFeb. 1 - Jewish school in Farmington Hills, Mich., received a bomb threatFeb. 1 - Jewish school in Manhattan, two separate bomb threats of "a Jewish newtown"Feb. 7 - JCC in Manhattan, received a bomb threatThompson is also a former journalist who was fired from the Intercept last year after he was accused of fabricating several quotes and creating fake email accounts to impersonate people, one of whom was the Intercept's editor-in-chief, Betsy Reed. One of the stories involved Dylann Roof, the Charleston, South Carolina, church shooter.The ADL said Friday that Thompson had been on its radar ever since he fabricated the story about Roof.Federal officials have been investigating 122 bomb threats called into nearly 100 JCC schools, child care and other similar facilities in three dozen states. Two law enforcement officials told ABC News that Thompson is not believed to be the main suspect behind the scores of recent bomb threats.The arrest comes as the FBI was growing increasingly worried about such incidents. Agents feared the volume could be lulling people and lead people to start ignoring the threats and stop evacuating facilities.The NYPD also was worried that evacuations were creating large groups outside that could become targets for shooting or ramming."The defendant caused havoc, expending hundreds of hours of police and law enforcement resources to respond and investigate these threats. We will continue to pursue those who peddle fear, making false claims about serious crimes," said New York City Police Commissioner James O'Neill. "I'm grateful for the collaboration between the NYPD detectives, FBI agents, and prosecutors whose cross-country investigation led to this morning's arrest."The world may still have gold and myrrh, but it's quite possible that frankincense could become a thing of the past, given ecological pressures on the arid lands where it grows in Ethiopia.
The storied resin, known to millions as one of the three gifts of the Magi, the wise men who visited Jesus after his birth, is made from gum produced by the boswellia papyrifera tree. Its "bitter perfume" is used as incense in religious rituals in many cultures, as well as an ingredient in perfume and Chinese traditional medicine.
Dutch and Ethiopian researchers studying populations of the scraggly, scrub-like trees in northern Ethiopia found that as many as 7% of the trees are dying each year, and seedlings are not surviving into saplings.
Their paper in today's edition of the Journal of Applied Ecology finds that the Ethiopian trees that produce much of the world's frankincense are declining so dramatically that production could be halved over the next 15 years and the trees themselves could decline by 90% in the next 50 years
Frankincense has been harvested in the wild in the Middle East and the Horn of Africa since ancient times.
The frankincense carried by the three wise men probably came from that area but those trees are mostly gone, says Frans Bongers, a professor of tropical forest ecology and management at the University of Wageningen in Holland.
"There's still some in Somalia, but no one knows how much. The main production area in the world right now is Ethiopia," says Bongers, who has studied the trees for the past six years.
Specialists have long said frankincense trees aren't doing well, but the paper is the first hard data on them, and the outlook is not good.
Frankincense is harvested by making cuts in the tree bark during the dry season. A cut is made every two or three weeks, and the resin that emerges to heal it is collected.
How much frankincense is produced worldwide isn't clearly known. Bongers says Europe imports about 400 tons each year, and about half of that goes on to China for use in traditional medicine while the rest goes to churches and perfume makers.
Most of that comes from Ethiopia. A long-term government push to relocate people from the highlands to the lowlands, where the trees grow, is putting tremendous pressure on the ecosystem.
Additionally, a shift in harvesting from large, government-controlled companies to private collectives has increased the pressure to collect larger amounts of resin. The old contracts were for up to 40 years, Bongers says, which gave incentive to preserve the resource. The new contracts can be as short as two years, "so they get what they can get," he says.
Heavy tapping appears to weaken the trees, making them more prone to attacks by longhorn beetles. Up to 85% of fully grown trees that die are heavily infested with beetles, the researchers found.
No new trees are replacing them. The highlanders brought cattle, and seedlings don't survive to become saplings because cattle eat them and collectors burn the grasslands to make it easier to get to the trees, killing saplings as well, Bongers says.
An Arizona man is in a small way trying to stem this tide. Jason Eslamieh, originally from Iran, grows and sells all 19 boswellia species, including a frankincense-producing type, at his nursery in Tempe.
Seeds from the sacra subspecies, which also makes frankincense, are notoriously difficult to germinate. Two to eight out of a hundred grow into a plant, says Eslamieh, who authored a book on the topic. He says they must have undergone a population bottleneck due to over-harvesting in the past, leaving them inbred and weak. He's trying to create hybrids that are more vigorous.
His nursery, Miniatree.com, sells more than 100,000 seeds a year as well as 1,000 sacra plants. A 4-inch seedling costs $55, and fully mature trees can sell for up to $1,000.
The trees grow readily in Southern California, Florida and parts of Arizona.
Once the trees are about 4 years old, they can be tapped for frankincense. "A small tree is enough for personal use," he says.
It's possible that climate change is affecting the trees. Bongers has a research project underway and hopes to have an answer within two years.Image copyright Hyatt Image caption Hyatt hotels operate in 52 countries
Hotel group Hyatt is warning visitors of a security breach in its customer payment system.
The company said it had found malware on the payment processing computers for the hotels it managed.
Hyatt's global president of operations Chuck Floyd said that the problem had been fixed, but advised past customers to check bank statements for any unusual activity.
"As soon as we discovered the activity, we launched an investigation," he said.
The Chicago-based Hyatt group has 627 properties in its portfolio, although it said only the 318 it managed directly may have been affected by the malware, with franchised hotels unaffected.
The company did not say whether the malware had led to any customer information being accessed, but did say it had hired independent cybersecurity experts to help investigate.
Hyatt has set up a webpage to communicate updates to its customers.
"We have taken steps to strengthen the security of our systems, and customers can feel confident using payment cards at Hyatt hotels worldwide," said Mr Floyd.
Hyatt is not the first hotel group to admit it has had to tackle such a cybersecurity breach.
The Hilton, Mandarin Oriental, Starwood and Trump Collection hotel groups have also faced security problems with customer payment information in 2015.Wendy Williams (2011)
Rollingstone (2015) Interview
Keeping Up With the Kardashians (2013)
I want my son to look like this! http://twitpic.com/3slu0f — Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) January 23, 2011
Mom- want any coffee? Me- yes please Mom- how do u take it? Me- half coffee half milk. Just make it the color of what my kid would be — Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) September 27, 2012
: "I think so."
Khloe blows off Omarion's romantic gesture on Kourtney & Khloe Take Miami. When Khloe asks Kim for advice on what to do to make it up to him, Kim says:
Here Kim is making her infamous soul food. When it comes to cooking, Kim has only ever shown the world her struggle soul food creations. Enjoy.
Khloe Kardashian accuses comedian of racism after he asks why her family only "date black dudes" https://t.co/R956Kn3WXO — News, Views, People. (@NewsViewsPeople) March 30, 2016
Take a seat, grab a glass of wine, a cup of coffee, some popcorn, whatever you would like. This is going to be a long post. Sit back and enjoy.: This post features many headache inducing quotes and videos. If you have a very low tolerance for the Kardashians as well as a low tolerance for the hypersexualization of black bodies you may want to take precaution before entering this post. But, if you've been eager for a post exposing this Klan's sick fetishism of black men by all means come on in. Here we go, a compilation of some of the most racist, outlandish comments made by the Kardashians/Jenners regarding Black men over the years.@8:37 Look at that side eye Kourtney gives Kim.Howard Stern": Yeah: |
py seed is India (16 000 tonnes), followed by Russia, Poland and Germany.[33]
In Europe, poppy seed products appear promising in the organic and speciality market. However, poppy seed oil remains a niche product due to the lower yield compared to conventional oil crops.[34]
The New York Times reported, in 2014, that Tasmania was the largest producer of the poppy cultivars used for thebaine (85% of the world's supply) and oripavine (100% of the world's supply) production. Tasmania also had 25% of the world's opium and codeine production.[4]
Medicine [ edit ]
Australia (Tasmania), Turkey and India are the major producers of poppy for medicinal purposes and poppy-based drugs, such as morphine or codeine.[35][14] The USA has a policy of sourcing 80% of its narcotic raw materials from the traditional producers, India and Turkey.[36]
A recent initiative to extend opium production for medicinal purposes called Poppy for Medicine was launched by The Senlis Council which proposes that Afghanistan could produce medicinal opium under a scheme similar to that operating in Turkey and India.[37]
In late 2007, the British government permitted the pharmaceutical company Macfarlan Smith (a Johnson Matthey company, FTSE 100) to cultivate opium poppies in England for medicinal reasons[38] after Macfarlan Smith's primary source, India, decided to increase the price of export opium latex. The Office of Fair Trading has alerted the government to their monopoly position on growing in the UK and worldwide production of diamorphine and recommended consideration.[38] The government's response advocated the status quo, being concerned interference might cause the company to stop production.[39]
Cultivation [ edit ]
In the growth development of Papaver somniferum six stages can be distinguished. The growth development starts with the growth of the seedlings. In a second step the rosette-type leaves and stalks are formed. After that budding (hook stage) takes place as a third step. The hook stage is followed by flowering. Subsequently, technical maturity is reached, which means that the plant is ready for cutting. The last step is biological maturity; dry seeds are ripened. The photoperiod seems to be the main determinant of flower development of Papaver somniferum.[40]
Papaver somniferum shows a very slow development in the beginning of its vegetation period. Due to this fact the competition of weeds is very high in early stages. It is very important to control weeds effectively in the first 50 days after sowing.[41] Additionally Papaver somniferum is rather susceptible to herbicides. The pre-emergence application of the herbicide chlortoluron has been shown to be effective in reducing weed levels.[41] However, in the last decade the weed management of Papaver somniferum has shifted from pre-emergence treatments to post-emergence treatments.[42] Especially the application of the two herbicides mesotrione and tembotrione has become very popular. The combined application of those two herbicides has been shown to be recommendable for effective weed management in Papaver somniferum.[42] Sowing time (autumn or spring), preceding crop and soil texture are important variables influencing the weed species composition. A highly abundant weed species in Papaver somniferum fields was shown to be Papaver rhoeas.[42][43] Papaver somniferum and Papaver rhoeas belong to the same plant family, which impedes the chemical control of this weed species.[43] Therefore, weed management represents a big challenge and requires technological knowledge from the farmer.[43] In order to increase the efficiency of weed control not only chemical weed control should be applied but also mechanical weed control.[43]
Diseases [ edit ]
Papaver somniferum is susceptible to several fungal, insect and virus infections including seed borne diseases such as downy mildew and root rot. The use of pesticides in combination to cultural methods have been considered as major control measures for various poppy diseases.[44]
The fungal pathogen Peronospora arborescensis, the causal agent of downy mildew, occurs preferentially during wet and humid conditions.[21] This oomycete penetrates the roots through oospores and infects the leaves as conidia in a secondary infection.[45] The fungus causes hypertrophy and curvature of the stem and flower stalks.[46] The symptoms are chlorosis and curling of the affected tissues with necrotic spots.[47] The leaf under-surface is covered with a downy mildew coating containing conidiospores that spread the infection further leading to plant damage and death.[48] Another downy mildew species, Peronospora somniferi, produces systemic infections leading to stunting and deformation of poppy plants.[49] Downy mildew can be controlled preventively at the initial stage of seed development through several fungicide applications.[21]
Leaf blight caused by the fungus Helminthosporium papaveris is one of the most destructive poppy diseases worldwide. The seed-borne fungus causes root rot in young plants and stunted stems in plants at a higher development stage, where leaf spots appear on the leaves and is being transmitted to capsules and seeds.[48] Early sowing of seeds and deep plowing of poppy residues can reduce fungal inoculum during the plant growing season in the following year on neighboring poppy stocks, respectively.[21]
Mosaic diseases in p. somniferum are caused by rattle virus and the Carlavirus.[44] In 2006, a novel virus tentatively called "opium poppy mosaic virus" (OPMV) from the genus Umbravirus was isolated from p. somniferum containing leaf mosaic and mottling symptoms, in New Zealand.[50]
Pests [ edit ]
There are only few pests that can really harm P. somniferum.[21]
Flea beetles perforate the leaves of young plants and aphids suck on the sap of the flower buds.[21] The poppy root weevil is another significant pest. The insect lives in the soil and migrates in spring to the poppy fields after crop emergence. Adults damage the leaves of small plants by eating them. Female lay their eggs into the tissue of lower leaves. Insect larvae hatch and burrow into the soil to complete their life cycle on the poppy roots as adults.[51]
Restrictions [ edit ]
Opium poppy fields near Metheringham, Lincolnshire, England
Dried blue, gray, and white poppy seeds used for pastries in Germany
White poppy seeds, magnified
In most of Central Europe, poppyseed is commonly used for traditional pastries and cakes, and it is legal to grow poppies throughout the region, although Germany requires a license.[52]
Since January 1999 in the Czech Republic, according to the 167/1998 Sb. Addictive Substances Act, poppies growing in fields larger than 1 hectare (2.5 acres) is obliged for reporting to the local Custom Office.[53][54] Extraction of opium from the plants is prohibited by law (§ 15 letter d/ of the act). It is also prohibited to grow varieties with more than 0.8% of morphine in dry matter of their capsules, excluding research and experimental purposes (§24/1b/ of the act). The name Czech blue poppy refers to blue poppy seeds used for food.[citation needed]
The United Kingdom does not require a license for opium poppy cultivation, but does for extracting opium for medicinal products.[55]
In the United States, opium poppies and poppy straw are prohibited.[56] As the opium poppy is legal for culinary or esthetic reasons, poppies were once grown as a cash crop by farmers in California. The law of poppy cultivation in the United States is somewhat ambiguous.[57] The reason for the ambiguity is because the Opium Poppy Control Act of 1942 (now repealed)[58][59] stated that any opium poppies should be declared illegal, even if the farmers were issued a state permit. § 3 of the Opium Poppy Control Act stated:
It shall be unlawful for any person who is not the holder of a license authorizing him to produce the opium poppy, duly issued to him by the Secretary of the Treasury in accordance with the provisions of this Act, to produce the opium poppy, or to permit the production of the opium poppy in or upon any place owned, occupied, used, or controlled by him.
This led to the Poppy Rebellion, and to the Narcotics Bureau arresting anyone planting opium poppies and forcing the destruction of poppy fields of anyone who defied the prohibition of poppy cultivation.[60][61] Though the press of those days favored the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, the state of California supported the farmers who grew opium poppies for their seeds for uses in foods such as poppyseed muffins. Today, this area of law has remained vague and remains somewhat controversial in the United States.[62] The Opium Poppy Control Act of 1942 was repealed on 27 October 1970.[63][64] Canada forbids possessing, seeking or obtaining the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum), its preparations, derivatives, alkaloids and salts, although an exception is made for poppyseed.[65]
In some parts of Australia, P. somniferum is illegal to cultivate, but in Tasmania, some 50% of the world supply is cultivated.[66] In New Zealand, it is legal to cultivate the opium poppy as long as it is not used to produce banned drugs.[67]
In United Arab Emirates the cultivation of the opium poppy is illegal, as is possession of poppyseed. At least one man has been imprisoned for possessing poppyseed obtained from a bread roll.[68]
Burma bans cultivation in certain provinces. In northern Burma bans have ended a century-old tradition of growing the opium poppy. Between 20,000 and 30,000 former poppy farmers left the Kokang region as a result of the ban in 2002.[69] People from the Wa region, where the ban was implemented in 2005, fled to areas where growing opium is still possible.
Censorship and misinformation [ edit ]
It is increasingly incorrect to call Papaver somniferum the opium poppy, as many varieties do not produce a significant amount of opium. At least one produces no opium at all. That variety, therefore, also cannot be used to create codeine and other drugs from other alkaloids present in Papaver somniferum latex. This breeding has been done for two purposes. The first is to produce ornamental varieties that cannot be used for home or small-scale opium production, such as one called Danish Flag. Danish Flag and other examples of these cultivars are widely available for consumer purchase, unlike varieties that produce opium. The second is to produce cultivars that can only be used to produce other alkaloids. These are grown commercially for the pharmaceutical industry, as are varieties that are bred for high opium production. Varieties that produce large amounts of opium have been bred for the pharmaceutical industry and are not available for consumers to purchase as seed. The rapidly decreasing availability of Papaver somniferum varieties that produce significant quantities of opium has made laws against the growing of such varieties more questionable, as they don't produce the substance that is the basis for the restrictions.[5]
Some small companies also attempt to profit from the misinformation and information suppression by claiming that varieties that have no significant opium content are a source of significant opium for the home or small-scale grower. Some sites that only sell seeds for opium-free varieties even label the poppies Papaver hybridum instead of Papaver somniferum, possibly to provide the illusion that the business is trying to cleverly work around prohibitions on growing varieties that produce opium.[dubious – discuss] The word heirloom is also sometimes inappropriately applied for marketing purposes to these recent varieties.[which?] The extent to which false information is spread in forums relating to recreational drug use and/or drug use relating to self-medication is not something that has received media attention. However, the impact on small business has been examined by a few media articles, such as the one describing the raid on Monticello. That article, published by Alternet, also discussed how censorship relates to historical public knowledge in terms of Papaver somniferum, Thomas Jefferson, and period culture.[18]
The lack of latex in one cultivar and the lack of significant opium production in some others also makes law enforcement difficult, as even many acres of this poppy can be planted that cannot be readily used, or used at all (in the case of the Sujata type), by individuals to produce edible drugs. Non-opium thebaine and orpivine varieties require laboratory synthesis into drugs like oxycodone. Teas and other quick concoctions or extracts from such varieties are toxic, so they are of no use for unlicensed drug producers unless they have labs that are sophisticated enough to refine the thebaine and/or orpivine. Plantings of non-opium varieties could clearly be planted simply for ornamental purposes, to benefit bees (as poppies produce a great deal of pollen), for growing the edible poppyseed — or a combination of such lawful factors.[citation needed]
References [ edit ]The fund created to raise money to erect a statue of Peterborough United legend Chris Turner has crashed through the £70k barrier - just £10k short of its final target.
An impressive total of £2,650.97 was raised at last Saturday’s (January 28) home match with MK Dons, mostly from a bucket collection.
The statue has been commisioned and is expected to be unveiled at the ABAX Stadium on Friday, September 1.
“The amount raised last weekend was incredible,” a Chris Turner Statue Fund committee spokesman enthused. “Our extraordinarily generous supporters never cease to amaze me. The goal-line is now well and truly in sight.”
The weekend of February 11/12 sees ‘The Whittlesey Soul Weekender’ take place at the Falcon, Whittlesey from 2pm to midnight on the Saturday and 1-9pm on the Sunday. Proceeds will be donated to the fund.Copyright by KOIN - All rights reserved In this July 23, 2012 file photo, James Holmes, who is charged with killing 12 moviegoers and wounding 70 more in a shooting spree in a crowded theatre in Aurora, Colo., in July 2012, sits in Arapahoe County District Court in Centennial, Colo....
Copyright by KOIN - All rights reserved In this July 23, 2012 file photo, James Holmes, who is charged with killing 12 moviegoers and wounding 70 more in a shooting spree in a crowded theatre in Aurora, Colo., in July 2012, sits in Arapahoe County District Court in Centennial, Colo....
The Associated Press - DENVER (AP) — At first glance, the Colorado movie theater shooting case seems simple. James Holmes admitted to the attack that left 12 dead and 70 injured.
It will be far more complicated for jurors, who will wrestle with whether he was insane when he barged into a packed movie theater, clad in combat gear, and opened fire on moviegoers in July 2012.
The answer to that will help give the most complete look yet of the man accused of one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history. Experts say it is rare to have a mass shooter appear in court to face charges — many either are killed by police or commit suicide.
"The public is going to get an insight into the mind of a killer who says he doesn't know right from wrong," said Alan Tuerkheimer, a Chicago-based jury consultant. "It is really rare. It just doesn't usually come to this."
The first step begins on Tuesday, when 9,000 prospective jurors — what experts say is the largest jury pool in U.S. history — begin arriving at the courthouse in Centennial, in suburban Denver.
Whittling those numbers to the 12 jurors and 12 alternates is expected to take months. The trial could last until October.
Copyright by KOIN - All rights reserved FILE -- This Thursday, Jan. 15, 2015 file photo shows a view of the jury box, right, inside Courtroom 201, where jury selection in the trial of Aurora movie theater shootings defendant James Holmes is to begin on Jan. 20 at the Arapahoe County District Court in Centennial, Colo. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, Pool, File)
Copyright by KOIN - All rights reserved FILE -- This Thursday, Jan. 15, 2015 file photo shows a view of the jury box, right, inside Courtroom 201, where jury selection in the trial of Aurora movie theater shootings defendant James Holmes is to begin on Jan. 20 at the Arapahoe County District Court in Centennial, Colo. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, Pool, File)
In the 2-1/2 years since the shooting, the case has sparked an emotionally charged debate, with his parents begging for a plea deal that would save his life while many survivors and family members of victims have demanded that he be put to death.
Holmes, 27, was arrested as he stripped off his combat gear in the parking lot of the Century 16 movie theater in Aurora after he opened fire at the midnight showing of a new Batman movie.
He later pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to multiple counts of first-degree murder and attempted murder.
If jurors find him guilty, they must then decide whether to recommend the death penalty. If Holmes is found not guilty, he would be committed indefinitely to the state mental hospital.
Under Colorado law, defendants are not legally liable for their acts if their minds are so "diseased" that they cannot distinguish right from wrong. Part of the reason the case has dragged on so long is the battle over whether that standard applies to Holmes.
Few details on those arguments have been made public. Prosecutors and defense attorneys remain under a long-running gag order, and court documents detailing the issue have stayed under seal.
Holmes' sanity was evaluated by a state psychiatrist but the results were not made public. Prosecutors objected to the findings and persuaded a judge to order a second evaluation. Those results were contested by the defense.
Prosecutors previously rejected at least one proposed plea deal made by attorneys for Holmes, criticizing the lawyers for publicizing the offer and calling it a ploy meant to draw the public and the judge into what should be private plea negotiations.
Survivors of the attack and family members of victims have had a long time to get ready for a trial.
Copyright by KOIN - All rights reserved FILE - In this July 27, 2012 file photo, crosses, flowers and other mementos of the victims of the Aurora, Colo. movie theater shooting are shown at sunrise with the movie theater in the background. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
Copyright by KOIN - All rights reserved FILE - In this July 27, 2012 file photo, crosses, flowers and other mementos of the victims of the Aurora, Colo. movie theater shooting are shown at sunrise with the movie theater in the background. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
"We've all been to therapists and have talked to our families and have our support groups, so we're prepared," said Marcus Weaver, who was shot in the arm and whose friend, Rebecca Wingo, died in the attack. "It's gonna be quite the journey."
It could take until June to find the jurors and alternates who were not biased by the widespread news coverage of the shooting. Equally challenging will be finding jurors who were not personally affected by the attack.
Judge Carlos Samour called nearly nine times as many prospective jurors as were summoned in the ongoing Boston marathon bombing trial. That meant the county's 600,000 residents had a nearly one-in-50 chance of being selected.
Among those summoned were 13 people who were either witnesses to the attack or have family members who work in the prosecutor's office. They were quickly excused.
Potential jurors won't be allowed to read or talk about the case until they know they've been dismissed. That will be difficult in the era of social media, since they have no control over what pops up on their Facebook or Twitter feeds. The final panel won't be sequestered.
During the selection process, Holmes' attorneys will focus on picking jurors who are morally opposed to capital punishment, even as prosecutors fight to ensure those on the panel are "death-penalty eligible," meaning they would be open to executing Holmes.
Enduring the trial from the jury box would seem even more difficult than the selection process.
"This is going to be a life-changing event for every juror who sits on the trial," said Joseph Rice, managing partner of the Jury Research Institute, a California-based trial consulting firm. "They are going to deal with life-and-death issues that will forever be part of their experience."Clanging echoed throughout the training room, as Pyrrha's Miló and Akoúo̱ clashed against the blades of Ren's Stormflower. Sparring against him instead of Nora was as different as day and night. Nora's war hammer possessed power and reach, and her hyperactive and battle-loving persona made her an unpredictable opponent. Ren's fighting style was instead faster and more agile, possessing amazing footwork and an uncanny affinity toward unarmed combat.
Pyrrha tried to focus on the battle, but was unable to do so, as if something inside her head was tugging at a nerve, begging for attention, like an incessant nagging from an unseen source. Too late did she notice Ren's foot coming toward her face. The clanging stopped as she was kicked down on her back.
"What's the matter, Pyrrha?" asked Ren.
"Huh?" she uttered in confusion as she stood up, wiping away a couple of sweat drops. "What do you mean?" she asked.
Ren stood at a distance and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Your reflexes are slow, and your footwork is shoddy. I know you can perform better than that. Are you feeling well? Do you want us to take a break?"
Pyrrha bit her lower lip. So he's noticing my poor performance. How humiliating. "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for asking though," she said with a thin smile.
The two of them had sparred against each other before. Even though Ren could definitely put up a good match, the victor had so far always been Pyrrha. Since the beginning of their latest sparring match, however, Ren was clearly holding the upper hand. She figured she could gain the advantage if she were to use her Semblance, but the two of them had agreed on not using their Semblances so that they may focus on practicing their physical skills.
I must step up! Focus, Pyrrha! She raised her sword and shield, resuming her battle stance. "Come on, let's have another go."
Ren nodded while observing his sparring partner. Her stance was resolute, ready to attack or defend, but her eyes were not as vigilant as they should be. Ren got into a graceful battle stance, becoming still like a statue, holding his breath and keeping his magenta eyes fixated upon the red-haired girl. His silent and tranquil posture was broken the moment he dashed forward. He raised Stormflower and fired several, short bursts at her.
Pyrrha steadied her shield in front of her just as the hail of bullets rattled against the metallic surface. Ren increased his speed further and threw himself down on his knees, using the momentum to slide on the smooth floor and swing a leg toward Pyrrha's knees. She jumped straight and far up into the air. In mid-air, she switched her weapon's form into a semi-automatic rifle and squeezed the trigger multiple times in rapid succession. Ren pursued her by kicking himself off the floor, blocking each shot with Stormflower's blades. Pyrrha made haste to transform Miló back into a sword just before it parried a powerful dual swing.
As gravity began to pull the two fighters back down to the floor, Ren somersaulted and swung his leg vertically down in the shape of axe-kick. Pyrrha raised the shield over her head and grunted in response to the heel slamming into it. The powerful impact shook her off balance and propelled her descent back to the floor. She managed to recover and land on her feet, albeit in a clumsy manner, whereas Ren's landing was as graceful as a cat's.
Pyrrha grit her teeth and tightened the grips around her armaments. Why can't I keep up with him? Has he surpassed me?
She knew he had worked hard to improve his poor stamina, a weakness that made him ill fit for extended or physically taxing fights. Then, what about the rest of his combat skills? Had he honed them as well?
Maybe my own training has been bad lately…
After a brief respite, Pyrrha ran toward Ren and attacked him with a rapid flurry of her sword in conjunction with her shield. Similar to an exotic and elegant dance, Ren ducked, jumped, and twisted away from her swings and thrusts. He became smooth like water and untouchable like the wind. It was as if she was trying to cut an annoying Rapier wasp buzzing around her. His movements changed as he began to attack her in return. Pyrrha found herself being assaulted by what could be described as a vicious, green-colored tornado armed with blades that forced her back.
Methodically and precisely, Ren fought his way through her guard until he exposed an opening. Pulling his right arm far back, a purple glow surrounded his hand. Ren slammed his Aura-empowered palm straight into Pyrrha's sternum. She cried out as she was thrown off the floor, feeling as if she was hit by a speeding car. After having been knocked against the wall like a ragdoll, she collapsed on her hands and knees, panting. The Aura gauge on her Scroll emitted a warning signal, telling her that her Aura was almost depleted.
I've been… beaten. It was an almost non-existent occurrence for her.
Ren lowered his weapons and took a breath, composing himself after the intense sparring match. Pyrrha expected to see a look of satisfaction on her opponent's face for doing something many considered to be impossible, but all Ren's expression showed was muted concern.
"I'll ask again, Pyrrha. What's the matter?" he asked, putting more weight into his words this time.
Pyrrha sighed and silently admitted defeat to herself. There was no point in lying to Ren anymore. "Let's have a break first," she said and got up.
The taste of defeat felt bitter, but she knew she had only herself to blame. At least she was glad that the only one who had witnessed it was Ren. If her strict parents had seen her humiliating defeat, they would have berated her, telling her to go over her recent mistakes and train hard to ensure she would never repeat them ever again. Pyrrha sometimes wished she would lose a battle in front of thousands of her fans. Then, her title as 'The Invincible Girl' would be shattered forever, allowing her to relax and live her life more simply without needing to worry about her reputation.
She and Ren walked over to a corner of the training room and sat down on a bench to rest. While she was drinking some cold and refreshing water, Pyrrha noticed how Ren was glancing at her expectantly. He was waiting for her to say something, anything that could answer why she had lost.
"A combat teacher once told me that you can learn much about someone by fighting them," said Ren.
Pyrrha silently agreed with the wisdom from his idiom. Curiosity made her ask, "And what did you learn by fighting me?"
"It was as if I was fighting your body only," he tapped his dark-haired head with his fingers twice, "And not your mind. Are you okay, Pyrrha? Is something distracting you, preventing you from focusing?"
Pyrrha could hear a vague, yet touching amount of concern in his composed voice. Even if Ren was the least talkative member of the team, he was always willing to share his voice when needed to care for his friends.
"Ren," she began and paused to look into his eyes, "Is it okay if I ask you a personal question about Nora?" She thought it was shameful of her to ask Ren about Nora. She knew she should instead be asking Nora herself.
Ren showed no discomposure about the thought of talking about his friend. "I'll do my best to answer, as long as it's not too personal. What would you like to know?"
Pyrrha hesitated, not knowing if her question would be too personal or not. "This might seem like an odd question, but, have you ever seen Nora in a bad mood before?"
Ren crooked an eyebrow. "Bad mood?" he echoed. "Can you elaborate?"
"Yeah, I mean, have you seen her, like, angry, annoyed, or envious?"
"I have," said Ren with a single nod.
"Really? I don't doubt you. It's just that, I can't even imagine someone as cheerful as her to ever be in a bad mood. She can look at things positively no matter what happens. Remember last month's mission when we were travelling across an open landscape on foot? It rained intensely, and we didn't have any umbrellas or raincoats. We got completely…soaked." Pyrrha felt a shiver roll over her skin that left goose bumps behind. She could handle rain back then without feeling too uneasy, but that was before she fell into the pool. What would happen to her the next time she stepped out during a downpour?
Ren nodded once again. "Nora said we didn't need to shower or wash our clothes. Plus, we got to refill our near-empty water bottles." His lips spread into a small smile. Though uncommon, he could be humored by Nora's attitude and jokes.
"That was some fresh and delicious rain water, wasn't it?" Pyrrha chuckled. "And then there was the time when she sprained her right wrist, and she said it was a good moment for her to practice doing things with her left hand instead. She giggled even the moment she was hurt. That's some odd pain tolerance."
"That's our Nora all right. But, to answer your question, I have indeed seen Nora in a bad mood. She can get grumpy from withdrawal if she hasn't had any soda or candy for more than a day. Trust me, Pyrrha, you do not want to be near Nora on the second day." Ren then continued speaking a bit more cautiously, breaking his eye contact with her, "Um… she once told me that she's envious… of you."
The surprise made Pyrrha choke on some water from her bottle, spilling a few drops on her clothes. "Me? Why?"
His pale cheeks turned rosy, shifting on his seat slightly. "Something about your… torso…which I prefer not to talk about." He paused to clear his throat in an awkward manner. "What I'm saying, Pyrrha, is that Nora is no stranger to emotions other than happiness."
"Does that… include crying?" asked Pyrrha carefully, feeling that her questions were starting to get too personal.
"It does, if tears of joy count."
Pyrrha chuckled softly. She could not tell if Ren was jesting or not, because there were no signs of mirth in his near-blank expression. "Funny, Nora once said the same thing," she mentioned, recalling her moment with Nora at the cafe. "I meant, have you ever seen her sad? You don't need to answer if I'm starting to step over the line with my questions."
Until now, Ren had answered all of her questions with little to no doubt. Now, however, he hesitated before replying with a more somber tone, "I have. Has she mentioned anything particular sad to you before?" he asked, choosing his words carefully.
Pyrrha could only recall one sad thing Nora had said. "Yeah, she did. She told me her mother left her shortly after she was born. She was raised by her father alone."
"I figured she would tell you that eventually. She sees you as a good friend."
The empathy she felt for Nora hit her hard as always. She sighed and dropped her shoulder, feeling her stomach tense up. "I get heartbroken just thinking of her growing up without knowing why her own mother left." She saw Ren's eyes shift, a minor flaw in his stoic expression.
"Is... that what she said?" he asked hesitantly.
His body language and response triggered a feeling of curiosity within Pyrrha, which she could not ignore. "Yeah, what about it?"
"It's…," Ren shook his head dismissively, "It's nothing. I misheard what you said."
His explanation, however, failed to convince Pyrrha and turned her curiosity into suspicion. Ozpin may have told me that I'm a bad lair, but I can tell that Ren is not being honest with me.
"Ren," she placed a soft hand on his shoulder and spoke to him with a soft voice, "I know you and Nora have been best friends since you were kids, but I see her as a good friend, too."
"What Nora said or didn't say to you about her past, I'm sure there was a reason. Maybe she will explain it better to you another time," he answered neutrally, following a diplomatic path.
Pyrrha respected his answer and did not attempt to pry. She knew he respected Nora too much to tell people things that she may not approve of. She regretted having asked him. Doubting the details of a friend's tragic story felt wrong, but she could not simply throw the doubt away.
What reason could Nora possibly have to lie about her mother?
It was now Ren who decided to ask her something, "Pyrrha, I don't think it's a coincidence that you've been asking me these questions about Nora. What happened between you and her while Jaune and I were away?"
Pyrrha hesitated as she thought of what to say. She had assumed that Nora had already told him everything about her not fully appreciating Nora's friendly intimacy. "She… she did something that I disagreed with. We talked about it… and I told her to please not do it again," she explained. "It's not as serious as it sounds, really." Her reaffirmation felt like a lie, not only to Ren but to herself as well. Pyrrha decided not to mention any more details, not for her own sake, but for Nora's. She knew Ren and Nora were very close, but she did not want to take any unnecessary risks.
"If you say so," said Ren as he stood up. "I thank you for the sparring match, Pyrrha, but I think that's enough for today. Let's head back to the dorm. Even though you were not fully focused during the match, I can give you feedback about your performance."
"Does that involve you making your unique and delicious pancakes?" asked Pyrrha with a grin. I wonder how Nora and Jaune are faring with their own sparring match…, she thought while collecting her things.
"Woah!" yelled Jaune just as he ducked from a fast swing of a war hammer that grazed the top of his blonde hair. He immediately followed by rolling to the left, just as the same war hammer came crashing down into the floor. He hurried to get back up on his feet and raised his shield. "Slow down a bit!" He threw the words out of his mouth as quickly as he could. The only response came in the form of a girly giggle.
"You think silly words like that will work on the Grimm? Think again, Vomit Boy!" Nora quipped loudly. She spun her whole body around, building up momentum for Magnhild. Despite her war hammer's size, she wielded it as effortlessly as if it was a plastic toy. With an excited war cry, she swung her weapon in a wide, horizontal arc.
Jaune steadied his shield arm, dug his feet into the ground and tried to make himself as immovable as a mountain. A thunderous clang resonated as the hammer struck the shield, followed by him yelling as he flew across the room.
Nora chuckled heartily as she watched Jaune fly up into the air like a living projectile. Her gaze followed his descent back to the floor, his Aura shielding him from what looked like an uncomfortable landing. If Pyrrha had not trained Jaune in how to defend himself more efficiently, Nora would have had defeated him by now. His apparent large amount of Aura helped in extending the fight a bit, much to her delight.
I know he grew up with seven sisters, but that does not mean he is ready to handle one like me, oh and Maggy, too! Just as he got back up on his feet, Nora transformed Magnhild from a war hammer into a grenade launcher. She steadied it against her shoulder and took aim at him.
"Wait!" Jaune raised both his hands up to emphasize his words. "Before you shoot, you're using training grenades, right?"
His reaction made her smile turn into a toothy grin. "I dunno! Let's find out! Bombs away! Duck and cover, Jaune!" she replied before she pulled the trigger. A spinning canister adorned with a pink heart was shot out of the launcher's nozzle.
Jaune gasped and raised shield in front of him. The grenade hit the shield, but instead of a pink colored explosion, there was instead just a small puff of smoke. The spent training grenade dropped harmlessly to the floor by Jaune's feet. He sighed in relief and lowered his shield again, only to be hit in the head by a second grenade that bounced off his Aura. "Ow! Hey!" he protested.
"Boom! Headshot!" yelled Nora victoriously. She knew how to have fun with dummy grenades, too.
It was not much of a sparring match from her point of view. To her, Jaune was like a living training dummy that she used to vent out some bad energies. He had, to her amusement, futilely tried to attack her. After having sparred several times against Pyrrha, Nora recognized her sword and board style that Jaune was trying to copy. His stabs, swings, and shield bashes were nearly the same as his mentor's, but slower and less refined. He had gotten close a couple of times to land a hit. It was cute to watch him try.
Nora opened Magnhild's cylinder and began inserting live grenades into the empty chambers. "Alright, Jauney! Are you ready for my finishing move? I call it Nora's super-awesome-funky-magical-rainbow blessing attack!" she exclaimed just as she pushed the cylinder back into position. She was forbidden from using live grenades due to the risk of property damage, especially after having 'accidentally |
the same thing – the first one out is the winner.
Our office has done a non-exhaustive, but quite extensive search of the research coming from banks, and it made no difference whether it was from Anglo-Saxon or European names, it was all positive for the rest of the year. Greece will make it! Fantastic cash flow projections, great statements about ‘never giving up,’ assessments of how horrifying it would be to leave the euro, and legal issues galore. Almost not one of these major institutions issuing these studies talked about how horrifying it would be to remain in the euro, how many man-hours of work would be lost, and how lives would be destroyed. There was no comparative studies section, which would have compared what we already know from Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Iceland. Internal devaluation is hell. We believe the Baltic states will make it because they would eat grass and leaves to stay out of the hands of the Russian bear next door, and if Europe follows its Greek strategy much longer, they might have to. Remember, retail sales in Latvia were down 30.2% last year and this year they should decline another 10% or so. My heart goes out to them, but their country is in a much better situation to suffer this internal devaluation process than Greece, as international trade is a much bigger factor of GDP. Latvia can win even if the Germans are determined to have no wage growth, positive productivity growth and no appreciable CPI movement, but the Greeks and the other southern Europeans are more rational than the Lats. There is nothing but politics that says that Greece can make it through this process. Although politics includes compromise when it is working, the breakdown of politics is war. Usually the war implied in this famous aphorism would be between states, but in this case it would be between the people and the government that has failed them. The Greek government can’t follow the current course. On the issue of ‘internal devaluation,’ the European political elites are way out of touch with their people: almost no one will stand for it. The political maze we are entering might have many twists and turns with distorting mirrors, but money is money and its powerful logic will win in the end. No matter how many speeches and new regulations are made, the Greek economy will continue to deteriorate, dragging down the rest of Europe far more powerfully than its 3% implies. Please let the Greeks out and please restructure the euro, or drop the whole idea. If you don’t, the future will not be pretty.
h/t Teddy KGBResearchers at Yale have developed a sunscreen that doesn’t penetrate the skin, eliminating serious health concerns associated with commercial sunscreens.
Most commercial sunblocks are good at preventing sunburn, but they can go below the skin’s surface and enter the bloodstream. As a result, they pose possible hormonal side effects and could even be promoting the kind of skin cancers they’re designed to prevent.
But researchers at Yale have developed a new sunblock, made with bioadhesive nanoparticles, that stays on the surface of the skin. Results of the research appear in the Sept. 28 online edition of the journal Nature Materials.
“We found that when we apply the sunblock to the skin, it doesn’t come off, and more importantly, it doesn’t penetrate any further into the skin,” said the paper’s senior author, Mark Saltzman, the Goizueta Foundation Professor of Biomedical Engineering. “Nanoparticles are large enough to keep from going through the skin’s surface, and our nanoparticles are so adhesive that they don’t even go into hair follicles, which are relatively open.”
Using mouse models, the researchers tested their sunblock against direct ultraviolet rays and their ability to cause sunburn. In this regard, even though it used a significantly smaller amount of the active ingredient than commercial sunscreens, the researchers’ formulation protected equally well against sunburn.
They also looked at an indirect — and much less studied — effect of UV light. When the active ingredients of sunscreen absorb UV light, a chemical change triggers the generation of oxygen-carrying molecules known as reactive oxygen species (ROS). If a sunscreen’s agents penetrate the skin, this chemical change could cause cellular damage, and potentially facilitate skin cancer.
“Commercial chemical sunblock is protective against the direct hazards of ultraviolet damage of DNA, but might not be against the indirect ones,” said co-author Michael Girardi, a professor of dermatology at Yale Medical School. “In fact, the indirect damage was worse when we used the commercial sunblock.”
Girardi, who specializes in skin cancer development and progression, said little research has been done on the ultimate effects of sunblock usage and the generation of ROS, “but obviously, there’s concern there.”
Previous studies have found traces of commercial sunscreen chemicals in users’ bloodstreams, urine, and breast milk. There is evidence that these chemicals cause disruptions with the endocrine system, such as blocking sex hormone receptors.
To test penetration levels, the researchers applied strips of adhesive tape to skin previously treated with sunscreen. The tape was then removed rapidly, along with a thin layer of skin. Repeating this procedure allowed the researchers to remove the majority of the outer skin layer, and measure how deep the chemicals had penetrated into the skin. Traces of the sunscreen chemical administered in a conventional way were found to have soaked deep within the skin. The Yale team’s sunblock came off entirely with the initial tape strips.
Tests also showed that a substantial amount of the Yale team’s sunscreen remained on the skin’s surface for days, even after exposure to water. When wiped repeatedly with a towel, the new sunblock was entirely removed.
To make the sunblock, the researchers developed a nanoparticle with a surface coating rich in aldehyde groups, which stick tenaciously to the outer skin layer. The nanoparticle’s hydrophilic layer essentially locks in the active ingredient, a hydrophobic chemical called padimate O.
Some sunscreen solutions that use larger particles of inorganic compounds, such as titanium dioxide or zinc oxide, also don’t penetrate the skin. For aesthetic reasons, though, these opaque sunscreen products aren’t very popular. By using a nanoparticle to encase padimate O, an organic chemical used in many commercial sunscreens, the Yale team’s sunblock is both transparent and stays out of the skin cells and bloodstream.
Yang Deng, a postdoctoral associate in biomedical engineering, and Yale medical student Asiri Ediriwickrema were co-first authors of the paper.
Other authors of the paper were Fan Yang, who is in the Department of Biomedical Engineering; and Julia Lewis, from the Department of Dermatology. Saltzman and Girardi are affiliated with the Yale Cancer Center.
(Photo via Shutterstock)A Victoria man accused of attempting to lure underage girls online is facing 13 related charges, prompting police to ask any other possible victims to come forward.
Police said parents of some of the alleged victims contacted them with information that led to the charges. Those victims include five youths between the ages of 12 to 17.
Aaaron Craig, 28, faces and faces three counts of luring a child under the age of 14, two counts of luring a child under the age of 18, four counts of communicating or obtaining sexual services of a person under the age of 18 and two counts of uttering threats, according to Victoria police.
He was arrested Friday and remains in custody.
Craig was also charged with three counts of breach of probation because he was specifically prohibited from contacting young girls online due to “previous similar incidents,” police said.
None of the children were physically harmed.
Police believe there could be other victimized youth, and are asking parents to check in with their kids to find out.
“If you discover that someone has been inappropriately contacting your kids online, consider reporting to your local police or through cybertip.ca,” Det. Sgt. Kristi Ross said in a statement.
Police are also urging parents to discuss online safety with their children, especially when it comes to geo-tagging options that can give away a person’s location based on where they post to social media.Interstate '76 is a vehicular combat video game for Microsoft Windows. It was developed and published by Activision and released in 1997.[1]
The game is set in the Southwestern United States in an alternate history of the year 1976, in which the 1973 oil crisis was never resolved. All the in-game vehicles in Interstate '76 are based on real cars, including many period American muscle cars.
Gameplay [ edit ]
A battle in the game between Groove Champion's Picard Piranha (orange) and a Phaedra Rattler.
There are four play modes available in the game: the "T.R.I.P." (an acronym for "Total Recreational Interactive Production"), which follows the game's protagonists in an episodic story; "Multi Melee", an on-line deathmatch version of the game; "Auto Melee", a deathmatch with computer-driven cars; and "Scenarios", short free-standing adventures featuring the game's protagonists. The primary difference between the scenarios and the T.R.I.P., length of play aside, is that the player has a much broader choice of vehicles in the scenario mode, while the player is limited to only one car during most of the T.R.I.P. mode. The game's vehicles are faithful reproductions of various cars and trucks from the era, both in appearance and driving characteristics, though the names have been changed.
The game is based on the engine used for Activision's MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat, and requires a fair amount of strategy through the course of the game, as the player must balance the vehicle's armor and weapon load-outs appropriately in order to successfully complete the various missions. In the game's story mode, the player must also manage and repair equipment salvaged from the wrecks of opponents.
Development [ edit ]
Lead designer Zack Norman recounted, "The idea came from a desire to use the Mech [Warrior] II technology to the next level and make a real action-simulation hybrid - a vehicle action simulation - but also infuse it with a style and a soul that hadn't been exploited before."[2] The inspiration to set the game in the 1970s came when Norman was contemplating using his bonus from MechWarrior II to buy a 1970s muscle car.[2]
The developers eschewed the convention of using more detailed models for cutscenes, preferring that the game remain stylistically consistent across the interactive and non-interactive portions.[2] Considerable modification of the MechWarrior II engine was needed, as director Sean Vesce explained: "If you look at the Mech II engine, it had a long and difficult history, developed by a large team of programmers over the course of two or three years under the direction of several producers, with a lot of trials and tribulations before it went out the door. As you can imagine, the technology was held together with super glue and bubble gum. So when we got our hands on it, we really had to gut a lot of the systems."[2]
Reception [ edit ]
Interstate '76 [ edit ]
In the United States, the game sold 74,028 copies during 1997.[13] Interstate '76 received "favorable" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[3]
Next Generation reviewed the PC version of the game, rating it four stars out of five, and stated that "none of the minor annoyances detract much at all from the game's overall impact. Interstate '76 easily lives up to the hype - it really is 'the funkiest PC game ever.'"[14]
Interstate '76 was a runner-up for Computer Gaming World's 1997 "Action Game of the Year" award, which ultimately went to Quake II. The editors called Interstate '76 "more stylish and original [than Quake II], but it suffered a lack of good 3D support and an irritating save feature."[15]
Interstate '76 was a finalist for the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences' 1997 "Outstanding Achievement in Sound and Music" award,[16] which ultimately went to PaRappa the Rapper.[17]
In 1998, PC Gamer declared it the 26th-best computer game ever released, and the editors called it "the most original action game released in a decade".[18]
The Interstate '76 Arsenal [ edit ]
The Interstate '76 Arsenal also received "favorable" reviews according to the review aggregation website GameRankings.[19]
Legacy [ edit ]
Interstate '76 spawned a prequel/stand-alone expansion pack, Nitro Pack (known as Interstate '76: Nitro Riders in some territories), and a direct sequel, Interstate '82, as well as the Vigilante 8 spin-off series for video game consoles. A graphically enhanced version of the original game, Interstate '76: Gold Edition, was also released. The Gold Edition was later bundled with the Nitro Pack expansion as The Interstate '76 Arsenal. On 18 February 2010 GOG.com released a downloadable version of The Interstate '76 Arsenal.[23]
The film rights to the game were acquired in March 1998 by 20th Century Fox and Davis Entertainment.[24]A CLUTCH of archaeologists sits in a freshly upholstered auditorium near the Roman amphitheatre in Leptis Magna to learn how to use a global positioning system, something restricted to the security forces under Colonel Muammar Qaddafi. “Take a picture, then note the co-ordinates,” says an instructor, showing slides of the ruins (pictured above).
The country and the government apparatus left behind by the erratic dictator, who had run the show for 42 years, were almost as decrepit as these relics of Rome. To ensure that not the slightest whiff of dissent could exist, institutions and even state bodies were never allowed to grow. Political parties were banned. Yet since the colonel’s death in October last year at the hands of rebel fighters, Libya has not only held national elections, followed a fortnight ago by the presentation of a diverse government, albeit that not all of its members have been endorsed. It has also started to build a new system of civil administration that may one day form the backbone of a law-abiding and prosperous society.
Get our daily newsletter Upgrade your inbox and get our Daily Dispatch and Editor's Picks.
Fears—especially in the West—that extreme Islamists are spoiling Libya’s chances of creating a peaceful democracy grew in September, after the American ambassador and three fellow American diplomats were killed in an attack on the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya’s second city. In the heat of the American presidential election, Barack Obama was blamed for allegedly letting al-Qaeda back into the Libyan arena.
But on the ground, the picture, though far from uniformly rosy, is more hopeful. Many of the new state structures and services, including archaeological conservation in Leptis Magna, are being created from the bottom up rather than handed down by a central government that is still only embryonic. The new powers in the land are council leaders, a sort of cross between mayors and regional governors. Some are doing well. Most took part in the rebellion, often as administrators rather than fighters. Salim Betamal in Misrata and Abdulalli Abu Saif in Brega were academics who, as the rebellion erupted, co-ordinated civilian dissent. Ali Thow Labaz in Sirte was an oil executive who became a strategist for the rebels. Masoud Ahmida in Ajdabiah was a dentist who then managed a field hospital.
Each in his own way is trying to make up for decades of neglect during which Qaddafi concentrated resources in Tripoli, the capital. “The farther you move away from Tripoli,” says a Western diplomat, “the less of a state you see.” But that is changing. Regional structures are taking shape. Rickety they may be, but they increasingly trump those in the capital, where political rivalries and the fear of being accused of corruption have led ministers to duck hard decisions. Some cities are creating their own economic links with the outside world. Misratans now have a range of daily flights to neighbouring countries.
Dynamic local leaders have improved services. The streets of a range of coastal towns are far cleaner than in Cairo or Tunis. Rubbish-collecting lorries and street sweepers in tidy overalls are out every morning. Hospitals have reopened. Most important for ordinary Libyans, services such as tap water and electricity—disrupted during the rebellion—are working just about everywhere. Children are back at school. In Brega and Sirte, where campuses were badly damaged, student and teacher numbers are down but universities in both towns have recently reopened. “The money to rebuild came from the central government,” says Mousa Muhammad Mousa, the new head of Sirte’s university; the city, he implies, is not being punished for its sympathy for Qaddafi.
As you travel from west to east along the coastal belt where most Libyans live, the improvements are palpable. In Misrata only the main street still shows the ravages of war, and even there new glass façades have gone up. Some 28,000 of the 40,000-odd landmines laid in Brega are said to have been removed. Only Sirte, Qaddafi’s hometown, where he was caught and killed, is still a mess, with many people still living in bombed-out ruins and shacks. Dozens of new hotels are opening across the country, their lobbies filling up with dealmakers. Cafés are opening along the coastal road.
Local government must operate in a legal vacuum until a new constitution is agreed upon, probably not before the middle of next year. In the meantime local leaders owe their legitimacy to the citizens. Misrata and Benghazi held municipal elections several months ago. Ajdabiya, which lies between the two, will follow suit by the end of the year. The people of Brega and Ras Lanuf chose their councils and leaders at public meetings. Only Sirte, the Qaddafi stronghold, remains under a forced administration, its local leaders chosen by the authorities in Tripoli. Benghazi and Derna, in the east, are still struggling to contain discontent. Jobless young people in these towns are still liable to be recruited by extremists.
Local loyalties, sharpened during the revolution, have given rise to fears that Libya could break up. Misratans, who suffered most in the war, proudly mention their hometown in almost every breath, ridiculing people from Zintan, another rebel bastion, accusing them of stealing an elephant from the Tripoli zoo during the capital’s liberation. Misratan militias recently fought a full-scale battle with rivals in Bani Walid. To ease tensions, posts in the new government have been dished out on a regional basis.
Fears of separatism may, in any case, be overblown. Family links across the sparsely populated country bind people together. Provided the country’s oil wealth is distributed, it can serve as a national glue, as it did under Qaddafi. The government is already using it to buy off people with separatist tendencies— “federalists”, as they call themselves, especially those from the east, who resent being dominated by Tripoli.
At the general election in July, federalist candidates were roundly defeated, but have won concessions in the aftermath. Easterners are likely to be over-represented in the constitution-writing body relative to the size of their population. The headquarters of the national oil company may even be brought back to Benghazi.
Another key to rebuilding the state is to foster reconciliation by accommodating the less nasty parts of the old regime. Ali Zidan, the new prime minister, is from Sirte, though he was a dissident rather than a loyalist. Mr Labaz, Sirte’s council leader, says, “They loved Qaddafi here and people cry, as everyone does when you lose a loved one, but they will forget.”
Notable figures from the old regime will be put into political quarantine for five or ten years, except for a handful who switched sides early in the revolution. The most bloodstained will be put on trial, but there is little talk of punishing people on the fringes of the old order. Civil servants and businessmen, many of whom collaborated with Qaddafi to some degree, are needed for reconstruction.
Oil production has passed its pre-war level of 1.5m barrels a day. The country’s biggest refinery, in Ras Lanuf, went back on stream two months ago and is exporting fuel again. A Russian service company has been invited back, despite Russia’s opposition to the revolution. But most foreign oil firms are treading water, since the authorities are loth to award new concessions until next year at the earliest. Meanwhile the government is priming the pump, cutting the domestic price of fuel by 25% and expanding the range of staples, such as cooking oil, sugar and tea, that it subsidises, along with rice and flour. This will cause trouble in the long term, but at least it shows that the state can make a difference.
Now put those guns away
The ugliest fly in the national ointment is the sporadic violence still tarnishing several of Libya’s cities. Pockets of jihadist sympathisers still exist, especially on the eastern side of the country. Gratuitous or celebratory shooting is less common than it was just after the revolution but gun battles between militias, both Islamist and secular, still frequently occur. So do assassinations and car bombings, usually perpetrated by militias that fought against Qaddafi. Some have turned to crime, while trying to secure political jobs for their leaders. Others have taken up the jihadist cause. Most insist on keeping their arms for fear—they say—of a possible counter-revolution.
The government is keeping a wary eye on suspected jihadists. And it is trying to get the militias off the streets and to integrate them into a revamped police force and army. In small towns, civilians appointed by local councils are trying to impose their authority over the militias. But in Benghazi and Tripoli many remain a law unto themselves. Earlier this month some that were supposed to have been inducted into the regular forces fought a running battle in a central bit of Tripoli that lasted all day. The police simply closed the road and let them fight it out.
The prime minister is holding talks with two five-member councils representing eastern and western revolutionaries, in the hope that they will persuade their militias to join a force that will be modelled on America’s National Guard and will patrol the borders. “This is the new government’s top priority,” says one of the negotiators. Indeed, Libya’s future depends on it. In Iraq the militias, with jihadist factions among them, fatally undermined the fledgling civil administration. They must not be allowed to do the same in Libya.We can predict with some authority that the above picture has forced you into a blubbering, moaning, snivelling wreck. It is a picture of a Ferrari Enzo, left to rot in the stifling desert heat of Dubai.
This is sad. So much more sad because apparently, said desert is actually a police impound lot. This Ferrari Enzo has been left to rot in a police impound lot. This is sad.
No more details are available, and we can only hope the Enzo hasn’t been left for too long. But as you can see, it’s a bit sandy. And did we mention it’s quite hot? Cars don’t really like sand and heat, much.
If you’ve spotted any abandoned supercars - or indeed know anything more about this Enzo - send in your pics to [email protected]. We will cry, and then share our misery with you, so that you may cry.
Now go and cry.
Photos courtesy of Luxury4Play.comAmerican duo Pomplamoose, consisting of multi-instrumentalists Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn became famous in 2009 on the Internet, mostly due to videos posted on Youtube. After two years, they’re already touring, selling songs and merchandise on the Internet, and also developed their own separate projects too.
“precious self aware twee irony hugs joke beard BIG EYES malegaze cover band aesthetic”
an Internet user that just won’t enjoy some Pomplamoose
“their [sic] having fun making covers of famous songs, and that’s basically it. if you like covers you might like this”
a part-time literate user that actually does enjoy it
Here’s my personal favorite of their songs (a cover, of course), that was also used in a Toyota commercial last year:
Seeing the way they edit the videos and promote their music and politely, almost jokingly asking their fans to buy their stuff or to donate money, I have to say they’re quite admirable. Not necessarily because of their musical competences (since other than versatility and clever self-aware mimicry I don’t see much going on there), but especially because of the ingenuity in selling their product and Internet marketing. Pure aces at it.
Featured photo from here.Europe's Chief Bailout Officer Introduces the ESM to Investors
Klaus Regling, the head of the euro area's bailout facilities held a conference call for investors on Tuesday presenting the soon to be launched ESM. The introduction, including an extensive 'FAQ' type section can be downloaded in full here (pdf). The aim of the conference call was to begin marketing ESM bonds to investors. In order to increase the bailout vehicle's firepower, it will – similar to the EFSF – sell bonds to investors. Since the German constitutional court has recently given its placet to the ratification of the ESM, the new bailout fund is set to become operational on October 8. We were astonished to learn that the staff of the EFSF (which will run the ESM as well) consists of altogether 60 people. We wondering a bit what they are doing all day long as it were. Here are a few noteworthy pieces of information from the conference call (mostly it summarized things that are already known, but here we have it all in one place):
The ESM will have total capital of €700 billion, in the form of €80 billion in paid-in capital and €620 billion in callable capital guarantees. The signatories to the ESM treaty have to cough up their share of capital additions within seven days if they are called upon to do so. Since the fund only has a lending capacity of up to €500 billion, it will be theoretically overcollateralized by 40%.
Should one member nation be unable to come up with the funds to meet a capital call (for instance by dint of being bankrupt), the remaining members must make up for its share on a pro-rata basis. It is hoped that this rule will assuage the concerns of outside bondholders as to the security of their investment. The ESM has not been rated yet, so one assumes that this was also designed with the credit rating in mind. Apart form the €100 billion Spanish bank recap, where the ESM will rank pari passu with other investors, it will have seniority in all additional bailouts it undertakes – with a sole exception: its claims will remain subordinated to the IMF's. The fund will be able to participate in private sector repo markets, but it won't get a banking license and hence won't be able to repo securities with the ECB (issuance of a banking license to the ESM has been deemed illegal both by the ECB's legal counsel and the German constitutional court, so the banking license idea is finally dead as a doornail).
Another Three Card Monte
One might think at this point that ergo, the ESM's operations will be non-inflationary. The devil may be in certain details though. In point 24 of his FAQ list, Regling describes how the Spanish bank recapitalization will be handled (readers may remember that a similar method was employed by the EFSF in Greece in connection with the post PSI bank recapitalization). According to the transcript:
“Q: Will the funding for the Spanish bank recap be done by means of bonds transferred to Spain (i.e., a cashless operation) or by means of capital market funding? A: The funding for the Spanish bank recap will in general take the form of EFSF or ESM bonds provided to FROB (the Spanish bank restructuring agency).”
(emphasis added)
Let's think this through: Spain's FROB gets ESM bonds (or EFSFS bonds, which will later become ESM bonds), which it then presumably hands over to banks that require new capital. A question that was neither asked nor answered was whether the banks concerned could then in turn use these bonds to obtain central bank funding, but we must assume that it is possible. After all, why should the ECB (or the Bank of Spain) refuse to take these high quality bonds, which are guaranteed by 17 different nations of which at most five or six (depending on who you ask) are currently insolvent?
Given a reserve requirement of a mere 1% in the euro system, the banks could in theory then lever up the reserves they receive in return in concert by a ratio of up to 100:1.
We are of course well aware that this is not going to happen in the current economic climate. However, one cannot shake the suspicion that an indirect subsidization of the debt auctions of Spain's government could (and probably will) occur in this manner. After all, if the banks get new reserves in exchange for pledging ESM bonds with the central bank, they could use those to extend credit to the government.
Moreover, if the banks were to create new deposits in favor of the government and got new government bonds in return, they could pledge these bonds to the central bank as well. Since the ECB has dropped even the last bit of pretense regarding the 'quality' of its own balance sheet by more or less dropping all limits to collateral eligibility (ostensibly to 'ease a collateral shortage', which it asserted as recently as mid 2011 did not exist), Spanish government bonds would certainly not be rejected, regardless of their rating.
As an aside to the above, the ECB's LTRO's have vastly increased the ratio of covered to uncovered money substitutes in the euro area's banking system. Prior to the huge increase in central bank credit, the effective demand deposit cover in the euro are was below 5%. At present the euro area's true money supply consists of €871 billion in currency plus money substitutes amounting to €4.097 trillion. Of these money substitutes, a full €882 billion are covered these days (this is to say, they have bank reserves deposited with the ECB behind them), up from a far more paltry €200 billion prior to the LTRO's.
In short, bank reserves held at the ECB exceed required reserves by about €840 billion, or 20.5% of the money substitutes outstanding. Of course the banks that have deposited excess reserves with the ECB are not the same banks that need the 1% reserve requirement to merely scrape by (this was lowered from an already risible 2% last year). Ownership of bank reserves is not exactly evenly distributed. The fact remains though that there is now immense credit expansion potential – even though it is fair to assume that it will remain dormant for now.
Note however that the ECB itself is evidently interested in seeing these reserves mobilized for credit expansion: this is why it lowered the interest rate it pays on excess reserves to zero (and the possibility of introducing a penalty rate has been and presumably continues to be discussed). In extremis the banks could react to the introduction of a penalty rate on reserves by exchanging them for currency and keeping the banknotes in a vault (provided the cost of guarding the money pile does not exceed the penalty rate).
ESM and ECB Tandem
In the event of an aid request from e.g. Spain, the ESM would become a primary market financing vehicle for the government, i.e. it would presumably buy Spanish bonds directly from the treasury. The ECB would buy bonds on the short end of the curve concurrently in the secondary market, so as to manipulate market interest rates.
In short, once a country comes under the bailout program, interest rates on its debt will no longer properly reflect an adequate risk premium. It will be impossible to gauge what interest rates would obtain in a non-manipulated market – in fact, it is already impossible to do so, due to the 'announcement effect'. Since studies exist that show that the risk premium contained in interest rates on government bonds in the euro area is also reflected in rates charged in the loanable funds market in the private sector, this manipulation has potentially wide-ranging economic effects. The ECB wants it that way of course (the monetary bureaucracy falsely holds that manipulation of interest rates by bureaucrats is economically beneficial). According to the ECB, there have to be the same interest rates across the euro area, regardless of the differences in risk and economic circumstances.
We would again note here that the ECB's contention that its planned 'OMT' operations would be non-inflationary must be doubted on the grounds that there is already such a huge amount of excess bank reserves extant.
Say for instance that the ECB were to buy bonds worth €200 billion in the secondary market and then proceeded to'sterilize' them by issuing a weekly renewable deposit tender at an interest rate high enough to entice the banks to take it up. Where would the funds for this come from? Why would the banks that are currently starved for interest on their excess reserves not simply move some of them over into this new facility? In that case, we might have to consider the sterilization to exist only on paper. The bond buying as such would of course swell both the ECB's and the banking system's deposit liabilities further, so much would would still depend on how the banks dispose of the additional reserves they would garner, i.e. if they would be prepared to pyramid further credit atop them. Moreover, the initial money supply expansion cannot possibly be'sterilized'. Only the further inflationary expansion of credit atop the new deposit money created can theoretically be curtailed by sequestering bank reserves with deposit tenders.
Imagine the government issuing €200 billion in bonds in order to repay holders of maturing bonds and to spend the remainder. The banks buy these bonds at auction and fob them off to the ECB. Evidently the €200 billion will indeed enter the economy,'sterilization' or no sterilization. Also, to the extent that the ECB buys bonds from non-banks in the secondary market, additional deposit money will be created directly.
The inflationary potential might never be fully realized, especially as those who are solvent are not eager to spend and many banks are themselves eager to bolster their cash assets at the moment, but it is important to recognize that it exists.
Lastly, Regling shot down the idea that'money left over' from the €100 billion Spanish bank recap could be used to finance government debt. The exact amount required for the recap exercise will soon be determined (although we are slightly mystified as to how anything but a rough snapshot can be arrived at – after all, this is a moving target, and a fast moving one at that). The official line is now that the entire €100 billion probably won't be required and that the remainder will enhance the €400 billion in ESM lending capacity that is left over. This is a not unimportant detail, due to the fact that the ESM won't enjoy senior creditor status in the bank recap. The fewer bonds it issues to the FROB, the safer it will be for outside investors to buy ESM bonds.
The ESM's capital structure (prior to obtaining funds from the capital markets) and lending capacity, via Der Spiegel – click for better resolution.
Current EFSF/ESM bailout recipients and the size of the bailouts. The ones in dark blue remain in the EFSF program. Note that Slovenia is likely to soon require help for its banks as well – click for better resolution.
Conclusion
In summary, the European Keynesian rescue operation, which consists of saving the balance sheets of the already ruined by viciously impairing the ones of those still (barely) standing in good health, is rolling on full blast.
Bombs away, one might say.
Charts by: Der Spiegel
Dear Readers!
You may have noticed that our so-called “semiannual” funding drive, which started sometime in the summer if memory serves, has seamlessly segued into the winter. In fact, the year is almost over! We assure you this is not merely evidence of our chutzpa; rather, it is indicative of the fact that ad income still needs to be supplemented in order to support upkeep of the site. Naturally, the traditional benefits that can be spontaneously triggered by donations to this site remain operative regardless of the season - ranging from a boost to general well-being/happiness (inter alia featuring improved sleep & appetite), children including you in their songs, up to the likely allotment of privileges in the afterlife, etc., etc., but the Christmas season is probably an especially propitious time to cross our palms with silver. A special thank you to all readers who have already chipped in, your generosity is greatly appreciated. Regardless of that, we are honored by everybody's readership and hope we have managed to add a little value to your life.
Bitcoin address: 12vB2LeWQNjWh59tyfWw23ySqJ9kTfJifAQueensland budget: Environment budget up $23m, but 'not enough detail'
Updated
Environment spending for Queensland has increased by more than $23 million in this year's budget.
Koalas, climate change, the Great Barrier Reef and national parks have been flagged as priorities.
Over two years, $1.5 million has been set aside for consultation about Labor's proposed pristine rivers laws.
Environment Minister Steven Miles said the money would ensure traditional owners had their say.
"It may involve some travel for traditional owners to Brisbane, it may involve appointing consultation experts with traditional owner experience. Whether they're government employees or contractors or both," he said.
"The important thing is to make sure we bring communities with us as we determine how to protect Queensland's most pristine river systems."
Opposition environment spokesman Christian Rowan said taxpayers deserve more detail.
"It sounds like a significant amount of money and could be too much to spend just on consultation," he said.
"This Government is about consulting and not doing. It's time for them to step up to the mark and implement practical strategies."
Container deposit scheme
The Opposition claimed detail about a Queensland container deposit scheme had been left out of the budget too.
The Government has said it was developing a scheme and nearly $2 million dollars has been allocated in the budget for recycling and waste reduction programs.
"We see no evidence that a container deposit scheme is going to be implemented in Queensland any time soon," Dr Rowan said.
"New South Wales is looking to have their scheme up and running from 1 July 2017.
"We believe time is of the essence."
Wildlife carers
About $15 million dollars has been allocated in the budget for wildlife management work, including a substantial amount for wildlife hospitals.
"They do a really important job and so it's good we'll be able to support their work looking after injured animals," Mr Miles said.
"Anecdotally, we think there's been an increase in demand, but there's also been an increasing community concern for injured animals."
Topics: recycling-and-waste-management, environment, budget, state-parliament, qld
First postedIn |
Apple has so far failed to address adequately, in our opinion—but there is good news in all of this. AnandTech also discovered that the iPhone 4 can actually use signal at the lower threshold far more reliably than any previous iPhone. "It's readily apparent that the new baseband hardware is much more sensitive compared to what was in the 3GS," according to Anand Shimpi. "The difference is that reception is massively better on the iPhone 4 in actual use."
Rumors have suggested that Apple has an update to iOS 4 coming soon that may address the issue, and an e-mail from Steve Jobs to a frustrated customer seems to support that theory. A reader indicated to us via e-mail that Apple may be using digitally adjustable solid state capacitors to tune the iPhone 4's antennas, which if true would make a software fix possible.
While Apple has yet to externally admit there is a problem, the company is definitely looking to beef up its on-staff expertise in antenna engineering—ironically posting job listings for mobile antenna engineers on the same day that the iPhone 4 problems were discovered. Until Apple does offer an official fix (assuming one can be made), using some type of case, or alternately covering the gap between antennas on the bottom left corner with some type of insulating material, is the only reliable solution if you're affected by this problem.A new opinion poll shows left-wing opposition Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) party ahead of the ruling conservative New Democracy by 1.5%, Ekathimerini.com said on February 12.
The survey showed SYRIZA leading with 30% support. A poll published in January put SYRIZA at 31.5% and New Democracy at 28%.
In the face of severe suffering caused by austerity measures, the radical group SYRIZA leapt from the political margins to nearly win 2012 elections, running on a pro-people, anti-austerity platform.
The new poll showed the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn taking third place with 8.5% and the Greek Communist Party (KKE) standing at 7.5%. Of New Democracy's coalition partners, the social democratic PASOK is at 7% and the Democratic left (a right-wing split from Syriza) is at 3.5%.
The poll also showed that 55% of respondents believe SYRIZA will win the elections, compared to 31% who think the winner will be New Democracy, Ekathimerini.com said.Dolphins head coach Adam Gase said over the weekend that Dion Jordan was on step one of "like 500" when he returned to the team after serving a year-long NFL drug suspension that was actually more like 16 months.
One of those steps passed Monday when the roster bonus deadline that was supposed to help determine Jordan's status on the team -- either on it or off -- came and went and nothing happened because... well, because it was moot.
Jordan is recovering from surgery on his left knee. He's on the non-football injury list, which means he's not on the roster. So no bonus. And so he's got 499 steps before he factors for the Dolphins.
But, the direction I'm seeing this pointed, it is hard to fathom Jordan actually factoring.
I'm not talking about his drug problem. I'm not talking about his drinking. Remove those significant issues, which Jordan says he has addressed and continues to address, and I still don't see Jordan factoring from a sheer football perspective.
Consider this picture.
He has been away from football for over a year. And he returned to his team recovering from a knee injury and subsequent surgery?
Is this real life?
He has had plenty of time to work out and get in great shape. But although he says he's 275 pounds (who really knows because until he earns trust you cannot trust anything he says or does) he didn't look cut or strong in any way when I saw him.
And those two together mean things.
It means Jordan is going to miss two and maybe three weeks of camp. The last time he missed that much time in training camp was his rookie year. And despite having a relatively clean slate then, despite having played football the previous year, which is significant because he wasn't rusty, Jordan could not make up for the lost time.
So he didn't really factor all that much.
And now he's in the same situation. Well, he has more experience, one might argue. But that's relative because his limited experience his rookie season and limited experienced when he returned from his first and second suspensions in 2014 hardly a seasoned veteran made.
So Jordan is kind of right back where he was at the start of his rookie training camp: On the side. Falling behind while teammates sweat and work and hone skills.
That leads me to this: While Cameron Wake, Mario Williams, Andre Branch, Jason Jones, Chris McCain and the other two or three defensive ends on the roster are getting better, Jordan is merely trying to get healthy. And those guys were better than Jordan at the start of camp to begin with because they've played, they've been in the conditioning program, they were under the team's care and direction the past six months most of them.
Jordan was under the care of a clinician who was trying to keep him on the right life path.
Sorry fans, none of this suggests Jordan will be a beast when he finally gets on the field. None of this suggests he's going to be in a position to legitimately earn a spot ahead of any of those named above.
And for that reason, it would not surprise if the team simply keeps him on NFI or moves him to the regular-season physically unable to perform list, thus giving Jordan more time to get his football legs under him, get some practice in when the window for such things open.
And then we can check back later on in the season to see where things are.
(And this is where some fan suggests the Dolphins trade Dion Jordan for a good player, maybe a cornerback such as Richard Sherman).
I doubt any team is going to give up a quality player for Jordan. Maybe someone gives up a sixth-round pick. Maybe.
Remember, Jordan is one failed test away from a lifetime ban.
Anyway, if I were making decisions -- which I'm not because I'm a stooge -- I would draw up a longterm football plan for Dion Jordan. The Dolphins are planning and supporting and doing things to make sure Jordan succeeds as a person. They need to do similar work to make sure he succeeds as a player.
I would look at the talent on my roster. I would look at Dion Jordan. I would look at the current situation. And I would determine the following:
I would determine Dion Jordan cannot and will not be in the plans now. I would determine Jordan is a strongside linebacker -- the position he played in college. I would determine Jordan has to drop 15 pounds to play that position. And forward we go to the midpoint of the regular season when we see if Jordan has done the work to become that player.
Why am I determining this?
Looking at the Dolphins roster, Jordan simply cannot beat out the defensive ends ahead of him right now. He's going to take snaps away from Wake? Williams? Branch? Jones? Be serious.
Looking at the roster, the linebacker corps has no serious depth. With all respect to Spencer Paysinger and Neville Hewitt, I would not be comfortable with them as the answer if either Koa Misi or Jelani Jenkins get hurt and miss time. And by the way, are you aware both Misi and Jenkins have missed time the last couple of seasons?
So Jordan as the backup plan.
And why him?
Because, again, he played the position in college. He wasn't a defensive end. The Dolphins didn't draft a defensive end named Dion Jordan in 2013. They drafted a kid who was so athletic he played all over the place, including some at end, because he could win on sheer athleticism. Except for the foreseeable future that doesn't matter because NFL tackles are typically pretty good, because Jordan is 35 pounds heavier than he was in college, and because he hasn't played any organized football since 2014.
It is now 2016.
So trim 15 pounds, get healthy, get in your playbook (tablet), and factor when it's your time.
Look, the only Dolphins player who has successfully covered Rob Gronkowski like, ever, is Dion Jordan in 2014. The guy the team used late in a game at Detroit to match up with Calvin Johnson was Dion Jordan.
The New England Patriots have a linebacker named Jamie Collins. He has pass-rush skills. But he is so valuable in coverage and doing so many other things, the Patriots use him in a manner that maximizes those skills. Jordan seems to have similar skills.
Dion Jordan is not a defensive end. Putting him there because he doesn't have to think and all he has to do is chase the ball is the easy approach. It'll be interesting to see if that approach bears fruit. I have doubts -- at least in the short term.The 100th Grey Cup had an economic impact of $133.1 million in the province of Ontario, according to an assessment that was conducted for the event.
Toronto Argonauts and 100th Grey Cup Festival executive chairman and CEO, Chris Rudge, made the announcement Wednesday during a special presentation to the City of Toronto’s Economic Development Committee.
“We are very pleased with the results produced by this assessment,” Rudge said in a statement. “The Festival was an important celebration of sport and culture for our city, province and country, and this evaluation demonstrates the positive, far-reaching financial impact it had on all of us.
“The people of Toronto opened their arms to the nation and were rewarded with a tremendous infusion of economic spending that also resulted in job creation and millions of dollars in municipal and provincial tax revenue. We look forward to hosting the Grey Cup festival and game again soon.”
According to the assessment, $94.7 million was generated within the city of Toronto alone. The events during Grey Cup week attracted nearly 200,000 spectators, including 86,400 out-of-town spectators to Toronto with the out-of-towners each spending an average of $354.87 in the community over the course of their trip; the average day-trip visitor spent $122.60 and the average overnight visitor spent $646.98.
“The City of Toronto scored an economic touchdown with the 100th Grey Cup Festival,” Toronto’s mayor Rob Ford said. “This tremendously successful event brought in nearly $95 million in economic benefits, resulted in hundreds of jobs for our residents, and was enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of people.”
The Grey Cup and its numerous festivities supported $38.4 million in wages and salaries throughout Ontario and supported 795 jobs.
Approximately $25.3 million in tax revenue – a combination of federal, provincial and municipal taxes — was also generated by the event.
“The Grey Cup Festival was a huge win for our city, both on and off of the field,” chair of Toronto’s Economic Development Committee Michael Thompson added. “It is most gratifying that an event of such national importance also brought with it economic, cultural and employment benefits for our city and its people.”
The assessment was prepared by the Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance using the STEAM PRO economic impact assessment model, which is considered the gold standard for evaluating economic impact of a particular event in an area.
The hometown Argos were victorious in the historic game, beating the Calgary Stampeders by a score of 35-22.With just two days to go before the New York primary elections, the latest polls show races that look largely unchanged on both the Democratic and Republican sides, though the Democratic race may have tightened somewhat, and the GOP contest appears even more one-sided than in earlier polls.
Hillary Clinton holds on to a comfortable, double-digit lead over Bernie Sanders in the Democratic race, while Donald Trump has expanded his already overwhelming advantage over his Republican opponents.
#TNN :: Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump lead in NY, polls show https://t.co/JTbugRhH5Z — The News Network (@TheNews_Network) April 17, 2016
The newest individual poll was conducted by CBS News and YouGov from April 13 to April 15, which for the Democrats means that at least partially, the results would factor in what took place on April 14 when Clinton and Sanders squared off on a Brooklyn stage in what turned out to be their most heated, acrimonious debate of the nine between them so far.
Voters who missed the fireworks can watch a full replay of that debate between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in the video below.
But the relatively large margin of error for Republicans should make no difference for the party’s frontrunner, New York businessman and native Donald Trump, who leads the GOP field by a whopping 33 percentage points, according to the CBS News/YouGov survey. Trump takes an unassailable 54 percent of Republican support while Texas Senator Ted Cruz takes 21 percent, edging past Ohio Governor John Kasich with 19.
For the Democrats, former New York Senator and United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton holds on to a 10 point lead — unchanged from the last CBS News/YouGov poll way back on April 1. The share of the vote also remains the same as in the earlier YouGov poll, with Clinton gathering 53 percent and Sanders 43 percent.
NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 15: Democratic presidential candidate former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
But compared to the most recent previous poll, an NBC News 4/Wall Street Journal/Marist College poll completed on April 13, Sanders appears to have gained on Clinton. That poll showed the former Secretary of State with a 17-point lead.
But there have now been 11 separate polls released in New York in April ahead of the primary which will be held on Tuesday. In every one of them, Clinton has held a lead of at least 10 points, with a gap as wide as 18 points in an April 7 Emerson College poll.
Most of Clinton’s strength comes from New York City and its suburbs, where according to Marist College poll, Clinton tops Sanders by 26 points in the city and 24 in the suburbs.
The two are neck-and-neck in the state’s rural areas, though according to an MSNBC news report seen in the video below, Sanders’ call for a nationwide ban on fracking may be hurting him with voters in the upstate, rural areas.
According to the weighted polling average of all New York primary polls, compiled by the election projection site FiveThirtyEight, Clinton leads Sanders by 14.4 points, with 53.1 percent to just 38.7 for Bernie Sanders.
FiveThirtyEight also calculates the probability of each candidate winning any given election. The site now projects Clinton with a 99 percent chance of victory, with Sanders clinging to a threadbare one percent hope. The most likely split of the vote, according to the FiveThirtyEight statistical projection as of April 17, is Clinton with 56 percent to 41.4 percent for Sanders.
MORE ELECTION COVERAGE FROM THE INQUISITR:
On the Real Clear Politics site, which calculates polling averages using a somewhat different formula than FiveThiryEight, Clinton holds an average 12.5-point lead over Bernie Sanders.
But Hillary Clinton has another significant advantage over Bernie Sanders in New York. The primary there is “closed,” meaning that only registered Democrats may vote. According to the CBS News/YouGov poll, Clinton holds a 19-point lead over Sanders among registered Democrats.
[Featured Photos By Justin Sullivan/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images]Last week our company of focus was Delivra Corp (TSXV: DVA), a company with its hands in both the biotech industry, as well as the cannabis sector. We wrote a full analysis on the organization, entitled “Delivra Corp – The Biotech-Cannabis Company You’ve Never Heard Of “. Within the article, we identified several licensing agreements that the company had signed with various industry players. A handful of these agreements were from 2016, and no update had been noted on them. So, we set out to find answers.
To find these answers, we initially contacted the investor relations email inbox for the company. Upon receiving no response, we dived a bit deeper until we found the current relations provider, Joanna Longo of Terre Partners. We bounced a couple emails back and forth, and decided the best format for readers was a Q&A. So, that’s exactly what we did.
Q&A With Delivra Corp’s Investor Relations Team
Q: What is the status of the agreement between Delivra and Canopy Growth Corp? Aside from the initial news release, we couldn’t find any information related to this licensing agreement.
We formulated some products for Canopy last year and we were paid for our work. Canopy is trying to take this expertise in house.
Q: Is this deal essentially concluded, or is it still an ongoing agreement?
We had an agreement with Canopy to formulate cannabis-based products/extracts. That agreement was completed last year. Delivra has the capabilities to formulate products/extracts for any or all cannabis companies in Canada, as they begin their next phase of growth.
Q: When do you expect royalty fees from the three other cannabis / CBD related agreements? I’m aware that Kalytera is currently going through FDA paperwork, but we were curious if there was an estimated timeline or updates for these? The investor deck dated September 2017 indicates that catalysts in the next 12 months include a suite of cannabis related products however details are scarce.
We formulated cannabis / hemp products with Avanti who recently sold part of their company. Any development on these products has been pushed into 2018.
Q: Any details on the royalty fee structure for the current licensing agreements in place?
The royalty fees are double digit for the current licensing agreements.
Q: With all the licensing agreements you have related to cannabis-based therapeutics, is there a reason that there is no mention of these on your website itself? It seems odd that no mention of these products can be found aside from investor documents.
In terms of cannabis, the work we do for cannabis will be focused on formulations in which we formulate a specific product for a cannabis company and receive a royalty on that product. Currently many of the cannabis companies are trying to bring formulation expertise in-house. Delivra has superior formulation expertise and we expect to have more agreements as the industry develops over the next 12 months.
Q: What is the status of the LivSport brand of products? I see the name was mentioned in the latest financials, but your product portfolio on your website has no mention of these products.
We have been focused on growing market share for our currently available suite of OTC products and our pharmaceutical portfolio. As a small company, we only have so many resources. We have chosen to spend some money on marketing efforts on the OTC and building awareness, clinical experience and support for our diabetic wound healing products.
Q: What does the company expect in terms of growth over the next twelve months? Do you expect growth to occur at the current rate, or otherwise?
The Company expects to at least match the current yearly growth of 30% and to begin being EBITDA positive.
Q: You mentioned that due to the size of Delivra, you are currently limited with respect to resources. Is there a financing in the works for the company to support this growth? If so, what format would that likely take i.e. private placement, or a convertible debenture?
The Company continues to look for strategic partnerships. At the present time, there has been no discussions with regards to a financing.
Q: Speaking to Delivra’s OTC and pharmaceuticals products, what near term catalysts are present for these lines? Any new products in the works?
The Company is focused on growing market share for our existing OTC products and building awareness and clinical support for our pharmaceutical products, specifically the diabetic wound healing, LivDOX. We are a small cap company, so we are prudent with our resources and stay focused on what will create the most value for shareholders – marketing dollars to grow sales of existing OTC products.
Q: Expansion into the United States has been slow in coming, presumably because Delivra wants to do it right. What does the schedule look like for its U.S. expansion, will consumers be able to get LivRelief at their local pharmacy any time soon?
The Company is focused on building the LivRelief brand in Canada. It has experienced year-over-year 30% growth. We want to gain more market share in Canada first. We want Canada to be the playbook that is used for when we decide to expand internationally.
Closing Remarks
There you have it folks, our Q&A period with the Delivra investor relations team. Some new information was gleaned from this such as the positive EBITDA expected by the company, as well as the completion of the Canopy Growth agreement. To this end, we were also contacted by the communications team at Tweed, notifying us of the correction to be made. They declined to respond to our request for further information surrounding the agreement. We also attempted to contact the investor relations team at Kalytera Therapeutics, but did not receive a response prior to the time of publishing.
We’d like to take this time to thank Joanna Longo for the time she took to answer our inquisitive questions, and for putting up with our incessant emails. Her efforts were very much appreciated. We hope this provided some further insight to Delivra Corp, and answered some of the questions you may have had. Based on the responses received, it appears that Delivra will be well positioned going in to 2018, focused on the year to come.
Question what you discover. Seek the answers. Dive Deep.
Information for this Q&A period was provided via Joanna Longo of Terre Partners. The author has no securities or affiliations related to this organization. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security.
The original article that this Q&A period is based on can be found here.He stands accused of the worst war crimes since the end of the Second World War, with indictments including genocide, the setting up of concentration camps and organisation of torture, rape and massacres of civilians.
The psychiatrist and poet was a 1980s Green activist. He was also believed to be the architect of the Srebrenica massacre, an operation intended to “terrorise and demoralise the Bosnian Muslim and Bosnian Croat population”.
He also allegedly played a key role in the siege of Sarajevo and is believed to have personally ordered the shelling and the deployment of snipers during Serbian attacks on the Bosnian capital.
After the Dayton accord that ended the Bosnian war, Kradzic went into hiding - probably in the mountainous south-eastern area of the Serb-controlled part of Bosnia - protected by paramilitaries.
His children Sasa and Sonja were thought to play a key part in the network supporting him.
International pressure to capture Karadzic mounted in spring, 2005, when several of his former generals surrendered and a video of Bosnian Serb soldiers shooting captives from Srebrenica shocked television viewers in former Yugoslavia.
Karadzic was not born a Serb. His mother, Jovanka, gave birth to him in 1945 in a stable in Savnik, Montenegro as Yugoslavia was born out the destruction of World War Two.
But his father, Vuk, was a member of the Chetniks, the Serb nationalist guerrillas who fought against both Nazi occupiers of the Balks and Marshall Josip Broz Tito, the founder of the Communist Republic of Yugoslavia.
Karadzic’s mother described her son as loyal and a hard worker who helped work in the fields. She also said he was a serious boy who was respectful towards the elderly and helped his school friends with their homework.
In 1960, Radovan Karadzic moved to Sarajevo, where he graduated as a doctor, met his wife and became a psychologist in a city hospital  a hospital he 30 years later had shelled.
Karadzic also became a poet and fell under the influence of the Serb nationalist writer Dobrica Cosic, who encouraged him to go into politics.
After working briefly for the Green Party, he helped set up the Serbian Democratic Party  which was formed in 1990 in response to the rise of national and Croat parties in Bosnia and dedicated to the goal of a Greater Serbia.
As Bosnia gained recognition as an independent state and Yugoslavia descended into civil war, he declared the creation of an independent Serbian Republic later renamed Republika Srpska, with its capital in Sarajevo, and himself as head of state.
He was jointly indicted in 1995 along with the Bosnian Serb military leader, Ratko Mladic who remains on the run, for alleged war crimes they committed during the 1992-95 war.
On the run in October 2004 he published a book Miraculous Chronicles of the Night, set in 1980s Yugoslavia, which tells the story of a man jailed by mistake after the death of Tito.
A year later another book, Under the Left Breast of the Century, was launched in Pozarevac, the home town of the former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic who died while standing trial for war crimes in The Hague.
While never international bestsellers, Karadzic’s one mystical poems have continued to inspire extreme Serbian nationalists
”This fateful hour stiffened and reached the sky,
Like a tree it now binds all existence in its branches,
I am the cause of universal distress,
A certain knight called Moses secretly fears me,
From this fateful hour hours pass by upward like my head
And you are bound by some chilly
By some frosty terror,” he wrote.Haven’t you heard? Conservatives are heartless, cruel, and all other synonyms for “bad” because we don’t care about other people.
Which is to say that conservatives don’t agree with those on the left on how best to help the poor, educate children, and provide health care.
To many on the left, these are not just political debates. For them, our disagreement with their ideas deserves an indictment of our character and intent.
A recent Huffington Post piece by Kayla Chadwick, titled “I Don’t Know How To Explain To You That You Should Care About Other People,” demonstrates this perfectly.
The piece sums up the mindset of many people on the left toward conservatives. It also shows how the loudest on the left seem to care more about getting credit for their concern for others than they do about actually helping them.
To convince themselves and others that they are doing good and deserve to be seen as moral, they say that anyone who intends to help people would naturally support their policies, and that conservative criticism stems from a simple lack of care for others.
As Chadwick puts it, if you find fault with the minimum wage, “you’re a fundamentally different person than I am.”
If you want alternatives to public schools, “we are never going to see eye to eye.”
And, if you think there’s a solution to health care problems other than more government control, “there is a divide between our worldviews that can never be bridged.”
While this may seem like a simple acknowledgement of differences in worldview, Chadwick goes further by making the common progressive assault on the basic motives of people on the right.
Chadwick and others like her have it all wrong.
Conservatives don’t disagree with the left that the intent to help others is good. We disagree that their ideas will actually help, and thus that helping is really their first priority.
If people on the left truly want to help the poor, and have paid attention to what happened with the minimum wage in places like Seattle and Washington, D.C., how can they support the minimum wage?
The results are in from case after case: The minimum wage causes low-skilled workers to become unemployed or work at reduced hours.
In Seattle, where the minimum wage is creeping up each year to reach $15 an hour for all workers by 2021, workers have lost an average of $125 from their monthly paychecks.
It’s not unique to Seattle. In Washington, D.C., businesses have had to fire employees, fold multiple jobs into one, and raise prices because of the minimum wage.
There are legitimate discussions to be had about what policies help the poor, yet minimum wage is a proven harm.
But “Fight for 15!” looks good on poster board and sounds good in a chant, so it’s a favorite of unions that want a minimum wage to keep low-skilled workers from competing with their members.
The “Fight for 15!” crowd seems to care more about being seen in public fighting for their cause than they do making sure that their cause is worth fighting for.
The conservative answer to low wages is not, as Chadwick claims, to throw our hands in the air and say, “Too bad, so sad, next.”
The sustainable solution to low wages is to increase workers’ productivity. That means helping them increase their skills through better education and starter jobs.
Caring means following up on your policies to make sure they are helping, or at least not causing harm. But the Chadwicks of the left seem to care more about feeling good than doing good, often ignoring whether their policies actually work.
Take education and health care.
We have been throwing good money after bad into public education for decades, and all we have to show for it are underperforming schools and underserved students.
With health care, costs have become bloated and obscured by adding so many layers of middlemen, bureaucrats, and regulations that no one can tell you what the price of a procedure, pill, or checkup is without running it through a game of “chicken” between the doctor and the insurance company.
Looking at the results of current government policies and pushing for more of the same is like saying if a spoonful of the medicine will kill you, downing the whole bottle should make you immortal.
The Chadwicks of the world aren’t the doctors or saviors they claim to be if they aren’t willing to follow up on the effects of their prescriptions.
A doctor schedules a follow-up appointment to make sure that what he suggested is working. If it isn’t, he should change it for the sake of his patient’s health. If he keeps writing prescriptions that cause worse side-effects than the illness itself, his license should be revoked.
We conservatives too often let ourselves lose the moral high ground at the beginning of the argument because people on the left bully us off the hill with shouts about how wonderful their intentions are and how low ours are.
That’s all they have: claims about their intentions. But their arguments based upon intentions are a cardboard cutout of actual morality. They do not deserve the high ground, and they cannot keep it if we push back and make them defend the consequences of their high and noble intentions.
Challenge them to show the substance of their policies. When they claim to care and try to climb on their high horse, pull them off the horse by making them prove it.
We care and we show it through policies that work. They like to talk, so make them walk.
They argue against our policies in practice using their ideas in theory. It’s a cheap shot and it wins them the moral debate. We don’t need to fall for it.
Research the history and consequences of their policies on their behalf. Hold them accountable to arguing about effects, not just intent.
They can point all day to how there are poor people in America (and there are) or how there are many undereducated children in this country (and there are) or how there are sick people who need care they can’t get (and there are).
But before you let them claim they care about those problems, make them show how they are actually going to do a darned thing about them besides shout and self-promote.It is three o’clock in the afternoon on Sunday July 27th 1986. Every seat is full at the pristine new Stvanice tennis stadium, situated on an island on the Vltava River in Prague. People crouch on the stadium steps, craning their necks, chattering excitedly. Czechoslovakia, the host nation of this year’s Federation Cup, the most important team competition in women’s tennis, is facing off against the United States of America. But something more than a tennis match is taking place.
In the stadium there is a box separated from the bubbling crowd by armed guards. Sitting in it are seven greying men. They are sullen and stony-faced, their grim demeanour in stark contrast to the excitement that surrounds them. There is no mistaking it – the Czech politburo is unhappy. But why? Czechoslovakia has become the first communist country to host the Federation Cup. Not only that but their country is in the final. But no, something has got them piqued and if you follow their stares down on to the court you can see the object of their displeasure. She is blonde, 29 years old, and five feet eight inches tall. She is wearing broad silver-frame glasses, a white skirt and a white top with a splash of blue across the shoulder. Martina Navratilova, the world’s number-one tennis player, has unsettled the regime.
On court the Czech national anthem is being played and its refrain seems to sum up the past decade of Navratilova’s life:
“Kde domov můj
Kde domov můj?”
“Where is my home?
Where is my home?”
Eleven years before, when she was just 18, Navratilova had defected to the United States from Czechoslovakia. In an instant she had freed herself from government minders, from having her prize money confiscated, from the threat of having her passport taken away. But she had also lost her family and friends. She had lost her home. It was a strange kind of freedom she had gained.
Although she was a resident of the United States, the peripatetic life of the professional player meant the only place she had truly been able to call home was the 78ft by 36ft rectangle of the tennis court. It was here that she played out her intense rivalry with the fans’ favourite, Chris Evert, as they fought for the number one world ranking. It was here that she weathered the boos, catcalls and shouts of “Go back to Russia!” from the American crowds. Her sheer persistence, her bulldog style of play – serve and volley while most other players, including Evert, kept to the baseline – made the fans admire her almost despite themselves.
The Czechs in the stadium had lived under de facto Soviet rule since Russian tanks had rolled through the Prague streets in 1968. Their homeland had disappeared and been replaced by a twisted system replete with interrogations, intimidations and random imprisonments. Houses were bugged and the secret police were always listening. It was a country that offered no repose.
“Where is my home?
Where is my home?”
Navratilova knew that the answer to the question could only be found by returning to Czechoslovakia. In 1985 she had requested a visa to visit the country of her birth but had been denied. However, one year later the authorities had been forced to relent when she was selected for the US Federation Cup team. The communist government was in a quandary: they wanted to host the tournament to show how normal life in a communist country was, but they would undermine that message by banning the world’s best player. They gave Navratilova the visa but they were not about to shine a spotlight on her.
In fact they did everything in their power to negate her presence. At some press conferences Navratilova had her microphone turned off, at others she was surrounded by Czech officials to prevent the international media from talking to her. Her matches were not broadcast on Czech television and the Czech papers were forbidden from reporting them. Photographers were prohibited from picking up a camera when Navratilova was playing. The match umpires did not even refer to her by name, but simply as “the woman player from the United States”. The Czech authorities were determined to show that while she may be the world number one in tennis, in their eyes she was a non-person.
Yet Navratilova could not be ignored. Her presence was magnetic. Jane Brown Grimes, a former president of the United States Tennis Association who was in Prague at the time and has since written about the competition, recalled how crowds flocked to the outside court where the United States team was playing its matches, ignoring the giant stadium where the Czech national team was competing. Passing trains slowed down to let their passengers catch a glimpse of her. She quickly became the most sought-after player at the tournament.
The official censorship finally broke in the quarter-finals when Navratilova was facing the Italian player Raffaella Reggi. As the umpire yet again introduced Navratilova as “the woman player from the United States” the crowd openly rebelled and started chanting in Czech, “Say her name! Say her name!” over and over again until the chanting was so loud that neither player could hear the umpire. With the crowd showing no sign of relenting, and realising the match would have to be abandoned – a terrible loss of face – the umpire finally gave way and announced, “Miss Navratilova”. The crowd roared in response, then calmed down, and the game could finally begin. The tennis court, for Navratilova and the Czech crowd, had become a place of liberation.
Then came the final round between the US and Czechoslovakia, played in a best-of-three format. The US had won the first match, and now Navratilova could clinch the cup with victory. She was to face Hana Mandlíková, who she had beaten in the Wimbledon final a few weeks before. But the pressure Navratilova felt now was even greater than in a grand-slam final. It was the pressure of becoming a symbol. Win and she would show the crowd how to defy the system and triumph. Lose and she would become a communist cautionary tale.
Both players initially looked strong and the match went with serve. Mandlíková fought off a couple of break points but was growing in confidence. The 8,000 spectators applauded her on and it was not hard to see why. Yes, Mandlíková was the home favourite but she was also regarded as the most graceful player on the tour at the time. She too played a serve-and-volley game, but while Navratilova was overwhelmingly physical, charging and diving, Mandlíková was so light on her feet she hardly seemed to touch the court. At 5-6 and leading 40-0, Mandlíková was about to send the set into a tiebreaker. But a momentary lapse of concentration and a missed shot proved a turning point. Navratilova saw weakness and pounced, returning her serves with venom spitting from her strings. At deuce a whipping backhand return landed at Mandlíková’s feet, doubling her up and forcing her to net the ball. Unnerved at this sudden ferocity Mandlíková double-faulted and handed the break, and the set, |
Both drivers finished in the points, with Hamilton finishing sixth and Button eighth.
In China they scored a dominant 1–2 finish. In Spain, Hamilton had been running towards the front for the majority of the race, but crashed out on the penultimate lap when a front wheel rim cracked and deflated a front tyre. Meanwhile, after qualifying fifth, Button experienced delays during his first pitstop, and got jumped by Michael Schumacher for which he was never able to recover, and finished in fifth place. In Monaco, the car lacked mechanical grip, with Hamilton and Button qualifying fifth and eighth respectively. Button retired on lap 3 with an overheating engine after a cooling duct was mistakenly left in the radiator, while Hamilton never managed to threaten the pace of the leaders and finished fifth.
In Turkey, Hamilton and Button qualified second and fourth respectively amongst the two Red Bulls of polesitter Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel. In the race, the car's straightline speed was evident when Hamilton challenged Webber for first place during the first stint, but was never able to pass. After being delayed during his pitstop when a rear wheel jammed, he dropped behind Vettel, and was keeping up with the pace with Button trailing behind him, whom after passing Michael Schumacher on the first lap was quietly matching the pace of the leaders. However, on lap 41, the two Red Bulls collided with Vettel retiring and Webber needing to pit for a new front wing. Despite a brief battle for the lead with Button as the race drew slowly to a close, Hamilton was never challenged, and led Button home for McLaren's second one-two finish of the season.
In Canada, Hamilton claimed the first non-Red Bull pole of the season, and went on to claim the Drivers' Championship lead as led home Button once again for a 1–2, giving the team the Constructors' Championship lead. In Valencia, Hamilton qualified third behind the Red Bulls, with Button in seventh. In the race, Hamilton passed the safety car illegally – deployed after Webber ran into the back and over Heikki Kovalainen's Lotus – and was forced to serve a drive-through penalty. Despite this, Hamilton finished second behind Vettel with Button completing the podium.
McLaren hoped to challenge Red Bull at Silverstone, introducing new aerodynamic updates for the car. Unfortunately for the team, neither driver could find a good balance and setup for the new updates and reverted to the original package. Hamilton qualified fourth while Button failed to make the top ten, ending up 14th. Hamilton took another second place in the race while Button finished fourth, losing out on the final podium spot to Nico Rosberg. Hockenheim proved difficult for McLaren with the team preparing a damage limitation tactics until further major updates were introduced. Hamilton retained his championship lead with fourth, with Button just behind to keep McLaren top of the Constructors' Championship.
In Hungary, the circuit's nature hindered McLaren more with Button missing the top ten again and Hamilton nearly two seconds off pole position. Hamilton retired during the race with a gearbox issue, and Button finished a lap down in eighth place. The results of the weekend meant that both championship leads were lost, Hamilton falling four points behind Webber and the team falling eight points behind Red Bull.
The Belgian Grand Prix looked set to be more successful, with Hamilton second on the grid and Button fifth. As the rain came down, they quickly moved into first and second. However, Sebastian Vettel was very close to Button in second and on lap 16, as the German tried to overtake on the outside of the Bus Stop chicane, he lost control and hit Button's McLaren, eliminating the Briton from the race. Hamilton stayed in the lead until the very end, however, despite a scare as the rain returned in the closing laps.
Button qualified second for the Italian Grand Prix, with Hamilton in 5th, a reversal of their positions from Spa. Button took the lead from Alonso at turn one, as he needed to on his contrary strategy. Hamilton, meanwhile, attempted to pull the same trick on Alonso's teammate Massa at the second chicane, but instead hit the Brazilian, damaging his front suspension and eliminating him from the race. Button stayed ahead until the pit stops, but Alonso emerged comfortably ahead to take victory. Button was still close at the end, just under 3 seconds behind.
Hamilton and Button were third and fourth on the grid in Singapore, with just 5 tenths separating the top 5. The two McLaren men stayed in position during a safety car, deployed to clear the wreckage of Vitantonio Liuzzi's Force India, right up to the pit stops. They emerged behind Mark Webber, who had jumped them in the stops, just in time for a second safety car as Kamui Kobayashi and Bruno Senna collided. This closed up the field, and on the restart, Webber was held up by Lucas di Grassi in the Virgin, who he was lapping, which allowed Hamilton to close right up. The Brit attempted a move into turn 7, but as he moved across in front of the Australian, the two made contact and Lewis's rear suspension was terminally damaged. For the second time in two races, he had retired due to unnecessary contact with another car. As Webber carried on unscathed, this allowed Button through into fourth, and that was how it stayed until the end of the race.
Qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix was held on the morning of the race, after torrential rain at Suzuka on the Saturday. Hamilton qualified third, but eventually started the race in 8th after a 5 place grid penalty for changing his gearbox. This meant that Button, originally sixth, started fifth. Hamilton had a brilliant start, moving up 6th just behind his team mate before the safety car was deployed due to the first corner incident involving Nico Hülkenberg, Felipe Massa, Vitaly Petrov and Vitantonio Liuzzi. The retirement of Robert Kubica two laps later promoted them to 4th and 5th. Button led during the pit stops, but emerged in fifth, behind Hamilton. Hamilton was in difficulty with his gearbox, however, and Button quickly caught and re-passed him. This was how they finished, meaning that they were now trailing in 4th and 5th in the championship battle.
Hamilton was fourth on the grid in Korea, with Button down in 7th. The race began in torrential conditions, and was red flagged after three laps under the safety car. A while later, the race began again, still under the safety car, and it remained out until lap 18. On the first racing lap, Hamilton was passed by Nico Rosberg, and shortly afterwards, Webber spun out of the race, collecting Rosberg as he spun back across the track. This meant that Hamilton was in 3rd, and Button 5th. Button fared very badly in the pit stops, and when things leveled out, he was in 15th, with Hamilton still 3rd. 10 laps from the end, Sebastian Vettel, who was leading the race, suffered an engine failure, gifting Alonso the lead and Hamilton second place, and that was how they finished. The retirements of Petrov, Vettel and Adrian Sutil meant that Button climbed to 12th by the end. This meant that Hamilton had re-passed Vettel for 3rd in the championship battle, and McLaren were clinging on to second from the ever improving Ferrari.
Brazil was up next, and in tricky conditions in qualifying, Button was eliminated in Q2 by local hero and fellow top 10 regular Felipe Massa. He started the race from 11th. Meanwhile, Hamilton was upholding the challenge in a decisive weekend for the Woking squad, taking fourth on the grid. Hamilton dropped to 5th at the start, passed by a fast starting Fernando Alonso. Button, meanwhile, had climbed to 9th, but was soon re-passed by a rapidly improving Michael Schumacher. Button, in a reversal of his Korean luck, did very well from his early pit stop, climbing to seventh, well ahead of Schumacher. Hamilton, meanwhile, had eventually forced his way past the surprise pole sitter Hülkenberg on lap 14. Hamilton was stuck behind the long running Kamui Kobayashi after his stop, but both he and Button, who was at this point close behind, found a way through. The late pit stop of Nico Rosberg promoted them to 4th and 5th, which were by now their customary positions, and that was how they finished. The championship was now out of Button's reach going to the final round in Abu Dhabi, and it was an outside shot for Hamilton, who was 24 points off Fernando Alonso's lead.
The season concluded with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Hamilton took 2nd in a critical race for him, with Button in 4th. Button jumped Alonso at the start, which was good for Hamilton, who needed to win with Alonso out of the points and Vettel and Webber both well down. Button led during the pit stops, but when everything was settled down, they were still in the same order, 2nd and 3rd behind Vettel, who went on to take the race and the title. Hamilton was eventually fourth, 16 points off Vettel, while Button was 5th, a further 26 behind. McLaren held on to second in the Constructors', 44 behind Red Bull and 58 ahead of Ferrari in 3rd.
Complete Formula One results [ edit ]
(key) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year Entrant Engine Tyres Drivers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Points WCC 2010 Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Mercedes FO 108X V8 B BHR AUS MAL CHN ESP MON TUR CAN EUR GBR GER HUN BEL ITA SIN JPN KOR BRA ABU 454 2nd Button 7 1 8 1 5 Ret 2 2 3 4 5 8 Ret 2 4 4 12 5 3 Hamilton 3 6 6 2 14 † 5 1 1 2 2 4 Ret 1 Ret Ret 5 2 4 2
† Driver failed to finish the race, but were classified as they had completed >90% of the race distance.
References [ edit ]I’ve always been a HUGE fan of Gladiator Beasts. That’s why I was pretty happy when I heard that there would be at least one new Gladiator Beast in Primal Origin. But can you imagine how thrilled I was when I found out that, not only would there in fact be two Gladiator Beasts in Primal Origin, but one of them is a Fusion monster that will find a place in nearly every competitive Gladiator Beast Extra Deck!?
Gladiator Beast Nerokius is the latest easy-to-Summon Gladiator Beast Fusion Monster. Like every Gladiator Beast Fusion Monster before it, you don’t use Polymerization to Summon Nerokius. Instead, you just shuffle some of your on-field Gladiator Beasts back into your Deck to Special Summon it from your Extra Deck.
Once Summoned, Gladiator Beast Nerokius has an impressive 2800 ATK and can’t be destroyed in battle. That means it can take down nearly any monster in battle, and the monsters that it doesn’t have enough ATK to destroy are equally unable to destroy Nerokius. Perhaps even more importantly, since Gladiator Beast Nerokius can’t be destroyed in battle, you can Special Summon it in Defense Mode in Main Phase 2 to make it impervious to the attack and effect of an opponent’s Number 101: Silent Honor ARK.
In addition to protecting itself from monster attacks, Nerokius can protect itself from card effects. If your Nerokius attacks or is attacked, your opponent cannot activate cards or effects until the end of the Damage Step. That means popular cards like Dimensional Prison and Mirror Force are useless against Nerokius. You can always be confident that once you declare an attack with Nerokius, it will be able to successfully complete its attack.
That’s especially important because at the end of any Battle Phase, if Nerokius attacked or was attacked, you can send it back to your Extra Deck to Special Summon 2 more Gladiator Beast monsters from your Deck. There’s no restriction on which Gladiator Beasts you can Special Summon from your Deck with Nerokius’s effect.
Here are some plays you can make after battling with Nerokius:
-You can Special Summon Gladiator Beast Bestiari and Gladiator Beast Equeste to activate their effects. Then you can fuse them together to Summon Gladiator Beast Gyzarus in Main Phase 2.
-You can Special Summon Gladiator Beast Darius and Gladiator Beast Laquari. Then you can activate Darius’s effect to Special Summon a third Gladiator Beast from your Graveyard and Special Summon Gladiator Beast Heraklinos or Gladiator Beast Nerokius in Main Phase 2.
-You can Special Summon Gladiator Beast Retiari and Gladiator Beast Equeste to banish a pesky card from an opponent’s Graveyard and add Gladiator Beast War Chariot from your Graveyard to your hand.
-You can Special Summon any other combination of two Gladiator Beasts to deal with just about anything an opponent throws at you!
Whether you Summon Gladiator Beast Nerokius in Main Phase 1 to prepare a tough-to-stop attack, or Summon it in Main Phase 2 to defend yourself with a tough-to-destroy monster, you can put Gladiator Beast Nerokius to incredible use.
You might be wondering, “Which Gladiator Beasts do I need to shuffle back into my Deck from my field to Summon this amazing Fusion monster with so many different effects?” (You also might be hoping Gladiator Beast Torax isn’t one of them.) Here’s the answer: ANY three of them.
With defensive Trap Cards like Waboku, Mirror Force, and Dimensional Prison making it easy to keep Gladiator Beasts on the field in most Gladiator Beast Decks, and effects from cards like Gladiator Beast Darius and Soul Charge making it easy to Special Summon Gladiator Beasts, Gladiator Beast Duelists commonly find themselves with 3 or more Gladiator Beasts on their field. When they do, they now have the option of fusing 3 of those Gladiator Beasts together to Summon Gladiator Beast Nerokius.
If you’re looking for one more way to swarm the field with Gladiator Beast monsters, you might want to try out Gladiator Beast Augustus.
Gladiator Beast Augustus is a Level 8 Gladiator Beast with 2600 ATK. When it’s Special Summoned by the effect of a Gladiator Beast, you can Special Summon 1 Gladiator Beast monster from your hand in face-up Defense Position and shuffle that monster into your Deck during the End Phase. Like most other Gladiator Beasts, Augustus can also return itself to your Deck after it battles, and replace itself with a new Gladiator Beast.
Augustus can do a bunch of different things that Gladiator Beast Decks sometimes want to do.
First, since Gladiator Beast Augustus is a Gladiator Beast monster with an effect that Special Summons other Gladiator Beasts from your hand, it can help activate the effects of Gladiator Beasts that you draw. Normally, it’s tough to activate the effects of your in-hand Gladiator Beasts. That’s because most Gladiator Beasts can only Special Summon other Gladiator Beasts from the Deck with their effects. Augustus can Special Summon a Gladiator Beast from the Deck at the end of a Battle Phase in which it battles, but it can also Special Summon a Gladiator Beast from your hand when it’s Special Summoned by the effect of another Gladiator Beast. Since nearly all Gladiator Beasts have effects that activate when they’re Special Summoned by the effects of other Gladiator Beasts, this versatility makes Augustus very powerful.
Second, Gladiator Beast Augustus can help swarm the field with Gladiator Beasts, so that you can Special Summon Fusion Monsters like Nerokius, Gyzarus, and Heraklinos. Do you want to Special Summon Gladiator Beast Gyzarus, but have Gladiator Beast Bestiari in your hand with no Gladiator Beasts on the field? No problem! Special Summon Gladiator Beast Augustus from your Deck by using the effect of Test Tiger or another Gladiator Beast, and then use Augustus’s effect to Special Summon Bestiari from your hand. Bestiari’s effect will activate to destroy an opponent’s Spell or Trap Card. Then you can fuse your two Gladiator Beasts together to Special Summon Gladiator Beast Gyzarus.
Third, Gladiator Beast Augustus can help destroy powerful monsters in battle. Augustus’s 2600 ATK makes it the only Gladiator Beast that you can Special Summon from your Main Deck to destroy an opponent’s Stardust Dragon in battle without your own monster getting destroyed.
Gladiator Beast Decks have access to lots of effects at all different times during a Duel. The addition of Gladiator Beast Nerokius and Gladiator Beast Augustus to the Gladiator Beast arsenal makes Gladiator Beast Decks more powerful than ever before! You can add Nerokius to your Extra Deck and Augustus to your Main Deck when Primal Origin is released on May 16th!If you follow me on Facebook you may have seen some posts by me over the last 6 months about my dog having cancer. He has two different tumors–one around his heart and one in the lower lining of his stomach. Six months ago, we were told he’d have a month or two, and that hopefully the meds would help him to feel better.
They did! He was better than better–outside playing soccer and basketball, stealing the kids food from the table and even making a flying leap to snatch a Lemonade Girl Scout cookie. He was doing awesome. He gained weight, his coat looked beautiful, all the allergies he’d suffered from for the first 9 years of his life disappeared. He was the miracle dog.
And then overnight, everything changed.
When we returned from Thanksgiving, we found that his belly had bloated, like he’d eaten four dozen donuts. He wouldn’t lay down, he paced, he started vomiting and having diarrhea again. He’s lost interest in food (even the crazy expensive organic canned dog food I feed him!), though we’ve been able to entice him to eat cheese, ham and chicken (and Girl Scout Cookies!). I took him to the vet and they did x-rays. His tumors are bigger. Things are going down hill so fast. The vet gave us a few more meds to help. That night, he collapsed from exhaustion–since he wouldn’t lay down. The vet then gave us some pain meds for him. We figured out how to prop him up on pillows and cover him with blankets to get him to lay down for anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour, but that was it. Is it. Now his leg and foot are swelling up…
We were told at this point, he’s not going to get better, that we’re basically making him comfortable until its time to make THAT decision. But the thing is, he’s not comfortable. He’s in pain. He isn’t sleeping.
And yet today, when I came home from the store, he wagged his little nub tail like crazy. I bought him a toy and he actually played with it for five minutes.
So… he’s happy, even if he’s in pain?
How do you make the decision to put your dog to sleep forever when they still wag their tail when you walk into a room?
I grew up with dogs, dealt with their passage–I was sad, I cried, but this is different. This is MY puppy.
On Mother’s Day 2004, my husband took me to a boxer breeder’s house to pick up my baby. There were two puppies left–one sassy girl who kept biting my ankles, and then this adorable little puppy with the biggest underbite I’d ever seen. Already he was a tough guy. Being a Vin Diesel fan… I named my dog Diesel, cuz he’s a big tough guy. (Nicknames: Deez, Deezy-wheezy, Deez-nuts, and Doidle <–this last one coined by Princess#3 who couldn’t pronounce his name).
We brought him home and things were never the same again. I have had a love/hate relationship with this dawg. And he with me–you see, he gains enjoyment out of driving me crazy! lol
First, the hate: He tore apart my wedding bouquet that I’d carefully preserved. He ripped up a new pair of shoes (only once for some odd reason). He humped a giant Tigger doll which forced me to throw it away. He is a master escape artist–give him five minutes and he can dismantle any crate, he can open outdoor gates, can dig up a lead and yank it out of the yard, and he knows how to open doors, freaking genius. He was also an expert at opening the diaper genie…not pretty. He shredded the molding around a door in our new house. He’s never learned NOT to beg at the table. He snores LIKE A CHAMP causing me many sleepless nights. If he’s mad at me, he sh*ts in the house. He smears his slobber all over everything. He lifted his leg and PEED on me during the fireworks…Poor dog suffered from TERRIBLE allergies…the vet told us he was probably allergic to himself (which I could understand since I got hives from petting him sometimes). When I talk on the phone he stands behind me and barks. When I sit at my computer, he stands behind me and barks… Needless to say, there’s been a lot of hating going on.
BUT–he is the best damn dog I’ve ever had, and here’s the reasons why I love him so much: He’s a boss and he knows it. He is very loyal and protective–one time he head-butted a man out of the house. Coincidentally, the man was warning me that my deck was on fire. He is AMAZING with kids, and willing to dress up like a princess and play tea party. He loves to cuddle with the kids, and lay on my lap until my legs go numb. He is yard trained–he’d stay in the yard no need for an electric fence. He cleans up all the food under the table. We taught him to air lick kiss, so instead of slobbering your face, he licked the air around your face! Although, every once in awhile he’d make a leap in the air and get you right in the mouth! He makes the best faces–you can almost see what he’s thinking (I mirrored Frosty’s personality in THE HIGHLANDER’S CONQUEST after him). He is always glad to see me, no matter what. He loves to play ball–soccer, basketball, anything, he loves to run and jump and chase it with you. I love that he likes to hike and explore with us. He’s fun to play with. I love to watch him mangle his new “pets” when we give him stuffed animals. I love the way he finds any scrap of fabric
and lays on it–even socks, and how he finds the places in the house where the sun shines in to lay down and relax. I love that he follows me around, that he wants to be with me all the time. I love when we get in the car, he sits on a seat like all the humans and doesn’t think its weird. I love the way we could make him “speak” at us. I love his energy, his fascination with life and his never-ending optimism that we’re definitely going to give him whatever it is he wants, and he’s not afraid to bark at us until we do. I love that he isn’t allergic to chocolate, because lord knows he’s sneaked into plenty of candy boxes. I love the way, when he yawns sometimes, his lip gets stuck on his teeth and he ends up making this really funny face.
I hate that at some point I’m going to have to say goodbye.
And that point is coming quicker than I thought.
My dear friend’s aunt showed her this poem and she passed it on to me… It has helped me to feel better, but not 100%. I’m not ready to let go…
THE LAST BATTLE
If it should be that I grow frail and weak
And pain should keep me from my sleep,
Then will you do what must be done,
For this — the last battle — can’t be won.
You will be sad I understand,
But don’t let grief then stay your hand,
For on this day, more than the rest,
Your love and friendship must stand the test.
We have had so many happy years,
You wouldn’t want me to suffer so.
When the time comes, please, let me go.
Take me to where to my needs they’ll tend,
Only, stay with me till the end
And hold me firm and speak to me
Until my eyes no longer see.
I know in time you will agree
It is a kindness you do to me.
Although my tail its last has waved,
From pain and suffering I have been saved.
Don’t grieve that it must be you
Who has to decide this thing to do;
We’ve been so close — we two — these years,
Don’t let your heart hold any tears.
— Unknown
**UPDATE** Thank you all so much for you kind words and support! It means the world to us. We sadly had to let go of Diesel on Friday. He was in so much pain. But we know he is in a much better place now–Rainbow Bridge. He’ll always be in our hearts, never forgotten.
AdvertisementsCopyright by WNCN - All rights reserved Davarius Durham
Copyright by WNCN - All rights reserved Davarius Durham
By WFLA Web Staff - TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) - A Tampa football coach is accused of offering to pay $70 to a 15-year-old boy, if the boy sent him a photo of his genitals.
Tampa Police Department detectives say Davarius Durham, 27, used the KIK messenger app to send messages to the victim between Dec. 12 and Feb. 29. The victim did not send the requested photo.
Durham was the victim's football coach through the Tampa Bay Youth Football League.
A City of Tampa Park's employee contacted his supervisor and notified him about potential illegal activity and an investigation was initiated. During the investigation, detectives say they learned that there were two additional victims.
The three victims did not meet the suspect through City of Tampa Parks programs, according to investigators. The suspect coached the three victims in football.
Police say Durham fled Tampa on April 6. The U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force arrested him at a family member's home in Miami Gardens. He was transported back to Tampa and booked into the Hillsborough County Jail Thursday night.
Investigators say they do not know if there are any additional victims who are City of Tampa Parks participants. It is an ongoing investigation and detectives encourage anyone with information or any additional victims to contact The Tampa Police Department.Brendan Rodgers has identified his decision to offload Andy Carroll as a major factor in Luis Suárez's improvement as a goalscorer at Liverpool.
On Saturday Liverpool will host West Ham United, the injured Carroll's present club, with Suárez looking to continue the form that has produced a remarkable 25 goals in his last 24 league appearances and which Anfield officials hope to reward with a new contract. Liverpool want to improve his current deal, that has two and a half years remaining, and avoid another summer of uncertainty over the striker next year.
The 26-year-old's output has improved significantly since Rodgers arrived at Anfield and his four goals against Norwich City in midweek made him the Premier League's leading goalscorer this term, despite only returning from suspension on 25 September. Rodgers believes making Suárez the focal point of Liverpool's attack at the expense of Carroll marked the turning point for the Uruguay international.
He said: "What we try to do here is create the environment for the elite player and he is an elite player. I had to make a call last year by letting Andy Carroll go out and create a situation where we could get the benefit out of Luis's talent. But he still had to perform and he has done that tremendously well. It was maybe said that he needed a lot of chances to score goals before but his goals record was still fairly good. Now it is an opportunity and it's a goal."
Carroll joined West Ham on an initial season-long loan last season before Liverpool took a £20m hit for their £35m record signing to join Sam Allardyce's team on a permanent basis in the summer.
The Liverpool manager explained: "My thinking was that if Luis is playing with a big guy he is playing off the second ball, and his anticipation skills are very good. But I just felt that wouldn't benefit him because when you play with a big target man it is hard not to make that the focal point of your team. Everything has to be set up around the big guy and sometimes you get sucked into going more direct and my history as a coach is not to work that way.
"Removing that means you have to connect your game better though the lines. Possession is not good enough on its own, you have to penetrate. With a player like Luis, who is always on the move in between spaces and in behind, that serves him best. He can drift all over the back line, he spins on the shoulder, he has got that freedom, and then other players go in and take the place. He's not one of them ones, when you look at the goals that he has scored in my time, there has not been too many that have been from whipped-in crosses, which to be fair big Andy was brilliant at. The style has exploited his qualities."NEWARK -- U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez listened intently at the defense table as a federal prosecutor spelled out for the jury why they were all there.
"This case is about a corrupt politician who sold his Senate office for a life of luxury he couldn't afford," said Peter Koski, deputy chief of the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section, as he opened the government's case against the New Jersey Democrat charged in a sweeping scandal alleging bribery and corruption to help a wealthy benefactor.
More than two years after Menendez was indicted of accepting flights on private jets, trips to Paris and other lavish personal gifts from Dr. Salomon Melgen -- in exchange for using the power of his office to help the Florida opthmalmogist in Washington -- the courtroom drama that could have far-reaching political ramifications began in Newark, with openings by the prosecution and the senator's defense team.
The government has alleged the senator, a Cuban immigrant's son who became a fixture of the Hudson County political scene, ran interference for Melgen in government matters ranging from the visa applications of the doctor's three girlfriends to his attempts to secure a port security contract in the Dominican Republic.
In exchange, Melgen is accused of lavishing the senator with more than a dozen private plane flights, stays at a Paris hotel and a resort in the Dominican Republic, and more than $750,000 in political contributions.
The 63-year-old lawmaker now faces what's expected to be a six- to eight-week trial before U.S. District Judge William H. Walls that could further upend Capitol Hill, and will largely focus on one question: What's the difference between a bribe and a gift between friends?
In addition to the visa applications and port security negotiations, prosecutors allege Menendez also intervened in the doctor's $8.9 million Medicare billing dispute with the Department of Health and Human Services, going as far as enlisting then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's help in lobbying Kathleen Sebelius, the HHS secretary at the time.
Menendez's fellow senator from New Jersey, Corey Booker, attended the trial and claimed a seat in the gallery for defense attorney Abbe D. Lowell's opening statement.
The lead attorney on Menendez's defense team, Lowell -- a veteran white-collar litigator who has represented everyone from John Edwards to Jack Abramoff -- argued the men's friendship cut through the prosecution's premise.
"That premise is that Sen. Bob Menendez did everything they accuse him of doing because he had a corrupt relationship with Dr. Melgen," he said. But in writing the indictment, which covers a period between 2006 and 2012, prosecutors left out a previous 14 years of friendship between the two men, Lowell said.
While Koski, deputy chief of the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section, framed the men's relationship as a regular swapping of money for power, Lowell and Kirk Ogrosky -- opening for Melgen's defense -- argued there was not "one single piece of evidence" supporting any quid pro quo arrangement.
Instead, Lowell argued, the issues at stake in Menendez's interactions with other officials in the case went far beyond Melgen's concerns. The defense attorney said the Senator's involvement in the visa applications stemmed from his concerns about the women's "fair treatment" by immigration authorities, while his intervention in the Dominican Republic port screening contract stemmed from his concerns about security issues in the island nation.
"This case isn't really about what happened," Lowell said. "It's about why it happened."
A grand jury in New Jersey first handed down charges against the two men in a 22-count indictment filed on April 1, 2015. Prosecutors this October filed a new 18-count "superseding" indictment amending the problematic legal language in the bribery accusations.
Melgen, 63, is already in federal custody, having been convicted at trial in January of a $90 million Medicare fraud scheme following an FBI investigation of the disputed billing practices. During Koski's opening remarks, he sat slumped in his chair with his chin on his chest, his eyes barely raised to look at the prosecutor.
In the New Jersey case, both men are charged with conspiracy, bribery, honest services fraud, violating the federal Travel Act, which outlaws travel for criminal purposes. Menendez is also charged with making false statements on government disclosure forms by failing to report the numerous plane flights and hotel stays he was gifted by Melgen.
"These defendants didn't just trade money for power -- they also tried to cover it up," Koski said, referring to the undisclosed gifts. But Lowell, speaking to Menendez's intent, told the jury that "the rules of what goes on and off these forms are confusing," and that many of the gifts would not normally have to be disclosed under ethics codes which changed during the timeframe specified in the indictment.
In arguments Wednesday morning prior to opening statements, defense attorney Raymond M. Brown, a member of Menendez's team, told the judge he felt the defense had been disparaged by one of Walls' opinions that speculated on their motives.
In his Aug. 31 opinion denying the motion to adjourn, Walls wrote he suspected the defense strategy behind the motion, "if granted, would be to impress the jurors with the public importance of the defendant Senator and his duties."
In court, Walls denied having disparaged the defense, and said he did not think there was a lack of respect in his lawyer-to-lawyer criticisms of the attorneys.
Menendez is only the second sitting U.S. senator to stand trial in the past decade. Ted Stevens, a Republican from Alaska, was convicted at trial in 2008 of failing to report more than $250,000 in gifts from an oil company. A judge later threw out the conviction.
Ogrosky is expected to conclude his opening remarks Thursday morning.
Thomas Moriarty may be reached by email at [email protected]. For confidential tips, you can make an anonymous ProtonMail account to send him encrypted messages at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @ThomasDMoriarty.
MaryAnn Spoto may be reached by email at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @MaryAnnSpoto.
Find NJ.com on Facebook.A new seven-member police squad is patrolling the downtown core to tackle persistent, low-level crime that can make streets and parks feel unsafe.
The Neighborhood Response Team, created in December, is focusing on so-called “street disorder” crimes, such as shoplifting, public urination, defecation and drug use. Downtown businesses and community groups have increasingly raised concerns about the problem and pushed for the city to take action.
The officers are helping connect people to social services, as well as giving warnings and issuing citations to repeat offenders.
While the new emphasis should make a difference, it would be a mistake to think seven police officers can eliminate street disorder, West Precinct Capt. Chris Fowler said.
“This is a very complex problem throughout the city,” he said. “This squad is really charged to affect the most critical areas downtown. They aren’t going to solve it throughout the city. They aren’t going to solve it throughout the West precinct. But they might be able to help in some of the worst areas.”
The squad, comprised of six officers and a sergeant, began foot patrols the first week of December. It operates out of the West Precinct office, at 810 Virginia Street, and concentrates on persistent problem areas, including around Westlake and other downtown parks. The officers generally work from 6:30 in the morning, until 3:30 in the afternoon.
They have one job — reducing street disorder, Fowler said. “They will not be called away to routine 911 calls,” he said. “This is their assignment and unless there is a true emergency, they are not going to be pulled away from their core responsibilities.”
The officers will become experts on the complex web of rules and regulations covering street disorder.
The city, for example has an ordinance that says people can’t sit or lie on sidewalks from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. in an area that stretches from Denny Way to King Street and from Interstate 5 to the water.
However, it is legal for people to sit and lie in city parks and, in some cases along the waterfront, park boundaries include the sidewalks. So officers have to understand where they can and can’t enforce the ordinance.
Enforcing laws surrounding smoking marijuana, or drinking in public, also can differ depending on where the offense is taking place.
In the end, though, it’s not just about writing tickets.
Lisa Daugaard, policy director for the Public Defender Association, hopes the squad will spend much of its time connecting people with drug addiction and mental health issues to services that can help them, such as the Crisis Solution Center and the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion, LEAD, program.
The LEAD program, for example, gives officers the ability to connect low-level non-violent drug dealers and users with treatment and services as an alternative to taking them to jail.
That’s a much better approach than just directing people to shelters, Daugaard said, noting “People know where the shelters are.”
SPD officials say the squad has a large toolbox to work with, including connecting people with programs like LEAD. Ultimately, the success or failure of the squad won’t be based on how many citations they write. “it’s going to be on how the behavior has changed,” said Virginia Gleason, the police chief’s lead strategic advisor.
In |
, but we believe this is the best solution for the automat toolkit and is viable with the extra funding if we reach the stretch goal.
To successfully build this configuration solution we will need extra help from a software engineer to consult on software and firmware. We have set the goal out far enough to be sure there is budget to include this extra testing and development.
Together with your support, we want to make the first series production batch of the automat toolkit. In return, you will get an awesome reward and become a part of our community of music machine lovers!
Early bird rewards are available for backers who support the campaign fast! These special rewards feature a big discount and will be numbered.
Get one of the ready-to-go toolkit packages including everything you need to get started.>>> The videotaped assault of Dr. David Dao by airport police at the behest of United triggered a media firestorm. Lots of media outlets, from the Los Angeles Times to Judicial Watch to Heavy, filed an Illinois Freedom of Information Act request for documents about the incident. On April 24, 2017, the Chicago Department of Aviation released four surveillance videos, two audio recordings of police channels, and a bunch of paper documents relating to the easily avoidable incident.
Of all the media outlets that got these documents, only Judicial Watch was good enough to post the link and password (April92017c0c) to the Dropbox that Chicago set up, thus giving us access to everything, including four surveillance videos of two hours each, hour-long audio of two police channels, the incident reports, and personnel files for the four airport cops who got suspended. For convenience, and because Chicago could pull down the Dropbox at any time, I've posted the audio and video to the Internet Archive for safekeeping and have embedded them here. I've also posted the PDFs below.Ari Michelson
Anna Torv is thirty-one. She's from Australia (where she is much more famous). She's done a lot of theater, a few TV shows. We mostly know her from the creepy Fox show Fringe as FBI agent Olivia Dunham, whom she plays as both hard-ass and naïf, fearless and innocent, aware that evil lurks but always surprised to find it. The classic combinations. Torv has a sense of humor, too. And it turns out she's wise. Which is why we'll just let her speak for herself. Here, some essential wisdom from a charming woman. Along with a few pictures for context.
Ari Michelson
Everybody's funny if you love them.
Ari Michelson
The apple is perfect because of the bruise that runs through it.
Ari Michelson
I've read only fiction, so I don't know anything actual.
Ari Michelson
I don't think I've ever burped out loud in front of anybody in my life. I don't think I've ever heard my mother fart. It just doesn't happen.
Ari Michelson
If someone could see what I did in my twenties, I'd be moooooooortified. But you're supposed to go and try all that stuff, aren't you?
Ari Michelson
Yeah, I guess I'm economical. Not because I try, but because I'm really not that interested in shoes.
Ari Michelson
It doesn't cost anything to go to the beach.
Ari Michelson
It's heartbreaking to watch a man cry. But it's heartbreaking to watch a woman cry, too, isn't it? With a man, though, it happens so rarely, so it's a sign: Take me. This is who I am and where I am.
Ari Michelson
I don't want to be the "I'm fine, I can do it" type. I love to have the door opened for me.
Ari Michelson
That sex scene in The Pacific? You don't get that on Fringe, do you? I don't think anyone finds them easy. It's not that I'm embarrassed about my boobs. It's just that some part of you really doesn't want that out there. At the same time, you want to get good at it. In the moment, what you're really thinking is, Shit, I need a mint.
I don't find guys nervous around me. But maybe guys don't talk to me if they're nervous.
They say Australians get that ten-yard stare. It comes from the land and the horizon. You can see all around you for as far as you can see. So you just stare. I do it all the time.
Sometimes there will be a line in the script and I just can't imagine saying it. I'll ask an American and they'll say, "Oh, yeah. That's how we say it." We just say things differently in Australia — like torch. I'd ask, "Can I have the torch?" It seems to fall flat when I say, "Can I have the flashlight?"
I don't go to clubs or places where people go to be picked up. But if I'm out, I usually sit at the bar.
If someone carries your bag out in Australia, it's like a favor. I always feel sick when I forget to tip the guy carrying it here.
It's a hard concept to get used to: If I pay you more, you do it better.
I just can't bear to swallow Vegemite, and I don't know how people do it. It's revolting. If you want to try something from Australia, go with Tim Tams. They're sweet chocolate biscuits.
Depth. I want somebody who's gonna need me.
I'm terrible at practical jokes. I do them too well, so they're not funny. I end up saying, "Oh, no, I'm joking, I'm joking...."
I didn't know much about video games. There are some awfully violent ones. But Heavenly Sword is different. I've had huge conversations with a friend who made it. I think what he wants to do is to make the player care. Yes, there's killing. But the character I play in Heavenly Sword, Nariko, is ultimately protecting her family and this runaway girl. It's a beautiful game. It's beyond a video game. The landscape is to protect and to care. My friend is working toward a world where you get an emotion out of the people who are playing it. See if you can make them cry if they couldn't save the people who they were trying to protect. This isn't Pac-Man.
It doesn't necessarily matter what your answer is to the question: What is art? So long as you have one.
A friend of mine says his two favorite artists are Picasso and Rembrandt. Picasso because he paints the beautiful in such an ugly fashion. And Rembrandt because he paints the ugly so beautifully.
I don't feel like I've hit my stride. So I wonder what the moment will be when I get to be who I want to be.The threat of world war: The great unmentionable in the 2016 campaign
19 September 2016
The most important issue in the US presidential election is the one neither of the two main capitalist candidates, Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump, is talking about: the increasing likelihood that the next US president will order direct military action against Russia, China or North Korea, all countries that possess nuclear weapons.
The mounting danger of such a war was underscored by the US bombing of a Syrian government military post on Saturday, killing dozens of Syrian army soldiers. The US claim that this was done accidentally—against a major, well-known Syrian military installation, the Deir ez-Zor Air Base—has no credibility. A similar US “mistake” could easily lead to the death of Russian soldiers and escalate into a full-scale military confrontation between the two powers that control 93 percent of the world’s nuclear weapons.
The corporate-controlled American media is complicit in maintaining a blackout on the mounting danger of war. While US forces conduct almost daily dress rehearsals on the Russian border with Eastern Europe, in the coastal waters adjacent to China, and on the Korean peninsula, the media diverts public attention to such comparatively trivial questions as Clinton’s bout with pneumonia, Trump’s brazen lying about his role in the anti-Obama “birther” campaign, and endless speculation on which candidate is gaining an edge in their mutual mudslinging.
One of the few exceptions to the silence on the question of war was an op-ed column by former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates—who held the position under both George W. Bush and Barack Obama—published in the weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal, under the headline, “Sizing Up the Next Commander-in-Chief.”
Gates criticizes Clinton for (purely verbal) concessions she has made to popular anti-war sentiment, mainly her statement during a September 7 forum in New York City ruling out putting US ground forces into Syria and Iraq, which he calls “a politically driven categorical declaration of a sort no president (or candidate) should make…” He warns Clinton to “speak beyond generalities about how she would deal with China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, the Middle East” in order to earn his support.
He is far harsher, however, towards Trump, flatly declaring him “beyond repair. He is stubbornly uninformed about the world and how to lead our country and government and temperamentally unsuited to lead our men and women in uniform. He is unqualified and unfit to be commander-in-chief.”
In this assessment, Gates reflects the consensus within the military-intelligence apparatus, which views Trump as unreliable on Russia, given his flattering references to President Vladimir Putin, and regards Trump’s militaristic bluster against ISIS as more bark than bite. Clinton, on the other hand, has been tested over a protracted period of time and gave her backing to a whole series of military actions, including US wars in Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq and Libya, as well as the ongoing intervention in Syria.
But the most important element of the Gates column is his basic premise that the United States is heading inexorably towards war. He writes: “You wouldn’t know it from the presidential campaigns, but the first serious crisis to face our new president most likely will be international. The list of possibilities is long—longer than it was eight years ago.” He then ticks off a list of potential military crises: with China in the East and South China Sea, with Russia in Ukraine, the Baltic states or Syria, with North Korea and Iran, and with “a Middle East in flames,” including Syria, Iraq and Libya.
“Each of these challenges may require the use of the American military, the most powerful the world has ever seen,” the former Pentagon chief writes. In other words, Gates envisions the next president ordering US military action against either Russia or China, the nuclear powers with the world’s second- and fourth-largest arsenals. Beyond that, there is potential for US military action against North Korea, which possesses nuclear weapons, and against Iran, a country of 70 million people, more than the size of Iraq and Syria combined.
Here Gates gives a glimpse of the discussions that are taking place throughout the US military and foreign policy establishment. It is largely taken for granted in these circles that US forces will soon be engaged in large-scale military operations, not guerrilla warfare or counterterrorism, involving some combination of land, sea, air, cyberwarfare and even nuclear forces.
These discussions are taking an increasingly reckless form, expressed in another commentary published this weekend, on the web site of Newsweek magazine, under the attention-grabbing headline, “Should we nuke Kim Jung Un before he nukes us?”
The author, Michael O’Hanlon, is a longtime foreign policy operative at the Brookings Institution, a major think tank for the Democratic Party. O’Hanlon supported the Iraq war and now backs Hillary Clinton. He notes that when the Obama White House briefly considered announcing a no-first-use policy on nuclear weapons, it was opposed by those at Brookings “who argue that Northeast Asia might be a special case, given North Korean nuclear weapons.”
While O’Hanlon himself professes to oppose a US first-strike with nuclear weapons against North Korea—purely on the grounds of expediency, because of the superiority of US and South Korean forces in conventional armaments—the very fact that such a debate is taking place within the US national security establishment is significant.
Not one in a thousand Americans is aware that those who direct US foreign policy, in both the Democratic and Republican parties, are actively discussing nuclear war, not hypothetically, but as a practical question, arising out of escalating confrontations with Russia and China. This is the inexorable result of the development of American imperialism over the past quarter century, when it has been engaged in nearly continuous warfare.
As the World Socialist Web Site has continually explained, the war danger arises out of the very nature of capitalism as a world system. US imperialism is the most dangerous force on the planet, as it seeks to offset its declining position in the world economy by using its military superiority. The only force which can avert a catastrophe for humanity is the international working class, fighting on the basis of a socialist program.
It is to advance the struggle for such a program that the Socialist Equality Party is running our candidates in the 2016 US elections, Jerry White for President and Niles Niemuth for Vice President. The SEP has called an emergency conference November 5 in Detroit, under the heading “Socialism vs. Capitalism and War.” We urge all our readers to support and donate to the SEP campaign, attend election meetings being held throughout the country, and make plans to attend the conference in Detroit.
Patrick Martin
Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.A retired Tampa Police officer charged with fatally shooting a man during an argument over cell phone use at a Tampa-area movie theater was ordered held without bond Tuesday. NBC 6 anchor Trina Robinson reports. (Published Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014)
A retired Tampa Police officer charged with fatally shooting a man during an argument over cell phone use at a Tampa-area movie theater was ordered held without bond Tuesday.
Curtis Reeves Jr., 71, made his first court appearance via a video link from jail Tuesday. He was charged with second-degree murder in the Monday shooting and only spoke once during the hearing, to say "yes, Ma'am" to Judge Lynn Tepper when she asked him if he could afford to hire his own attorney.
Two couples had been watching "Lone Survivor" at Wesley Chapel's Cobb Grove 16 Theatre at 6333 Wesley Grove Boulevard, when Reeves asked 43-year-old Chad Oulson to stop texting, according to Pasco County Sheriff's spokeswoman Melanie Snow.
Reeves asked Oulson to stop using his cell phone several times, at one point leaving the theater before returning to his seat behind Oulson, the sheriff's office said.
Tamarac Multiplex Manager Takes Hands-on Approach
In the wake of a fatal shooting at a Tampa-area movie theater, NBC 6 anchor Keith Jones spoke with Maury Zryl, the manager of the Tamarac 5 multiplex, who said he takes a hands-on, visible approach to defuse any situation before it escalates. (Published Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2014)
Oulson asked Reeves if he reported him for using his phone to theater management. Authorities said Reeves took out a handgun and fired his weapon, striking Oulson in the chest. Oulson's wife Nichole, who put her arm over her husband after Reeves pulled out the gun, was struck in the hand.
“Their voices start going up, there seems to be almost a confrontation, somebody throws popcorn – I’m not sure who threw the popcorn – and then bang, he was shot,” witness Charles Cummings said.
According to the arrest affidavit, Oulson had thrown the popcorn at Reeves.
The judge said she found the evidence significant enough to warrant Reeves being held without bond.
Reeves' attorney, Richard Escobar, told reporters that what he called a full-blown bond hearing would hopefully be held next week.
Retired Officer Charged in Tampa-Area Movie Theater Shooting
A retired Tampa Police officer has been charged with fatally shooting a man during an argument over cell phone use at a Tampa-area movie theater on Monday, authorities said. NBC 6's Gilma Avalos reports. (Published Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014)
Escobar argued in court that his his client should be released because of his deep ties to the community.
Escobar said the probable cause document was "quite weak" and that Reeves was defending himself.
"The alleged victim attacked him," Escobar said, adding that Oulson threw something, possibly popcorn, at Reeves. "At that point in time he has every right to defend himself."
Tepper said that throwing "an unknown object does not equal taking out a gun" and shooting someone.
After the shooting, Cummings said, Chad Oulson staggered over two seats and then fell on him and his son.
The Oulson couple was taken to a Tampa-area hospital where Chad Oulson later died. His wife's injuries were not considered life-threatening.
"To have a retired police officer, I don't know what he was thinking at the time, but I can tell you that anybody, over a cell phone, over somebody texting, and to take their life, it's ridiculous,” Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said.
Oulson told Reeves that he was texting with his 3-year-old daughter, Cummings said.
The sheriff's office says an off-duty Sumter County deputy detained Reeves until police arrived.
The theater was evacuated following the shooting.
Reeves told deputies he had been struck in the face by Oulson with an unknown object and fired after he was in fear of being attacked, the affidavit said.
Outside of court, Escobar was asked how his client is doing.
“He is doing just fine. Obviously the family is very concerned, and I can tell you that Mr. Reeves is certainly heartbroken over the fact that someone’s life has been lost here, but you know we need to focus at this point in time on gathering the true evidence and bringing that forth before the court," Escobar said.
Reeves was instrumental in establishing the Tampa Police department's first Tactical Response Team. Police said they weren't aware of him having any contact with the department since he left more than 20 years ago.
Escobar asked the public to not rush to judgment.
"This individual was a decorated former law enforcement officer. I think he was even described by some of the media accounts – I believe it was today – that he was the best of the best in law enforcement. So please don’t rush to judgment," Escobar said. "Let’s hear all the evidence. Let’s listen to the witnesses, and then you all can make your decisions.”
Cobb Theatres issued a statement saying their thoughts and prayers were with the victims and their families.
"The theatre is currently closed, and we are actively working with the sheriff's office on this investigation. This was an isolated altercation between two guests that escalated unexpectedly. The safety, security and comfort of our guests and team members are always our top priorities, and we are truly heartbroken by this incident," the company said in an email statement.
Copyright Associated Press / NBC 6 South FloridaGod’s model for the family is beautiful and good, the very picture of the union of Christ and his church: the fruitful marriage of one man and one woman.
Yet, the church often doesn’t know what to do with those who—whether by circumstance, conscience, choice or simply through the brokenness of creation—fall outside the mold that shapes this ideal of family life.
There is an unspoken assumption that this failure to fit the pattern is just that—a failure. To be sure, sometimes we break the mold by our choices, even our sins. But ours is a God of great imagination and infinite surprises. He sometimes calls us out of the standard mold and into a new one.
The primary calling of God for all Christians is, of course, the call to salvation, followed by the call to obedience to his will as revealed in his Word. This mold is for every believer. But the way in which God further refines and shapes that mold in calling each believer individually to serve the kingdom—through our vocation—can sometimes upend our expectations and even our desires.
It would be nice if God’s call on our life always coincided neatly with our passions and talents, but that’s not always, perhaps not even often, how it works. While it’s certainly true that our passions and talents hint at our calling, God sometimes calls us to things we don’t want to do and don’t have a knack for.
Just ask Moses.
Just ask Martin and Katharina Luther.
Just ask the fast food worker pulling long hours in order to put a roof over the head of the child God called him to father.
Just ask my many, many single friends who don’t have any particular passion or skill for being alone (quite the opposite, in fact) but have yet to be called by God into the office of marriage.
Or just ask me.
I believe God has called me to childlessness.
I have written about my infertility resulting from endometriosis. Infertility doesn’t necessarily or always mean perpetual childlessness, of course. After all, one can become a parent other ways. I had always desired to be a mother since I was a little girl, so, naturally, my husband and I considered these alternatives.
First, we considered the medical route. But after undergoing basic corrective testing and procedures, we became quickly convicted that the more intrusive interventions violated our consciences on a number of grounds. The cost of infertility treatments runs into the tens of thousands of dollars, and even if we had no ethical concerns about creating and storing human embryos (which we do), we would not be able to justify the expenditure of so many resources (even if covered by insurance) to produce children, especially given that so many children are already awaiting adoptive homes. Over 400,000 children in 2014 were in foster care, with nearly half of these not expected to return to their biological families. Sadly, however, the number of domestic adoptions in recent years has been steadily declining, from 140,034 children in 2001 to 119,514 in 2012. International adoption has also declined each year since 2004. In the meantime, 61,000 babies born in the U.S. in 2012 were conceived with the assistance of in vitro fertilization, making up 1.5 percent of all births that year. I know a few of those babies, and I rejoice with their parents in their precious little lives. Yet, my strong convictions assured me that I was not called to do likewise.
So we explored adoption. But while we were working through the housing, financial and work complexities that presented obstacles, God prompted us in other directions of ministry and work that seemed to keep adoption out of reach. The “someday” I assumed God would bring about for us in adopting never came. (At least, not yet.)
Instead, quite against my own personality and inclination, God kept calling me away from home—to travel, to speak, to write, to work—and blessing that work abundantly. Perhaps God thwarted my plans just to shatter my assumptions about my life and about him. He is, after all, as C. S. Lewis says in A Grief Observed, the great iconoclast. He shatters idols we don’t even know we’ve made.
I can’t, of course, presume to know God’s mind and ways. But I have come to understand why God might have been directing my steps toward his calling on my life (Prov. 16:9). Like my own personal version of It’s a Wonderful Life, a picture of how different my life would be if I’d had the children I always wanted runs through my mind, and I know that the ways God is using me now would never have been possible if he had made me a mother. (I’m wrecked just being separated from my dogs for two days!)
The contributions God has allowed me to make to the church and the world are contributions specific to being a woman, and, further, a woman without children.
I believe that the church and the world need more of the particular gifts that infertile (and childless and unmarried) women (and men) can offer. I can’t help but wonder how different the church and the world would look if infertility were viewed not as a problem to be solved, but a calling to serve God and meet the needs of the world in other ways.
Looking back, I realize how my husband and I navigated these decisions apart from meaningful guidance from the church, despite our continuous and active involvement in small, conservative congregations over those “be fruitful and multiply” years. The unspoken assumption from everywhere seemed to be simply that Christians are to marry and have children, and when difficulties arise, it’s a problem to be solved, one step at a time wherever the next step leads. Even my Christian OB/GYN assumed we would take the next logical step in treatment. We were the ones who had to put on the brakes and ask ourselves what was God calling us to do—and what he was not calling us to do.
Sometimes God’s calling is not one we want. Yet, obeying that call is the only thing that will bring us true and lasting joy. Recognizing my childlessness as a call of God has transformed the way I see my whole life and the work of the Lord in it. For many years, my desire was to be a mother. My desire now is to be the woman that God calls me to be. No more. And no less.
If the church has made an idol out of a certain mold, then we are hindering each other from finding and following—confidently and contentedly—God’s calling on our lives even when, or especially when, that calling doesn’t fit the mold.
We know that in heaven there will be no more marriage or giving in marriage; our earthly unions are but temporal signposts of the eternal union of Christ and his bride. If, for now, we are poor or broken, childless or spouseless, waiting or wanting—yet obedient—we are not failures. We are called his children.Family members of 9/11 victims gathered in lower Manhattan on Thursday morning, blocks away from the World Trade Center, to call on President Trump to stop using the attacks to defend his recent immigration ban.
“We’re here to say, Stop using our loved ones to justify the same type of hatred that killed them,” said Terry McGovern, whose mother died in the Sept. 11 attacks.
McGovern helped organize Thursday’s rally in Battery Park after she saw 9/11 invoked in Trump’s executive order, which temporarily banned immigration from seven majority-Muslim countries. Trump had said the immigration ban was necessary to prevent similar attacks from taking place in the future, but none of the Sept. 11 hijackers came from the seven countries affected by his order.
The ban suffered legal blows in the past week, as a federal appeals court upheld a temporary restraining order that stopped it from being enforced nationwide. Trump now plans to introduce a replacement for the order.
“This ban is not in the spirit of New York or America, which is so reflected right here by the Statue of Liberty,” Brendan Fay said Thursday, gesturing across the Hudson River. He was friends with Father Mychal Judge, the chaplain for the New York City Fire Department who died at the World Trade Center.
“Mychal Judge, who loved this city, who loved this country, who often spoke with me about how it is a nation of immigrants — he’d be shocked,” Fay said.
Talat Hamdani — who lost her 23-year-old son, a New York Police Department cadet and 9/11 first responder — urged Americans to pay attention and get involved.
“I hope they sense how serious the situation is right now, that so much is at stake,” she said. “They need to realize the urgency of the moment and take action.”
Among those remembered at the rally was Lt. Joseph Leavey, a first responder who was killed when the World Trade Center’s South Tower collapsed. Before becoming a New York City firefighter, Leavey was an engineer, and his construction career included work on Trump Tower. On Thursday, his stepdaughter, Kerri Kelly, was part of the group of about a dozen family members speaking out against Trump’s immigration policies.
“I think a lot about who he was and what he would’ve wanted and what that sacrifice was for, and I feel wholeheartedly that it wasn’t for this. It wasn’t about more fear, more security, more disruption, more war, more violence,” Kelly said. “It was the opposite. It was about how we show up for each other as Americans.”
Write to Katie Reilly at [email protected] Room 106, The 519 Community Centre, 519 Church Street, Toronto, Canada. It's in the same building as our usual club meetings, but in a room big enough for 80. If you haven't been here before, there's a map on the location page. When Saturday, June 2, 2012, from 9:30am until 6:30pm. Prizes In division A, 1st place will receive $50 plus a Club Set (value $150-200), and 2nd place will receive $50. Players in the remaining divisions (and lower placed players in division A) will select from 45+ of prizes ranging in value between $10 and $40, including 34+ book prizes, thanks in large part to our sponsors. Fees Entrant Type On June 2nd Pre-registration Adult $25 $20 Student $20 $15 $5 of every entrance fee is going towards a donation to the 519 community centre. All other proceeds are funding the prizes for this tournament. Register at the tournament! If you pre-registered, you'll save $5.
Format 4 rounds McMahon pairings. For the uninitiated, this just means you'll play four games, mostly with people around your own strength. The more you win, the tougher your opponents get. Divisions There will be 5 divisions (A, B, C, D, E), so that players of all strengths have a chance to win. The division boundaries will be announced once registration is complete. So far, we have entrants between 25 kyu and 6 dan. Timing To be sure we can get all four rounds in, timing will be 30 minutes main time plus advancing Canadian byo-yomi (25 moves / 10 min., 35 moves / 10 min., 45 moves / 10 min.,...). This means that close games should last about 90 minutes. Rules Japanese rules. Games in Division A will all be even (6.5 komi).
Games in Divisions B-E will have handicaps of "rank - 1" (6.5 or 0.5 komi). The handicaps in divisions B-E give weaker players a better chance so that everyone has fun. However, "rank - 1" means that the odds still favour the stronger players. For example, if a 2 kyu player plays a 5 kyu player, there are only 2 handicap stones (instead of 3). The handicaps in divisions B-E give weaker players a better chance so that everyone has fun. However, "rank - 1" means that the odds still favour the stronger players. For example, if a 2 kyu player plays a 5 kyu player, there are only 2 handicap stones (instead of 3).At a screening of the Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi's Shin Godzilla film at the Toho Cinemas Shinjuku theater on Thursday, director Anno and the actors of the film discussed the prospects of a sequel to the film. When asked by an audience member if there would be a sequel, Anno replied, "It's not for me to decide. Ask Toho."
When the question was asked again, this time to the actors, Hiroki Hasegawa stated, "I'd want to do [a sequel]. I went to see the movie two times. Watching it with the audience was the only time I felt that the movie was really done. There was such a sense of unity that I didn't feel it was me acting on the screen, and that was really fun." Similarly, Satoru Matsuo replied, "I'd want to do a sequel. I want to see it." Issei Takahashi replied, "I hope they'd let me participate in a sequel. It was fun being with everyone on set, and I really want to do that again."
In response to all of this, Anno said, "As for me, I'm good." He added, "It'd be more interesting if they changed directors. Toho won't let me do it. There'd be a lot of difficulties."
Anno also responded to a remark from an audience member saying that he/she would wait as long as it took for the fourth Rebuild of Evangelion film. He first thanked the audience, and then said, "I'll work hard on it. As a matter of fact, I'm already working hard on it."
As of Monday, the film has earned 6.56 billion yen (about US$64.30 million), and sold around 4.5 million tickets. The film has surpassed both the earnings and the number of tickets sold of Anno's previous film, Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo, and has overtaken the live-action Nobunaga Concerto film's 4.61 billion yen (about US$44.58 million) gross to become the highest earning Japanese live-action film of 2016 so far.
The film opened on 441 screens in its opening weekend on July 29, and topped the Japanese box office for two straight weeks.
Funimation will screen the film with English subtitles in 440 theaters in the U.S. and Canada on October 11-18. The company describes the film:
It's a peaceful day in Japan when a strange fountain of water erupts in the bay, causing panic to spread among government officials. At first, they suspect only volcanic activity, but one young executive dares to wonder if it may be something different… something alive. His worst nightmare comes to life when a massive, gilled monster emerges from the deep and begins tearing through the city, leaving nothing but destruction in its wake. As the government scrambles to save the citizens, a rag-tag team of volunteers cuts through a web of red tape to uncover the monster's weakness and its mysterious ties to a foreign superpower. But time is not on their side—the greatest catastrophe to ever befall the world is about to evolve right before their very eyes.
Shin Godzilla represents the latest in TOHO's film series after a 12-year absence since 2004's Godzilla: Final Wars.
Source: Oricon Style, The Mainichi Shimbun via Minna no Eva FanA gun business in Apopka is drawing fire from Muslims.
Spike's Tactical is marketing an assault rifle it claims was "designed to never be used by Muslim terrorists." The AR-15 assault rifle is laser-etched on one side with a Knights Templar Long Cross – a symbol of the Christian Crusades to reclaim the Holy Land from Muslims – and Psalm 144:1 on the other side: "Blessed be the Lord my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle."
The company's spokesman, former Navy SEAL Ben "Mookie" Thomas said he came up with the idea and believes no devout Muslim would touch such a weapon.
"Off the cuff I said I'd like to have a gun that if a Muslim terrorist picked it up a bolt of lightning would hit and knock him dead," Thomas said.
Dubbed the "Crusader," the weapon went on sale Wednesday and received immediate condemnation from the Council on American-Islamic Relations of Florida.
"Is it designed for Christian terrorists?" asked Hasan Shibly, executive director of CAIR-FL, who said out of 205 mass killings so far this year in the U.S. only one involved a Muslim. "We need to have a conversation on gun violence. There has been utter silence from gun manufacturers. It's time for them to stop trying to make a buck on this."
Crime often happens in the blink of an eye. Here's a look at the basic gadgets used by police during daily patrols to keep themselves, and the public, safe.
This summer, Florida Gun Supply in Inverness north of Tampa drew nationwide publicity after owner Andy Hallinan declared it a "Muslim-free zone" following the July 16 killings of five military recruiters in Chattanogga, Tenn. The killer was identified as Muhammad Youseef Abdulazeez.
Shibly said he would welcome an opportunity to speak with Thomas as CAIR-FL opposes all forms of religious extremism.
"They don't have to do outlandish things for us to engage them," Shibly said.
The owners of Spike Tactical did not intend to insult or antagonize Muslims, Thomas said. They believe America and much of the world is threatened by Islamic terrorism and the Crusader is a symbol of shared Christian values and the right to defend themselves, he said. The safety selector that controls the Crusader's trigger has three settings: Peace, War and God Wills It. The weapon is the latest of more than dozen models sold at gun shops, ranging in cost from $960 to about $3,000.
The company would never produce an AR-15 assault rifle with verses from the Koran for Muslim marksmen, Thomas said. But it makes other special models including an AR-15 for women called "Pure Estrogen."
"Our goal is not to offend or alienate good people," said Thomas, referring to the reaction by CAIR-FL. "The difficult issues people have with each other need to be brought to the table. Often these are hurtful and painful but it's important to be honest."
Spike's Tactical was founded in 2001 by Mike and Angela Register as a family-owned business. Originally a hobby, it now has more than 40 employees making enough components for enthusiasts to build about 10,000 custom rifles a year.
"Men like to accessorize their guns more than women like to accessorize their outfits," said CEO Angela Register.
[email protected] or 407-420-5257US should consider Russian offer
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu suggested May 19 that Russia and US-led coalition forces should undertake “joint action … to plan and conduct strikes against Jabhat al-Nusra, which does not support the cease-fire, as well as against convoys of arms and fighters crossing the Syrian-Turkish border.”
Jabhat al-Nusra Front is al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria and an outlier to the UN-mediated political talks and cessation of hostilities. The peace talks and cessation, including UN Security Council Resolution 2254, are the result of US-Russian collaboration and leadership, which has produced the best hope, to date, of ending the more than five-year war.
Shoigu’s offer is in line with UN Security Council authorities on Syria. There are numerous resolutions targeting Jabhat al-Nusra and penalizing parties that support it. Resolution 2254, for example, calls on “ |
had been waiting for friends on Friday afternoon when failed asylum seeker Rakhmat Akhmat Akilov ploughed a truck into crowds in what is thought to be an Islamic State-inspired terrorist attack.
A keen musician from the small town of Lembeek near Brussels, Belgium, Dereymaeker was the first to be hit by the vehicle and died instantly at the scene, local media reports.
The mother-of-one was “very committed to helping asylum seekers” according to daily newspaper La Dernière Heure. A former psychologist, working in detention centres for Belgium’s Immigration Office, Dereymaeker often helped illegal immigrants like her alleged killer whose asylum claim was rejected in Sweden last year.
Belgium’s Het Nieuwsblad reports that Dereymaeker was “always seeking meetings” with illegal migrants in detention, stating a desire to understand them better and to “build bridges”.
“It’s difficult for me to talk about her death,” a friend told local media. “She played the flute and taught music to children.”
Members of the orchestra were distraught at the news of her death, describing the 31-year-old as “really positive about life” and telling media that she was “always smiling”.
Police chief Erik Nord called for Sweden to deport migrants who vocalise support for “violent extremism” when it emerged that the perpetrator of the deadly truck attack had posted Islamic State propaganda on Facebook and ‘liked’ pictures of casualties after the terrorist attack on the Boston Marathon in 2013.
But Justice Minister Morgan Johansson slapped down the suggestion and demanded the police chief “explain himself”.
Defending the right of extremists to stay in Sweden, the Social Democratic party politician pointed to the nation’s “freedom of speech”, but added that this doesn’t include “hate speech”.
Johansson also warned that migrants could risk “persecution” in their homelands, if they were deported.First, ask yourself the question, do you want to see a movie in which apes revolt against humanity?
If the answer’s No, ask yourself these follow-up questions: 1) Why the hell not?, and 2) What’s WRONG with you?
Apes revolting against humanity works on so many levels. Most obviously, apes are great creatures, and humans are not. It’s helpfully built right into their biological classification, “the great apes”—gorillas, chimpanzees, and orangutans—and in Rise of the Planet of the Apes, you get to identify with the apes against humanity, as is proper.
It’s an uprising movie, and uprising movies are just what we need right now. Why on earth somebody doesn’t remake Spartacus and film the Geronimo story and take another shot at Pancho Villa and do a decent depiction of the 1916 Irish Easter Rising and the spectacularly successful Haitian slave-revolt against the French in 1804 and cinematically celebrate Nat Turner and Harriet Tubman and John Brown, I can’t imagine. But until somebody does, Rise features a chimpanzee Spartacus, at least.
Plus there’s the overt sociological angle that’s so heartwarming. The old Planet of the Apes movies did the racial allegory everyone remembers fondly, but this new “prequel” is quite a bit stretchier. The apes here are representing not only all of suffering animalhood currently getting squeezed out of existence, but all of humanity’s subjugated, shunned, and shat upon, and that’s getting to be a bigger, roomier, more self-aware global majority all the time, transcending racial categories, though God knows race is still a big ugly factor.
Therefore Rise of the Planet of the Apes can be a pretty rotten movie in many ways and still work. You have to sit through a lot of James Franco and excessively plotty meanwhile-back-at-the-lab stuff, plus a patina of sickening CGI over everything. Never mind all that. Those are the apparently necessary conditions for the ape revolt. Keep your eyes on the prize.
I saw the movie with one of those right-thinking urban audiences who are there to feel the film intensely and vocalize their response. When Caesar the chimpanzee speaks for the first time, saying “No!” in response to his jailer’s order, the whole audience said, “Whoa!” in unison. Because like Spartacus says, “When a slave says No, Rome trembles.” And when an ape says No, Rome freaks out entirely.
(Admission: Kirk Douglas as Spartacus doesn’t really say that. He actually says, “When just one man says, ‘No, I won’t,’ Rome begins to fear.” But my way’s better.)
Plot rundown: in Rise, Our Hero is Caesar the chimpanzee whose super-intelligence was lab-engineered. His mother and a dozen other chimps, the subjects in a seemingly failed experiment, are killed off, but Caesar is saved by a weedy scientist named Will Rodman (James Franco) who’s in charge of the experiment. Rodman wants to find a cure for Alzheimer’s Disease, partly for personal reasons—his father (John Lithgow) is fading fast—and partly to curry favor with the slick nasty boss (David Oyelowo) of the evil biotech firm. Those cold, official glass-and-metal citadels aptly represent a world run by and for a loathsome exploitative elite, and inside them, the chimps in cages and strapped to lab tables whose misery drives the profits? Them are us.
So Caesar gets raised in suburbia by Rodman and his dad and, eventually, Rodman’s girlfriend (Freida Pinto, pretty but otherwise negligible). This is the waiting-around part, while Caesar slowly figures out what we already know, that humans, as a rule, are no damn good. Sure enough, Caesar winds up attacking a human who richly deserves it, and he’s hauled off to be caged in a seedy cement primate holding pen with a bunch of apes who don’t appreciate his fancy human-style duds. Rodman can’t get him out. Rodman’s useless girlfriend starts to make oh-well-maybe-it’s-for-the-best noises.
This is where things start to get good, movie-wise. Embittered Caesar has finally had enough. He acts in accordance with the famous-last-words advice of jailed union man Joe Hill, right before his execution on trumped-up charges: “Don’t waste any time in mourning. Organize.”
Many stirring shots of Caesar in his cell plotting revolution. Andy Serkis of Gollum fame plays Caesar and presumably should get the credit for nice expressive eye-work as Caesar cogitates on the problem facing all revolutionaries: how the hell do you get a bunch of stupid primates throwing feces at each other to join forces and fight their oppressors? Leon Trotsky, Michael Collins, Nelson Mandela, they all went through the same thing.
In Caesar’s case, the solution involves getting control over the cookie-reward system at the primate pen, converting the big gorilla and the meanest chimpanzee to the cause, stealing some ape-smartening formula from the lab, learning to use weapons, etc. I feel sure Caesar’s system roughly resembles some revolutionary handbook already in existence, maybe something by Mao Tse-tung.
And when the apes get smart, it’s pretty thrilling. Nice shot of them standing together as a group, all on their hind legs, looking at their warden (Brian Cox) in an appraising way that would make a wiser man get out of the ape-imprisoning business immediately. From then on, enjoyment reigns. Apes overrun the biotech firm, apes liberate the zoo primates, apes arm themselves, apes cross the Golden Gate Bridge en masse heading for redwood forests, apes fight the cops, a gorilla takes down a helicopter…
Yeah, lots of spontaneous applause in the theater at the end, and you don’t hear that very often anymore. May this be the first of many Uprising Movies, and may they give us all some practical ideas for future use.New study from University of Leicester uncovers clues for ‘morningness’ and ‘eveningness’
Issued by the University of Leicester Press Office on 14 May
Researchers identify fly strains that exhibit morning- and evening-like behaviour.
Team identifies nearly 80 genes associated with different types of behaviour
Study could pave way to better diagnostics, and ultimately personal medicine, where larks and owls will receive their tailored therapies
A new study by geneticists from the University of Leicester has for the first time identified the genetic clues behind what makes you a ‘lark’ or an ‘owl’.
Based on analysis of a fruit fly, the scientists have discovered nearly 80 genes associated with ‘morningness’ and ‘eveningness’.
Researcher Dr Eran Tauber, one of the three authors of the study, published in the journal Frontiers in Neurology, said: “Most people find that their performance is at peak at specific times of day. A great variation in this diurnal preference is found, from early risers ‘larks’ to late night ‘owls’. The impact of this preference (‘chronotype’) on health and behaviour is well documented, but the molecular basis is largely unknown.
“In this new study, we have used fruit-flies, whose gene clocks are very similar to human, to get a first insight into the molecular basis of ‘morningness/eveningness’ preference. Because this genetic system is so similar between insects and human, there is a good chance that some of the genes that we have identified in flies, would be also important for diurnal preference in humans.
“Most of these genes are present in the mammalian genome would therefore be useful starting points for research in human. For example, a relatively large number of genes were associated with a molecular signalling pathway called MAPK which is also present in human and is implicated in the development of many cancers.”
Dr Tauber, Lecturer in Molecular Evolution at the University of Leicester, worked with Dr Ezio Rosato and Professor Bambos Kyriacou in the Department of Genetics. Their work was funded by the BBSRC.
Dr Tauber added: “For many of us life is mainly spent indoors, so we are no longer exposed to the natural variations in light and temperature that characterise the day-night cycle. To make matters even worse, the rhythm of life is such that for many people the economic or social call to start a new day comes hours before the endogenous call from the body clock.
“The combined effect of these two lifestyles causes a discrepancy between internal and external timing which, can be more or less pronounced for late rising 'owl' or early rising 'lark' chronotypes.
“This creates a clock dysfunction that is not only reflected in temporal disorientation and sleep problems, but also in conditions such as obesity, mental illness, cardiovascular disease and cancer.
“Our study is the first stepping stone to identifying which genes are involved in this process. This will allow better diagnostics, and ultimately personal medicine, where larks and owls will receive their tailored therapies.”
Dr Ezio Rosato, lead investigator, said: “A key finding of this study was that most of the genes that we identified are not core-clock genes, but genes involved in a diverse range of molecular pathways. This changes our view of the body clock, from a pacemaker that drives rhythms to a time reference system that interacts with the environment.
Dr Tauber added: “We have identified fly strains that exhibit morning- and evening-like behaviour. This allowed us to carry a global gene expression study on a scale which never had been done before. Diurnal preference was studied intensively in human, but not at the molecular level. This is the first study comparing gene expression in ‘lark’ and ‘owl’.
“Another interesting finding of this study is that the molecular processes in the Owls are not merely delayed compared to Larks, but are entirely different. I refer to this behaviour as the ‘pinball theory’. Once a gene expression is delayed (in Larks), a completely different cascade of molecular events is carried, similar to the ball in a pinball machine that takes a different route in each run. The end point might be similar, but the different molecular routes result in a different journey time.”
The researchers used the fruit-fly Drosophila to identify the genes associated with morningness and eveningness. The research focused on the timing of adult emergence (eclosion) from their pupal case, an event which is regulated by the circadian clock. While most strains exhibit eclosion during dawn (‘larks’), the team surveyed large number of wild strains and identified strains that exhibit late eclosion (‘owls’). The team used a method called RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) to quantify gene expression across an entire genome. By comparing gene expression in ‘lark’ and owl strains, the team has identified nearly 80 genes that show substantial difference in their expression and may account for the different diurnal preference.
Dr Tauber concluded: “Looking at gene expression was only part of our research. An obvious question is what causes the different expression in the larks and owls. This difference is largely due to genetic variations in their DNA sequences—different gene versions that are present in larks and owls. In another set of experiments, we took advantage of the fact that the DNA sequence of the entire genome of many fly strains in now available. We carried a large survey and identified some interesting genetic variations that are associated with diurnal preference. We are currently analysing the data and hope to publish the results in due course.”
Read the paper (OA): http://fron.tiers.in/go/HU2YxE
Frontiers in #Neurology
Part of the Research Topic "Circadian lessons from owls & larks: The impact of circadian phenotype on health, well-being & performance": http://fron.tiers.in/go/lUZpK5
http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fneur.2015.00100/
doi: 10.3389/fneur.2015.00100
ends
For interviews, please contact:
Dr Eran Tauber (PhD)
Lecturer in Molecular Evolution
Dept. of Genetics
University of Leicester
____________________________________________________________
http://tinyurl.com/tauberlab Twitter: @TauberLab facebook: Tauber-Lab
About BBSRC
The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) invests in world-class bioscience research and training on behalf of the UK public. Our aim is to further scientific knowledge, to promote economic growth, wealth and job creation and to improve quality of life in the UK and beyond.
Funded by Government, BBSRC invested over £484M in world-class bioscience in 2013-14. We support research and training in universities and strategically funded institutes. BBSRC research and the people we fund are helping society to meet major challenges, including food security, green energy and healthier, longer lives. Our investments underpin important UK economic sectors, such as farming, food, industrial biotechnology and pharmaceuticals.
For more information about BBSRC, our science and our impact see: http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk
For more information about BBSRC strategically funded institutes see: http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/institutesWhy Creative Commons Licenses Help Rather Than Hinder Struggling Artists
from the exactly-wrong dept
Creative Commons (CC) has been with us for nearly a decade, so you would have thought people might understand it by now. Apparently not, judging by the title of this blog post: "How Creative Commons Can Stifle Artistic Output."
The author, George Howard, begins reasonably enough: Now, the servicing of the muse is not compelled by money, but, rather, other impulses. However, absent some type of financial return for the artists� work, bad things happen: artists begin to believe that their work is without value, and they stop; or, artists have to subsidize their artistic income by working a soul-crushing job that eventually diminishes their ability/desire/time to create�and they stop. In either case, art stops being created. This to me is unacceptable. I defy anyone to give me a good argument against the creation of more art. Clearly from that description Howard is concerned mainly with artists that are relatively unknown and/or struggling, and his point about their need to make money is a fair one. But from that premise he then makes this extraordinary leap: All of this is why I react negatively to proponents of the so-called �copyleft� movement. He goes on: As a bit of background, the copyleft movement originated from software development, where hobbyist programmers desired to make software free (or very cheap) in order to reduce/eliminate piracy. That is wrong in just about every respect. Copyleft, which actually depends upon copyright in order to work, was invented in 1983 by Richard Stallman. Far from being a "hobbyist", Stallman was one of the best programmers of his day. Moreover, copyleft � specifically the GNU General Public License � was devized not to "reduce/eliminate piracy", but almost its polar opposite: to encourage and facilitate sharing.
The author's understanding of how Creative Commons licenses work seems equally shaky: There are several justifications for an artist or songwriter to give up copyrights. The first is reasonable: that by providing a means for artists to more easily exchange rights, reduces transaction costs, and thus encourages collaboration. Artists employing Creative Commons licenses do not "give up copyrights": they always retain them. But they grant additional permissions to others � to share, to adapt, to sell. That's not about "exchanging rights" � there's no quid pro quo required, and rarely does this result in any artistic collaboration; instead it's from a desire to see your work enjoyed or re-used more widely. The second � that current copyright law enforces and encourages a restrictive permission culture to the detriment of the public good � is not. By this I mean that the idea that copyright somehow impedes creativity and artistic development is just plain wrong. The idea that copyright on a work impedes "creativity and artistic development" refers to its effect not on the original creator, but on other artists, since by definition copyright is a monopoly that forbids them from building on the creations of others unless they ask permission � often expensive or impossible to obtain. Creative Commons licenses, by contrast, encourage this kind of activity by granting permissions upfront to everyone, making them particularly beneficial for those rising creators with limited means but plenty of ideas.
Despite this, Howard insists the problem lies not with copyright itself, but elsewhere: what really impedes creativity and artistic development is the artist�s perception that his or her music is valueless/the inability of the artist to monetize his or her output. And yet it's copyright that exacerbates this perception among struggling and still unknown artists that their art is valueless, not CC licenses. Copyright places obstacles in the way of sharing your enthusiasm for a creative work by passing it on so that it can be explored and enjoyed by others. All CC licenses permit this, and it is precisely this spreading of the word that is likely to lead to the creator becoming better known and appreciated.
Nor does making works more freely available preclude the possibility of earning money from them. Fans may buy the work in other formats � for example as a book, CD or LP as well as a download. People may want to make direct contributions to support the artist to encourage them to produce more. Techdirt has devoted many posts to the different ways in which revenue can be generated from CC-licensed goods that are made available online.
Howard concludes: Artists tend to have � at best � an uncomfortable relationship with the monetization of their work, and need no encouragement to devalue it. Rather, artists need to be reminded that their contribution to this deeply troubled world is valuable. The exchange of value between an artist and his or her fans, is a means to allow the artist to continue creating art, and thus is crucial. His own words emphasise that what is crucial is an "exchange of value between an artist and his or her fans". Copyright, with its ever-expanding range of restrictions and harsh punishments for those who overstep the mark � even unwittingly � hardly promotes that exchange. Creative Commons licenses are the true allies of artists who are struggling for recognition and remuneration, thanks to their broad permissions and explicit encouragement to share and enjoy, which promotes and enhances that exchange - and helps to generate that crucial financial return too.
Follow me @glynmoody on Twitter or identi.ca, and on Google+
Filed Under: artists, creative commonsWhich show had you gathering around the TV the most this season? The results probably won’t surprise you Mark Harmon lovers, but there are plenty of bragging rights to go around for the James Spader and Blake Shelton fan clubs.
Here are the top 50 most-watched shows among viewers (not to be confused with the top 50 shows in the 18-49 demo, which you can see by clicking here):
1. NFL Sunday Night Football, NBC (21.6 million)
2. The Big Bang Theory, CBS (19.9 million)
3. NCIS, CBS (19.7 million)
4. NCIS: LA, CBS (16 million)
5. NBC NFL Sunday Pre-Kick, NBC (15.7 million)
6. Dancing With the Stars, ABC (15.3 million)
7. The Blacklist, NBC (14.9 million)
8. The OT, FOX (14.9 million)
9. The Voice, NBC (14.5 million)
10. Person of Interest, CBS (14 million)
11. The Voice Tuesdays, NBC (13.8 million)
12. Blue Bloods, CBS (13.6 million)
13. Resurrection, ABC (12.9 million)
14. Criminal Minds, CBS (12.6 million)
15. Castle, ABC (12.6 million)
16. 60 Minutes, CBS (12.18 million)
17. Grey’s Anatomy, ABC (12.12 million)
18. Scandal, ABC (11.99 million)
19. American Idol, Wednesday, Fox (11.94 million)
20. CSI, CBS (11.8 million)
21. Modern Family, ABC (11.79 million)
22. Football Night in America 3, NBC (11.78 million)
23. Elementary, CBS (11.74 million)
24. Hawaii Five-0, CBS (11.66 million)
25. American Idol, Thursday, FOX (11.43 million)
26. The Good Wife, CBS (11.42 million)
27. The Millers, CBS (11.37 million)
28. Survivor, CBS (11.30 million)
29. The Mentalist, CBS (11.2 million)
30. Two and a Half Men, CBS (10.6 million)
31. How I Met Your Mother, CBS (10.5 million)
32. Intelligence, CBS (10.1 million)
33. The Crazy Ones, CBS (9.8 million)
34. Chicago Fire, NBC (9.7 million)
35. The Bachelor, ABC (9.5 million)
36. Mike & Molly, CBS (9.5 million)
37. The Amazing Race, CBS (9.4 million)
38. Once Upon a Time, ABC (9.3 million)
39. Unforgettable, CBS (9.0 million)
40. Sleepy Hollow, FOX (9.0 million)
41. 2 Broke Girls, CBS (8.9 million)
42. Bones, FOX (8.5 million)
43. Revenge, ABC (8.4 million)
44. Undercover Boss, CBS (8.3 million)
45. Mom, CBS (8.3 million)
46. Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD, ABC (8.3 million)
47. The Middle, ABC (8.2 million)
48. The Following, FOX (8.2 million)
49. Law & Order: SVU, NBC (8.1 million)
50. Almost Human, FOX (8.1 million)An outage of Amazon’s Elastic Compute Cloud in North Virginia has taken down Netflix, Pinterest, Instagram, and other services. According to numerous Twitter updates and our own checks, all three services are unavailable as of Friday evening at 9:10 p.m. PT.
Amazon’s service health dashboard indicates that there are power issues in its North Virginia data center, most likely caused by severe storms in the region.
Independent checks by VentureBeat of Netflix, Instagram, Pinterest, and Heroku show each site not operating. Netflix has acknowledged the issue on its customer support Twitter account:
Instagram’s support Twitter account has also noted ongoing issues:
Heroku’s status and incident dashboard says: “Our engineers continue to work to restore affected systems. Some production applications are unaffected but many applications are offline. API access is disabled while we restore service.”
As of 8:49 p.m. PT, Amazon claims that “power has been restored to the impacted Availability Zone and we are working to bring impacted instances and volumes back online.” If power has been restored to its North Virginia data center, we would expect that the affected services will be back online shortly. But until then, agitated users will just have to sit back and relax.
Update: As of 9:20 p.m. PT, Amazon said it is still working to fix the issue: “We are continuing to work to bring the instances and volumes back online. In addition, EC2 and EBS APIs are currently experiencing elevated error rates.”
Update 2: As of 9:54 p.m. PT, Amazon said: “EC2 and EBS APIs are once again operating normally. We are continuing to recover impacted instances and volumes.”
Update 3: Independent checks of Netflix and Pinterest show the two sites back and working normally in most regards. Most likely, service is being restored to all services as we update.
Update 4: At 4:42 a.m. PT, Amazon said: “We are continuing to work to recover the remaining EC2 instances, EBS volumes, and ELBs.” At this time, Instagram is still down, while Heroku said it is still recovering some features as of 7:10 a.m. PT.
Update 5: As of Saturday afternoon, all affected services including Instagram appear to be functioning normally again.
With the critical Amazon outage, which is the second this month, we wouldn’t be surprised if these popular services started looking at other options, including Rackspace, SoftLayer, Microsoft’s Azure, and Google’s just-introduced Compute Engine. Some of Amazon’s biggest EC2 outages occurred in April and August of last year.
Let us know in the comments if you are seeing any other services that are down in this massive outage.
Storm clouds photo: divingrocks/FlickrWider suicide prevention focus urged
Updated
Sorry, this video has expired Video: Forum tackles suicide concerns (7pm TV News SA)
A man who has lost family members to suicide says governments need to be held to account over high suicide rates among Aboriginal people.
The Indigenous suicide rate is about double that of other Australians.
Tauto Sansbury has lost nephews, nieces and an uncle to suicide.
He has been the keynote speaker at a Uniting Church forum held in Adelaide to discuss suicide.
Mr Sansbury says there is too great a focus on dealing with mental health issues and other contributing factors deserve more attention.
"Contributing factors is loss of land, loss of culture, loss of Aboriginal identity," he said.
"[Also] continuing high incarceration of young Aboriginal kids and adult Aboriginal people."
Sarah Williamson from the Uniting Church said suicide could prove particularly hard to address in Aboriginal communities because of cultural considerations in speaking about death.
"Our suicide toll is much higher than the road toll each year, we're losing so many lives for people who feel that they have no other options, that there's no hope," she said.
"If we don't start addressing it, I can't see that it's going to get any better."
South Australia's Public Advocate John Brayley says Aboriginal people are missing out on early treatment of mental health problems because the services available to them are culturally inappropriate.
"If Aboriginal people go to them, it's often when things have become very severe and the opportunity for early treatment and care has been missed," he said.
Dr Brayley wants an audit of suicide prevention and mental health programs in South Australia to determine their effectiveness for Aboriginal people.
"There is a particular concern that Aboriginal communities may not have equity of access to the same services that the rest of the community might have so, while there are broader gaps for the whole community, I think the audit of what is happening is more important for services for Aboriginal people," he said.
Sorry, this video has expired Video: Tauto Sansbury talks to Kim Robertson about his family experiences of suicide (ABC News)
Topics: suicide, indigenous-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander, aboriginal, community-and-society, indigenous-policy, health, mental-health, religion-and-beliefs, sa, adelaide-5000, port-augusta-5700, port-lincoln-5606, port-pirie-5540, renmark-5341, australia
First postedThe Book of the City of Ladies Illustration from
The Book of the City of Ladies or Le Livre de la Cité des Dames (finished by 1405), is perhaps Christine de Pizan's most famous literary work, and it is her second work of lengthy prose. Pizan uses the vernacular French language to compose the book, but she often uses Latin-style syntax and conventions within her French prose.[1] The book serves as her formal response to Jean de Meun's popular Roman de la Rose. Pizan combats Meun's statements about women by creating an allegorical city of ladies. She defends women by collecting a wide array of famous women throughout history. These women are "housed" in the City of Ladies, which is actually the book. As Pizan builds her city, she uses each famous woman as a building block for not only the walls and houses of the city, but also as building blocks for her thesis. Each woman added to the city adds to Pizan's argument towards women as valued participants in society. She also advocates in favor of education for women.[2]
Christine de Pizan also finished by 1405 The Treasure of the City of Ladies (Le tresor de la cité des dames de degré en degré, also known The Book of the Three Virtues), a manual of education, dedicated to Princess Margaret of Burgundy. This aims to educate women of all estates, the latter telling women who have husbands: "If she wants to act prudently and have the praise of both the world and her husband, she will be cheerful to him all the time".[3] Her Book and Treasure are her two best-known works, along with the Ditie de Jehanne D'Arc.[4]
Summary [ edit ]
Part I [ edit ]
Part I opens with Christine reading from Matheolus's Lamentations, a work from the thirteenth century that addresses marriage wherein the author writes that women make men's lives miserable.[5] Upon reading these words, Christine becomes upset and feels ashamed to be a woman: "This thought inspired such a great sense of disgust and sadness in me that I began to despise myself and the whole of my sex as an aberration in nature".[6] The three Virtues then appear to Christine, and each lady tells Christine what her role will be in helping her build the City of Ladies. Lady Reason, a virtue developed by Christine for the purpose of her book, is the first to join Christine and helps her build the external walls of the city. She answers Christine's questions about why some men slander women, helping Christine to prepare the ground on which the city will be built. She tells Christine to "take the spade of [her] intelligence and dig deep to make a trench all around [the city] … [and Reason will] help to carry away the hods of earth on [her] shoulders." These "hods of earth" are the past beliefs Christine has held. Christine, in the beginning of the text, believed that women must truly be bad because she "could scarcely find a moral work by any author which didn't devote some chapter or paragraph to attacking the female sex. [Therefore she] had to accept [these authors] unfavourable opinion[s] of women since it was unlikely that so many learned men, who seemed to be endowed with such great intelligence and insight into all things, could possibly have lied on so many different occasions." Christine is not using reason to discover the merits of women. She believes all that she reads instead of putting her mind to listing all the great deeds women have accomplished. To help Christine see reason, Lady Reason comes and teaches Christine. She helps Christine dispel her own self-consciousness and the negative thoughts of past writers. By creating Lady Reason, Christine not only teaches her own allegorical self, but also her readers. She gives not only herself reason, but also gives readers, and women, reason to believe that women are not evil or useless creatures but instead have a significant place within society.
Women discussed [ edit ]
The following 36 women are discussed in Part I of the Book of the City of Ladies.[7]
Part II [ edit ]
In Part II, Lady Rectitude says she will help Christine "construct the houses and buildings inside the walls of the City of Ladies" and fill it with inhabitants who are "valiant ladies of great renown".[6] As they build, Lady Rectitude informs Christine with examples and "stories of pagan, Hebrew, and Christian ladies" [5] who possessed the gift of prophecy, chastity, or devotion to their families and others. Christine and Lady Rectitude also discuss the institution of marriage, addressing Christine's questions regarding men's claims about the ill qualities women bring to marriage. Lady Rectitude corrects these misconceptions with examples of women who loved their husbands and acted virtuously, noting that those women who are evil toward their husbands are "like creatures who go totally against their nature".[6] Lady Rectitude also refutes allegations that women are unchaste, inconstant, unfaithful, and mean by nature through her stories. This part closes with Christine addressing women and asking them to pray for her as she continues her work with Lady Justice to complete the city.
Women discussed [ edit ]
The following 92 women are discussed in Part II of the Book of the City of Ladies.[7]
Part III [ edit ]
In Part III, Lady Justice joins with Christine to "add the finishing touches" to the city, including bringing a queen to rule the city. Lady Justice tells Christine of female saints who were praised for their martyrdom. At the close of this part, Christine makes another address to all women announcing the completion of the City of Ladies. She beseeches them to defend and protect the city and to follow their queen (the virgin Mary). She also warns the women against the lies of slanderers, saying, "Drive back these treacherous liars who use nothing but tricks and honeyed words to steal from you that which you should keep safe above all else: your chastity and your glorious good name".[6]
Women discussed [ edit ]
The following 37 women are discussed in Part III of the Book of the City of Ladies.[7]
Boccaccio's influence [ edit ]
Christine's main source for information was Giovanni Boccaccio's De mulieribus claris (On Famous Women), possibly in the French version, Des Cleres et Nobles Femmes. This text was a biographical treatise on ancient famous women. Christine also cited from Boccaccio's Decameron in the latter stages of The City of Ladies. The tales of Ghismonda and Lisabetta, for example, are quoted as coming from Boccaccio's Decameron.
Boccaccio's influence can be seen in Christine's stance on female education. In the tale of Rhea Ilia, Boccaccio advocates for young women's right to choose a secular or religious life. He states that it is harmful to place young girls into convents while they are “ignorant, or young, or under coercion.” Boccaccio states that girls should be “well brought up from childhood in the parental home, taught honesty and praiseworthy behavior, and then, when they are grown and with their entire mind know what of their own free will” choose the life of monasticism. Boccaccio believes that young girls need to be taught about life and virtues before they are consecrated to God.
While he does not say women should have a formal education, he is still advocating for women to have a say in their lives and the right to be well informed about their possible futures. Therefore, Boccaccio's belief in educating young girls about secular and religious life could have acted as a stepping stone for Christine's belief in female education. Boccaccio's outlook was however, according to Margaret King and Albert Rabil, "sexist in that he praised the traditional values of chastity, silence, and obedience in women, and furthermore depicting women in the public sphere as suffering as in form of punishment for transcending boundaries."
Boccaccio's text is mainly used for Parts I and II of the book, while Part III is more reliant upon Jean de Vignay's Miroir historical (1333). This text is the French translation of the historical portions of Speculum Maius, an encyclopedia by Vincent of Beauvais that was begun after 1240.[5][8]
Themes [ edit ]
The Book of the City of Ladies is an allegorical society in which the word "lady" is defined as a woman of noble spirit, instead of noble birth. The book, and therefore the city, contains women of past eras, ranging from pagans to ancient Jews to medieval Christian saints. The book includes discussion between Christine de Pizan and the three female Virtues which are sent to aid Christine build the city. These Virtues – Reason, Rectitude, and Justice – help Christine build the foundations and houses of the city, as well as pick the women who will reside in the city of ladies. Each woman chosen by the Virtues to live in the city acts as a positive example for other women to follow. These women are also examples of the positive influences women have had on society.
Christine asks the virtues if women should be taught as men are and why some men think women should not be educated. Other questions that are explored are: the criminality of rape, the natural affinity in women to learn, and their talent for government.
See also [ edit ]
Sources [ edit ]
Original sources
De Pizan, Christine. The Book of the City of Ladies. 1405. Trans. Rosalind Brown-Grant. London: Penguin, 1999. Print.
. 1405. Trans. Rosalind Brown-Grant. London: Penguin, 1999. Print. Boccaccio, Giovanni. De mulieribus claris. English & Latin. Famous women. Ed. by Virginia Brown. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2001.
. Ed. by Virginia Brown. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2001. Pizan, Christine. A |
Communion linger with viewers is how completely strange the whole thing is. As Whitley and hypnotherapist attempt to purvey the blocked memories, we see some truly bizarre recollections which are either real, imagined, or simply altered by the extraterrestrials working to cover up their ruse. Scenes of Whitley receiving an anal probe will no doubt stick in viewers’ minds and perhaps even elicit unintentional laughter, but other scenes of Whitley talking to his alien doppleganger and a grey who removes a face mask to reveal an elephant-like trunk for a snout are too out there for words. Sporting a score by Eric Clapton (an unusual choice for film composition) and an unhinged Walken (much to the real Strieber’s dismay) Communion truly is one of the weirdest films you’ll ever see! Another allegedly true story of alien abduction (based on the autobiographical account by Whitley Strieber), only this one stars Christopher Walken in the titular role!concerns the author in question and his family as they reside on vacation within their distant cabin in the wilderness. Night after night, the family is visited upon by extraterrestrial beings and Whitley is abducted. The family’s life is thrown in disarray as wife, son and relatives try to make sense of their father’s bizarre behavior and paranoia. Undergoing hypnosis, Whitley recalls a strange collective of black-eyed grey aliens and even stranger dwarf like creatures. What makeslinger with viewers is how completely strange the whole thing is. As Whitley and hypnotherapist attempt to purvey the blocked memories, we see some truly bizarre recollections which are either real, imagined, or simply altered by the extraterrestrials working to cover up their ruse. Scenes of Whitley receiving an anal probe will no doubt stick in viewers’ minds and perhaps even elicit unintentional laughter, but other scenes of Whitley talking to his alien doppleganger and a grey who removes a face mask to reveal an elephant-like trunk for a snout are too out there for words. Sporting a score by Eric Clapton (an unusual choice for film composition) and an unhinged Walken (much to the real Strieber’s dismay)truly is one of the weirdest films you’ll ever see!
"I'm not guessing who it is and I'm
not turning around to see who it is.
Okay? I'm just really freaked out."
Dark Skies (2013 – written and directed by Scott Stewart)
Paranormal Activity and Insidious, Dark Skies is unfortunately among the more run-of-the-mill titles in the alien abduction subgenre. The film concerns a dysfunctional family and two young boys, Jesse and Sammy, who share horror stories about the “Sandman” to distract themselves from their parents’ feuding. Out of nowhere, food is strewn across the kitchen floor, which Sammy promptly blames on the Sandman. As the disturbances grow more intense, the family begins to experience lost time and the mother spots a dark figure looming over Sammy’s bed one night, prompting the installation of security cameras. Soon marks begin to appear on the sons’ bodies and the figures start showing up on the security cameras. More or less a cheap knockoff of Signs with the framework of Insidious, Dark Skies bears that unwanted distinction of being thrown together. While the aliens themselves manage to creep out hardened science fiction fans with their silent movements through the household and lanky figure, there really isn’t any effort to try and do something new here. We’ve seen it all before in infinitely better thrillers, including the flawed but somewhat effective Insidious. The stock characterizations, family dynamics and clairvoyant children can’t help but tread the same ground fans of the genre have walked time and time again. Touted by adverts as being from the same producers asandis unfortunately among the more run-of-the-mill titles in the alien abduction subgenre. The film concerns a dysfunctional family and two young boys, Jesse and Sammy, who share horror stories about the “Sandman” to distract themselves from their parents’ feuding. Out of nowhere, food is strewn across the kitchen floor, which Sammy promptly blames on the Sandman. As the disturbances grow more intense, the family begins to experience lost time and the mother spots a dark figure looming over Sammy’s bed one night, prompting the installation of security cameras. Soon marks begin to appear on the sons’ bodies and the figures start showing up on the security cameras. More or less a cheap knockoff ofwith the framework ofbears that unwanted distinction of being thrown together. While the aliens themselves manage to creep out hardened science fiction fans with their silent movements through the household and lanky figure, there really isn’t any effort to try and do something new here. We’ve seen it all before in infinitely better thrillers, including the flawed but somewhat effective. The stock characterizations, family dynamics and clairvoyant children can’t help but tread the same ground fans of the genre have walked time and time again.
The Fourth Kind (2009 – written and directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi)
The Fourth Kind is not merely a bad science fiction thriller, it’s one of the absolute worst films ever released to mainstream movie theaters. Purporting to be based on real events which occurred in Nome, Alaska in the year 2000, The Fourth Kind is that rare beast of awfulness that manages to self-terminate within the opening scenes. Seen in both the trailer and film itself, Milla Jovovich approaches the camera, announces herself as an actress and that she’ll be playing the fictional Dr. Abigail Tyler. With tons of random dates and locations thrown onscreen, the director, Olatunde Osunsanmi, proceeds to insert himself into the picture by interviewing the “real” Dr. Abigail Tyler. As every character appears onscreen, subtitles appear indicating both the actor we’re seeing and the character they’re playing. If that’s not enough to take you right out of whatever narrative this film is trying to accomplish, the director includes split-screen shots juxtaposing both the “real” footage of Abigail Tyler beside the re-enacted footage of Jovavich’s Abigail Tyler. What’s the purpose? Which heads at Universal Studios took a look at this approach and deemed it passable for theatrical distribution?
The Fourth Kind is an intolerable creation whose only conceivable reason for garnering a Blu-ray release is to educate people on how not to make a film. Soon the split screens start moving around without reason, actors’ dialogue in the re-enacted scenes sync up with the “real” footage, scenes are played twice both ways, and whatever money shots people paid to see are obscured by the reliable low-budget tactic of tape distortion so we can’t see what’s happening. And then there’s the exploitative misuse of real life tragedies associated with Nome, Alaska to try and sell the idea to gullible moviegoers that the region is dogged with alien abductions. If Olatunde Osunsanmi’s intention was to make THE Dada-Art movie to end them all, he brilliantly succeeded. As it stands,is an intolerable creation whose only conceivable reason for garnering a Blu-ray release is to educate people on how not to make a film.
Alien Abduction (2014 – directed by Matty Beckerman)
"Aliens told me I can't play
Minecraft anymore." Matty Beckerman's Alien Abduction is another entry in the seemingly endless found-footage genre, or to put it more precisely, a long form version of Jason Eisener's short segment Slumber Party Alien Abduction from the anthology horror film V/H/S 2. Not unlike Andrew from the found-footage masterwork Chronicle, we're given the point of view of an autistic boy using his hand held camera to broach the outside world as his vacationing family purveys the countryside. As expected, we get the shaky camera as well as the glitches in audio and video whenever an alien attack is near. For the most part it's well directed and the characters aren't insufferable imbeciles deserving of death but a real family with problems and quickness to self-sacrifice. The sound design mixes deafening ship roars with blinding lights to terrifying effect, although the aliens sound like they walked off the set of M. Night Shyamalan's Signs with their chirping and clicking noises. Save for an effects heavy finale, Alien Abduction exploits the notion of less amounting to more as far as it can go, opting for implication and jump cut glimpses rather than anything clearly visible. While overtly a B-movie, those keen on alien abduction movies should check it out as soon as possible. Not a film that aims high for greatness, but of the kind of mindless thriller entertainment it aims to be, it's a lot of fun. As a found footage film, yes it suffers from the cliches found within the genre, notably the video distortion which occurs on the camera, signaling whenever an alien attack is on the horizon. That said, it's a popcorn horror flick that proved to be exactly as I expected it to be.Posted by Dasweb <span class="truncated">...</span>
Surprisingly most of blizzards games don't officially even support 21:9. Heros and Wow ar ethe only two, Diablo works but it's not officially supported
That's the hilarious part, a MOBA, which would benefit from the extra screen space supports 21:9, but an FPS doesn't?
Yeah I know heh, I am taking this as hopeful news that blizzard is changing there minds in 21:9 because I never thought Heros would see support either, but what is hilarious to me is the fact the support is pretty much in OverWatch already, like earlier posts mentioned there is a very simple hex tweak that makes the game run fully in 21:9 up to 3440 by 1440 I did through all of the beta and it looked awesome, so really it would take minor UI and fov tweaks to make sure the game is on par with 16:9, def don't do the tweak now because you could get banned by there anti cheat system.As you may have noticed over the last few days — I sure did — Facebook recently incorporated a sneaky change to the way its ads are displayed that disguised them as ordinary content and circumvented ad blocking software in browsers. Ads crowded the streams of even the most vigilant users. But this hell on earth was not to last: two days and change later, the Adblock Plus community has found a way to block them again.
On Tuesday, when Facebook implemented the change, Adblock Plus was philosophical about it. This wasn’t the end of an era, but perhaps the start of one: “If nothing else, all this attention from Facebook shows that ad blocking has finally made the big time.”
A global community of staunchly anti-advertising coders and hackers is a great base to call on in such a situation, and they delivered.
If you use AdBlock Plus, it should update itself automatically, or you can add the filter yourself. ABP is the most popular blocker, but because the code was added to Easylist, a compendium of such filters used by many pieces of ad-blocking software, you can also expect to see the ads disappear if you use uBlock, Adguard, and others.
“We promised that the open source community would have a solution very soon, and, frankly, they’ve beaten even our own expectations,” the company wrote in a blog post. But it also tempered its enthusiasm by noting that this was no great victory, just another day for proponents of ad-blocking.
“This sort of back-and-forth battle between the open source ad-blocking community and circumventers has been going on since ad blocking was invented,” the post reads. “So it’s very possible that Facebook will write some code that will render the filter useless — at any time. If that happens, the ad-blocking community will likely find another workaround, then Facebook might circumvent again, etc.”
Sure enough, after this article was published, a Facebook spokesperson emailed TechCrunch regarding the counter-block to say “we plan to address the issue.”
This kind of cycle, in which hackers pit themselves against a technological restriction, is ubiquitous. Sometimes it’s laudable, like the fight to unlock bootloaders so people can load whatever software they want on hardware they own. Sometimes it’s shady, as when spammers and malware creators work to get around security measures to infect users. And sometimes it’s a grey area, like ad blockers.
Some feel ad blocking is akin to stealing from the websites and services you visit. Some think it’s entirely up to the user to decide what content they see and how. Some argue that online advertising is so poor and ineffective that there’s no point using it at all. Some say the ad blockers themselves are running a racket. Some want ads to be relevant to themselves, so they block generalized ads — and some fear targeting, and so only want generalized ads!
There are plenty of perspectives to be examined, though here isn’t really the place. The reality is that the technology to block ads is widely and freely available and millions are taking advantage of it to create what is unarguably a better web experience. They’re going to keep doing that, and companies that rely on advertising must accept that as a given — and hopefully find some way to make money that doesn’t adversely affect the product they offer.The Texas Supreme Court on Friday ruled it has no authority or jurisdiction to intervene in its sister court's ban of prominent death penalty lawyer David Dow.
In January, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals — the state's highest criminal court — found Dow in contempt after he was a day late filing an appeal to stop the execution of Miguel Angel Paredes last year. The court banished Dow from appearing with new clients before that court for a year. Dow had been warned he could be suspended after missing another deadline with the appeals court in 2010.
"Dow has been suspended for an important but limited reason... ensuring that pleadings in death penalty cases are filed in time to be thoroughly considered by the courts," the ruling stated.
Paredes was executed in October for his role in 2002 slaying that left three people dead.
The Texas Tribune thanks its sponsors. Become one.
Dow appealed the ban, arguing that the criminal appeals court had overstepped its bounds by regulating attorney conduct, a power that rests with the Texas Supreme Court, the state's highest civil court.
But on Friday, the Texas Supreme Court's ruling stated the criminal appeals court's ban did not usurp its authority.
"The Court of Criminal Appeals has not undertaken to determine what lawyers may practice before it," the Supreme Court ruled. "Rather, it has imposed a sanction for the violation of a rule that provides for such a sanction. This in no way threatens our authority to regulate the Texas bar."
The Texas Supreme Court ruling pointed out that Dow can continue to represent his current clients before the court but cannot take any new cases to them during the ban.
Dow's attorney, Stanley Schneider, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.When it comes to millennials and sex, there are two narratives going on at the moment, and they clash pretty severely. One, expressed in the form of panicky think pieces about Kids These Days, argues that because of the rise of dating apps, a reduced emphasis on commitment, and various other factors, young people are having casual sex at a higher rate than ever before, and this may be causing psychological problems, particularly for young women, who — so the story usually goes — don’t get as much out of casual sex as the guys they are hooking up with.
The other narrative is that, well, the kids are all right. Even assuming there is something wrong with safe, consensual casual sex (and the proper answer to that question is it’s complicated), some researchers who track generational differences in behavior have found something that might surprise the panickers: if anything, today’s young people are hooking up less than members of past recent generations did when they were the same age. In an article published last year in the Archives of Sexual Behavior, for example, Jean Twenge of San Diego State University and Ryne Sherman of Florida Atlantic University wrote that, among adults, the “[n]umber of sexual partners increased steadily between the G.I.s and 1960s-born Gen X’ers [with Boomers in the middle] and then dipped among Millennials to return to Boomer levels.” That is, millennials, on average, appear to be having sex with fewer people than Gen-Xers did when they were at the same age, and about the same amount of sex as the boomers did when they were in their younger years.
Now, Twenge, who is the author of Generation Me: Why Today’s Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled – and More Miserable Than Ever Before, has teamed up with Sherman and with Brooke Wells of Widener University to release a new paper in the Archives of Sexual Behavior that adds solid new support to the don’t-panic theory. This paper looks specifically at the question of what percentage of millennials reported having had no sex partners since age 18, and it found that a surprising number are, willingly or not, living a life of chastity.
The researchers looked at responses to the General Social Survey, a survey that has been administered most years since 1972, in which a nationally representative sample of Americans are asked a wide range of questions about their behaviors and beliefs (some of the questions change over time). Specifically, Twenge and her colleagues honed in on two questions that have been asked since 1989: ‘‘Now thinking about the time since your 18th birthday (including the past 12 months), how many female partners have you had sex with?” and the same question with “male” swapped in instead. (Note that someone who responses “0” to both isn’t necessarily a virgin, because they could have had sex before they turned 18.)
Here are the key findings (note that I’m snipping off a few columns worth of statistical information that are in the paper itself):
“Millennials,” write the authors, “especially those born in the 1990s, were significantly more likely to have no sexual partners as adults compared to Gen X’ers born in the 1960s.” In some cases, percentage-wise, the difference is stark: 15 percent of those born 1990–1994 reported having no sex partners, for example, as compared to just 6 percent of those born 1965–1969.” And when the researchers conducted some statistical analysis to try to disaggregate the various forces that could give rise to a change like this, they found that “[m]ost of the rise in sexual inactivity was due to cohort rather than time period” — a fancy way of saying something is going on among that age group in particular, rather than in society at large.
So what is going on with millennials that is causing a relatively high percentage of them to not have sex? Twenge and her colleagues present a few different partial theories. One has to do with the fact that, as Sherman put it in an email to me, “A lot of Millennials and all of IGen [those born 1995–2012, per the researchers’ definition] got sex after AIDS awareness.” I’m sure I’m not the only millennial who remembers that the concept of sex and fear of AIDS were tightly intertwined from the first time we really learned what the former was. Many of us grew up in the shadow of the peak of the AIDS epidemic, and can vividly remember how monumental a national story it was when Magic Johnson announced he was HIV-positive. So, the theory goes, people born in the 1980s or later might be a little less enthusiastic about jumping into sex, since the potential negative consequences seem a lot more dire than they did to past generations.
Another factor has to do with the changing lifestyle of young people. “With more living with their parents even postrecession (Pew Research Center, 2015), young adults may have fewer opportunities to have sex. In addition, marriage is the traditional outlet for sexuality, and only 26% of Millennials aged 18–32 were married as of 2014, compared to 36% of GenX’ers (born 1965–1979) in 1997 and 48% of Boomers.” So the odds that a young person is unmarried and living with his or her parents today is significantly higher than it was in the past, and that on its own reduces the odds that they will have had sex since turning 18.
So there’s a lot going on. But the one unifying story line, according to Twenge, is that “Adulthood is being postponed across the board,” as she put it in an email. “People are marrying, having children, and settling into careers later. For GenX, that didn’t change when they started having sex. But for late Millennials and iGen, sex is now joining the later to adulthood party. Sex has caught up to other adult milestones and is being delayed. This is also consistent with data from teens: In data from the CDC, 41% of high school students had sex in 2015, down from 54% in 1991.” (This is something Twenge and her colleagues note in their paper as well: All the same major trends also show up when you look at what various generations were doing as teenagers — this paper just completes the picture, in a sense.)
While Twenge isn’t a fan of many of the popular horror stories about hookup apps and out-of-control promiscuity among kids, simply because she doesn’t think they’re true — “There are some teens and young adults who are using hookup apps and are very promiscuous; it’s just they are the exception,” she said — she does think technology could be playing a role here, too. “They’re on their phones,” she said. “If young adults have moved their social lives online, they will be with their peers less in person and may have fewer opportunities to have sex. And overall, there’s just so much other entertainment out there.” That doesn’t necessarily mean that young people are making a conscious decision to, say, play video games instead of have sex, but it could mean that video games, and other not-in-person activities, are a bigger part of the fabric of being young today than they were in the past, and that those activities are less likely to lead to the interactions that in turn lead to sex — especially when you mix them with all the other, aforementioned factors that make it less likely today’s young adults have had sex, or had sex recently.
It’s unlikely this research, or the other studies that have found similar things, will do much to puncture the annoyingly loud myth that young people are all running around, hooking up constantly and heedlessly. But it’s a useful reminder that every generation is the victim of “kids these days” stories from adults, and that those stories shouldn’t be taken at face value. The truth is always more complicated, and, for those willing to look, can reveal some interesting things about how America is changing.President Trump tweeted Tuesday morning against a report that he shared classified intelligence information with Russian officials last week, saying he has “an absolute right” to share facts pertaining to terrorism and airline safety.
“As President I wanted to share with Russia (at an openly scheduled W.H. meeting) which I have the absolute right to do, facts pertaining to terrorism and airline flight safety. Humanitarian reasons, plus I want Russia to greatly step up their fight against ISIS & terrorism,” Mr. Trumptweeted.
The Washington Post report claimed that Mr. Trump shared this information in a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The report claims the information came from a U.S. partner regarding the Islamic State terror group.
The report cites sources familiar with what was said in the meeting, prompting Mr. Trump to also address his concerns with “leaks” from the intelligence community.
“I have been asking Director Comey & others, from the beginning of my administration, to find the LEAKERS in the intelligence community…..,” the president tweeted.
Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson and National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster have both pushed back on the report, saying Mr. Trump had a conversation with the Mr. Lavrov on counterterrorism efforts, but he did not reveal any “sources, methods or military operations.” Mr. McMaster went even further, calling the report “false” in a statement Monday evening.With the aid of psychology, we see there’s a whole host of seemingly extraneous forces influencing behavior and producing systematic distortions. But they remain hidden because they don’t fit into our familiar legal narratives.
We assume that the specific text of the law is critical to whether someone is convicted of rape, but research shows that the details of the criminal code — whether it includes a “force” requirement or excuses a “reasonably mistaken” belief in consent — can be irrelevant. What matters are the backgrounds and identities of the jurors.
When a black teenager is shot by a police officer, we expect to find a bigot at the trigger.
But studies suggest that implicit bias, rather than explicit racism, is behind many recent tragedies. Indeed, simulator experiments show that the biggest danger posed to young African-American men may not be hate-filled cops, but well-intentioned police officers exposed to pervasive, damaging stereotypes that link the concepts of blackness and violence.
Likewise, Americans have been sold a myth that there are two kinds of judges — umpires and activists — and that being unbiased is a choice that a person makes. But the truth is that all judges are swayed by countless forces beyond their conscious awareness or control. It should have no impact on your case, for instance, whether your parole hearing is scheduled first thing in the morning or right before lunch, but when scientists looked at real parole boards, they found that judges were far more likely to grant petitions at the beginning of the day than they were midmorning.
The choice of where to place the camera in an interrogation room may seem immaterial, yet experiments show that it can affect whether a confession is determined to be coerced. When people watch a recording with the camera behind the detective, they are far more likely to find that the confession was voluntary than when watching the interactions from the perspective of the suspect.
With such challenges to our criminal justice system, what can possibly be done? The good news is that an evidence-based approach also illuminates the path forward.
Once we have clear data that something causes a bias, we can then figure out how to remove that influence. If police officers subtly sway witnesses when they recognize the suspect in a lineup, we can require that those administering identifications have no knowledge of the investigation. If crime lab technicians conduct their analyses in ways that conform to detectives’ existing theories, we can restrict access to the case file, barring technicians from prejudicing information that isn’t relevant to their work, like the fact that an alleged accomplice has confessed. Blind testing has been an essential component of creating effective medicine and it has the same potential to improve criminal investigations.An Arizona university professor has been suspended over controversial comments he made about Black Lives Matter activists nearly a year ago.
Professor Toby Jennings of Grand Canyon University ignited a firestorm recently after the university posted a link to a ministry forum from last September in which he said that some members in the Black Lives Matter group “should be hung.”
“They are saying things that are not helpful in any shape or form or human dignity or flourishing,” the African-American professor said during the forum, which was videotaped.
GCU officials told Fox 10 Phoenix that Jennings was advised that his comments during the forum, called “God’s concern for the poor: What’s missing in social justice,” were offensive, but it was not brought up to the school’s top executives.
However, members of the Black Lives Matter movement were outraged when it was shared recently.
In response, Jennings was suspended for the upcoming fall semester. He has also apologized.
Members of the BLM movement told Fox 10 Phoenix that the school’s response was not enough.
“My heart is broken, not because GCU is our enemy, but they claim to be our brothers and sisters,” said Pastor Warren Stewart, Jr. “Brothers and sisters please stop avoiding talking about ways racism … makes us uncomfortable.”
Brian Mueller, president of Grand Canyon University, said the critics of the school in this case are wrong.
“It was terribly wrong, but it is an isolated incident and it does not represent who our faculty is and it does not represent who are students are,” he said.A section of America’s most famous highway is going green, The Christian Science Monitor reports. The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) plans to create the nation’s first solar-powered public road by lining a portion of Route 66 with energy-generating photovoltaic pavers. The pavers will be installed near a rest stop in Conway, Missouri, where they’ll hopefully produce enough electricity to power the facilities and fund future projects.
The pavers were created by Idaho startup Solar Roadways, which was founded by husband-and-wife team Scott and Julie Brusaw. The company aims to create renewable energy from the solar energy that hits the surfaces we walk or drive over, like roads and sidewalks and bike paths. To harness this power, the Brusaws developed a unique line of tempered glass hexagonal solar panels.
These panels weigh about 70 pounds each, and can reportedly support the weight of semi-trucks. They have an asphalt-like traction surface so cars won’t slip and skid, and they’re fitted with LED lights to create lines and signage without paint. An added bonus? The panels can warm up to thaw icy roads.
In 2011, the Brusaws were awarded a two-year $750,000 contract from the U.S. Department of Transportation to conduct further research on their product. They used these funds to build the world’s first prototype solar parking lot next to their Idaho headquarters. In 2014, the couple raised more than $2.2 million via crowdfunding efforts to bring the technology to market, Curbed reports.
By paving America’s roads and parking lots with their special panels, the Brusaws claim, our nation could generate more than three times the country’s electricity consumption in 2009. However, critics say that transportation officials can barely afford to fund America’s existing concrete and asphalt roads, let alone ones lined with solar panels. (Solar Roadways argues that states’ departments of transportation don’t get enough money from the gas tax to repair roads, and that solar highways would increase energy savings.) They also question the panels' long-term durability.
A solar paneled road sounds futuristic, but Europe has already test-driven similar technologies. In 2015, the Netherlands created a 230-foot bike path that’s paved with glass-coated solar panels. After six months, it had generated enough electricity to power a small house for a year. Meanwhile, France also plans to resurface more than 600 miles of road with a type of solar panel that can help generate renewable energy.
Watch the video above to see Solar Roadways’ panels work—and if you want to check out Missouri’s road in action, expect for it to be fully installed and operational by the end of 2016.
[h/t Christian Science Monitor]
Banner/Header image courtesy of Solar RoadwaysAccording to Mike Berardino from the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the Twins will announce that catcher Joe Mauer will move to first base on a full time basis in 2014. Here is his tweet:
Mauer moving to first base full time, #mntwins announce. Wow. — Mike Berardino (@MikeBerardino) November 11, 2013
The reports state that after consulting with team doctors and the Mayo clinic, the team decided that there was a risk of more concussions should he stay at catcher, thus the move to first base. I speculated about this move earlier this offseason.
This move helps his fantasy value in 2014 as he will play every day at first base, and not have to deal with the little injuries that catchers play with on a daily basis. He will still have catcher eligibility in 2014, so fantasy owners can draft him as a catcher, but after 2014, his value will fall a bit, as he is not the big power bat you want at the first base position on your rosters.
There is a small chance that we see him alter his approach at the plate to fit the power hitter model that teams expect out of their first baseman, but I highly doubt it. He is one of he best pure hitters in baseball, but ti would be nice if he could rekindle the 28 home run power that he put up back in 2009.
I ranked him as my # 7 fantasy catcher in my early 2014 catcher rankings a few weeks ago, and I may move him up a spot or two as a result of this decision by the Twins.
The performance of young catcher Josmil Pinto last season probably helped the team in making this decision. Pinto hit.342-.398-.566 with 4 HRs and 12 RBI in 21 games in 2013.
More from Fake Teams:
Follow @faketeamsFollow @SBNationMLBImage copyright Merseyside Police Image caption PC Dave Phillips, a married father-of-two, died from internal injuries
Two men have been arrested on suspicion of murdering PC Dave Phillips who was struck by a car and killed during a pursuit in Merseyside.
The 34-year-old died from internal injuries after being hit by a pick-up vehicle that mounted a central reservation in Wallasey on Monday.
The married father-of-two had been trying to stop a Mitsubishi Challenger, which was driven from an estate agents in Birkenhead.
The men aged 18 and 30 are in custody.
Officers have also executed warrants to carry out searches at four properties in the Oxton and Wallasey areas as part of the investigation.
A mid-terrace house in Wheatland Lane, Wallasey, just yards from where the pick-up was found, was among those searched.
PC Phillips had been responding to reports of a burglary in Woodchurch Road, Birkenhead.
Image copyright Merseyside Police Image caption Detectives released a still image of the Mitsubishi pick-up truck
He and a colleague had been attempting to stop the vehicle using a tyre-puncturing "stinger" device at 02:10 BST.
Fellow officers tried to save his life before he was rushed to hospital, but he died shortly after arrival.
The red pick-up vehicle was found abandoned in Corbyn Street, Wallasey at 02:55.
Det Ch Supt Paul Richardson appealed for anyone with information to contact the force.
Sir Peter Fahy, chief constable of neighbouring force Greater Manchester Police which lost PCs Nicola Hughes and Fiona Bone in a grenade attack three years ago, said: "Every time an officer is killed in this country it brings back memories of Fiona and Nicola."
He added that PC Phillips's death, "not only shows the dangers officers face day in and day out but it shows if we want a routinely unarmed police force, that uses the minimum of force, that's a sacrifice officers carry and it's important the country recognises that and takes it seriously."
Image copyright Ian Cooper/Liverpool Echo Image caption The officer was struck and killed on the central reservation of the A5139 Dock Road, Wallasey, Merseyside
Merseyside Police Federation has set up a memorial fund in tribute to PC Phillips for his wife Jen and daughters Abigail, seven, and Sophie, three, which has raised more than £30,000.
Another fundraising page has been set up by Nicola Goode who used to work with PC Phillips' wife.One of the state's most powerful organised crime figures is facing a lengthy jail term and deportation back to Italy after being convicted of extortion, drug and weapons offences.
Rocco Arico, 38, has been identified by law enforcement as a major player in Melbourne's underworld as a drug trafficker with family links to the 'Ndrangheta – or Honoured Society – one of the country's most influential mafia groups.
Rocco Arico was arrested in 2015 and convicted of drug trafficking, extortion and weapons offences in 2016 and 2017. Credit:Pat Scala
The verdict is a major win for Victoria Police's Purana anti-gangland taskforce, which had been investigating Arico for more than a year.
Arico has previous convictions for kidnapping in 1999 and attempted murder in 2000, spending more than seven years in prison. He is also suspected of involvement in orchestrating the prison murder of drug kingpin-turned-witness Carl Williams in 2010.Google Books scans printed books and adds them to its database. jayfish
Sometimes it isn’t enough for data to be big. Consider Google Books, a searchable digital archive of millions of texts spanning the history of the printed word. This enormous corpus has inspired researchers to rethink the ways we map the history of language, allowing them to make sweeping claims about the evolution of language and culture. Researchers have, for example, used it to chart changing patterns of celebrity culture or to propose that moral language is waning. The trouble is, we may be arriving at those assertions a little too glibly.
According to a paper published by PLOS One last week by three data scientists from the University of Vermont, the basic design of Google Books threatens to undermine its ability to map cultural trends. The paper’s authors—Eitan Adam Pechenick, Christopher M. Danforth, and Peter Sheridan Dodds—came to the site hoping that it would allow them to examine linguistic evolution. Instead, as Dodds told me, they concluded that it is “difficult to say anything at all” on the basis of the results Google Books renders up.
According to the paper, the problems begin with a basic disjunction between the way culture works and the way Google collects materials for its database. Generally speaking, once a book has been scanned, it’s entirely accessible, meaning that Google has no reason to index it again. There are, of course, exceptions—as the researchers note, “new editions and reprints allow some books to appear more than once”—but, for the most part, the one-to-one rule apparently applies.
Sounds reasonable, right? But let’s say you go to your local library’s online catalog and search for any reasonably popular book—Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, or whatever’s perched atop the best-seller lists this month. In all likelihood, you’ll find that it has numerous copies of it scattered throughout the system. Its multiplicity reflects its hold on the wider public imagination. If the library owned only one copy of each of these volumes—as is the case with Google Books—it would find itself badly out of sync with the reading public and the cultural zeitgeist more generally. Without such information, the University of Vermont researchers suggest, it’s not possible to make strong claims about the ways people were living at a given time. As they snarkily put it, “Evidently, incorporating popularity in any useful fashion would be an extremely difficult undertaking on the part of Google.”
By not taking into account the relative popularity of texts, Google Books leaves itself open to disproportionate influence from less widely recognized sources. “It’s as if you’re giving every work in a library the same weight,” Dodds said. When an author publishes numerous books about a single character, for |
to the last minute to show the Tea Party people he was doing everything he could,” Schumer said of last week’s debate over the fiscal 2011 budget. “You cannot do that with the debt ceiling. That is playing with fire — because if the markets believe we are not going to pay our debt, it could be a formula for recession or worse.”
“[I]f we have learned anything from the budget negotiations, it’s that the American people didn’t like the GOP’s threats to shut down the government,” added Jon Summers, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), in an e-mail to Raw Story. “And they won’t take too kindly to threats of putting America into default — which would have a devastating effect on the global economy.”
A preview of what Republicans may push Democrats into supporting could be the proposal offered by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI), which aims to slash $6 trillion in federal spending over ten years, including significant reductions to Medicare and Medicaid benefits.
Yet the underlying GOP accusations that Democrats aren’t committed to addressing the deficit comes with the irony that the bulk of the nation’s debt was accumulated last decade under a Republican White House and Congress in the form of unfunded tax cuts, two wars and a Medicare prescription drug program.
“Democrats don’t need lessons in cutting deficits from Republicans who allowed the last president to turn a record budget surplus into record deficits,” Summers said. “We will continue to work with Republicans on responsible solutions that cut spending while protecting our fragile economic recovery.”
[Image via SpeakerBoehner, Creative Commons licensed]Evolution is 10^93 more likely than any other hypothesis
There are 1093 ways to build a cytochrome protein, so how do we always get the same one in the end?
For the sake of this discussion lets use a simple definition of biological evolution that most anti-evolutionists will agree on, that is, that all known living things are related by common ancestry by a process of descent with modification. We can call this Universal Common Descent (UCD). This idea is a central tenet of evolutionary theory, although there is obviously a lot more to it than this. There is also some feeling that there may be complications at the root of the tree due to horizontal gene transfer, however I think this encompasses both the fact of evolution and the mechanism. This idea of UCD tends to be what people talk about when discussing large scale macro-evolution, in which humans, chimps, fish, yeast and bacteria all share a common ancestor, the kind of evolution that no creationist believes in.
Evidence for evolution
Biological organisms can be grouped objectively into phylogenetic groupings that have a nested hierarchical structure, that is, groups within groups. The word objective is key here because, as anti-evolutionists are fond of pointing out, anything can be grouped into a nested hierarchy. Cars, chairs, buildings and just about any other object can be grouped in this way, but not objectively. In these systems characters are chosen arbitrarily and no one character could be said to be more important than another. With cars for example, a system could be made using colour, then number of seats, then engine size, but change the order or weighting of each character and you change the grouping structure altogether.
There is only one way a nested hierarchy can objectively be arranged and that is by using objects that reproduce and change, and organising them by order of similarities, more related objects will share more characters, this has been proven using Markovian mathematics, where the state of a character is determined solely by the state of its parent. This is why Markov chains are used to model evolutionary processes and to draw phylogenetic trees. Given that only things that reproduce and change (organisms, languages) can be organised into nested hierarchies, what does this tell us about evolution? The answer is really very simple, objective and statistically significant phylogenetic trees (the chance of randomly finding a particular tree) drawn from either molecular (amino acid, nucleotide) sequence data, or morphological characteristics can be drawn for all currently known species. If these species were not related by ancestry, then there could be no such pattern, and certainly not a significant one, instead, millions of trees could be drawn that were all equally supported by the data.
We can explain this simply using plants as an example. Plants can be grouped as vascular and nonvascular, nested within these groups, seeded and non-seeded. In those groups are the flowering plants (angiosperms) and non- flowering plants (gymnosperms), within the flowering plants are the monocotyledons and the dicotyledons. It would be highly problematic for evolution if this pattern was not observed in plants, for example, if some of the non-vascular plants had seeds or flowers.
A further note on phylogenetic trees to bring the point home: Not only do we have a lot of highly significant phylogenetic trees calculated for most species, we also have a highly significant consilience of independent phylogenies. This means that trees drawn for the same group of organisms using two or more independent methods (amino acid sequences and morphological characters for example) agree with each other to a high degree of certainty. The degree of agreement for many independent phylogenies is staggeringly high. When researching for this piece we were shocked to learn that for a universal tree containing 30 taxa (which can generate 4.9518e+38 trees), two independent measurements were made to an accuracy of better than 38 decimal places! This is more precise than many of the most accurately measured physical constants such as the mass of the neutron, proton, and electron which are known to around 9 decimal places. It’s hard to see what possible explanation for this pattern could be except for the obvious, they really are all related by common ancestry.
Figure 1. A typical phylogenetic tree of over 30 taxa.
The next argument is related but is more general. Across the tree of life there are a number of genes that do exactly the same thing in all organisms, that is, they are fundamental cellular genes that encode fundamental processes no matter if you are a slime mould, a cactus or a man. These can be referred to as ubiquitous genes, cytochrome c is a well-known example, and it does exactly the same thing in all known organisms. One may then assume that given the importance of this protein, it will be similar in most organisms for purely functional reasons, but this obvious inference is actually wrong.
Structural and genetic studies on Cytochrome C have shown that the majority of the amino acids can be changed for almost any other of the 20 possible amino acids. But what does this mean? It means that Cytochrome C is highly redundant and that there are lots and lots of ways you can build a fully functional Cytochrome protein. It has been estimated that there are at least 2.3 x 1093 possible functional cytochrome c protein sequences at the amino acid level. Given this number of possible fully functional sequences there really is no reason that any two organisms would share a significant similarity in their Cytochrome C sequences unless they were related by common ancestry.
There is only one known, tried and true mechanism that allows two organisms to share a redundant sequence, this is of course reproduction and inheritance (vertical gene transfer). So what happens when we look at the sequences for two organisms predicted by evolutionary theory to be closely related? Well, humans and chimps have exactly the same sequence at the protein level, a strong confirmation of recent ancestry between the two species.
Building on protein redundancy is genetic redundancy. That is, the canonical genetic code itself is informationally redundant. There are a multiple codons for most of the 20 amino acids with an average of 3 codons for each, so for any given amino acid sequence there are on average 3n possible combinations of codons that can specify it exactly, where n is the number of amino acids in the sequence. So for a modest protein of 100 amino acids there are 3100 possible combinations that will all make the exact same protein. Furthermore, this genetic code is preserved across all three kingdoms of life. The code of all organisms specifies the same amino acids, start codons and stop codons. So again, there is no reason for two or more organisms to share significant similarity at the genetic level, unless they are genetically related. We could extend this further to morphology, where we often see rudimentary or redundant structures in organisms, which can only be (logically) explained by the process of evolution.
In conclusion, phylogenetics shows us that only branching evolutionary relationships can be arranged into nested hierarchies and that all known organisms fit this pattern at all scales with statistical significance, anti-evolutionists have zero explanation for this pattern even though it has been used to predict viral epidemics and correctly find known genealogies. Secondly, shared ubiquitous genes with high sequence similarity that could be made from billions of other functional sequences is strong evidence for common ancestry, there is no other explanation for two organisms to share these genes except if they were related by ancestry. There are obviously many more types of evidence for evolution, however as molecular biologists we will leave you here for now. Let us know your thoughts on this post and we will happily expand to other evidence if there is any interest.
AdvertisementsPrint from 1884 commemorating the Battle of Golden Hill
The Battle of Golden Hill was a clash between British soldiers and the Sons of Liberty in the American colonies that occurred on January 19, 1770, in New York City. Along with the Boston Massacre and the Gaspée Affair, the event was one of the early violent incidents in what would become the American Revolution.[1]
Background [ edit ]
During the imperial crisis with Britain in the 1760s, the Sons of Liberty (or "Liberty Boys") in New York City sometimes erected "Liberty poles" to symbolize their displeasure with British authorities. The first such pole was put up in City Hall Park on May 21, 1766, in celebration of the repeal of the 1765 Stamp Act. The British hated this pole and chopped it down in August in protest of the fact that the New York government had refused to enforce the Stamp Act. Another pole was put up which was quickly cut down. A third pole was put up which stayed up until 1767 when British soldiers cut it down in anger of seeing colonists celebrating the anniversary of the repeal of the Stamp Act.[2] A fourth was put up this time secured with iron bands.[3] In 1767, the Quartering Act was passed which the New York government mostly left unenforced.[2] Parliament reacted to this by dissolving the assembly and replacing it with one that did agree. The Sons of Liberty posted a broadside called “To the Betrayed Inhabitants of the City and Colony of New York” in response. The British blew up this liberty pole on January 16 because of the broadside and as a result of the fact soldiers were given 1800 pounds for supporting the act. They left the remains of the pole on the door of a tavern owner named Mr. Montanye.[2] The "red coats" also posted their own handbills which attacked the Sons of Liberty as "the real enemies of society" who "thought their freedom depended on a piece of wood".[2]
Event [ edit ]
On January 19, 1770, six weeks before the Boston Massacre, Isaac Sears and others tried to stop some soldiers from posting handbills. Sears captured some of the soldiers and marched his captives towards the mayor's office, while the rest of the British soldiers ran to the barracks to sound the alarm. A crowd of townsfolk arrived along with a score of soldiers. The soldiers were surrounded and badly outnumbered. Fellow soldiers tried to rescue them but were ordered to their barracks. As they were being escorted to their barracks, they reached Golden Hill, where an officer said, “Soldiers, draw your bayonets and cut your way through them."[4] More soldiers arrived and a group of officers arrived to disperse the soldiers before the situation got totally out of hand.[4] Several of the soldiers were badly bruised and one had a serious wound.[1] Some of the townsfolk were wounded and according to some sources, there was one death, though this is disputed.[2]
Effects [ edit ]
Although several people were wounded in the event, no one was killed.[4] It also made Alexander McDougall famous in the area and later a general in the Continental Army.[5] After the battle, the last Liberty Pole was raised on February 6, 1770. Though the event was not as famous as the Boston Massacre, it was remembered in 1898 with a plaque on the site of the battle, in current day Eden's Alley.[3] However, the building was demolished and the plaque disappeared.[6]Mark Bittman on food and all things related.
Drinking milk is as American as Mom and apple pie. Until not long ago, Americans were encouraged not only by the lobbying group called the American Dairy Association but by parents, doctors and teachers to drink four 8-ounce glasses of milk, “nature’s perfect food,” every day. That’s two pounds! We don’t consume two pounds a day of anything else; even our per capita soda consumption is “only” a pound a day.
Today the Department of Agriculture’s recommendation for dairy is a mere three cups daily — still 1½ pounds by weight — for every man, woman and child over age 9. This in a country where as many as 50 million people are lactose intolerant, including 90 percent of all Asian-Americans and 75 percent of all African-Americans, Mexican-Americans and Jews. The myplate.gov site helpfully suggests that those people drink lactose-free beverages. (To its credit, it now counts soy milk as “dairy.”)
There’s no mention of water, which is truly nature’s perfect beverage; the site simply encourages us to switch to low-fat milk. But, says Neal Barnard, president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, “Sugar — in the form of lactose — contributes about 55 percent of skim milk’s calories, giving it ounce for ounce the same calorie load as soda.”
O.K., dairy products contain nutrients, and for those who like them, a serving or two daily is probably fine. (Worth noting: they’re far more easily digested as yogurt or cheese than as fluid milk.) But in addition to intolerance, there’s a milk allergy — the second most common food allergy after peanuts, affecting an estimated 1.3 million children — that can be life-threatening.
Emily Robertson
Other conditions are not easily classified, and I have one of those. When I was growing up, drinking milk at every meal, I had a chronic upset stomach. (Channeling my inner Woody Allen, I’ll note that I was therefore treated as a neurotic, which, in fairness, I was anyway.) In adolescence, this became chronic heartburn, trendily known as GERD or acid reflux, and that led to a lifelong Tums habit (favorite flavor: wintergreen) and an adult dependence on Prevacid, a proton-pump inhibitor. Which, my gastroenterologist assured me, is benign. (Wrong.)
Fortunately my long-term general practitioner, Sidney M. Baker, author of “Detoxification and Healing,” insisted that I make every attempt to break the Prevacid addiction. Thus followed a seven-year period of trials of various “cures,” including licorice pills, lemon juice, antibiotics, famotidine (Pepcid) and almost anything else that might give my poor, sore esophagus some relief. At some point, Dr. Baker suggested that despite my omnivorous diet I consider a “vacation” from various foods.
So, three months ago, I decided to give up dairy products as a test. Twenty-four hours later, my heartburn was gone. Never, it seems, to return. In fact, I can devour linguine puttanesca (with anchovies) and go to bed an hour later; fellow heartburn sufferers will be impressed. Perhaps equally impressive is that I mentioned this to a friend who had the same problem, tried the same approach, and had the same results. Presto! No dairy, no heartburn! (A third had no success. Hey, it’s not a controlled double-blind experiment, but there is no downside to trying it.)
Conditions like mine are barely on the radar. Although treating heartburn is a business worth more than $10 billion a year, the solution may be as simple as laying off dairy. (Which, need I point out, is free.) What’s clear is that the widespread existence of lactose intolerance, says Dr. Baker, is “a pretty good sign that we’ve evolved to drink human milk when we’re babies but have no need for the milk of any animals. And no matter what you call a chronic dairy problem — milk allergy, milk intolerance, lactose intolerance — the action is the same: avoid all foods derived from milk for at least five days and see what happens.”
Adds Dr. Barnard, “It’s worth noting that milk and other dairy products are our biggest source of saturated fat, and there are very credible links between dairy consumption and both Type 1 diabetes and the most dangerous form of prostate cancer.” Then, of course, there are our 9 million dairy cows, most of whom live tortured, miserable lives while making a significant contribution to greenhouse gases.
But what about the bucolic cow on the family farm? What about bone density and osteoporosis? What about Mom, and apple pie?
Mom: Don’t know about yours, but mine’s doing pretty well. Apple pie (best made with one crust, plenty of apples) will be fine.
But the bucolic cow and family farm barely exist: “Given the Kafkaesque federal milk marketing order system, it’s impossible for anyone to make a living producing and selling milk,” says Anne Mendelson, author of “Milk.” “The exceptions are the very largest dairy farms, factory operations with anything from 10,000 to 30,000 cows, which can exploit the system, and the few small farmers who can opt out of it and sell directly to an assured market, and who can afford the luxury of treating the animals decently.”
Osteoporosis? You don’t need milk, or large amounts of calcium, for bone integrity. In fact, the rate of fractures is highest in milk-drinking countries, and it turns out that the keys to bone strength are lifelong exercise and vitamin D, which you can get from sunshine. Most humans never tasted fresh milk from any source other than their mother for almost all of human history, and fresh cow’s milk could not be routinely available to urbanites without industrial production. The federal government not only supports the milk industry by spending more money on dairy than any other item in the school lunch program, but by contributing free propaganda as well as subsidies amounting to well over $4 billion in the last 10 years.
There’s nothing un-American about re-evaluating those commitments with an eye toward sensibility. Meanwhile, pass the water.
Please visit my blog and join me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.Watford’s Dutch winger Steven Berghuis knows all about Southampton boss Ronald Koeman. And, interestingly, so does his Dad.
Frank Berghuis was also a winger. He spent the majority of his career in the Netherlands during the 1990s and earned one cap for his country. It was with the national team he played alongside the Saints manager.
“It was against Brazil. Not bad, right?” said the 23-year-old with a smile.“He played against Koeman and played with him. I’ve also played a couple of times in Holland against his teams. Everybody in Holland knows Ronald Koeman. I liked him growing up but he played before my time, I was too young.
“It will be nice to face him. The teams he coaches are good teams. They have a ittle bit Dutch influence. They keep the ball, keep it on the ground and have some creative players. That’s what I like.”
Frank Berghuis knows football. He will be joining Watford shortly as part of the Hornets’ coaching staff. After all, he has raised two sons who have gone on to make it as professionals.
"He has always helped me," Watford's wideman said. "He let me play freely. He always supported me but wasn’t a critical coaching father.”
While Steven joined the Hornets from AZ Alkmaar this summer, Tristan Berghuis - who previously had trials at Chelsea at Tottenham Hotspur - moved to PEC Zwolle.
“He was one of the biggest talents in Holland,” the Hornets winger said. “But he had a tough time at PSV and Vitesse which is why he decided to join Zwolle. He has taken a step back in order to take a bigger step forward.”
In contrast Steven had a difficult decision to make this summer. He was offered the chance of leaving everything he knew in Holland to join the newly promoted Hornets.
It was only after speaking to Queens Park Rangers’ midfielder Leroy Fer and Swansea’s Dwight Tiendalli he knew it was an opportunity he had to take.
“I had to do it,” he said. “In Holland the level is going down. Clubs in other countries don’t look a lot at Holland anymore to sign players because of that.”
Imports from the Eredivisie have had mixed success over the years. While the likes of Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Robin van Persie lit up the Premier League, Norwich City’s Ricky van Wolfswinkel and former Middlesbrough Afonso Alves had instantly forgettable spells.
“It’s really down to the person,” Berghuis said. “Maybe they didn’t fit in the team or they didn’t feel comfortable in this country.
“They had all the qualities and someone like Ricky van Wolfswinkel can score a lot of goals. Maybe it’s because they don’t feel comfortable in England.”
The winger continued: “I followed van Persie the most in my youth. Bergkamp a little bit too and van Nistelrooy. I think van Persie is my favourite of the three. Like me he is left-footed, creative and always tries to do good things. He's nice to watch.”
Berghuis is one of 12 signings made by Watford as the club look to build a squad capable of surviving in the Premier League.
The Hornets are hoping to quickly establish themselves in the top flight. Much like tomorrow's opponents Southampton have done.
“They are a good example for us,” said Berghuis. “They have a good vision and style of playing. If they lose one or two matches they keep on going. They don't change everything. I think that is the best way to make positive steps.”(CNN) -- The nine young North Koreans thought they were near the end of their long and dangerous journey toward freedom.
Their years-long odyssey had taken them thousands of miles, from North Korea, one of the world's most repressive states, to Laos, a small, landlocked nation in Southeast Asia. From there, they just needed to cross the border into Thailand and find their way to South Korean diplomats who would be able to offer them citizenship and a new life.
Orphaned and homeless: Surviving the streets of North Korea
But something went wrong in Laos. They were detained by the authorities. And rather than transferring the group of young refugees to South Korean officials, as the people engineering their escape were anticipating, the Laotian government this week did something unexpected.
It gave them back to North Korea.
"This is a horrible, horrible thing that has happened," said Suzanne Scholte, the president of the Defense Forum Foundation, a U.S.-based nonprofit group that was involved in the effort to get the young North Koreans to safety.
Analysis: North Korea diplomacy effort grows, but sides are still far apart
The United Nations' refugee agency, UNHCR, says Laos deported the group of North Koreans to China on Monday. And Scholte said Friday that she believes they have already been flown back to North Korea, where she fears they could face torture or even death.
Human rights advocates and UNHCR have criticized the decision by Laos to deport the refugees, who are between 15 and 23 years old, noting that international law gives people the right not to be forced to return to places where they face persecution.
Thousands of North Koreans have fled their country's Stalinist regime since the Korean War in the 1950s and settled in South Korea, which offers them citizenship. Most of them make their way there through China and Southeast Asia.
Plucked from the streets
Until they were detained by Laotian authorities earlier this month, it appears the group of young North Koreans traced a path similar to that of many other refugees.
Years ago, they slipped through the authoritarian grip of their homeland and crossed the border into China, most likely with their various parents.
Opinion: What North Korea could learn from Myanmar
Scholte said that in China, one or way another, they all ended up fending for themselves on the streets, eating out of trash bins and dodging North Korean agents. She said she didn't know whether their parents had abandoned them, died or been detained and sent back to North Korea.
They were plucked from that precarious existence by a South Korean man and his wife who were living in China, Scholte said, referring to the man only by the name of "M.J." to protect his identity.
Read more: Why the Korean War still matters
M.J. and his wife took in a total of 15 young North Koreans, giving them food, shelter and protection for more than four years. To avoid getting caught, the youngsters had to remain inside at all times.
"You could liken it to a Jewish family trying to hide from the Nazis," Scholte said. "They had to be invisible."
China doesn't treat North Koreans in its territory as refugees and usually sends them back across the border.
Difficult journeys
In 2011, the Defense Forum Foundation began working with M.J. and his wife to try get the group of North Koreans out of China to South Korea or the United States.
They managed to get the three oldest North Koreans to safety in South Korea via Thailand, Scholte said. Next, they succeeded in organizing the escape of the two youngest children and one with learning difficulties to the United States.
Analysis: What's Kim Jong Un up to?
Nine others remained in China. M.J. and his wife accompanied them on the quest to reach South Korea via Laos and Thailand.
They reportedly entered Laos around May 10 and were detained soon after that. At the time, Laotian authorities assured M.J. and his wife, who were not being held, that there was nothing to worry about, Scholte said.
"We had no reason to believe that the Laotians were going to cut some deal with North Korea," she said, noting that she had helped to get four other North Koreans to the United States from Laos in 2009.
But on Monday, she said, M.J. received word that the group of refugees was being taken to the North Korean Embassy. By then, it was too late to save them.
"When I got the call, I was in shock," Scholte said.
An 'alarming case'
Other organizations also were surprised by the development.
Laos has been one of the main routes to a safe country for North Korean defectors, according to Eun Young Kim, a senior program officer with the Citizen's Alliance for North Korean Human Rights, a nongovernmental organization based in Seoul.
"We never officially experienced the Laotian government actually cooperating with the North Korean government and sending them back to North Korea," she said. "This is a very surprising, alarming case, especially the fact that the North Korean government got involved."
Read more: Escaping from N. Korean gulag
It was unclear what prompted the decision by Laos to give the refugees to the North Koreans.
Laotian government officials in the country's capital, Vientiane, declined to provide official comment on the matter when contacted by CNN on Friday.
But Khantivong Somlith, an official at the Laotian Embassy in Seoul, said that the refugees had been handed over to North Korea because they didn't have visas and were therefore in Laos illegally.
"We know they are Koreans, that's why they were sent back to the North Korean Embassy," he said. "That's the rule."
He said he didn't know where the refugees are now.
Controversy in South Korea
South Korean officials have been criticized in their country's news media as having failed to act quickly and decisively enough to get the North Koreans out of Laos after their detention.
But Scholte said that all those involved in the attempt to recover the refugees had "underestimated" the North Koreans' determination to get hold of them. She noted the efforts of South Korea in previous successful operations to rescue North Koreans. "We haven't seen this before," she said.
Interactive: Who's in range of North Korean missiles?
The South Korean government has declined to discuss the specifics of this case.
"We've expressed our government's position to the relevant nation and we have also consulted on future measures," Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Tai-young said in a news briefing Thursday.
After reaching a peak of nearly 3,000 in 2009, the number of North Koreans arriving in South Korea dropped to just above 1,500 in 2012, according to the South Korean Unification Ministry.
Concerns over safety
International organizations, meanwhile, are raising concerns about what fate awaits the deported refugees.
"North Korea has to come clean on where these nine refugees are and publicly guarantee that they will not be harmed or retaliated against for having fled the country," said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of the advocacy group Human Rights Watch. "As a result of their return they are at dire risk -- North Korea criminalizes unauthorized departures and is known to torture those caught trying to escape and those sent back."
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres expressed deep concern "about the safety and fundamental human rights of these individuals if they are returned" to North Korea.
M.J. and his wife, herself a former North Korean refugee, are now back in South Korea and remain very upset about what happened, Scholte says.
"This is a couple that was willing to risk their own life and safety to shelter these children," she said.
CNN's Jethro Mullen reported and wrote from Hong Kong. CNN's Brian Walker and Madison Park in Hong Kong, K.J. Kwon in Seoul, Kocha Olarn in Bangkok and C.Y. Xu in Beijing contributed to this report.Image caption Student anarchist to Tory MP... a natural progression?
A study is being used to support the theory many educated, middle-aged left-wingers are in fact conservatives who can't admit it. Is this true?
It is the cynic's perennial view of youthful idealism: that each student radical will turn sharply to the right once the pay cheques start coming in and the mortgage needs to be paid.
By virtue of this stereotype, we might imagine rabble-rousing undergraduate Rik from 1980s sitcom The Young Ones by now having transmogrified into Tory MP Alan B'stard - an easy enough exercise, given that both men were played by the same actor.
But an academic study has been seized on by centre-right commentators as evidence that this is more than just a cliche.
Champagne socialists
Dr James Rockey, of Leicester University, analysed the stated values of 136,000 people in a survey carried out in 48 countries, and found that the well-educated were most likely to misplace themselves on the political spectrum.
They have this vision of their younger selves wagging their finger Toby Young, Journalist
A tendency was observed among this group to identify as left-wing, and vote accordingly, despite holding views on wealth distribution that placed them further to the right, Dr Rockey reported.
In his paper, Dr Rockey suggested that this was due to the fact that "people compare themselves not to the population as a whole but to the people they know" and that "political preferences change over time".
The Daily Telegraph pounced on these findings, proclaiming them as evidence that "many middle-aged 'champagne socialists' fail to notice their views shifting" and have become, despite their left-wing university days, right-wingers who cannot bring themselves to acknowledge the fact.
The newspaper's editorial stated that the research proves "the facts of life are, as Margaret Thatcher had it, conservative", and that those who do not face up to this are simply displaying an inversion of the Marxist theory of false consciousness.
Conservative 'coming out'
The journalist Toby Young - who, in his own words, "came out" as a Conservative voter for the first time ahead of the 2010 general election - thinks the Telegraph has a point.
What it comes down to is that right-wingers don't understand us... they don't get why we would still want to make the world a better place when we're better off John O'Farrell, Author
He believes that prime minister David Cameron has been largely successful in "decontaminating" the Tory brand - falling short only among the intelligentsia, who from their university days belonged to social circles that automatically viewed right-wing ideas with contempt.
"As students, most people will have been on the left," he believes.
"With the onset of wisdom, they become more realistic and realise the utopian dreams they had when they were young were impractical. But they have this vision of their younger selves wagging their finger."
However, the writer and long-standing Labour activist John O'Farrell argues that the Leicester study is far from comprehensive enough to back up the thesis.
He admits that his younger self might be dismayed that he now subscribes to Sky TV, and bemoans Guardian journalists who educate their children privately.
Better off?
But he insists that with age comes experience - and the wherewithal to translate egalitarian principles into practical action.
"What this comes down to is that right-wingers don't understand us," he says. "They can see why we're on the left when we're students, but they don't get why we would still want to make the world a better place when we're older and better off.
Yes, I live in a nice house now - but does that mean I'm meant to ignore my mum and all the people I grew up with in Barking? Billy Bragg, Song-writer/activist
"But when I was young I used to go on demos, chanting 'Maggie, Maggie, Maggie, out, out, out.' Now I'm chairman of the governors of an inner-city comprehensive - and I think I'm doing far more to turn my values into reality."
The left-wing singer-songwriter Billy Bragg agrees, citing the veteran socialist Tony Benn - who started out as a moderate and grew more radical with age - as an example he would like to emulate.
"When you become a father, you realise that everyone is someone's child. As you get older, you worry about who is going to pay for your pension," he says. "It seems that the logic of organised compassion makes more sense to me than ever.
"Yes, I live in a nice house now. But does that mean I'm meant to ignore my mum and all the people I grew up with in Barking? That would be the most hypocritical thing of all."
Left and right may always find themselves set in opposition.
But if each side fails to appreciate what motivates the other, the prospect of achieving any kind of consensus seems remote. Alan and Rik would understand.Wind pushes plastics deeper into oceans, driving trash estimates up (with video)
Sandra Hines News and Information
While working on a research sailboat gliding over glassy seas in the Pacific Ocean, oceanographer Giora Proskurowski noticed something new: The water was littered with confetti-size pieces of plastic debris, until the moment the wind picked up and most of the particles disappeared.
After taking samples of water at a depth of 16 feet (5 meters), Proskurowski, a researcher at the University of Washington, discovered that wind was pushing the lightweight plastic particles below the surface. That meant that decades of research into how much plastic litters the ocean, conducted by skimming only the surface, may in some cases vastly underestimate the true amount of plastic debris in the oceans, Proskurowski said.
Reporting in Geophysical Research Letters this month, Proskurowski and co-lead author Tobias Kukulka, University of Delaware, said that data collected from just the surface of the water commonly underestimates the total amount of plastic in the water by an average factor of 2.5.
In high winds the volume of plastic could be underestimated by a factor of 27.
“That really puts a lot of error into the compilation of the data set,” Proskurowski said. The paper also detailed a new model that researchers and environmental groups can use to collect more accurate data in the future.
Plastic waste in the oceans is a concern because of the impact it might have on the environment. For instance, when fish ingest the plastics, it may degrade their liver functions. In addition, the particles make nice homes for bacteria and algae, which are then transported along with the particles into different regions of the ocean where they may be invasive and cause problems.
Proskurowski gathered data on a 2010 North Atlantic expedition where he and his team collected samples at the surface, plus an additional three or four depths down as far as 100 feet.
“Almost every tow we did contained plastic regardless of the depth,” he said.
By combining the data with wind measurements, Proskurowski and his co-authors developed a simplified mathematical model that could potentially be used to match historical weather data, collected by satellite, with previous surface sampling to more accurately estimate the amount of plastic in the oceans.
In addition, armed with the new model, organizations and researchers in the future might monitor wind data and combine it with surface collections in order to better estimate how much plastic waste is in our oceans.
“By factoring in the wind, which is fundamentally important to the physical behavior, youre increasing the rigor of the science and doing something that has a major impact on the data,” Proskurowski said.
The team plans to publish a “recipe” that simplifies the model so that a wide range of groups investigating ocean plastics, including those that arent oceanographers, can easily use the model. Following the recipe, which is available now by request, might encourage some consistency among the studies, he said.
“On this topic, what science needs to be geared toward is building confidence that scientists have solid numbers and that policy makers arent making judgments based on CNN reports,” he said. Descriptions of the so-called great Pacific garbage patch in widespread news reports may have led many people to imagine a giant, dense island of garbage while in fact the patch is made up of widely dispersed, millimeter-size pieces of debris, he said.
In the future, Proskurowski hopes to examine additional factors, including the drag of the plastics in water, complex ocean turbulence and wave height, that might improve the accuracy of the model. He also may have the chance to examine the relationship between wind speed and depth of plastic particles. The 2010 expedition had near-uniform wind |
hold bigoted views of homosexuals, you’ll be in for a huge surprise when you finally meet some gays and lesbians who don’t fit into the mold you’ve created for them. You get the idea.
Darrell Dow at Stuff Fundies Like also challenges the idea that sending your child to a Christian college will “strengthen” their faith:
Come back and see me when you’ve done your due diligence with another study about how many graduates of [Independent Fundamental Baptist] institutions have also left the faith or abandoned the “morals” they have been taught. For good measure you could also do a quick check into how many kids who were raised in church and went to no college at all are also now atheists. A quick anecdotal check of Fundy U grads I know suggest that number will be pretty high.
The whole Maranatha article is just designed to scare Christian parents into sending their kids to a more expensive school where they’ll receive a less relevant education for most of the careers that’ll be available to them in the secular world.Guild Wars 2 Card Game is now on Tabletop Simulator!
After weeks of work you can now finally play the Guild Wars 2 card game as a mod for Tabletop Simulator.
No longer will you need to print over 200 cards to play the game, now play from the comfort of your desk with friends across Tyria. I have spent the last few weeks working with Matthew Vogt (SnowBird) to build out this mod. When I first posted the Guild Wars 2 Card Game on Reddit it got so much good feedback, everyone loved it and wanted to play it. You can read the original blog post here about the game.
The only problem with my game was, who is going to print off over 200 cards to play a card game? not me.
I got a lot of people asking for a Tabletop Simulator mod for the card game, I mean its perfect for it. I however didn’t even own Tabletop Simulator at the time and replied to various comments suggesting that if someone out there wants to build a mod please get in touch. Luckily Matthew happened to be reading my post and the comments, he saw the demand for a Tabletop Sim mod and offered to build it. After a few messages back and forth to check if he was really up to the task, he went to work.
Building the Game & Planning for the Future.
Matthew would be more able to speak about the technical side of the project, we came into some interesting issues ourselves when developing. Deck building was an interesting problem, I was overthinking it at first but Matthew’s solution was quite simple. We made a deck building section, with decks of cards split into each rarity and endurance cost. As well as there being 2 of each card in the deck it made for an effective and easy to use solution. We had a lot of debate about how the board and table should be, we ended up going to the simplest solution of just 1 big table, the board itself being a very minimal design so the focus is on the cards nothing else. You might notice the custom skybox in the game, the default Tabletop Sim backgrounds are just awful so I decided I wanted to do it right. Matthew took lots of screenshots turning his camera around trying to get full coverage. I then used a image stitching program to create the big panoramic image, all I had to do then was tidy up the image to remove lots of blurring and deformation.
Matthew has also spent a lot of hard hours building tool to make updating the game super simple, this way card balance and new cards will go in with ease. “managing over 200 cards isn’t that easy”
Overall the goal was to go for MVP (minimum viable product) meaning: “it doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to work”. There are a lot of quality of life improvements we could have added, but we really wanted to just get the game out there and played by fans. There will be more features in the future, but for now the game is a great laugh and fun to play.
Initial Play Testing Unleashed Phlunts True Power!
When I released the game a few weeks back I never had the opportunity to play it. So once the game was at a minimum working state we played a few test games and straight away we found some massively overpowered cards. There was one game where Matthew managed to spawn all 3 Elder Dragon Champions because he has taken over 60 damage, making their Endurance cost 0. As you can imaging, that was not intended. Another big issue was weirdly, Phlunt, yes… Phlunt. Not only would he steal you card but he would keep it, and he only costs 6 Endurance. Just him alone would in many cases completely turn the game on its head. Guardian was another issue, originally it had so much Aegis boons it basically couldn’t loose. There was also a ton of text clarity issues, where you would not be used if an ability would be every turn or just when summoned.
The biggest issue of all was that originally card damage only went one way. Meaning If I attack a card I do damage to it, I do no receive any damage. This basically meant that as soon as someone got the slightest bit of board control, they won. That’s why I had to change the games mechanics to do damage both ways.
I think 90% of these balance and mechanic issues are gone, but once people get their hands on it who knows!
Time to Step into the Mists
If you don’t know how to play and would love to try the game, Matthew and I made a quick video explaining how to setup the game, build you deck and start playing. Video is below.
You can brush up on the rules and view all the cards by heading on over to the official website.
If you missed the original blog post about the game, you can find read it here.
The mod is now available on the Steam workshop.
Sub Reddit – Discord Server
Thank you for reading and I cant wait to see you all in the game!Canadian Red Cross staff in Nova Scotia were busy this weekend scrubbing permanent marker off their property after someone left them a message that wasn't meant for them.
Staff arrived at the Burnside location on Saturday morning to find vehicles, signs and two trailers vandalized, said Dan Bedell, a spokesman for the Canadian Red Cross.
"Doesn't let trans women give blood," read one message. "Discriminates against trans women," said another.
But the Canadian Red Cross has not been involved in blood donor services since the 1990s.
The graffiti was written in permanent marker, which took part of the long weekend to clean off. (Canadian Red Cross)
Bedell said the messages were written in permanent marker between 7 p.m. on Friday and 7 a.m. on Saturday, and believes they were meant for the Canadian Blood Services.
He said there is "confusion" about the two organizations.
"Blood services is a program that our counterparts — for example, in the United States and some other countries — are still involved with," he said.
Bedell says the messages were likely in response to recent changes to Canadian Blood Services policy.
'Didn't actually know what the messages meant'
Bedell says a couple of staff members spent part of the long weekend cleaning what they could, but the marks aren't coming off easily.
"We didn't actually know what the messages meant initially," Bedell said. "We had to look it up to figure out what policy or what incident would have triggered all this."
Bedell says the Canadian Red Cross has contacted Halifax Regional Police about the incident.Joe LaFurgey - GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) -- A Grand Rapids lawmaker has introduced legislation that would force leaders of the Michigan presidential recount effort and those requesting future statewide recounts to pick up the entire tab.
State Rep. Lisa Pothumus Lyons, R-Alto, introduced the bill Thursday, which includes a retroactive date of Jan. 1, 2016.
"The number grows every single day. It started out as $100,000 to $2 million. Now I'm gearing $4 million to $5 million," said Lyons, referring to the estimated cost of the proposed recount.
Green Party candidate Jill Stein's campaign has picked up the first $900,000 and then some, but taxpayers may have to foot the rest of the bill.
Republicans are asking, for what?
"The candidate who is asking for the recount acknowledges that the outcome will not change, especially for her," said Lyons.
Her bill would require candidates requesting a statewide recount for an election that resulted in more than a five percent difference between the winning candidate and the petitioner of the recount to pay 100 percent of the estimated cost of the recount.
The timing of the bill comes as the recount looms and lame-duck session continues.
"This isn't about lame duck," said Lyons. "This is about protecting our taxpayers and this recount request certainly has spurred this."
But it doesn't appear the measure will have bipartisan support.
"The idea of changing the rules in the middle of the game just doesn't make sense," said state Rep. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann Arbor, who is one the Hose Elections Committee. "I know there are some partisan concerns about one side calling for a recount. But that should be brought up before the election."
He suggest the recount bill is a way to take the focus off another controversial piece of legislation.
Wednesday, Pothumus Lyons introduced legislation requiring voters to present an identification at their polling place. If they don't have it, they must sign an affidavit attesting they are who they say they are when they cast their vote.
It's a move many Democrats say will create more hurdles for some registered voters.
"I think what this really is representative Lyons is trying change the subject from her aggressive voter ID law, which is going to turn valid, eligible voters away from the polls," said Irwin.
The recount bill is also drawing fire from the Stein campaign.
"This is another way of narrowing or taking away citizens' rights and candidates rights to challenge the election system," said campaign attorney Mark Brewer.
Debate on the bill is expected to begin next week.Ukraine and Estonia to hold joint military exercises in 2017 Thursday, August 25, 2016 4:22:00 PM
Ukraine and Estonia are considering the possibility of holding joint military exercises in 2017. This was discussed during a meeting between the Ukrainian Defense Minister, Stepan Poltorak, and his Estonian counterpart, Hannes Hanso, which was held in Kiev on the 24th of August. This was reported by the press service of the Defense Ministry.
“The General of the Army of Ukraine, Stepan Poltorak, discussed the importance of the development and continuation of cooperation between the defense ministries of the two countries, especially with regard to the issues of holding joint military exercises next year. These would be held with the participation of the servicemen of Ukraine and Estonia,” the statement said.
It was reported that during the visit, Hanso visited one of the military units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine where Ukrainian military personnel were being trained by Estonian instructors, and expressed satisfaction with what he saw.
“Trust and fraternal relations have been built between us. This is a long-term project in terms of the exchange of experience as we continue to learn a lot from you as well. In the future, we will consider providing training for the Ukrainian officers and we will consider taking part in the joint international exercises,” Hanso said.
During the meeting, the ministers also discussed the future direction of cooperation, especially with regard to the assistance of the instructors who will train the Ukrainian military, the participation of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the international joint exercises of the military command, as well as providing treatment at the best Estonian clinics for wounded Ukrainian soldiers.
The National Security and Defense Council Secretary, Oleksandr Turchynov, had previously said that Russia will hold large-scale military exercises near the borders of Ukraine in the near future.
Share
Comments
Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.Deontay Wilder gives Tyson Fury a big chance against Wladimir Klitschko
WBC world heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder believes Tyson Fury will snatch Wladimir Klitschko's belts when the pair meet on Sky Sports Box Office on November 28.
Klitschko (64-3-KO53) is the current WBA Super, IBF and WBO champion but Wilder, who holds the last of the four major belts, is adamant that Fury (24-0-KO18) has what it takes to win in Dusseldorf.
"I definitely don't see this fight being one-sided and I can definitely see Fury winning," the American exclusively told World Boxing News.
Tale of the tape
"If he's done all the right things and he takes this fight seriously. Doing what he's got to do as the younger, healthier guy, because Klitschko is getting a lot older now and his body is tearing away from itself.
"I can see a new champion arriving, but again it's all going to depend on what mentality and what dog they bring with them to that fight, that night. That's what is going to boil down to.
Does Klitschko still crumble with punches? And does Fury not knock him out or even drop him on the canvas? Tyson Fury has the ability to be able to do that. Deontay Wilder
"We all know that Klitschko's chin has been tested throughout his career and he's been knocked out, but then with Emanuel Steward he was taught to keep his distance and space, which he has done very well.
"Since that happened, nobody has really ever touched Klitschko's chin with a proper punch, so the question is; 'can Tyson, who is the taller guys and with longer arms too, touch that chin?' He should be able to do a couple of times.
"Once he does that, the truth shall reveal itself. Does Klitschko still crumble with punches? And does Fury not knock him out or even drop him on the canvas? Tyson Fury has the ability to be able to do that."
Wladimir Klitschko claims David Haye would have knocked out Tyson Fury Wladimir Klitschko claims David Haye would have knocked out Tyson Fury
As far as Wilder is concerned, it isn't all good news for the Mancunian challenger, though.
Wilder (35-0-KO34) added: "So on the other hand, you got Tyson Fury who is known to be knocked down by even the smaller guys and punchers. So what happens when Klitschko lands? He is going to hit him, that's for sure - we know that.
Tyson Fury prepares for his world title tilt by headbutting a watermelon Tyson Fury prepares for his world title tilt by headbutting a watermelon
"Fury has proven that he doesn't have the best of defences. He's going to get touched, he's going to get hit, but what happens when he gets hit and goes down? Because we know he's goes down, so will he get back up like he did against Steve Cunningham, the smaller guy?
"That is the big question and that's what makes this such an interesting fight."
You can watch Klitschko v Fury live on Sky Sports Box Office, on Saturday, November 28.A West Odessa man jailed on murder charges this week telephoned the Ector County Sheriff’s Office at least eight times over the past two years to report multiple broken windows, property damage and other misdeeds that he blamed on the two neighbors he’s accused of shooting.
Two days before Santiago Lara Jimenez reportedly gunned down 19-year-old Ernest G. Byer Jr. and wounded his father, a friend staying on Jimenez’s property reported several hundred dollars in damage to Jimenez’s pickup. Jimenez was hospitalized at the time but requested the authorities conduct “a two-week close patrol in the neighborhood due to racing, loud parties in the area and gunshots,” sheriff’s office records show.
The incident highlighted a history of hostility between Jimenez and the Byers, whose mobile home sits just across the street from Jimenez’s residence on West Maria Drive. After an argument with the Byers on Sunday over the most recent property damage, Jimenez reportedly took matters into his own hands.
Jimenez, 68, was charged with murder and attempted murder after authorities responded to a “shots fired” call and found Byer Jr. dead in front of his mobile home and the elder Byer wounded inside a vehicle. Jimenez was being held Tuesday in the Ector County Detention Center in lieu of $750,000 bond.
Sheriff’s office records show Jimenez began complaining to law enforcement about his neighbors in the summer of 2008. He called at least four times over a three-week span to report shattered windows on his front porch, vehicle and mobile home, records show.
“They were messing with him,” Jimenez’s daughter, Irma, said of the neighbors.
Ector County Sheriff Mark Donaldson said the Byers also filed complaints about Jimenez at times. Though Jimenez’s family members have said authorities should have done something sooner to settle the conflict, Donaldson said sheriff’s deputies did everything they could and suggested the shooting was inevitable.
“Obviously these groups of people did not like each other,” Donaldson said. “As far as preventing it, I guess if one or the other was in jail for the rest of their life it would have prevented it. The thing that would have prevented it would have been if Mr. Jimenez hadn’t acted upon his aggression.”
In each of the instances, sheriff’s deputies were only informed of the damage several hours or even days after it reportedly occurred, and Jimenez was told there was little that law enforcement could do without evidence.
Sgt. Gary Duesler, a sheriff’s office spokesman, said it was not clear whether sheriff’s officials increased patrols around Jimenez’s property after the Friday incident, but he said authorities “would have no reason not to.”
“There are a limited amount of deputies on full nights anyway,” he said. “We do the best we can to get out there.”
Each time Jimenez called, deputies scanned the damage for signs of BB pellets or other objects and never found anything that could have broken the windows. One deputy suggested Jimenez set up a video camera to capture any vandals in the act.
On July 31, 2008, Deputy Allen Sutphen was dispatched to Jimenez’s mobile home — the second trip sheriff’s deputies made to the residence that day. Records show Jimenez told Sutphen that a neighbor, who is not identified in the report, came over and “yelled at him.” Jimenez also tried to explain to the deputy what he captured on video, but records indicate that a language barrier complicated their conversation.
“I asked Mr. Jimenez what the tape showed and he advised that the neighbor had come over and yelled at him,” Sutphen logged in his report. “Mr. Jimenez was not fluent in English and was unable to tell me what was on the tape.” Sutphen took the video as evidence, but it’s not clear whether deputies followed up on the incident.
Donaldson said having a Spanish-speaking officer wouldn’t have changed anything on Sutphen’s call since Sutphen’s only responsibility was to pick up the tape.
Duesler said sheriff’s deputies frequently encounter language barriers.
“We try to get an officer that’s on shift (who speaks Spanish),” Duesler said. “That is something that comes up from time to time.”
Family members said they were surprised to hear of the violence attributed to Jimenez. But local court documents show Jimenez’s ex-wife once called authorities after he reportedly broke into her residence. Jimenez’s ex-wife said in an affidavit for a protective order that she once filed spousal rape charges against Jimenez but heard nothing back from authorities.
Jimenez was not permitted to speak to the Odessa American on Tuesday, as jail officials said he had already received his two visitors for the week.Toronto police are looking for several suspects they believe are behind at least 58 daytime break-ins in Scarborough in the last six weeks — more than one break-in per day.
Police in 42 Division, which runs from Highway 401 north to Steeles Avenue and from Victoria Park Avenue west to Pickering Town Line, say all of the break-ins have happened in broad daylight in the same area.
"In some of these cases, there have been persons we believe responsible, that have been soliciting or acting as solicitors," said Det. Sgt. Gerry Heaney.
In addition to getting an eye on the houses, police have targeted homes with thick hedges or trees blocking the view of the home from the sidewalk.
Resident Tessie Tesoro, who has tall shrubs that block her lower windows, admitted they may be a risk.
"It really is a good cover for those who are going to break into your house … especially the basement," she said.
Neighbours have been urged to keep an eye on nearby homes.
Police warn residents to take extra precaution when securing their homes and report anything suspicious they see.
Police are also issued the following tips:HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) yesterday published estimates of the revenue raised by different HMRC taxes in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. These taxes cover 80% of total revenue, since they do not include revenue not collected by HMRC, such as council tax, business rates and vehicle excise duty. The results for 2012–13 are summarised in the figure below. This is the first time that most sources of revenue have been broken down to show the amount raised in Wales and Northern Ireland separately and what is particularly striking about these estimates is how much lower taxes per person in these areas are than in England or Scotland.
Government revenue per person across the UK, 2012-13
Note: ‘Capital taxes’ are capital gains tax, inheritance tax and stamp duties on shares and property. The HMRC estimates run from 1999–00 to 2012–13, although for all the main taxes the 2012–13 (and often 2011–12) ‘estimates’ simply assume that the share of revenue is the same as in previous years.
Source: Authors’ calculations using HMRC statistics and 2012 population totals from the Office for National Statistics.
Wales and Northern Ireland
HMRC tax revenue per person in 2012-13, excluding revenue from North Sea oil and gas, is 26% lower in Wales (at £5,400) and 23% lower in Northern Ireland (£5,700) than in UK as a whole (£7,300). This largely arises because Wales and Northern Ireland have less income and wealth than the rest of the UK and correspondingly raise less revenue per person from all the main taxes on earnings, savings and profits: income tax, National Insurance contributions (NICs), corporation tax, capital gains tax, inheritance tax and stamp duties all yield at least 25% less revenue per person in both Wales and Northern Ireland than in the UK as a whole.
Wales also brings in significantly less VAT revenue per person than the UK average. But in Northern Ireland VAT revenues are only slightly lower than in the UK as a whole – because Northern Irish households (or non-household actors that cannot reclaim VAT on their purchases such as VAT-exempt traders and some public sector bodies) spend more of their income on goods and services subject to VAT. And Northern Ireland actually provides 18% (£76 per year) more revenue from fuel duties per person than UK as a whole and a remarkable 79% (£120 per year) more tobacco duty.
Scotland
North Sea oil and gas aside, tax revenue in Scotland (£7,100 per person in 2012–13) looks much more like that in the UK as a whole (£7,300). Scots do pay £290 per year less in income tax on average, partly because incomes in Scotland are more equally distributed, with fewer of the very high-income individuals who provide such a large share of income tax revenue in the UK as a whole. But Scots contribute slightly more in VAT and in alcohol and tobacco taxes.
Unlike for Wales and Northern Ireland, these patterns were largely known already, since the Scottish government already produces estimates of Scottish revenues (the latest being for 2011–12) in Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (GERS). In most respects HMRC have used a similar methodology and produced similar estimates to those in GERS.
In three areas, however, HMRC attributes somewhat lower revenues to Scotland than GERS does: onshore corporation tax (15%, or £0.4 billion, lower), taxes on North Sea production (12%, or £1.3 billion, lower) and stamp duty on shares (40%, or £0.1 billion, lower).
Onshore corporation tax
UK corporation tax applies to profits created from economic activities located in the UK. Where firms operate in more than one part of the UK, it is difficult to know how much of their profits are attributable to activities in each location, and companies are not required to divide up their profits in this way.
Both GERS and HMRC approximate the division of onshore corporation tax revenue based on estimates of the location of profits. GERS uses a regional measure of profits contained in the ONS regional accounts that is predominantly based on the share of wages earned in Scotland. HMRC allocates individual companies’ profits to regions, largely based on the location of their employment, and aggregates this to get the share of profits in each location.
These different methods yield somewhat – albeit not radically – different estimates. Onshore corporation tax revenue in Scotland in 2011–12 is estimated to be £3.0bn (9.0% of UK total) in GERS and £2.5bn (7.7% of UK total) by HMRC. This £400m difference is equivalent to about 1% of all Scottish revenue.
Neither of these estimates is clearly superior to the other, and both may be some way off. Profits are not necessarily generated in proportion to the number of employees, or their wages. Some employees may be more instrumental in generating profits than others; and profits also arise from capital assets – both physical (such as buildings and equipment) and intangible (such as intellectual property and brand value) – the location and contribution of which may differ from the location and wages of employees. Calculating how much of a company’s profits are attributable to economic activity in different locations is conceptually and practically difficult and is the source of many problems in international corporate taxation.
North Sea oil and gas
How North Sea oil and gas revenues would be divided in the event of Scottish independence is uncertain. Both HMRC and GERS show two illustrative possibilities. One divides North Sea revenues according to Scotland’s share of the UK population. Unsurprisingly, on this basis GERS and HMRC both report that Scotland’s share of North Sea revenues in 2011–12 was 8.4%.
The other approach taken is to divide revenues on a geographical basis according to the location of individual oil and gas fields. On this basis GERS estimates Scotland’s share in 2011–12 at 94% (£10.6 billion), while HMRC’s estimate is 83% (£9.3 billion). This disparity is not because they divide fields between England and Scotland differently: both use a boundary that was established in the Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundaries Order 1999. Rather, it derives from differences in their models of how much taxable profit arises from different fields.
Stamp duty on shares
GERS allocates revenue from stamp duty on share transactions to Scotland based on the proportion of share owning UK adults that are resident in Scotland. That is a poor guide to what Scotland’s share of stamp duty revenue would be under independence. The number of people owning shares does not tell us the value of shares traded each year (the tax base). More fundamentally, the location of the shares’ owners is not the relevant consideration for stamp duty, which is paid on transactions of shares in UK registered companies.
HMRC's approach recognises this, allocating stamp duty revenue according to companies’ registered addresses (weighted by share turnover). HMRC’s lower allocation of stamp duty revenue to Scotland – 5.0% (£139 million) rather than the 8.3% (£231 million) recorded in GERS for 2011–12 – is therefore the better guide.
The new HMRC statistics are a welcome additional source of information. In some cases the estimates are only rough approximations to tax receipts in different locations, and further devolution or Scottish independence might change the location of revenues. However, these figures reveal some interesting differences across different parts of the UK.
This work has been funded by the Economic and Social Research Council through its ‘Future of Scotland’ programme.Guest Post by Joe Newby
Democrats don’t want you to own guns, and for that matter, don’t think the constitutional right of due process applies to you, which is why they violated House rules to engage in an hours-long sit-in in the House of Representatives.
But, Heat Street reported Thursday, at least 26 Democrats who participated in the sit-in are gun owners.
take our poll - story continues below
Will the media learn anything from their biased reporting of the Jussie Smollett story? Will the media learn anything from their biased reporting of the Jussie Smollett story?
Will the media learn anything from their biased reporting of the Jussie Smollett story? * Yes, they've gotten so much wrong recently that they're bound to be on their best behavior. No, they suffer from a bad case of Trump Derangement Syndrome. Jussie who?
Email *
Phone This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Completing this poll grants you access to The Lid updates free of charge. You may opt out at anytime. You also agree to this site's Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Trending: Ex-Bernie Spokesman Lashes Out at Hillary’s Team, ‘Biggest A**Holes in American Politics’
Can you say, “hypocrisy?”
Jillian Kay Melchoir wrote:
Congressional Democrats ended their 25-hour sit-in on the House floor this afternoon, failing to force a vote on two pieces of gun legislation. The controversial sit-in included 26 Democratic lawmakers who themselves own guns, Heat Street learned after examining 2013 USA Today data on congressional firearms ownership. The participants also included 12 more Democrats in Congress who either didn’t respond to USA Today’s gun survey or declined to say whether or not they possessed a firearm. The sit-in, launched by civil-rights leader Rep. John Lewis, centered on two pieces of proposed gun legislation. One would expand background checks to cover all commercial gun sales; the other seeks tougher prohibitions against gun purchases for terror suspects.
So, who are these hypocritical Democrats?
Here’s the list of Democrat gun owners who participated in the sit-in, as posted by Melchoir:
Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick
Rep. Bennie Thompson
Rep. Dina Titus
Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger
Rep. Jared Huffman
Rep. Jim Cooper
Rep. Jim Costa
Rep. John Carney
Rep. John Garamendi
Rep. Keith Ellison
Rep. Mike Thompson
Rep. Peter DeFazio
Rep. Peter Welch
Rep. Rick Nolan
Rep. Ron Kind
Rep. Steve Cohen
Rep. Tim Ryan
Sen. Gary Peters
Sen. Harry Reid
Sen. Mark Warner
Sen. Martin Heinrich
Sen. Patrick Leahy
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse
Sen. Tammy Baldwin
Sen. Tim Kaine
Sen. Tom Carper
Cross Posted from Conservative Firing Line
Thought it might be fun to look at some of the anti-Gun tweets from gun-owning Democrats. Each one of the below believes that guns are okay for themselves but not for you. Enjoy the face of arrogance and mendacity.
Rep. Bennie Thompson joins Democratic sit-in over gun violence | The Clarion-Ledger | https://t.co/8qDqmQtTDa — MSU News Digest (@MSUNewsDigest) June 23, 2016
Saw #MakingaKilling, how greedy gun makers & NRA make $$ dealing death, then legally bribe fake pols for protection pic.twitter.com/X4K9pKY8SL — Rep. Keith Ellison (@keithellison) March 16, 2016
“Were almost 9 hrs in and goin strong on the floor. Tell R ldrshp to #dosomething now on gun violence #holdthefloor pic.twitter.com/RSYpOrXP17 — Rep. John Carney (@JohnCarneyDE) June 23, 2016
Sitting in on the House Floor until the Speaker allows a vote on gun safety #holdthefloor #NoFlyNoBuy #NoBillNoBreak pic.twitter.com/m6iV3xaV6L — John Garamendi (@RepGaramendi) June 22, 2016
Proud to join my colleagues as we #holdthefloor to keep people on the terrorist watchlist from legally buying guns pic.twitter.com/8FZtyfJHgH — Rep Peter DeFazio (@RepPeterDeFazio) June 22, 2016AUSTIN — When Attorney General Greg Abbott talks about his opposition to abortion, he often mentions his Catholic faith.
Not so when he talks about his support for the death penalty, whose abolition is advocated by Pope Francis.
“Catholic doctrine is not against the death penalty, and so there is no conflict there,” Abbott, the Republican nominee for governor, said when asked about that point in a meeting with the San Antonio Express-News Editorial Board.
The Catholic catechism doesn't exclude the death penalty as an option if that's the only way to defend human lives from an offender, but it says that given current options, such cases “are very rare, if practically non-existent.”
Pope Francis, in reaffirming the church's call to abolish the death penalty last year, asked that such sentences be commuted to a lesser punishment allowing for the offender's reform, the National Catholic Register reported.
“The difference, of course, is one between innocent life and those who have taken innocent lives,” Abbott said of his position on abortion versus the death penalty.
A different view on capital punishment would itself be seen as tantamount to a political death sentence in Texas.
Abbott's Democratic opponent, Sen. Wendy Davis, also backs the death penalty — even though as a Fort Worth City Council member in 2000 she voted to impose a moratorium on it, and even though the Texas Democratic Party platform calls for substituting life in prison for capital punishment, saying the death penalty is applied disproportionately to the poor and persons of color.
The moratorium didn't pass, and Davis said that the questions prompting her to support it then have largely been answered through such means as advancement in the use of DNA evidence.
“Obviously, before we mete out the most serious of punishments, we need to know we've done everything to assure that the person on the receiving end of that punishment is guilty,” Davis told the Express-News Editorial Board in a separate appearance Friday. “We have made some advances in that regard.... Is there still work to do? Absolutely.”
Both candidates credited work by Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, on the issue. Abbott cited his efforts with Ellis on legislation to expand DNA testing in death penalty cases.
“I know that the only way the death penalty will work is to ensure its absolute accuracy — that everyone who is given the death penalty is guilty of the crime for which they were accused and convicted of committing,” Abbott said.
Being sure can be difficult.
In 2010, Anthony Graves became the 12th death-row inmate to be exonerated in Texas, absolved of the 1992 Burleson County murder for which he was convicted. Michael Morton, who served 25 years in his wife's Williamson County murder before being exonerated, told CNN, “I thank God this wasn't a capital case.”
When former Gov. Mark White sought a return to office in 1990, he touted the executions over which he had presided. Now he is an advocate for reform, as we've reported, saying Texas doesn't have a good way to determine whether death-row inmates are mentally disabled and that there are instances of inmates denied DNA exams of evidence. White wants change, even though he said he is sure everyone executed on his watch was guilty.
Abbott and Davis both said if elected, they'll also take care in presiding over executions.
“I will ensure that before I ever allow an execution to occur, I will be 100 percent convinced that the person who is being sentenced to the death penalty is guilty of that crime,” Abbott said.
Davis said, “As governor, I'll take that very seriously and make sure that before that punishment is meted out that we have done everything we can to answer the questions that need to be answered.”Get the biggest daily news stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email
Three gunmen are being hunted by police in Munich after at least eight people were shot dead in and outside a shopping centre.
The area around the Olympia-Einkaufszentrum (OEZ) shopping mall in the centre of the German city has been sealed off as the gunman is tracked down.
A senior German officer, speaking at a press conference, said cops are still trying to track the gunmen after the horrific scenes at the Olympia-Einkaufszentrum (OEZ) shopping mall in the centre of Munich.
He said: "(There are) shooters on the run that are dangerous."
He confirmed that five people have died, but couldn’t say how many who have been injured "but there are people who have been traumatised, and they are in double figures".
He added that they had a "pistol or handgun of some sort".
Footage showing a man firing at passers by outside the shopping centre has appeared online, as has a second showing what appears to be another gunman on the mall's roof.
The first video captures the moment a gunman opened fire on innocent bystanders outside a packed shopping centre in Munich.
The busy street is plunged into chaos when a man wearing a cap and sunglasses opens fire with what appears to be a handgun outside a McDonald's.
Terrified bystanders, including the unnamed witness filming the scene, flee in fear as a barrage of at least 18 shots can be heard ringing out.
Six people have been killed and many more have been injured at around 6pm tonight, according to German public broadcaster BR.
Police helicopters have been seen circling over Munich as armed police hunt ‘at least three’ gunmen on the loose.
A Reuters photographer has reported seeing a sniper from one of the helicopters above the mall, according to Bild.
(Image: Twitter)
(Image: Getty)
Footage has also been posted online as has video filmed by terrified shoppers inside the mall. One shows police officers with guns drawn looking for the person or people behind the shootings.
German media have reported that there have been multiple fatalities, though police are yet to confirm this.
Shoppers are believed to still be trapped in the mall as police try to track down the armed man.
(Image: Reuters)
Police move in on gunman at Munich shopping |
, with talks translated into Korean or English depending on the speaker. But the truly momentous event was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between British, North Korean, and Chinese partners in the endeavor, which marked the beginning of what will surely be a fruitful alliance.
The collaboration with North Korean scientists has been invaluable to our expedition. Our modern equipment and internationally tempered expertise has been equally met by the North Koreans’ intimate local knowledge and extensive experience. The next major milestone in the project will see North Korean scientists coming to the UK to work alongside our British team members at the University of Cambridge and Imperial College London.by
Every time the Steelers lose I make my kids go to bed without dinner. THEY WILL LEARN TO LOVE THIS TEAM. Since it was a night game, though, I just beat them.
Some notes on the loss and other stuff from week 1:
– It was the first game of the season so it doesn’t really mean anything. The Giants lost 7 games last year and they still won the Super Bowl. Let’s talk about stupid shit instead…
– They interviewed Peyton Manning after the game and his forehead looked more massive than ever. Maybe he just needs some weights on the back of his head to counter-balance? NECK PROBLEMS SOLVED. I have no idea what they interviewed him about. Probably his hot sister-in-law.
– After the game, Channel 11 News had a post-game show with Alby Oxenreiter (and some little kid who I think was his nephew). Anyway right smack in the middle of this football show, they felt the need to go to the weatherman for a forecast. IT WAS AFTER MIDNIGHT. What is it about the Local News and the fucking weather reports? Do they think they need to cram one in any chance they get just in case some old ladies are watching? By the way it’s going to be hot as balls tomorrow, Grandma.
– The Broncos will be 14 – 2 this season. John Fox took them to the playoffs last year with TIM TEBOW as his quarterback. (He should have gotten Coach of the Year for that.) He took the Carolina Panthers to the Super Bowl with FUCKING JAKE DELHOMME. He’s a great coach. Now he finally has a great QB to go along with a great defense and of course they have the greatest home field advantage of all because of the thin air in Denver. (The only other place besides Oakland where players are afraid they might die.) They will be the number one seed in the AFC and we will all hate Peyton Manning more than ever.
– Of course Peyton Manning is going to be like his old self. He probably worked harder than anyone in his recovery and he has always studied football day and night. (NERD!!!) He’s a fucking annoying over-achiever. The guy that we’re all jealous of because he’s better than us and we’re too lazy to do anything about it. The guy who always raises his hand in class. Even Thomas Edward Patrick Brady, Jr. would rather spend the off-season trying on dresses with Giselle than thinking about football. But not Peyton. He’s like the surfer that gets his cock eaten by a shark but still wants to recover just so he can get right back in the water and try to get sharks to blow him again. Peyton is an awful person because he makes the rest of us feel shitty about ourselves.
– I have no idea what is and isn’t a catch anymore. When Jacob Tamme scored for the Broncos in the 4th quarter, he caught the ball, took two steps and fell on his back in the endzone then clearly dropped it. He never had time to “make a football move” before he fell. It wasn’t even as close as the famous Calvin Johnson non-touchdown a couple years ago. The announcers were too busy fondling Peyton’s sack to say anything about it, but I am pretty sure that it should have been ruled incomplete given what the stupid rule says:
If a player goes to the ground in the act of catching a pass (with or without contact by an opponent), he must maintain control of the ball throughout the process of contacting the ground, whether in the field of play or the end zone.
– Can’t they just make the rule that if you catch the ball with two feet down it is a catch? Wasn’t that the rule for like 80 years? I have no idea why they changed it.
– Also they should have a rule that replacement officials can’t be older than 90. Did Goodell make his grandfather ref last night’s game?
– I give Arians a lot of shit because his offense was mistake-prone and couldn’t score in the redzone. Last night was no better. I hope Haley turns it around.
– Verizon is the most evil company in the world. I’ve never had shittier service. The latest issue was that NFL Redzone did not work for most of the 1pm games. I was on hold the whole time and nobody ever picked up. I can’t wait until Networks start broadcasting over the Internet and cable companies become obsolete.
– I’m a Steelers fan and even I hate Art Modell. All the good he did for that city was wiped out when the greedy bastard deserted them for more money. He was 70 years old at the time. Why not just kick back with your millions and enjoy life instead of screwing over a bunch of people? He deserves to be remembered as a villain for eternity. Cleveland should erect a statue of him fucking a goat.
– Deion Sanders got arrested for domestic abuse charges just a few months ago, but he’s still on the NFL Network as if nothing happened. Warren Sapp too. I think the message is clear—you cannot have sex with a woman in a public restroom, but smacking them up a little is okay.
– Bears/Packers Thursday night! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, NFL, for giving us games every Thursday so I can yell and scream and complain irrationally one more night of the week! My wife hates you.
Follow us on twitter for weather reports on the hour every hour.
.
Comments
commentsMEEKER — It’s 6:20 p.m. and Democratic Senate candidate Mark Udall is working a campaign event in this Western Slope town, where the joke is that there aren’t enough Democrats in town to fill a small Volkswagen.
It is not the warmest of rooms. One questioner challenges Udall to explain why he got an “F” rating from the National Rifle Association.
When Udall tells the crowd that this election isn’t about turning Colorado “blue,” but “red, white and blue,” a man from the back shouts, “you mean red, white, blue and black” — visibly startling Udall with an apparent reference to the party’s presidential candidate.
But there are also openings for the Democrat, among them Cheri Robinson.
As Udall shakes her hand, the lifelong Republican complains about the thousands of gas-field vehicles that pass her ranch daily, damaging roads, tossing garbage and “making it almost impossible for my sheep ranch to continue.”
“We should tap these resources — but we need to do it smartly,” Udall reassured her, repeating a version of the message that he has been hammering on the Western Slope for months now.
In a marathon bus tour last week, the five-term congressman from Boulder County was furiously crisscrossing a landscape where he ought to be at a distinct disadvantage.
In the 22 counties west of the Continental Divide, Republicans have about 135,000 registered voters to the Democratic Party’s 95,000.
But in a sign of how much Colorado’s political landscape is changing, several polls show Udall now leading on the Western Slope by a slim margin.
As he goes from mountain resort towns full of fleece-wearing progressives to counties dominated by gun enthusiasts and oil and gas workers, the tour shows the highs and lows of a changing political landscape.
In Montrose, Democrats listening to Udall give a speech on a lawn were met with yells of “terrorism supporters” from passengers in a pickup that circled the block three times to ensure the message got through.
But then there is Jill Potter, an 82-year-old Republican and former treasurer in overwhelmingly Republican Jackson County, who had just cast her ballot for Barack Obama in early voting.
“It’s the economy,” said Potter, crediting the recent endorsement of Obama by Colin Powell with helping her to make up her mind. “People are really hurting.”
Region transforming
While Ken Salazar did well here in his Senate race four years ago, shrinking the vast margins that Republican candidates traditionally have garnered in western Colorado, he didn’t win the region outright.
If a congressman from one of the state’s most liberal districts captures an area that should be among the Republicans’ easiest to win, analysts say it will mark a sea change.
Democrats are practically giddy at the idea.
In places like Craig, Grand Junction, and Ouray, Udall spun out the well-worn themes of a campaign that has purposely been pitched to the kind of moderate conservative voters that have moved into this region over the last decade.
He talked of reining in spending, investing in renewable energy, and — in a riff on a theme by Western writer Wallace Stegner — “building communities to match our scenery.”
John Salazar, the Democrat who represents western Colorado in Congress and traveled with Udall most of the week, cheerily told crowds how when he first ran, Democrats would come up to him on the street and express their support in embarrassed whispers.
Four years later, that political environment has been transformed, Salazar said. “I have never in my entire life seen such energy in western Colorado,” he told a crowd in Ridgway.
But just as often, the crowds have been packed with conservative Democrats skeptical of trademark policies.
In Silverton, Steve Kral told Udall that he had voted for him already, then quickly launched into a critique of Obama’s progressive tax plan.
But there is also little doubt that Udall has managed to make inroads — partly by spending a significant chunk of campaign time here; partly by following a carefully crafted strategy that aims to peel off pieces of a Republican coalition fractured by the area’s rapid energy development.
“The Democrats said, ‘We are going to align ourselves with sportsmen, with hunters and anglers — and the business community out here,’ ” Udall said as he sat in the back of the bus as it wound along mountain roads between events.
“People out here know that one of the biggest business bumps comes in the summer with recreation, and in the fall with all these hunters that come to the area.”
“We want to look after those interests as well,” he said.
Michael Riley: 303-954-1614 or [email protected] to be confused with Fiftysix, Arkansas
City in Arkansas, United States
Fifty-Six is a city in Stone County, Arkansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 173, an increase of 10 persons from 2000.
History [ edit ]
When founding the community in 1918, locals submitted the name "Newcomb" for the settlement. This request was rejected, and the federal government internally named the community for its school district number (56).[3] It has frequently been noted on lists of unusual place names.[4][5]
Geography [ edit ]
Fifty-Six is located at. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.1 square miles (5.4 km2), all land.
Demographics [ edit ]
Historical population Census Pop. %± 1980 157 — 1990 156 −0.6% 2000 163 4.5% 2010 173 6.1% Est. 2017 177 [2] 2.3% U.S. Decennial Census[6]
2014 Estimate[7]
As of the census[8] of 2000, there were 163 people, 71 households, and 51 families residing in the city. The population density was 79.1 people per square mile (30.6/km²). There were 87 housing units at an average density of 42.2 per square mile (16.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.55% White and 2.45% Native American. 1.84% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 71 households out of which 25.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.8% were married couples living together, 7.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.8% were non-families. 26.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.69.
In the city, the population was spread out with 19.0% under the age of 18, 8.6% from 18 to 24, 25.2% from 25 to 44, 30.7% from 45 to 64, and 16.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $34,375, and the median income for a family was $35,750. Males had a median income of $30,750 versus $19,063 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,783. About 11.8% of families and 17.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.2% of those under the age of 18 and 25.0% of those 65 and older.
Education [ edit ]
Fifty-Six is in the Mountain View School District.[9]
The community was served by the Fifty-Six School District until July 1, 1985, when it merged into the Big Flat School District to form the Tri-County School District. On July 1, 1993 the Tri-County district was disestablished with territory given to multiple districts, including Mountain View,[10] which began serving Fifty-Six.[11]
Notable person [ edit ]
Lee Hedges, football coach in Shreveport, Louisiana, born in Fifty-Six in 1929
References [ edit ]A farmer nicknamed Breezy shows his illegal patch of budding marijuana plants during a tour of his land in Jamaica's central mountain town of Nine Mile. AP/David McFadden In a former colonial mansion in Jamaica, politicians huddle to discuss trying to ease marijuana laws in the land of the late reggae musician and cannabis evangelist Bob Marley.
In Morocco, one of the world's top producers of the concentrated pot known as hashish, two leading political parties want to legalize its cultivation, at least for medical and industrial use.
And in Mexico City, the vast metropolis of a country ravaged by horrific cartel bloodshed, lawmakers have proposed a brand new plan to let stores sell the drug.
From the Americas to Europe to North Africa and beyond, the marijuana legalization movement is gaining unprecedented traction — a nod to successful efforts in Colorado, Washington state and the small South American nation of Uruguay, which in December became the first country to approve nationwide pot legalization.
Leaders long weary of the drug war's violence and futility have been emboldened by changes in U.S. policy, even in the face of opposition from their own conservative populations. Some are eager to try an approach that focuses on public health instead of prohibition, and some see a potentially lucrative industry in cannabis regulation.
"A number of countries are saying, 'We've been curious about this, but we didn't think we could go this route,'" said Sam Kamin, a University of Denver law professor who helped write Colorado's marijuana regulations. "It's harder for the U.S. to look at other countries and say, 'You can't legalize, you can't decriminalize,' because it's going on here."
That's due largely to a White House that's more open to drug war alternatives.
U.S. President Barack Obama recently told The New Yorker magazine that he considers marijuana less dangerous to consumers than alcohol, and said it's important that the legalization experiments in Washington and Colorado go forward, especially because blacks are arrested for the drug at a greater rate than whites, despite similar levels of use.
His administration also has criticized drug war-driven incarceration rates in the U.S. and announced that it will let banks do business with licensed marijuana operations, which have largely been cash-only because federal law forbids financial institutions from processing pot-related transactions.
Such actions underscore how the official U.S. position has changed in recent years. In 2009, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it wouldn't target medical marijuana patients. In August, the agency said it wouldn't interfere with the laws in Colorado and Washington, which regulate the growth and sale of taxed pot for recreational use.
Government officials and activists worldwide have taken note of the more open stance. Also not lost on them was the Obama administration's public silence before votes in both states and in Uruguay.
It all creates a "sense that the U.S. is no longer quite the drug war-obsessed government it was" and that other nations have some political space to explore reform, said Ethan Nadelmann, head of the nonprofit Drug Policy Alliance, a pro-legalization group based in New York.
Anxiety over U.S. reprisals has previously doused reform efforts in Jamaica, including a 2001 attempt to approve private use of marijuana by adults. Given America's evolution, "the discussion has changed," said Delano Seiveright, director of Ganja Law Reform Coalition-Jamaica.
Last summer eight lawmakers, evenly split between the ruling People's National Party and the opposition Jamaica Labor Party, met with Nadelmann and local cannabis crusaders at a luxury hotel in Kingston's financial district and discussed next steps, including a near-term effort to decriminalize pot possession.
Officials are concerned about the roughly 300 young men each week who get criminal records for possessing small amounts of "ganja." Others in the debt-shackled nation worry about losing out on tourism dollars: For many, weed is synonymous with Marley's home country, where it has long been used as a medicinal herb by families, including as a cold remedy, and as a spiritual sacrament by Rastafarians.
Influential politicians are increasingly taking up the idea of loosening pot restrictions. Jamaica's health minister recently said he was "fully on board" with medical marijuana.
"The cooperation on this issue far outweighs what I've seen before," Seiveright said. "Both sides are in agreement with the need to move forward."
In Morocco, lawmakers have been inspired by the experiments in Washington, Colorado and Uruguay to push forward their longstanding desire to allow cannabis to be grown for medical and industrial uses. They say such a law would help small farmers who survive on the crop but live at the mercy of drug lords and police attempts to eradicate it.
"Security policies aren't solving the problem because it's an economic and social issue," said Mehdi Bensaid, a legislator with the Party of Authenticity and Modernity, a political party closely allied with the country's king. "We think this crop can become an important economic resource for Morocco and the citizens of this region."
In October, lawmakers from Uruguay, Mexico and Canada converged on Colorado for a firsthand look at how that state's law is being implemented. They toured a medical marijuana dispensary and sniffed bar-coded marijuana plants as the dispensary's owner gave them a tour.
"Mexico has outlets like that, but guarded by armed men," Mexican Congressman René Fujiwara Montelongo said afterward.
There's no general push to legalize marijuana in Mexico, where tens of thousands have died in cartel violence in recent years. But in liberal Mexico City, legislators on Thursday introduced a measure to let stores sell up to 5 grams of pot. It's supported by the mayor but could set up a fight with the conservative federal government.
"Rather than continue fighting a war that makes no sense, now we are joining a cutting-edge process," said Jorge Castaneda, a former Mexican foreign minister.
Opponents to legalization worry that pot could become heavily commercialized or that increased access will increase youth use. They say the other side's political victories have reawakened their cause.
"There's been a real hunger from people abroad to find out how we got ourselves into this mess in the first place and how to avoid it," said Kevin Sabet of Project Smart Approaches to Marijuana.
Washington and Colorado passed recreational laws in 2012 to regulate the growth and sale of taxed pot at state-licensed stores. Sales began Jan. 1 in Colorado, and are due to start later this year in Washington. Twenty states and the District of Columbia already have medical marijuana laws.
A number of U.S. states are considering whether to try for recreational laws. Voters in Alaska will have their say on a legalization measure this summer. Oregon voters could also weigh in this year, and in California, drug-reform groups are deciding whether to push a ballot measure in 2014 or wait until 2016's presidential election. Abroad, activists are pushing the issue before a United Nations summit in 2016.
While some European countries, including Spain, Belgium and the Czech Republic, have taken steps over the years to liberalize pot laws in the face of international treaties that limit drug production to medical and research purposes, the Netherlands, famous for its pot "coffee shops," has started to pull back, calling on cities to close shops near schools and ban sales to tourists.
There is, however, an effort afoot to legitimize the growing of cannabis sold in the coffee shops. While it's been legal to sell pot, it's not to grow it, so shops must turn to the black market for their supply, which may wind up seized in a raid.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, where some countries have decriminalized possession of small amounts of drugs, from cocaine to marijuana, there is significant public opposition to further legalization. But top officials are realizing that it is nevertheless on the table, despite the longstanding efforts of the U.S., which has provided billions of dollars to support counter-narcotics work in the hemisphere.
Current or former presidents in Colombia, Mexico, Guatemala and Brazil have called for a re-evaluation of or end to the drug war, a chorus echoed by Argentina's drug czar, Juan Carlos Molina, a Roman Catholic priest who has long served in the nation's drug-wasted slums.
Molina said he's following orders from President Cristina Fernandez to change the government's focus from enforcing drug laws against young people to getting them into treatment. He also said after Fernandez appointed him in December that Argentine society is ready to openly debate legalizing marijuana altogether.
"I believe that Argentina deserves a good debate about this. We have the capacity to do it. The issue is fundamental for this country," Molina said in an interview with Radio del Plata.
The pace of change has put American legalization activists in heavy demand at conferences in countries weighing their drug laws, including Chile, Poland and the Netherlands. The advocates, including those who worked on the efforts in Washington and Colorado, have advised foreign lawmakers and activists on how to build campaigns.
Clara Musto, a spokeswoman for the Uruguayan campaign, said meeting with the Americans helped her group see that it would need to promote arguments beyond ensuring the liberty of cannabis users if it wanted to increase public support. "They knew so much about how to lead," she said.
John Walsh of the Washington Office on Latin America, a non-governmental organization that works to promote social and economic justice, was among the Americans who visited Uruguay as the president, the ruling party and activists pushed their proposal to create a government-controlled marijuana industry.
"This isn't just talk," he said. "Whether Colorado is going to do it well, or Washington, they're doing it. If you're going to pursue something similar, you're not going to be alone."
___
AP writers David McFadden in Kingston, Jamaica; Eduardo Castillo in Mexico City; Leonardo Haberkorn in Montevideo, Uruguay; Michael Corder in The Hague, The Netherlands; Michael Warren in Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Paul Schemm in Rabat, Morocco; Adriana Gomez Licon in Mexico City; and Mark Thiessen in Anchorage, Alaska, contributed.A former top State Department aide who now assists Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonREAD: Cohen testimony alleges Trump knew Stone talked with WikiLeaks about DNC emails County GOP in Minnesota shares image comparing Sanders to Hitler Holder: 'Time to make the Electoral College a vestige of the past' MORE’s presidential campaign spent roughly nine hours in a classified deposition for the House committee on Benghazi on Friday.
Former director of policy planning Jake Sullivan said upon exiting the briefing that he was “very glad to have the opportunity to talk about the extraordinary service of my colleagues to their country — my colleagues at the State Department — especially the career foreign service officers and the incredible work they do on behalf of our nation every day.”
“I was happy to answer every question the committee had,” Sullivan added, without discussing details of the closed-door session.
The interview could be particularly revealing, committee Chairman Trey Gowdy Harold (Trey) Watson GowdyThe family secret Bruce Ohr told Rod Rosenstein about Russia case Trey Gowdy joins Fox News as a contributor Congress must take the next steps on federal criminal justice reforms MORE (R-S.C.) said on his way into the secure meeting room in the Capitol’s basement.
ADVERTISEMENT
“In a country like Libya, you need to understand what policy you’re pursuing and then you need to understand what physical presence is necessary to effectuate that policy, then you have to balance the two,” Gowdy said.
“He probably is going to be in maybe even a unique position to explain to us how the policy required physical presence.”
In addition to working for Clinton in the State Department, Sullivan is also the top adviser on her front-runner Democratic presidential campaign.
Rep. Susan Brooks (R-Ind.), a member of the Benghazi panel, said late Friday afternoon that the session was “very professional” and “very fact-focused.”
“It was a very, very long day with many questions,” Brooks said.
Friday’s deposition comes a day after another former Clinton aide — ex-chief of staff Cheryl Mills — appeared in a marathon, nine-hour meeting of the committee.
Friday’s briefing focused on the same handful of issues as that Thursday session, Gowdy said in the morning: the security of the diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, before the 2012 attacks that killed four Americans; the administration’s response and explanation to the violence; the “objectivity” of a review board investigating the attack; and “the administration’s efforts to comply with legitimate congressional oversight.”
Clinton’s use of a private email setup will also likely come up, Gowdy acknowledged before the meeting, though it would not be a main focus of his panel’s questions.
“I can just tell you it came up really late yesterday in the questioning,” Gowdy said on Friday. "Our committee is the committee on Benghazi. It’s not the committee on emails.”
Like Mills’s appearance, a transcript of Sullivan’s remarks before the committee Friday will remain classified for the time being.
That upset Democrats, who have pressed for the remarks to be made public and have been increasingly critical of the role of the Benghazi panel.
“I want the transcript released,” top committee Democrat Rep. Elijah Cummings (Md.) told reporters. “I really do. Because I think when you see the transcript and I think when the American people see the transcript they will get a clear picture of what was happening, how it happened with regard to a number of issues.”
Keeping the transcripts secret, Democratic members of the panel insist, allows for Republicans to selectively leak snippets that may be damaging to Clinton’s presidential bid.
“I don’t think it should be shelved... so it can collect dust, never to be seen by anybody except the committee members,” Cummings added.
“We can have leaks but we ought to be able to have a transcript, and I would hope that that would happen.”
Sullivan declined to speak with reporters while heading into the committee room around 8 a.m. on Friday morning.
On Friday, another committee Democrat — Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) — wrote a New York Times op-ed calling for Congress to dissolve the special committee, which set of a round of bickering between panel Democrats and Republicans.
This story was updated at 6:05 p.m.Calvin Harris was badly injured in a car accident on Friday, May 20. The singer was transported to the hospital in an ambulance. However, Calvin left the hospital against medical advice after being refused a private room. As of this posting there is no word on Taylor Swift’s response to Calvin’s accident.
Law enforcement officials say Calvin was riding in a Cadillac SUV at around 11:00 pm Friday. Teenagers in another car, reports say a VW bug, crossed over the center line and collided with the vehicle in which Calvin was a passenger.
At the scene paramedics evaluated Calvin and apparently made the decision that a laceration to face was serious enough that it required further medical attention. Calvin was then taken via ambulance to a Los Angeles area hospital.
Sources divulged to TMZ that Calvin Harris asked for a private room at the medical facility but was advised that such a room was not available. Upon hearing this Calvin left the hospital against medical advice. It is not known at this time if the cut to Calvin’s head was tended to before he exited the hospital.
The driver of the other car was a 16-year-old girl who was driving other teenagers. The accident was reportedly quite violent with one girl who was sitting on her boyfriend’s lap being ejected from the vehicle. The driver of the VW bug was also ejected from the car. TMZ reports that one teenage girl’s injuries include a broken pelvis.
At this time there is no response from Taylor Swift regarding Calvin Harris’s accident. It is not known whether Calvin Harris and Taylor Swift are still a couple as recent reports say the couple parted company. Taylor attended the Met Gala and allegedly spent the evening flirting with British actor Tom Hiddleston.
CDL will keep you updated as more information about Calvin’s accident and whether or not Calvin sought further medical treatment at another hospital emerges.
Update: Police have visited Calvin Harris’s home after the accident. Additionally, Calvin has cancelled two scheduled performances since the crash.
The police were seen at Calvin Harris’s home after a violent car accident in Los Angeles, California on May 21, 2016. Calvin was involved in an accident Friday night that required him to take an ambulance to the hospital where he then left against doctors orders when he couldn’t get a private room. FameFlynetA 7-year-old boy is recovering after being shot inside his Wilmington home Monday night.
Police responded around 10:00 Monday night to a home on the 200 block of Delamore Place.
A seven-year-old boy had been shot inside the house. Fortunately it was a non-life-threatening injury to his hand.
The shooter was his 11-year-old brother.
An older man answered the door at the house Tuesday.
"I can't talk about it right now," he told Action News. Asked if he knew who had the gun, the man said, "You'll have to talk to somebody else about that."
Wilmington Police were told by the boys' grandfather that he found the gun in the backyard of the home and intended to turn it over to police. The grandfather explained that he put the gun in a high cabinet in the kitchen, but that the boys found it and were playing with it, when the weapon went off.
"The adults in the house have to be responsible for firearms that are in the house," said Crawford. "So if the investigation does reveal that an adult was responsible for having that firearm, then consequences are going to follow."
The police say the family is extremely lucky the boy's injuries weren't more serious or even deadly.
Just two weeks ago, a four-year-old boy in Toms River, New Jersey got hold of a rifle and shot and killed his six-year-old neighbor.
That case is still being investigated, and no one has been charged yet.
Wilmington Police have a simple message for gun owners everywhere.
"If a parent out there, if someone does have firearms in the house, it's very important that you keep them locked up in a safe and keep them away from children," said Crawford.
Police are tracking the history of the gun used in Monday night's shooting. They are not yet revealing the caliber or make of the gun or whether or not it was legally purchased.Submerged escalator at South Ferry station (MTA Photos)
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced this afternoon that limited subway service would return starting tomorrow—but not in lower Manhattan. "Buses are at full service today, limited commuter rail on Metro North and LIRR will begin at 2 p.m. today...limited NYC subway service, supplemented by a bus bridge from Brooklyn to Manhattan, will begin tomorrow," he said at a Hurricane Sandy update today. But there will be no service below 34th Street in Manhattan, because the power is still out. "Limited subway service will be restored to 14 of MTA system’s 23 lines tomorrow," he also tweeted. UPDATE WITH LINE INFORMATION BELOW
Cuomo preached "patience and tolerance" on traffic and power conditions, noting that it getting power back up for over a million NY state residents would be on a day-to-day basis. We'll update as we learn more information about exactly which subway lines will be back, and how the "bus bridge" will work—Mayor Bloomberg has another press conference scheduled for 1:30 p.m. at City Hall, which will likely provide more information about the subways.
Cuomo noted he had just completed a helicopter tour of the region with Sen. Chuck Schumer. Cuomo said that because water had filled the subway tunnels in many places, the city has been frantically working to get water out of the tunnels: "Con Edison has issues, because much of their equipment is in the tunnels. Getting water out of tunnels is the main order of business right now." Cuomo also gave credit to President Obama, who "has been on top of this situation, very informed, I've spoken to him several times myself...FEMA has been fanstaitc and responsive too."
Schumer also spoke about the destruction he saw during the helicopter tour: "It looks like the pictures of London or Dresden in World War II." Schumer called the damage a "national disaster" that "needs to be treated that way by every member of Congress." He also said: "The kind of thing we feared after 9/11, that lower Manhattan would become a ghost town, is happening for a few days."
Cuomo had some very strong words about the impact global warming had on this disaster: "Part of learning from this is the recognition that climate change is a reality...Anyone who says there's not a dramatic change in weather patterns I think is denying reality."
Update: MTA Chairman Joe Lhota says that three of the seven tunnels flooded under the East River have now been cleared. The three clear ones are the 4/5, 2/3 and F; it's not clear whether these routes will be those back tomorrow. The ones that are still wet are the R, A/C, L and 7; the MTA says that some of those trains could be shifted to other tunnels.
Here's what the MTA has to say about what tomorrow morning may be like for commuters: "There will be limited subway service on several routes, supplemented by a bus shuttle between Downtown Brooklyn and Midtown. There will be no subway service between 34th St in Midtown and Downtown Brooklyn."
"We're going switch by switch, signal by signal, power substation by power station, and making sure everything is up and running," Lhota noted. "There will be more on Friday, more on Saturday. Our goal is every day to get our service back to normal." But he said there won't be any subways in lower Manhattan below 42nd Street until power is returned, which could take at least 3 days.
UPDATE: Here they are—the subways and commuter rails that are up and running, via Governor Cuomo's office:One of the very few negatives in the work of Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez, two of the finest artists and writers in comics, is that the pair’s worlds are so complex and large that new readers may be intimidated to engage them. Hell, even frequent and well-seasoned readers may find themselves opening Google for some additional context or reminders.
The brothers’ oeuvre is simply labyrinthine; the creators have been telling consistently-entertaining stories, Scheherazade-like, for 34 years, embroidering and carving out detours, plus adding new characters as they need to. Yet, those not yet familiar with the Hernandez’s work shouldn’t let their overwhelming history stop them.
Both brothers have plenty of self-contained side work, but Love and Rockets, whose seventh volume of its “New Stories” line hits shelves this month, remains their masterpiece. A soap opera spun over decades, the drama seesaws back and forth between Jaime’s “Hoppers” stories and Gilbert’s “Palomar” narrative, with occasional bits that belong to neither. Think of the series as a mirror of reality, despite its frequent flights of fancy: do you let the fact that someone new you’ve just met had a whole life before you encountered each another stop you from engaging him or her in conversation? Of course not. If the person is genuinely interesting in the short term, you take it on faith that s/he has a history to match, and you work on filling in the pieces as your relationship progresses. Such is Love and Rockets.
Both Jaime and Gilbert were nice enough to take a break from their extremely busy schedules to answer some questions from Paste.
Paste: I feel like if I had to draw a graph of your careers, it would start out as two almost parallel lines that move farther and farther away from one another. Do you think that’s accurate? And, if so, what do you think accounts for it? Different life experiences?
Gilbert Hernandez: Jaime and I grew up enjoying some the same comics, movies and such, and there’s where the similarities in our early work comes from. Our personalities are different, of course, he being more of a Dr. Jekyll to my Mr. Hyde. As we get older, we’re more about what influences us in our present lives.
Jaime Hernandez: Even though our lives have gone separate ways in the last 30-some years (moving apart, raising families, etc.), we try to keep Love and Rockets the same.
Paste: You don’t really collaborate, but do you discuss the order of stories in Love and Rockets? Does it come together organically? Do you bounce ideas off one another, or do you work pretty much in isolation, apart from some kind of psychic brother link?
Gilbert Hernandez: Sometimes Jaime and I will have similar stories appearing together in Love and Rockets without us knowing it until it’s time to put the finished stories in order. In Love and Rockets #7, we both have a long adventure/f |
ering and retired Adm. Michael Mullen, who led the State Department investigation on Benghazi. Issa gave notice during recent media appearances that he might subpoena additional witnesses. Former Vice President Cheney last week suggested the GOP should subpoena former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonREAD: Cohen testimony alleges Trump knew Stone talked with WikiLeaks about DNC emails County GOP in Minnesota shares image comparing Sanders to Hitler Holder: 'Time to make the Electoral College a vestige of the past' MORE.
— Noura Alfadl-Andreasson, Alex Lazar and Julian Pecquet contributed.In our centenary issue of 12 April 2013, Tony Blair challenged the Labour Party to be “the seekers after answers, not the repository for people’s anger”. “In the first case, we have to be dispassionate even when the issues arouse great passion,” he wrote. “In the second case, we are simple fellow-travellers in sympathy; we are not leaders. And in these times, above all, people want leadership.”
Mr Blair has become an embarrassment to Labour, not least because of his misadventure in Iraq and his less-than-distinguished activities in retirement. Yet his insight that Labour could not prevail if it appeared to be merely an instrument for expressing discontent with the Conservatives, rather than a means to a bold transformation of British society, was proved painfully correct on 7 May. And this much is true: since Harold Wilson resigned as prime minister in 1976, Labour has had seven leaders but only Mr Blair has proved capable of winning a general election.
In a passionate essay also published in this week’s issue, the actor and activist Michael Sheen echoes Mr Blair when he writes, “The question of whether Labour moves back towards the centre, doing more to seem business-friendly or breaking away from the unions, is totally secondary to the fundamental question: ‘What do you believe in?’” To which he adds a second question: “How do you turn that into policy that can make concrete change?”
Despite his heavy defeat, Ed Miliband did a good job of answering the first question. He was rightly offended by deepening inequality and, in an age of globalisation, by the widening gap between the very rich and the rest – the pressing issue of our time. Whichever politician emerges to lead Labour should not abandon the fundamental insight that deep inequality corrodes the soul of a nation.
Mr Miliband failed, however, to provide an answer to the second question posed by Mr Sheen. Under his leadership, Labour’s policy solutions were quotidian and incremental. Rather than setting the mood of modern Britain, Labour fell victim to it. For the left, in particular, this is an era of easy anger. Political action all too often begins and ends with shouting at a computer screen. That old phrase – “The right seeks converts, the left seeks heretics” – is truer than it has ever been. Mr Miliband attempted to channel people’s anger, even going so far as to persuade Russell Brand to endorse Labour. But the idealism of the young proved an inadequate weapon against the caution of the old. Labour led the Conservatives by 16 points among first-time voters but trailed by 24 among the over-65s, who also voted in far greater numbers.
Labour will not return to power if it seeks to win only the votes of those who are angry at the condition of modern Britain. It must also win the support of those who are doing well – and, indeed, the support of those who live so precariously that talk of change feels like a threat, rather than a blessing.
On all but the rarest of occasions, no single party can achieve all it wants. Even movements of the left and centre left require compromise, with one another as well as with the country at large. This can only be achieved through collective endeavour and complex trade-offs. Understanding the cause of left-wing anger – but being more than a mere repository for it – will be the biggest task of whoever emerges as Ed Miliband’s successor from a protracted leadership campaign.Keith Boykin, the highest-ranking openly gay person in the Clinton White House, spoke about his own journey of coming out at a lecture in Hyde Park Union Church on Thursday night.
Now a political commentator and author, Boykin shines light on issues facing minorities in the LGBT community. He focused specifically on comparing prejudices toward the LGBT to the African American community during the civil rights movement, urging that people learn from racism.
Boykin spoke on National Coming Out Day about his coming out at age 25 in law school, only a day after confronting his sudden confusion for the first time. He realized that he didn’t like the process of coming out, so he decided to just “be out” by being open and “treating one’s sexual identity like any other part of one’s identity.”
At Harvard, Boykin, along with classmate Barack Obama, led a campaign and lawsuit to diversify Harvard Law School staff. By describing his family’s disapproval and confusion over his identity and taking jobs with multiple failed campaigns, including with Michael Dukakis, Boykin urged that people follow the path they believe is right.
Boykin’s work on campaigns led him to a position as special assistant to President Clinton, where he was suddenly faced with an issue he had never considered: gays in the military. He was shocked to see the right wing fight Clinton’s lift on the ban with the same language used by the right wing in 1948, when President Truman outlawed racial segregation of the military. The same three arguments were used in both situations: The military is not the place for social experimentation; religion teaches us that we should not mix the groups, and integration would disrupt “unit cohesion.”
More shocking to Boykin was the way African Americans distanced themselves from the debate: Many African Americans, including Gen. Colin Powell, said one couldn’t compare both issues, because orientation is most fundamental to a person’s behavior, while race is not. Boykin dissented, saying this debate was creating a “hierarchy of oppression.”
“They think ‘compare’ is the same as ‘equate’,” Boykin said. While the situations are not identical, “the language used to oppress was the same.” He urges people to not think of African American and LGBT as “monolithic identities,” as there were gay African-American activists who struggled in the civil rights movement and are people who exist in both communities today.
“Let us stop focusing on the hierarchy and start focusing on the oppression.”Nina Davuluri made history hours ago as the first Indian American to be crowned Miss America. She is gorgeous, does a mean Bollywood routine, and plans to become a doctor. Move over spelling bees, #DesiPride is gonna rock beauty pageants in malls across America.
Ok, so it's no Tahrir Square, but many Indian Americans felt her victory offered vindication in a culture that prizes hot blondes as the exemplar of all-American beauty. A point Davuluri herself made when asked about Asian TV personality Julie Chen's decision to have plastic surgery to make her eyes less Asian:
"I don't agree with plastic surgery, however I can understand that from a standpoint. More importantly I've always viewed Miss America as the girl next door. And Miss America is always evolving... I wouldn't want to change someone's looks. Be confident in who you are."
Of course, progress is not exactly a good thing in some quarters. Buzzfeed immediately issued a listicle titled "12 People Who Don’t Realize That #MissAmerica Is In Fact…American," which included such insightful tweets as: "Miss America needs a red dot on her forehead #missamerica"; "I'm not a racist. She is representing America doing an Indonesian dance. If it was a Miss Universe pageant it would have been cool"; "Well, they've picked a Muslim for Miss America. That must've made Obama happy".
And for the win: "How can you be Miss AMERICA and look like you should be a gas station clerk or motel owner?".
To be fair, there was plenty of pushback from Americans of all hues, including the South Asian twitterati -- who also included their share of party poopers. Like Anna John who unhelpfully noted:
What's interesting is Miss America Nina Davuluri would never win pageants in South Asia because she'd be too dark to be considered beautiful & the same is true for all of those "Miss Indian American USA" pseudo-pageants held here, as well. No darkies allowed in winner's circle.
That gorgeous chocolate may play as exotic in the West, but in India, we prefer our beauty queens strictly vanilla — preferably accessorised with blue contact lenses. In a behind the scenes account of the Miss India training for contestants, Susan Runkle observed:
I sat in on weekly individual sessions that dermatologist Dr. Jamuna Pai held with the contestants in order to examine their skin. Every single one of the young women was taking some sort of medication to alter her skin, particularly in colour, in the training programme in 2003. In a disturbingly casual manner, Dr. Pai emphasized the need for all the contestants to bleach their skin by prescribing the peeling agent Retin-A as well as glycolic acid and, in the case of isolated dark patches, a laser treatment.
When I asked Dr. Pai, who trained as a plastic surgeon in London, why fair skin was such a concern at the pageant, she offered the following explanation. "Fair skin is really an obsession with us, it's a fixation. Even with the fairest of the fair, they feel they want to be fairer. It isn't important anymore, because the international winners are getting darker and darker.You wouldn't notice our obsession, because you have such beautiful white skin, but I feel it's ingrained in us. When an Indian man looks for a bride, he wants one who is tall, fair and slim, and fairer people always get jobs first. Today, this is being disproved because of the success internationally of dark-skinned models, but we still lighten their skin here because it gives the girls extra confidence when they go abroad."
God forbid, we compromise our cultural biases just to win an international beauty contest.
Besides, in India, our beauty pageants serve merely as a qualifying exam for Bollywood-dreaming contestants, none of whom would deign to pursue any other kind of career. No wannabe doctors or scientists — well, not since 1966 Miss India winner Rita Faria who refused all modelling and film offers to pursue medical studies. Not like Miss America where this year's first runner up Crystal Lee possesses two degrees from Stanford, a bachelor's in biology and a master's in communication. Her platform is "Women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math)".
In any case, it's probably good that Davuluri has no Bollywood aspirations. Dance routines aside, even a Miss America crown won't propel Davuluri to a celluloid screen near us — not unless she makes the miraculous colour 'adjustment' achieved by leading Bollywood actresses who have successfully paled into significance.
So while we are happy to claim your victory as a NRI achievement, Ms Davuluri, do get cracking on those med school applications. Unless, of course, you go on to win Miss Universe in which case, we will celebrate your 'dusky' beauty, and issue you eager invitations to Mumbai, ready to greet you with garlands and a lifetime supply of Fair & Lovely.
Firstpost is now on WhatsApp. For the latest analysis, commentary and news updates, sign up for our WhatsApp services. Just go to Firstpost.com/Whatsapp and hit the Subscribe button.Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin accused Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) of lying by claiming his campaign did not fundraise from lobbyists or special interests. Palin, who endorsed Donald Trump, posted on her Facebook a link to a conservative blog that has what looks to be a screenshot of a Cruz campaign email.
“I will never get — nor do I want — money from D.C. lobbyists or the special interest billionaires,” the Cruz email says, according to the blog’s screenshot. The conservative blog compares the email to a list of Cruz’s top donors, culled from Open Secrets, that includes various conservative political groups, investment banks, hedge funds and D.C law firms.
With the link, Palin wrote, “My oh my. Why must campaigns lie.”
Before she endorsed Trump, Palin was a vocal supporter of Cruz.Islamic State fighters have managed to make their own thermal batteries for surface-to-air missiles, according to a new report.
Islamic State fighters have managed to make their own thermal batteries for surface-to-air missiles, according to a new report.
The batteries have been manufactured in a “University of Jihad” in the de facto capital of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, Raqqa, according to videos shown to Sky News.
Their development would be highly significant. While the group has captured large quantities of old missiles, few have been put to use as their batteries had decayed.
Isil have been pushed back in recent months in both Syria and Iraq thanks to their inability to strike back at air attacks from the western allies, and now from Russian jets.
British and other jets could now theoretically be at risk, though the most modern western fighters are probably beyond the threat posed by older surface-to-air missiles of the sort owned by the Syrian army, which Isil would have taken.
Of more concern might be the threat to civilian aircraft, if Isil managed to smuggle such weapons or batteries to operatives around the world - or the instructions on how to make them.
Islamic State's driverless car bomb (Photo: Sky News)
The threat to passenger planes from jihadists has been a constant concern of airlines in recent years, especially since the fall of Col Muammar Gaddafi.
Military experts at the time estimated that 20,000 surface-to-air missiles had gone missing from his stocks in the chaos that followed the civil war. But many of these were also out-of-date.
The new video material was handed to Sky News by the non-Isil rebels of the Free Syrian Army, who found it on an Isil fighter they seized as he passed through their territory apparently on the way to Turkey.
They were apparently unaware of the exact nature of its contents. But when put together, it showed a training school in Raqqa where Isil-sponsored scientists developed new products.
Besides the missile battery, it also showed experiments with remote-controlled car bombs “driven” by dummies. The dummies have internal heat mechanisms that allow them to mimic the “scan signature” of human beings.
The video may have been intended to pass on to Isil trainers operating abroad, it is suggested.
Major Chris Hunter, a former British special forces bomb technician, is quoted in the report as saying the material was “shocking”.
"With this training footage it's very clearly purely designed to pass on information - to pass on the progress in the research and development areas,” he says. “It gives us a very good insight into where they are now, what they're aspiring to do and crucially the diversity of the types of threats we might face.”
Online EditorsNews
Newcastle v Villa – Predicted Newcastle Line-Up, Tactics, Formation…The Lot
Newcastle United have had an international break to try and forget the heartache of the summer transfer window. With only Loic Remy signed on a season-long loan deal, the knives have been out for Messrs Ashley and Kinnear for almost a fortnight.
Hopefully Steve Harper’s midweek testimonial will have dispelled some of the doom-mongering but Pardew will know the only real way to silence the pessimists and detractors will be three points on Saturday afternoon away to Aston Villa..
The Villains had a nightmare set of fixtures to start their season, with visits to Arsenal and Chelsea and playing Liverpool at home. The side certainly haven’t embarrassed themselves, beating Arsenal 3-1, losing to Chelsea thanks to some contentious refereeing decisions and were just one fine save away from securing a point against Liverpool.
Picking up where last season finished, Villa’s young side look deadly on the counter-attack and Christian Benteke is showing no signs of a second season syndrome (a la Papiss Cisse).
So, what do Newcastle need to look out for on Saturday afternoon as 11th squares up against 12th in a fixture that last year saw Newcastle hang on for dear life in the dying moments and secure our first away win of the season.
NEWCASTLE LINE-UP
Despite not making a single permanent summer signing, Alan Pardew will have more players available to him in the match at Villa Park. Steven Taylor returns from a three match ban following his sending off against Manchester City.
Yohan Cabaye, whose long-term future is a mystery, could be in line for a starting berth but some fans will think Anita and Sissoko performed well enough against both West Ham and Fulham to warrant keeping their starting berths. Tiote is also back to fitness but question marks still hover over Mike Williamson and Jonas Gutierrez but fans aren’t likely to be too concerned about either one.
The line-up will show if Pardew has learned his lessons from last season: will he rush back Tiote and welcome Cabaye back into the fold at the first time of asking? He did so numerous times last season and both players failed to perform as well as they had in the 11/12 season. While Sylvain Marveaux hasn’t been nearly as effective as Ben Arfa on the left wing, he has shown a willingness to track back. Newcastle fans will fail to see just how a scarcely fit Jonas will add anything to the team.
In attack Loic Remy could well line up alongside Papiss Cisse after coming on against Fulham and looking very sharp. Newcastle fans have been dreaming since January of an attacking 4-3-3 featuring Remy, Cisse and Ben Arfa but Pardew, a conservative manager, is unlikely to risk such an open formation so early in the season, especially away from home.
Likely line up: Krul, Debuchy, Yanga-Mbiwa, Coloccini, Santon, Ben Arfa, Sissoko, Cabaye, Marveaux, Cisse, Remy.
COUNTER-ATTACK
The most obvious threat is Aston Villa’s counter-attack. It is one of the best in the league, with a dynamic front three, and Newcastle need to be wary of over-committing going forward and then being caught out. Full-backs Santon and Debuchy, both criticised for their positional play in the past, will have to be very aware.
In a very general manner each of Villa’s front three provides something different to the attack: Benteke has strength and aerial dominance (combined with accurate finishing), Agbonlahor has speed and Weimann has guile and an eye for a pass. Agbonlahor is often played on the left hand side of the front three and cuts inside. Villa like to play through balls and stretch the defence into playing deeper, thus giving Benteke more of a chance. Debuchy will have his work cut out for, deciding whether to step up and intercept the pass (and risk Agbonlahor going through on goal) or attempting to track the run. Either way, Debuchy’s defensive work will be key (NUFC 31/10 to keep clean sheet).
VILLA’S MOST IMPROVED
Benteke is the obvious danger man in attack who Newcastle will need to marshal but if Newcastle are to score the goals necessary to return to Tyneside with three points, they’ll have to contend with Fabian Delph, Villa’s player of the month for August.
Delph has made 13 tackles in three games this season, an average of 4.3 a match. He’s also made 12 interceptions and eight clearances. In the three games so far he’s proved to be a rock defensively and very calm on the ball. Delph also helps with recycling possession, he averages 43 passes a game, the highest in the Villa team, with 80% pass accuracy.
The Englishman has only offered one shot going forward in the Premier League but scored a well-placed shot against Rotherham in the League Cup after a neat one-two with Benteke. With his work rate and intelligence, he could well prove a stumbling block in Newcastle’s attempts to not let Cisse get isolated up front.
WEAK FULL-BACKS
Often a joy to watch going forward, Villa have struggled defensively and are yet to register a clean sheet in the Premier League this season (Newcastle have three on the bounce in all competitions). One reason for this is Villa’s lack of Premier League quality full-backs.
Both Lowton and Luna (the latter of which scored a terrific goal against Arsenal) offer very little defensively. Should Newcastle line up in 4-4-2, which is expected, wingers Ben Arfa and Marveaux could prove effective as both full-backs have struggled against creative, technical wingers thus far this season. Newcastle fans will be hoping Hatem Ben Arfa, Newcastle’s most competent player on the ball, picks up where he left off against Fulham.
SET-PIECES
The time where Newcastle’s set-pieces were considered a threat has long since passed – Cabaye is a dream striking free kicks direct but otherwise his delivery is poor to average. Villa’s set-pieces however, could prove a struggled for Newcastle’s defence to handle. It can’t be understated just how dangerous Christian Benteke is: so far this season the Belgian has won 10 aerial duels, more than his entire team put together.
Newcastle’s most prolific player in aerial duels is Shola Ameobi with six, followed by Debuchy (who’s deceptively effective in the air, winning 100% of his duels against Fulham) and Santon. Benteke is likely to target Yanga-Mbiwa, still relatively new to the Premier League and prone to shirt-tugging in the box.
SUMMARY
This season it may well be easier to play Aston Villa away than at home, with teams happy to sit back and soak up pressure rather than attack and leave themselves open to a counter attack. Villa often attack with width but Newcastle’s full-backs are better than their opposite numbers (on paper at least). Any manner of delivery from the wings will be dangerous with Benteke in the box in his current form.
Should Cabaye be given a start he’ll have a lot to prove to the Newcastle faithful after allegedly refusing to play earlier in the season following a bid from Arsenal. Cabaye vs Anita could be a key choice for Pardew to make this season. Cabaye has a higher workrate and contributes more defensively but Anita has better ball retention, albeit due to his conservatism with the ball.
Sissoko signalled his arrival in the Premier League in this same fixture last season with a terrific assist to Cisse who finished through Guzan’s legs. How many Newcastle fans would like to see a repeat? Sissoko (11/2 to score a goal any time), while putting himself about the pitch very well and showcasing his defensive skill, has struggled going forward and Cisse (8/1 to score first), yet to score this season, will be desperate to open his account.
You can follow Tom on Twitter @weeklynewsbay
Best odds for the Villa match, especially if you aren’t already a customer of BetVictor and take advantage of their special offer of a £25 free matched bet.
Top Tips – NUFC Win 29/10 – Villa Not To Score 31/10 – NUFC Win 1-0 12/1
All odds correct at time of writing but can fluctuate, check all up to date odds HEREThis article is from the archive of our partner.
Troops of the Congolese Army trained by a U.S. Special Forces team went on to commit mass rape and murder of women and children while fleeing rebel forces last year, according to a new United Nations report, raising questions not just about these particular atrocities but surrounding the United States's Africa Command operations in general.
The U.N. revealed on Monday that some Congolese forces committed "mass rape, killings, and arbitrary executions and violations resulting from widespread looting," according Al-Jazeera. The accusation drawing the most attention is that troops raped 97 women and 33 girls, some as young as 6 years old, in the town of Minova while fleeing rebel fighters over a two-day period in November 2012. So far only 11 Congolese soldiers have been arrested by the Congolese military prosecutor's office, two for murder and two for rape, according to the report. The other charges haven't been explained.
The Washington Post reports in today's paper that "members of the 391st Commando Battalion, a unit created in 2010 with extensive support from the U.S. government," took part in the atrocities. The U.S. Special Forces spent eight months training the 750 person battalion in an effort to "professionalize Congo's ragtag military" two years ago. Military commanders lost control of their troops as they were fleeing in defeat from M23 rebel fighters, and that's when the atrocities began. Stars and Stripes outlines how this is only the latest incident that may change how the U.S. military operates in Africa:
The atrocities underscore the dilemma policymakers face as they determine whether to engage with unreliable militaries in volatile parts of Africa. For example, in the wake of last year’s coup in Mali, led by a U.S-trained Malian soldier, AFRICOM officials have acknowledged that future training must be more focused on values and rule of law, not just tactics.
State Department spokeswoman Hilary Renner said some U.S.-trained soldiers "may be implicated in these rapes," in a statement. "We condemn these crimes unequivocally and call for a full and credible investigation."
Tanzanian troops arrived in Congo over the weekend as a new U.N. intervention group attempts to make good on new peacekeeping promises in the nation.
This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.
We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to [email protected] Greenwald / Laura Poitras / The Guardian / Reuters NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden in a still image taken from video during an interview by the Guardian in his hotel room in Hong Kong on June 6, 2013
Edward Snowden has gloated that by exposing the National Security Agency (NSA) to public scrutiny, his mission was “already accomplished.”
In a series of interviews with the Washington Post, Snowden expressed satisfaction with his decision to leak classified documents to the press. He said his only concern in the months leading up to the decision was “public apathy,” but that the reaction he received has since allayed all of his concerns. “I already won,” he said.
He dismissed the idea that the leaks harmed the NSA, arguing that they would improve lax oversight of the agency’s spying operations. “I am still working for the NSA right now,” he said. “They are the only ones who don’t realize it.”
He deflected questions about his personal life, admitting that he spends most of his time indoors and subsists on a diet of ramen and chips, before steering the interview back to the issue of privacy rights.
[WP]Kevin Glackmeyer / AP Members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans fire rifles in celebration in Montgomery, Ala., on Feb. 19, 2011, following a re-enactment of Jefferson Davis' presidential inauguration of the Confederate States of America
In 1867, former Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest became the first Grand Wizard of a newly formed organization called the Ku Klux Klan. Forrest had been a slave trader before the Civil War; he was also the commanding officer during a battle known as the "Fort Pillow massacre" in Tennessee at which some 300 black Union troops were killed in 1864. (Whether they died in combat or were killed after they surrendered is still a matter of dispute.)
Now, in honor of the Civil War's 150th anniversary, the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) are seeking to put Forrest on a Mississippi license plate. But the state government opposes it. When asked to comment on the proposal, Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, a Republican, told the Associated Press, "It won't become law because I won't sign it." (See a history of photographing the nation's war dead.)
Barbour's reaction is just one sign that things have changed since the South commemorated the Civil War's centennial in 1961. Back then, much of the South was still segregated and many people, including Mississippi's then Governor Ross Barnett, were fighting to keep it that way. State and local governments took an active role in Confederate celebrations, using them to promote their causes. When the U.S. Civil War Centennial Commission, a group sponsored by the federal government, held its inaugural event in a Charleston, S.C., hotel, Madaline Williams, a delegate from the New Jersey legislature, was denied entry because she was black. For this year's anniversary, there is no such commission.
And in February of this year, when a Jefferson Davis impersonator was sworn in on the steps of the Alabama State Capitol for a re-enactment of the Confederate States of America's 1861 presidential inauguration, Alabama officials stayed away. Similarly, a December "Secession Ball" held in Charleston drew protests and a candlelight vigil by the NAACP. (See pictures of the Cold War's influence on art.)
This year's Civil War anniversary caps a decade in which Southern institutions have struggled mightily with the racial undertones of their Confederate monuments. In 2001 Georgia redesigned its state flag, shrinking the Confederate battle emblem that had adorned it since 1956. Six years later, it removed the symbol altogether. The University of Mississippi the same school that endured riots when James Meredith became the school's first African-American student in 1962 ditched its mascot Colonel Rebel, a plantation owner, in 2003. And last November, a federate appellate court upheld a Tennessee school district's ban on Confederate-themed clothing.
As much of the South continues to distance itself from its racially divisive past, the organizations fighting to maintain the prominence of Confederate symbols are pushed further right of the mainstream. Nonetheless, the SCV plans several highly publicized events over the next four years, as various Civil Warrelated anniversaries come up. The club has 840 local chapters across 29 states, plus Europe and Australia. It was founded in 1896; aspiring members must prove direct relation to a former Confederate veteran in order to join. The SCV openly denounces the Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups that use the Confederate flag as a racist symbol. Former President Harry S. Truman and Clint Eastwood are often cited as members. (See a TIME Q&A on how America fights its wars.)
But even as the SCV rejects traditional symbols of racism, it provokes debate with its promotion of contentious Civil War leaders like Forrest. "Robert E. Lee has been replaced as the great [Confederate] hero by Nathan Bedford Forrest by these Southern white heritage groups," says Mark Potok, director of the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project, which investigates extremist groups. Lee owned slaves, Potok says, but "he was very much a statesman, and at the end of the Civil War, he encouraged Southerners to rejoin the Union in heart and soul. Forrest was very much not like that. The fact that they want to honor him specifically says a lot about what they stand for."
Chuck Rand, a member of the SCV, calls any assumption that the Forrest license plate is racist a "knee-jerk reaction" by people who don't understand the "real causes" of the Civil War. Or, as he calls it, "The war for Southern independence." But critics point out that slavery isn't addressed in these commemorations. The group's re-enactment of Davis' inauguration took place near Martin Luther King Jr.'s old Montgomery, Ala., church and the spot where Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat in 1955. But during the event, there was no mention of the South's racial history.
The SCV's controversial events often make the news, but its perspective on the war and its causes doesn't get much traction. In December, the History Channel refused to run one of the SCV's commercials, which blamed the North for slavery, claiming that slaves were essentially forced onto Southern plantation owners. Another commercial, also refused by the History Channel, claimed that the Civil War was "not a civil war... [but] a war in which Southerners fought to defend their homes and families against an aggressive invasion by federal troops."
"Lincoln waged a war to conquer his neighbor," Rand explains. "In our view, he was an aggressor against another nation, just as Hitler was an aggressor against other nations." Most people, Southern or otherwise, are not likely to agree with such an inflammatory statement, but the sentiment underlying Rand's assertion has deep roots. "Coming out of the experience of the Civil War and Southern Reconstruction, there was a sense of wounded pride and grievance," says James Cobb, a history professor at the University of Georgia and the author of Away Down South: A History of Southern Identity. But even if racism, intolerance and discrimination still plague the South as they do the rest of the country the sense of regional separateness on those issues has largely diminished. "Time has passed," says Cobb. "To uphold the Confederacy in this way has become a fairly extreme position."
Extreme or not, the SCV isn't giving up the fight. The group pledges to advance its cause through parades, advertisements and the battle for commemorative license plates. The South may never rise again, Rand admits, but that doesn't mean it has to disappear completely. "The North is a direction," he says. "The South is a place."
See a brief history of Memorial Day.Virgil van Dijk has won 12 Netherlands caps
Liverpool are poised to win the race to sign Southampton's £50m-rated Netherlands defender Virgil van Dijk after it emerged he wants to move to Anfield if he leaves St Mary's.
The 25-year-old is one of the hottest properties on the transfer market.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has made his signing a top priority.
The Reds refused to comment on renewed speculation but it is expected they will intensify efforts to reach a deal with both Southampton and the player.
Chelsea and Manchester City have both been heavily linked with the defender, who joined Southampton from Celtic for £13m in September 2015.
But BBC Sport understands Van Dijk wants to move to Anfield in what would be a major coup for Klopp and Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group, who are willing to spend big after qualification for next season's Champions League.
Liverpool still have to reach an agreement with Southampton - and a demand for a fee well in excess of £50m could mean negotiations will be complicated before any deal nears a conclusion.
Former club Celtic are also understood to have a 10% sell-on agreement.
Van Dijk missed the final five months of the season after sustaining an ankle injury following a challenge by Leicester City's Jamie Vardy in Southampton's 3-0 win at St Mary's on 22 January.
It forced him to miss Southampton's EFL Cup final loss to Manchester United at Wembley.The Harper government looked to Sylvester Stallone for inspiration when it tried to overcome Canadians' apathy and ignorance about the War of 1812, and the movie-trailer-style commercial it funded to celebrate the bicentennial was heavily micromanaged by senior players in Ottawa, documents show.
It's further evidence of of how serious a political imperative the remembrance of the 200-year-old conflict is for the Harper Conservatives, who have sought to give military exploits a greater role in Canada's identity.
The one-minute "Fight For Canada" ad is more Jerry Bruckheimer than Canadian Heritage Moment and features battle closeups, war drums and pride at how inhabitants of Canada repelled an American invasion. Commemoration of the 32-month war continues Saturday with the 200th anniversary of the Battle of York in Toronto, an episode in the conflict where American troops overran part of what is present-day Toronto.
Story continues below advertisement
The commercial was designed, like a trailer, to leave viewers hungering for more -- in this case, the government hoped, to learn more about this "little known war." The fast pacing, dramatic buildup and shots of the "climax of the battle"in this "this little known war" were tailored to copy the structure of movie trailer's such as Mr. Stallone's 2010 action film The Expendables, the ad agency in charge told the Heritage Department.
Don't turn her into Red Riding hood
Laura Secord, whom many Canadians today associate with a chocolatier, is the highest profile heroine in the 1812 saga – best known for trekking more than 30 kilometres in 1813 to warn British forces of a coming American attack.
Records obtained under access to information law show the senior echelons of the federal government took a particularly close interest in how Secord was portrayed in the 1812 ad.
In a series of e-mail exchanges last year, Canadian Heritage bureaucrats informed the advertising agency supervising the trailer that the "Centre" feels Ms. Secord's dress is too drab. The "Centre" is short-form in Ottawa for the Prime Minister's Office or the Privy Council Office, the bureaucratic arm that carries out the PMO's wishes.
"The Centre asks if Laura Secord's costume could have a little more colour," the Heritage bureaucrat writes. She points out that the project does not have all the approvals needed from the minster and the "Centre" and adds it would be helpful if she can tell the PCO that Laura Secord "can be more colourful."
The ad agency replies by saying that they used a Canada Post stamp featuring the 1812 heroine as the basis for their Secord costume. It notes the stamp shows her wearing an orange-coloured cape that "gives her a bit of colour."
Story continues below advertisement
Story continues below advertisement
The agency cautions against going overboard, saying it tried to make Secord's dress faithful to the few pictures that exist of what women wore between 1812 and 1814, the period of the war. "We need to avoid making her look like Little Red Riding Hood!"
The Centre's fixation on Secord's costume persists for weeks. Even after all other approvals have been granted, a Privy Council Office staffer writes the Heritage Department to complain about the heroine's cape. "After reflection and consultation, the fabric (velvet) and the colour orange does not do the trick."
The smallest details didn't escape the Centre's gaze. Even after they have given up trying to dress Secord in a more colourful outfit, the PCO dictates to Heritage the exact specifications for the heroine's cape. "No two-tone velour! Brown exterior and beige interior," a PCO official writes.
Missing in action: black soldiers
With the clock ticking down to a shooting date, the Centre weighs in with a last-minute question: Where are the black soldiers in the trailer?
"Urgent: can you ask Heritage why they were no black [people] in the British Army cast |
I am doing. Some of it is really, really exciting I have to say. Let me tell you about Liza. She is such a sweetheart. One of the years of the Tony Awards, the pressroom was at Sardi’s, and they had the photographers on a step platform, and the chair that I was on somehow fell backwards off the platform, and I fell right in front of her. I was fine, but she was so concerned about me. She said, “Get a doctor here! Get an ambulance.” She was so, so concerned. Not everybody is like that. She’s pretty rare, I must say.
Joseph Conger, Physical Therapist
I started dancing when I was in high school out in Long Island. I went to college for dance performance at Southern Methodist University and danced with ballet companies, modern companies—more concert dance, as opposed to theatre. I danced until my mid-20s and then hurt my back. I was in a ballet company at the time, just lifting a girl, and threw my back out. I had to take some time off. I went through PT and pilates for rehabilitation and sort of fell in love with that area of work. I went back to school, got my doctorate and then started working here in the city on dancers and performers. [Through] recovering and healing myself, I developed a passion for that kind of work.
Diane Hetherington, Head Treasurer, Barrymore Theatre
I had no idea about theatre at all—what it entailed or how it went. I grew up in Pittsburgh. I came to New York for a vacation, and I happened to walk past this theatre the day after I Love My Wife opened, and the treasurer was outside having a cigarette. Somebody introduced us, and he said, “Do you know how to do mail orders?” I said, “Well, yeah.” He said, “Well, go upstairs, and I’ll pay you out of my pocket until I can get you on payroll.” I never left. I bounced around from theatre to theatre once I got into a treasurer’s job, and I’ve been in the same apartment for 40 years. I walk to work, see the beautiful sights. It’s exciting. I think the best thing about theatre is that you watch a load-in, and you see the house completely destroyed. It’s just like boxes and dirt and such a mess, and it’s that way up until the first preview, and that afternoon they’re doing a run-through of the show, and by the show at night, it’s completely on. It’s really an exciting part of the business. To this day, I still look around and go, “I actually live here. I’m actually in the middle of this.” And, I fit in from the very beginning. Old-timers from the neighborhood said, “You sure you weren’t born here in a different life?”
David Alpert, Associate Director
I think we all struggle with rejection and instability. Right when I moved to New York, my sister died, and it slightly derailed me, and I wasn’t sure what was going to happen. And it’s affected every part of my life since then, with my benefit concerts and then with every show I work on. I think about how lucky I am to be doing what I love. She wanted to pursue musical theatre and wasn’t able to, but that was a huge challenge for me. Right after I moved to New York, that happened, and I wasn’t sure if I would continue. … The concert series that I produce, it’s something that I look forward to every year, and it’s the one stable gig that I have, if that makes sense. It’s something to look forward to, and it allows me to give back, and the friends that I meet throughout the year—we could come together and put aside the contracts and the reviews and the rehearsal process and just celebrate acceptance and come together as a community.
Charlie Rosen, Associate Musical Director and Orchestrator
My first time taking piano lessons was when I was three, and my father found out that I had perfect pitch around the same time. I come from a family of musicians, but they didn’t force me to do it. I always just took to it naturally. I was always just making noise and playing the piano. Once I learned colors, they realized I could tell white keys from black keys, even though I didn’t know anything about music theory, and away I went. When I first started doing [13] in Los Angeles, I was 15. When it got to Broadway, I had just turned 18. It was definitely a culture shock. It was really like being thrust into any professional world at a young age. It will certainly let you grow quick. Luckily, I had a skill set that could apply really well and really quickly and worked with people who really wanted us to succeed as young people instead of talking down to us. I think what was really awesome about it was that it gave me an insanely incredible jumpstart on understanding the nature of the business and how it functions backstage as a network of people with varied skill sets working toward one goal. But it definitely was a culture shock from what I can remember. Sometimes, when you’re 17 and 18, you’re not really a fully-formed human being yet.
Wally Carroll, Stage Doorman, Majestic Theatre
Up at Actors’ Equity, there’s a job board. When actors are out of work, they check a job board, and one of the jobs on the board was work backstage. I came over here to the Shuberts, and they interviewed me, and I got a job at the Golden Theatre for two weeks. After the two weeks, I moved to the Majestic. The man [who previously had the job] never came back. I got his job. That was in October 1984, and I’ve been at The Phantom of the Opera ever since. It’s been almost 32 years. I could, at one time, get up at five o’clock in the morning, [film] a soap at seven o’clock in the morning and then come to work here. I could do that for a week—for two weeks. I could do a show, an Equity Approved Showcase that started rehearsals at ten o’clock in the morning until five at night, and then I’d come over to Phantom and do the show… but I can’t do that anymore. I’m 60, and it’s just too much. I wind up doing just this, which is nice, but it’s not what my intention was when I was starting out… It’s been wonderful, but I have to get out and start looking for acting work again. The money is nice, but money is not everything for me.
Tim Pettolina, House Manager, Richard Rodgers Theatre
I’m glad that I have had many years of experience before working on Hamilton. We’re in a routine now, so it’s not as stressful as it was when it first started with all the Secret Service and the president coming the first week. All of that was pretty insane, but now we’ve got a routine going. The President of the United States coming twice to the show… I mean, he only saw it once, but he’s been here twice, and just orchestrating that is beyond anything I ever thought I’d be involved with. I mean, I don’t want to get into specifics because of security, but let’s just say basically it started at 4 AM, and it ended at midnight.
Bess Glorioso, Production Stage Manager
Everything I’ve always wanted in my career was to work on a brilliant hit show that people enjoy and that sweeps the Tonys, and that was Once. Working with that core group of people, the creatives, the actors who started it and bringing it from New York Theatre Workshop to Broadway and seeing how our little show just took off—it was the most magical moment on Tony night to say, “I was a part of creating this musical.” And, if my career ended right there and I never worked again, I would be okay with that. But, fortunately, I was lucky enough when Once closed, I got to work with David Hyde Pierce on It Shoulda Been You, which was unbelievable because not only is he an amazing actor, but it was wonderful to work with him as a director and working with his husband as a writer. Then, when I got offered to go in to meet with Bart Sher, I was like, “This is awesome!” I don’t know why I was nervous because I’ve worked with amazing directors my whole career, but I was like, “This is somebody who I’ve dreamed about working with.” I had just seen Otello that he did at the Met. I went in, and we talked for an hour at his office, and it’s like we had been friends forever. The next day, when I got the phone call saying he’d like me as the PSM on Fiddler on the Roof, it was like mic drop for me. I’m at the peak of my career doing a revival—a 50-year-old revival—and Sheldon Harnick is still alive, in the room. Everything that could possibly be awesome about this is awesome.
Craig Burns, Casting Director
I remember early on working on Hairspray and casting the first national tour. We did open calls all the time because we wanted to find Tracy Turnblads who were new and raw and interesting and unseasoned. Bernie Telsey and I first met Keala Settle at an open call held in Los Angeles several months after the Broadway production opened. She didn’t have an agent or any professional experience. Her singing voice bowled us over, and her personality was zesty and infectious. She made an immediate impression on us and was one of those discoveries casting directors live for. I was in my early 20s, so the thing about that which was so interesting to me—especially working on Hairspray—was I was the age of these kids who were auditioning for me, and it was just so thrilling to give them those opportunities. I think that’s one of the most amazing things about casting for me—giving actors the chance to change their lives onstage, offstage, who they meet, the relationships that they form. It’s about cultivating talent and, in turn, affecting people, on both sides of the footlights.
Randy Cohen, Keyboard Programmer
I’ve loved this season because I’ve had Hamilton, which is rap and hip hop; I’ve had The Color Purple, which is much more soulful; I’ve had Allegiance, which had more ethnic qualities in it; and I also helped out with Bright Star, so I got to dip my toes in some bluegrass. It was really nice to be able to do so many different things in the course of one season. Being involved in so many different projects, it keeps my creative juices flowing. There’s always something new around the corner.
Kate Dunn, Associate Choreographer, Matilda
I spent ten years in London at the Royal Ballet School and the Royal Ballet Company. That was my training. I left home when I was 16 to live in London from a really small country town in Australia, so that was quite a big deal. [I] stayed with the company until my mom passed away… I stopped dancing for a year then, actually. Eventually, I went back to live in London, and I kind of fell into musical theatre. Someone had said to me, “If a show called Contact comes, you should go and audition because it could be a show that you might get into because of your skills with modern dance,” so I went to this audition—and I thought it would be like A Chorus Line the movie. I didn’t even have heels or real dance gear. I just had the t-shirt and leggings and stuff, and I ended up getting cast.
I love performing, but I really love my current job as well, which is much more about teaching. The Matildas have eight weeks of training before they go into the show, and the ensemble kids usually have six weeks before they go in. You’re with them like four hours every day, so you create a really great relationship with them. The kids actually teach you, and that’s what I love. They inspire you to be your best. You want to be your best for that child. You want to give as much as you can give. You want to make them the best that they can be. You want to make them feel as secure as you can, as confident as they can [be].
Sierra Fox, Production Assistant
I was in a stage management class at Fordham taught by Andrea “Spook” Testani, and when she got sick, her community of friends rallied to help with whatever commitments she had. Ana M. Garcia became my stage management professor for the last few months. She watched me applying for internships, staying in the city and not having any real paid work and struggling, and she said, “You know, we’re looking for PAs at Once.” So I went in one night in May and shadowed and very much tried to not get my hopes up the whole time, and that night I signed a contract and came onto the team. The first performance I worked was June 1, 2014, which I remember because they were handing out Pride Playbills, and it was the most exciting [experience] … My name wasn’t in it yet, but [I thought], “I’m part of this!” and also, “Something really cool is happening this month.”
Joell Soto, Lottery Manager
Prior to Wicked, I worked at the Rent lottery. Right before they started a lottery system, they had people waiting in rush ticket lines, sleeping out in the street—and this is back when Times Square was not as nice, not as cleaned up. It was very gritty—a lot of crime in the streets back then, so the last thing [parents] wanted was their sons and daughters sleeping outside a block away from Times Square overnight to get tickets. I think they did a rush line for almost a year. It became a logistics problem. It wasn’t sustainable in that form—they had to add security—so eventually they started a lottery system. It kind of took off; it ballooned. It was definitely something that made that show special and, obviously now because of that show, doing lotteries… I would say just about everyone does lotteries. It’s almost the norm.
Jennifer Hohn, Dresser
I have met a lot of fantastic actresses and actors, and you build relationships—friendships—and it feels like family because you talk about your life, your kids. And, of course, they look to us a lot of times as someone to confide in and listen to—what’s happening in their lives—because we spend so much time with our actors, and it makes me feel good that people trust me enough that they can talk to me about what’s happening in their life, and they’re interested enough to hear about what’s going on in mine. I’m able to share my life with them because we spend a good majority of our time in the theatre being that we’re there six days a week. I wasn’t even a Broadway person before I got into Broadway. This is a brand-new experience. I wasn’t exposed to it growing up. I mean, I went to go see plays and regional theatre, but nothing like this, so this is all a learning experience. Once I got into it, I fell in love with it. I started to see shows and experience it from backstage and as well as being in the audience, which made me appreciate it even more. It was nothing that I ever thought I would be doing… I’ve been doing wardrobe for 15 years, but I’ve only been on Broadway for eight.
R. Jay Duckworth, Properties Master, The Public Theater
I got to the Public in 2008, and when I heard the job was opening, I wrote to everybody that I knew who could write me a letter of recommendation. I was like, “Could you please just write me a letter of recommendation if whatever I did helped serve your play?” And, I got 17 letters of recommendation. One was from Adam Rapp; Arthur Laurents, the guy who wrote Gypsy, West Side Story and started Sondheim’s career; Christopher Durang… I got a bunch of big, heavy-hitters and went into the office with [production executive] Ruth [E. Sternberg] and gave them the portfolio with all of these letters of recommendation and said, “I realize that this maybe is only a formality because you guys come highly recommended,” which is really, really ballsy, but I figured I needed to go in with all my guns blazing because it’s my dream job! She laughed, and we talked through my resume, we talked through what they do here, and she offered me the job. Whatever the prop is—it has to serve the director, the show, as well as the actor, and all three of them have to like it. And, it also has to be within budget. I think the challenges that I’ve had were filling up an entire room with weapons for Christopher Durang’s Why Torture is Wrong, and the People Who Love Them, so much so that people are just shocked by the amount of weapons in this guy’s stockpile—comically a lot. That was something pretty great. One of the other great things that we did was [with Elizabeth] Schuyler, when she was burning her letter. Being able to make a letter burn for two minutes and nine seconds—one piece of paper! So, finding the size of a piece of paper that you could cut up and a proper weight, so it didn’t ash away and that lasted the entire song but that burns itself out—for two minutes and nine seconds—was an incredible challenge, but it was pretty great. It was pretty neat.
Chris Boneau and Adrian Bryan-Brown, Press Representatives, Boneau/Bryan-Brown
Chris Boneau:
The best day that I could remember was when Adrian and I were just beginning our partnership, and I had a little office, and he was down the hall, and he buzzed and said, “Rocco Landesman wants to talk to you. There’s a Broadway show coming that I don’t think that I could handle, but I think you should do it.” So the phone picks up, and it’s Rocco Landesman, and he says, “Hi Chris. We haven’t really met. I’ve heard a lot about you guys. But I’m wondering if you want to work on Angels in America.” I remember standing up—those days you just can’t sit down because there’s a lot to do, and you realize that your life has been changed, and it was that moment. I knew about Angels in America. I had no idea it was going to take the path it was going to take, but it was the day that truly changed my life, and I think the beginning of our business, too. There were things right before, but that was the big, big moment. Guys and Dolls was happening right before that, so there was this year when it was all happening.
Adrian Bryan-Brown:
Guys and Dolls, the ’90s revival, kind of changed the perception on the way revivals were done, but we didn’t know it at the time. We just thought, “Oh yeah, we love that musical,” and then it grew to be… a little bit after it opened, you went, “Wow. This is really a game changer. Musical revivals, now, are not going to be thought of as these things that come in for a few weeks, and they’re rather tacky. This is going to be seen as a really important part of Broadway again.” And that was really exciting.
Michael Gioia is the Features Manager at Playbill.com. Follow him on Twitter at @PlaybillMichael.Rail Coach Factory
Karmali station
Goa
Central Railways
Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation
IRCTC officer
LED TVs
Some were found broken when it stopped in Delhi on Friday.Miscreants have damaged the brand-new Tejas rakes that left thein Kapurthala on Thursday on their way to Mumbai-CST.A few glasses of the train’s windows were found broken when it stopped in Delhi on Friday.The Tejas train, fitted with state-ofthe-art communication and entertainment systems, and enhanced passenger safety and comfort amenities, is the first train in the country of its kind designed with the business traveller in mind.The train, which will run between Mumbai and, is scheduled to be inducted into service on May 22. The made-in-India train is fully air-conditioned.“We came to know that a few glasses were damaged, but it is not a serious issue. We will correct it,” said DK Sharma, general manager,. “The train is expected to reach Mumbai on Saturday. Once it arrives, we will inspect it and make the necessary repairs.”The Tejas train’s fare is 20 per cent more than that of the Shatabdi Express.“Since the train is equipped with better facilities, the fare will also be slightly higher compared to normal mail and express services,” said a CR officer.Catering services for the prestigious train will be managed by the(IRCTC). “We received instructions from the railway board for the arrangement of catering services in the country’s first Tejas train,” said anThe train has ergonomically designed seating, with, a touch control system and call-bell facilities for every seat. Manufactured at the Rail Coach Factory in Kapurthala, its coaches will have automatic entrance doors — a first for non-suburban trains in India.Tea and coffee vending machines and snack tables will be available in each coach, officials said.The Tejas train, which will run at a maximum speed of 200 kmph, may replace the double-decker train currently operated between Mumbai and Goa.Departure times for the new train have been scheduled in similar time slots as those of the double-decker trains.The Tejas train will undertake the journey in seven-and-a-half-hours.It was recently announced that veteran catcher and current unsigned free agent Ivan Rodriguez intends to officially retire in Texas on Monday.
When a great player like Rodriguez retires, it’s nice to look back over his career, what his highs and lows were, his career milestones, and the best (and oddest) games he ever participated in where. That’s what’s listed below, the career highlights of Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez.
Rangers tenure
June 20, 1991: Rodriguez makes his big league debut. He flies out in his first at-bat, but in the ninth hits a two-run single to help cement a 7-3 Rangers win over the White Sox. There are a lot of big names in this game, including Carlton Fisk, Frank Thomas, Ozzie Guillen, Sammy Sosa, Bobby Thigpen, Robin Ventura, Kevin Brown, Brian Downing, Juan Gonzalez, Ruben Sierra, Julio Franco, Gary Pettis, and Rodriguez himself.
Aug. 3, 1991: In the seventh inning, Rodriguez connects on an offering from Royals pitcher Storm Davis for his first career home run.
July 14, 1992: All Star Game: Rodriguez becomes the first player born in the 1970s to appear in the Midseason Classic. He is 0-for-2, but the AL triumphs, 13-6.
Aug. 31, 1992: For the second time this week, the Royals really shouldn’t have tested Rodriguez’s arm. Kansas City attempts to steal three bases on the day and gets gunned down every time by the Texas backstop. The exact same thing happened to them on Aug. 27, 1992.
Sept. 26, 1992: Fifty-four players take part in a 16-inning Mariners-Rangers marathon. Despite that, Rangers catcher Rodriguez plays the entire game. He’s 3-for-7 with a double. Seattle wins, 4-3.
May 26, 1993: It might be the funniest thing that ever happens in a game Rodriguez plays in. During the fourth innings, Cleveland get an odd home run. You’ve heard of an inside-the-park home run? Well, this is an off-the-Canseco homer. Outfielder Jose Canseco goes to the wall to catch the ball but misses it and has it bounce off his head and into the stands. Since it never hit the ground, it’s a homer. It’s the difference, as Cleveland wins, 7-6.
Aug. 4, 1993: It’s probably the most famous play Rodriguez is involved in. Yup, it’s the Ventura-Ryan thing. After Robin Ventura hits a first-inning RBI single, Nolan Ryan responds by drilling Ventura with a pitch in the third. Ventura famously charges the mound, only do have Ryan get him in a headlock and punch him in the noggin repeatedly. Rodriguez runs up behind Ventura and grabs him as Ryan continues to hit the Chicago third baseman.
Sept. 22, 1993: Rodriguez is behind the plate when Ryan throws his last pitch. It wasn’t a glorious ending for Ryan, who never got a single out. Ryan allows a single, three straight walks, and then a grand slam homer. Ryan’s last pitch is wild, going all the way to the backstop, and then he’s lifted for a reliever.
July 12, 1994: All-Star Game: Rodriguez will play in 14 All-Star Games, but this is the only time he plays in the entire contest. He’s 2-for-5 with a run, but the NL comes back to win, 8-7.
July 28, 1994: It’s the best game Rodriguez ever catches. Texas pitcher Kenny Rogers retires all 27 Angels he faces in a perfect game. Texas, aided by a Rodriguez solo shot, wins the game, 4-0.
July 13, 1995: It’s taken until his 504th career game played, by Rodriguez finally enjoys his first multi-home run game as he goes deep twice against the Red Sox during a 9-8 Rangers win. He’ll have 18 multi-home run games in his 2,543-game career.
Sept 4, 1995: Baseball history is made on a pair of pitches called by Rangers catcher Rodriquez. In back-to-back innings White Sox third baseman Robin Ventura hits consecutive grand slams. He ends the day with those eight RBIs in a 14-3 Chicago win. Rodriguez goes hitless.
Oct. 2, 1996: ALDS Game Two: It’s the first postseason appearance in Rangers franchise history. They’ve already won the first game against the Yankees and threaten to win this one also. Instead, New York rallies from a 4-1 deficit and wins, 5-4 in 12 innings. Rodriguez is 0-for-4 with a walk, and one of his rare sacrifice hits. Texas will lose both of the next two games to lose the series. That sets a pattern, as the Yankees will continually top Texas in the late 1990s ALDS.
June 12, 1997: Rodriguez is on-hand when a new era in major league baseball begins. It’s the very first regular-season interleague game, and the Rangers lose to the Giants, 4-3. Rodriguez catches the first pitch, which is a ball. He also goes 0-for-4 with a strikeout.
Aug. 28, 1997: In the top of the third inning, Rodriguez lays down a sacrifice bunt. It’s been almost exactly four years since he last did that in a regular season game (Sept. 1, 1993). He won’t due it again for nearly five years (until June 14, 2002). That’s a stretch of 4,524 plate appearances in over 1,000 games with this the only sacrifice hit.
Sept. 2, 1997: The Rangers win a wild one, 13-12 over the Dodgers, thanks to an amazing six-run bottom-of-the-ninth rally. In that inning, Rodriguez steps to the plate as a pinch hitter with the bases loaded and singles in two runs to tie the game. He also moves the eventual winning run into scoring position, and he’ll come home minutes later on a walk-off Rusty Greer single.
Sept. 11, 1997: The Rangers whump the Twins 7-0, largely thanks to Rodriguez. He belts three home runs and drives in five.
May 11, 1998: Leading off the second inning against Boston, Rodriguez lines a single for his 1,000th career hit. He gets No. 1,001 later in the game, which is the 914th game of his career.
July 7, 1998: All Star Game: Rodriguez has his best Midsummer Classic ever: 3-for-4 with a run, RBI, and even a stolen base. The AL wins easily, 13-8.
Aug. 22, 1998: Rodriguez goes deep for his 100th career home run.
April 13, 1999: It’s probably the greatest game of Rodriguez’s career. In the first inning, he belts a three-run homer. The next inning he steps up with the bases loaded and drills a single that brings home a pair. In the fourth inning, he again comes up with the bases loaded and this time launches a grand slam home run, his first career slam. The game isn’t even half over, and he already has nine RBIs. He’s done driving in runs, but he’ll add another hit. His nine RBIs are the most by a catcher since Smoky Burgess had that many on July 29, 1955.
June 1, 1999: Rodriguez’s longest career hitting streak peaks at 20 games. He’s 30-for-80 with nine doubles and five homers in that span for a.375/.414/.675 batting line.
Oct. 5, 1999: ALDS Game One: Rodriguez prevents Yankee pitcher Orlando Hernandez from making history in this game. Hernandez allows just two Texas hits on the day, a first-inning double by Rodriguez and a third-inning Rodriguez single. He’s 2-for-4 while his teammates are 0-for-23. The Yankees win easily and will sweep Texas for the second straight year in the ALDS.
April 28, 2000: Well, that’s an odd way to lose a game. With Rodriguez behind the plate, Texas reliever Jeff Zimmerman ends the day with the rare walk-off balk. His herky-jerky motion causes Baltimore’s winning run to trot home for a 4-3 win. Rodriguez was 2-for-4 in the game.
May 12, 2000: At age 28 years and five-and-a-half months, Rodriguez wheels his way around the bases for two triples in one game. It’s the only time he ever does this.
July 3, 2002: It’s a nice day for Rodriguez as he belts two homers, both of them memorable. His first one is a career milestone, home run No. 200. The second is a walk-off home run. It’s especially sweet as it comes right after Texas allowed two runs in the top of the ninth to turn a 5-3 lead into a 5-5 game. Texas wins, 6-5.
Sept. 29, 2002: It’s the last game of the season, and Texas plays at home. Rodriguez is set to be a free agent in the offseason, and he goes out in style today. In the seventh inning, he belts a solo home run. The next inning, he doubles in a run, and is immediately replaced for a pinch runner. No doubt the fans cheered him wildly as he trotted to the dugout, waving to the 34,529 in attendance. Next year, he’ll be a Marlin.
Marlins tenure
April 8, 2003: In just his seventh game as a Marlin, Rodriguez does something completely out of character—he draws five walks in one game. None of the walks are intentional. For his career, he’ll have just 513 bases on balls in over 10,000 trips to the plate. On two separate occasions, he’ll go 38 straight games without a walk.
Oct. 3, 2003: NLDS Game Three: Rodriguez has one of the greatest clutch offensive performances of his life. With the Marlins trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the 11th against the Giants, he comes to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded and promptly connects for a single for the walk-off Marlins victory. This puts Florida one win from the NLCS.
Oct. 4, 2003: NLDS Game Four: Rodriguez has one of the greatest clutch defensive performances of his life. Florida clings to a 7-6 lead in the bottom of the ninth against San Francisco, but the Giants have the tying run on second base with two outs. When Jeffrey Hammonds singles, J.T. Snow barrels around third trying to score. The throw beats Snow to the plate, so he tries to bowl over Rodriguez, but the veteran backstop holds on to the ball to end the game. Florida moves on to the NLCS.
Oh, and Rodriguez is a big part of the reason why Florida won this game, too. He was 2-for-4 with two runs, an RBI, a walk, and a double on the day.
Oct. 7, 2003: NLCS Game One: The Marlins win the first game over the Cubs, 9-8 in 10 innings, thanks in no small part to their catcher. Rodriguez is 2-for-5 with five RBIs, a walk, a run, and a home run. He has a three-run homer early and a two-run single in the ninth.
Oct. 12, 2003: NLCS Game Five: The Marlins, down three games to one, need a win to stay alive. Rodriguez does his part, hitting a solo home runs as the Marlins prevail 4-0 to sent the NLCS back to Chicago.
Oct. 14, 2003: NLCS Game Six: Yep, it’s the Bartman Game. Florida is trailing 3-0 entering the eighth when they pull off a furious rally, scoring eight times in one inning. Minutes after the foul ball that made Steve Bartman famous, Rodriguez drives in the first run on a single. A little later he scores the game-tying run.
Oct. 15, 2003: NLCS Game Seven: After over a decade in the big leagues, Rodriguez finally has a pennant as the Marlins complete their comeback with a 9-6 win over the Cubs. He doubles and then scores the run that puts the Marlins ahead of Chicago for good.
Oct. 22, 2003: World Series Game Four: Rodriguez has his best game of the World Series in its tightest and most tense game. Florida, down two games to one, really wants a win to even things up, and Rodriguez obliges. With two outs and none on in the first, he singles to kick off a three-run rally. Florida’s 3-0 lead turns into a 3-3 tie when regulation ends, but the Marlins triumph in 12 frames, 4-3. The Yankees won’t win another game all Series.
Oct. 25, 2003: World Series Game Six: With Rodriguez calling the pitches, Florida’s Josh Beckett tosses a five-hit, complete-game shutout to give the Marlins their second world title. For Rodriguez it’s his first and ultimately only one. Rodriguez was a big part of Florida’s postseason success, as he hit.313 with three homers and five doubles in October.
Tigers tenure
May 25, 2004: According to WPA, this is the worst game of Rodriguez’s career: -.518. He’s 0-for-5 as the Tigers lose to the Royals, 5-3. The at-bat that really kills his score comes in the ninth. Rodriguez steps to the plate with runners on first and third and one out and promptly grounds into a game-ending double play.
July 23, 2004: Rodriguez achieves a career milestone this day that very few catchers have ever been able to attain when he gets his 2,000th career hit. It’s a seventh-inning single off Royals reliever Scott Sullivan. Despite that, Detroit loses, 13-7.
April 4, 2005: Rodriguez is on hand for one of the greatest Opening Day individual performances in history when his teammate Dmitri Young belts three home runs to start the season.
April 22, 2005: Rodriguez hits his second career walk-off home run when he goes deep off Minnesota’s Terry Mulholland to lead off the 10th inning in a 4-4 tie. This will be the only extra-inning home run of his career.
April 5, 2006: For the only time in his big league tenure, Rodriguez goes 5-for-5 at the plate. He had another five-hit game on Aug. 1, 1999, but that took six at-bats. Today, he gets a trio of doubles (tying a personal best) and a home run. It’s the only four-extra-base hit game he’ll ever have. Rodriguez also scores three times and drives in five as the Tigers trounce the Royals 14-3.
June 4, 2006: For the first time in his career, Rodriguez is asked to play a defensive position other than catcher. The 34-year-old is Detroit’s first baseman today.
Aug. 5, 2006: For the third and final time in his career, Rodriguez belts a walk-off home run. According to WPA, it’s the most clutch swing of his life. It comes with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, the Tigers trailing the Indians, 3-2, and a runner on first. WPA values the homer at 0.894. As a result, this is his best overall one-game WPA score, 0.790. He goes 2-for-5 with a homer, single, and strikeout on the day.
Aug. 15, 2006: It never happened before and it will never happen again, but today it does happen: Rodriguez plays second base. He’s only there for two innings, but due to some mid-game replacements, manager Jim Leyland opts to put the veteran catcher at second. Rodriguez catches one pop-up there. Detroit tops the Red Sox, 3-2.
Oct. 1, 2006: It’s the last game of the season, and even though the Tigers have a playoff slot clinched, a win today gives them the division, something they’d much rather have than a wild card. They lose 10-8 to the Royals in 12 innings, but that is despite a fantastic effort by Rodriguez.
His first time up he hits an RBI single. He does the same thing in his next time at bat. In his third trip to the plate, he drives in another run with a triple. After that, the Royals refuse to give him anything to hit, and he walks three times, including an 11th |
people getting into the story of the warrior princess and the bard of Poteidaia.
So happy birthday to Xenaville! If you are visiting and want to say hello, pop over to the Yuku message board or drop me a line an feedback_AT_xenaville.com (put in an @ to email me, but I learned the hard way, embedded email addresses on the website end up with a lot of junk emails from deposed princes or people wanting to help me with enlarging things!)
18th May 2017 - Updates The much talked about Xena reboot seems futher away than a year ago. Javier Grillo-Marxauch left the project over reported 'creative differences.' "Iâm heartbroken to have left the Xena project over insurmountable creative differences. The character is dear to me, and to millions of fans worldwide, and I truly believe that now â more than ever â a land in turmoil cries out for a hero. I truly hope that the alchemy of creative elements that has to come together to make possible either a reboot or revival of this amazing property will someday coalesce, and that Xena will return in a way that does honor to what came before while looking to the future."
Javi has interacted with Xena fans and I think many of us were hopeful he would be true to the show we love. Hence, this is sad news, and once again the project is in limbo. Perhaps the release of the upcoming Wonder Woman movie might revive interest in kick-ass mythological warrior women. The UK Xenafests are alive and well and we recently got together again (Honestly, I can't remember what number we are up to now!) for a 20th Anniversary get together, where we raised money for the charity Moodswings - a wonderful £1,631. It was lovely to see old friends and several new Xena fans too. The Xenaville Yuku Message boards have woken up! Do pop over and join in the chat.
picture polls
FOLLOW LUCY LAWLESS'S TWEETS Tweets by @RealLucyLawless
Browse the Xenaville Archives! Featured Page -
Top Tens Page
Another old feature, a variety of different Xena Top Tens, from Top 10 Water Moments, to Top 10 Xenaverse arguments. Have a look.When pictures are worth a thousand words, this one certainly has the attention of one thirteen-year-old girl's parents.
But as is often the case, there's more to the story.
Midland Independent School District says an administrator at Alamo Junior High School put her hands on a child all in an effort to break up a fight.
The fight itself was caught on cell phone video by fellow students outside of the school.
A schoolyard fight wasn't an unusual sight, until a school administrator can be seen stepping in to break it up. She can be seen pulling a student away from the other before putting her against a dumpster.
"You have her eight hours a day. I expect her to be protected while she's there. I don't agree with her fighting at school, that's her fault, and she's being punished. But at the same time, to be broken up like that and you choke her," said Tiffany Armstrong, the student's aunt.
Armstrong told CBS 7 that the girl's parents met with MISD administrators over the incident Tuesday morning.
"If you can't restrain her and grab anything but her throat, you don't need to be here," said Armstrong.
As for the district, they say the photo does not tell the whole story.
MISD spokesperson Woodrow Bailey said that MISD met with the parents of all students involved and reviewed the video footage, and said that the photo alone does not give a full description of the incident.
Several students were reportedly involved, and Bailey says campus administrators followed protocol to gain control of the situation.
MISD says the girls involved in the fight will not face criminal charges, but that both will face disciplinary action.
As for what happens at home? The girl's guardians say she will be punished.Michelle Zilio, CTVNews.ca
The NDP raised nearly $4.5 million in the second quarter, more than any other quarter in its history, according to new numbers released by the party.
In a video posted to Twitter on Thursday, NDP national campaign director Anne McGrath revealed the fundraising numbers one day ahead of Elections Canada’s quarterly financial reports for each federal party.
McGrath said the party raised $4,491,938 in the second quarter, compared to $2.2 million in the first quarter of 2015. She added that more than 48,000 people donated to the party this quarter, another record-breaking number for the party.
“Because of that extraordinary grassroots effort, we are closing the gap with Stephen Harper’s Conservatives. Today’s numbers prove that momentum for change is growing,” said McGrath in the one-minute video.
Each party must submit its second quarter fundraising numbers to Elections Canada by midnight Thursday. The full financial reports are expected to be posted on Elections Canada’s website Friday.
Here is a full breakdown of each party’s fundraising numbers from the first quarter, ending in March 2015:
- Conservatives: $6,398,332.79
- Liberals: $4,030,672.77
- NDP: $2,268,604.59
- Green Party: $674,026.71
- Bloc Quebecois: $206,205.23-----------------So one of the many questions I'm asked is whether or not I'd do "Next Gen" stuff and to be honest, I personally don't have that much interest in doing it. That said though, I DO like designing characters, so for fun I decided to try my hand at next gen designs if I were to actually do it based on my favorite ships. The next gen designs featured are the "what if" offspring of my favorite ships:Due to how large the file is though, I'll be providing links to the individual characters' refs below. :3--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The fraternal twin spawn of Applejack and Rainbow Dash. I don't have names for the two of them, but I had a very good idea as to how I'd handle their designs. The male I made to look like my version of AJ's father ('cause I wanted AJ to look at her son and think "he looks just like Pa" 'cause I though that'd be kinda cute), and the female I made to look more like a mix between AJ and RD, color-wise and facial structure wise. The mare has a prosthetic wing for her right side due to her losing the real limb in a terrible accident a few years ago.The son of Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. I wanted him big and round and fluffy with long hair, but he's also the most simple in terms of design. Still no name, although I'm kinda thinking Berry Punch for this fella. The blond comes from Fluttershy's side of the family though. x3The daughter of my all-time favorite ship: RariTwi! I had a blast designing her, especially her coat color; really wanted to have a paint pony to the roster, and Twi's and Rarity's colors go pretty well together. I debated giving her wings too, but ultimately I decided against it. But that might change at some point... I dunno. >.>The cub of Discord and Celestia, one of the ships I actually include in my headcanon. As such, this character might actually become... err, "canon", to my headcanon. I wanted something that was kinda chaotic like Discord yet still keeping some sort of uniform and pristine-ness like Celestia, and they're what I came up with. I was originally gonna not have them have a lion's mane, but due to both genders of lions being able to grow them, I decided to go ahead and do it anyway. I'm glad I did! :3 This character is Agender, or they don't generally identify with a gender. I'm highly considering naming them "Vega", but I dunno yet. :/The son of Sweetie Belle and Spike; I'm on the fence as to whether make this one "canon" or not to my headcanon. That's mostly because I personally don't care for Sparity (and have headcanoned Spike growing out of his crush on Rarebear) and partly because I think Spike and Sweetie are pretty cute together. I wanted this character to look more dragon than pony, and despite my initial thought that Sweetie's and Spike's coloring may not work too well.... I think it actually came out okay. Still no ideas for a name for this fella though. :C-------Soooooo yup. They don't have any cutie marks because I don't know what they should be, so suggestions are more than welcome. The same goes for names; name suggestions will be much appreciated! O:Other than that, feel free to ask questions if you have any; I think I'll probably elaborate on their personalities and such later. But until then, I hope you all enjoy! ^.^Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, considered the leading living Orthodox rabbi, has ruled that marijuana is kosher for Passover, first reported by the Times of Israel.
The holiday commemorates Jews “liberation by God from slavery in Egypt and their freedom as a nation under the leadership of Moses,” says Wikipedia.
“The Israelites were instructed to mark the doorposts of their homes with the blood of a slaughtered spring lamb and, upon seeing this, the spirit of the Lord knew to pass over the first-born in these homes, hence the English name of the holiday.”
For the eight-day celebration, Jewish people avoid leavened bread and any food made with wheat, barley, oats and rice, to symbolize that “when the Pharaoh freed the Israelites, it is said that they left in such a hurry that they could not wait for bread dough to rise (leaven),” Wikipedia explains.
Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky’s ruling means medical marijuana is now allowed during Passover.**Note: You can still purchase a mat even though we're 100% funded! Scroll down to the FAQ to learn how. If you can't pledge now but want updates on these mats, subscribe here!**
Back in 2013, we raised $70,000+ in our first Kickstarter to create the craziest shirts on Earth.
Since then we've paid out over $130,000 to our independent artists and shipped out thousands of orders to people across the world.
Now we’re back to do it *again* with yoga mats.
We’ve brought together an all-star lineup of some of the most talented visionary artists to create some truly breathtaking designs.
Take a look for yourself…
Comes with a carrying strap
Will retail for $89 in our store, but will cost as low as $69 for you early backers
We love wearing our shirts, and our customers do too. Your day is instantly more fun and inviting when you’re wearing art.
So why not apply the same effect to yoga?
Crazy yoga pants are everywhere, but the mats out there are seriously lacking in color and creativity. We think your yoga mat should reflect your personality even while practicing yoga.
We started by ordering yoga mats from the top brands to see what makes a ‘good’ yoga mat. Again and again we were disappointed. Even the top yoga brands sell the same boring, low-quality PVC mat for $40-120.
So we began looking for experienced manufacturers to help us craft the perfect mat. Shortly after, we were sent a sample of the most luxurious yoga mat we had ever felt. Better yet, it allows for colorful prints AND works for both bikram and normal yoga.
Don’t you love it when things line up like that?
We started with 40 potential designs and narrowed them down to 17 through five rounds of voting with our fans & customers.
Here are the finalists!
If you already backed the campaign, and would like to add a pair of yoga pants to your order, just increase your existing pledge amount by $59. You will be able to pick which design and size you wish to receive, in response to the survey at the end of the campaign. :)
****Kickstarter only allows you to choose one reward tier per campaign. So if you already selected the ~YOGA MAT~ reward tier you have to keep that tier selected. If you want a mat and pants DO NOT select the ~YOGA PANT~ tier, it will cause you to lose your yoga mat reward. Simply add $59 to the ~YOGA MAT~ pledge amount box.****
For step by step instructions on adding a pair of yoga pants to your existing pledge, please see the first entry in the FAQ section at the bottom of this page.
Kickstarter only allows you to pick one reward tier per campaign when using a single account. However, if you would like to select more than one of our amazing rewards. Just follow the instructions below:
-After you click the “Back This Project” select a reward tier.
- Your pledge amount will automatically populate.
- If you would like to add on a reward from another tier, just add that tiers value to your pledge amount.
For example if you want a yoga mat but would also like to add on a limited edition pin, simply select the yoga mat tier, then when setting the pledge amount add on the value of the pin reward tier ($10). We will send out a survey after the campaign ends, which will allow you to specify which add on items you would like to receive.
Everyone who orders a yoga mat will be able to pick the specific design that they would like to receive. To purchase a mat, click "Back This Project". Then select one of the two yoga mat reward tiers and submit your pledge. After the campaign is over, we'll contact you through Kickstarter with a survey asking you to pick a design and provide your shipping address.
If you have any other questions please refer to the 'Project FAQ' section at the bottom. :)In 1977, the leader of the Nationalist Socialist Party of America, Frank Collin, announced a march through the Chicago suburb of Skokie, Ill. While a neo-Nazi march would be controversial under any circumstances, the fact that one out of six people in Skokie were Holocaust survivors made it even more provocative. Chicago authorities took steps to prevent it, including requiring the NSPA to post $350,000 worth of liability insurance in case any damage occurred. Authorities also banned the display of Nazi images, explaining that the violence that might have been incited overrode free speech protections.
The dispute drew national attention. After the march was initially cancelled, the ACLU took up the case at the urging of Jewish lawyer Joseph Burton, who defended the NSPA’s right to freedom of speech and assembly. Victor Rosenblum, a professor of law at Northwestern University and past chairman of the Anti-Defamation League’s Chicago branch, made the counter-argument: “The Nazis’ march in paraphernalia is a reminder of the most destructive movement in history. They stand for the destruction and wiping out of human beings. This is not constitutionally protected.”
An initial court ruling said the NSPA could march in uniform but not display the swastika, finding that the symbol constitutes “fighting words” unprotected by the Constitution. The court also upheld the liability insurance requirement, despite the fact that it effectively would have made the rally unfeasible. The case was challenged in the Supreme Court in 1977, which declined to overturn the lower court ruling but instructed the state of Illinois to “provide strict procedural safeguards” if it moved to limit free speech.
In January 1978, the Illinois Supreme Court decided that the NSPA march was constitutionally protected, including the right to wear swastikas, ruling that “the display of the swastika, as offensive to the principles of a free nation as the memories it recalls may be, is symbolic political speech intended to convey to the public the beliefs of those who display it.” In February, a federal court went even further, ruling that the ordinances intended to prevent the march were unconstitutional.
The NSPA march was held on June 25, 1978, though the march never materialized. About 20 or so Nazis congregated for only ten minutes, and throngs of Jewish and other groups drowning out their voices. Jewish organizations planned counter marches not only in Skokie, but in New York City and other places.
Meir Kahane also held a rally in 1977, after the initial cancellation but prior to the court rulings permitting it to go ahead. Kahane urged a crowd estimated at 400 to “kill Nazis now” and to arm themselves, exhorting them: “Every Jew a.22.”
President Carter also issued a statement: “I must respect the decision of the Supreme Court allowing this group (the Nazis) to express their views, even when those views are despicable and ugly as they are in this case. But if such views must be expressed, I am pleased they will not go unanswered. That is why I want to voice my complete solidarity with those citizens of Skokie and Chicago who will gather Sunday in a peaceful demonstration of their abhorrence of Nazism.”For the last fifty years the United States has been lying to the public about how the ordinary people are supposedly represented by congress & the entire government. Politicians talk about talking to the people about everything they continue to do to us, yet that has never happened. NOT EVEN ONCE! Consequently the government continues to use the burned-out-shell of dead-government to hide what really happens in every instance where laws are changed and votes are taken against the publics interests. Currently over 91% of Americans do NOT want war in Syria. There is a promised VOTE on going-to-war in Syria that is pending before the congress. If the nation goes to war in Syria that will be yet another war-crime, unless we have the approval of the United Nations Security Councilwhich will not be forthcoming. Without the approval of the UN, a military attack on Syria is an act of war: According to the International Rules of War. The U.S. has not chosen to observe either International or the national-laws of other nations when it comes to who we decide to attack, anywhere in the world. This time the survival of the planet literally hangs in the balance over the explosive-situation in Syria. This could be stopped if the public forces the congress to hold a joint session of Congress to vote in person, on whether or not the US will listen to the 91% of the public or to the global-treason inherent in the criminal-voice of Israel. (1) For decades the government has hidden its decisions behind rigged votes and deceptive tactics to bloc or reverse the will of the people of the United States. This time there will be no clauses, no special-conditions, nothing else but to determine whether or not the US wants to jump into another illegal war (a war we started two and half years ago). The public has tried demonstrations, letters, complaints, lawsuits and threats: None of that worked. It is time to challenge the government, face to face, to show the world exactly how this supposed Democratic-Republic was suppose to operatein the open and on national-international television. DEMAND that this government take a few commercial-free-hours to hold the promised vote in the open where everyone can see exactly who will vote to uphold the 91% of the constituents viewsand who will NOT! Take just a few moments Send Demystify the Syrian Vote to every news organization Politician or appointee that supposedly represents you. Call if you like but phone banks in Washington Will likely be flooded.
DEMAND THE 535-MEMBER JOINT SESSION OF CONGRESS BE HELD! Tape the session and act against Any member that votes against your preference.
For decades the congress and the government have hidden behind fake laws and bogus-procedures of the congress to block the will of the majority on every major issue which they continue to force down our throats. This time why not use their tactics against them, put the congress on trial in this vote and use this issue to stop this WAR before Nero can move to get it started! Those who say that nothing will work should buy their coffins today, because the rest of us are going to nail these bastards to the nearest tree, unless they finally do what they said they would which is to have an UP or DOWN vote on The War in Syria. This coming vote will end any further confusion. It will not be revisited, and it will not be amended, it is what it will be. The members of the government that choose to go against the results of this vote will be summarily dealt with. Over 300 members of congress have signed loyalty oaths that swear allegiance to Israel over the oaths they took when they were elected to congress, or to any U.S. government office. If they vote for Israel and against the USA, by honoring their bribes over the public interest, then they will still get their thirty-pieces of silver but they will not survive any future elections in this country. Once people know who did what on this vote, we will know definitively who the proven enemies of this nation are and who they have always been, by selling out the country, time after time after time If these traitors reject their former backers and vote for America, then they must take the next step and publicly ban AIPAC and all Jewish organizations here, unless they register as the agents of a foreign nation, which they have always refused to do. Prosecutions will probably follow no matter what the traitors do, once the public knows who is American and who has created the nightmare of the slave-state that were living in now. The rest of the country has long known that things are a bit different inside the beltway. But a new and most unusual wrinkle has emerged from the Obama Administrations rush to war. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the powerful pro-Israel lobby, is now being seen as caught between a rock and a hard place. AIPAC officially backs the Obama Administrations campaign to strike Syria. But now that Congress has awaken to the fact that the American people are sick and tired of being lied into wars, AIPACs efforts to sell Obamas war plans may fall on ears of elected men and women who, for once, might actually vote in accordance with the wishes of their constituencies imagine that! Haaretz, considered by many to be the New York Times of Israel, reported today, now that the American Jewish establishment has come off the fence to loudly endorse the presidents policy, the fallout from an Administration failure to convince Congress could claim two additional victims: Israel and the influential lobby that supports it. The entire article is worth reading. Click here to access the story. (2) Tell the people you know about what might be coming in the next 72 hours: Because thats the most likely day when the new wars (Or the next false-flag attack on the US) will break out. Nine-Eleven-Thirteen is the twelfth anniversary of 911 - which just happens to be the birthday of Bashar al-Assad, the president of Syria. Lets make sure that 9-11-13 is not the beginning of the end for all of us! Contact anyone who might help this VOTE succeed and do whatever follow-up may be required [email protected] 1) Demystify the Syrian Vote! http://rense.com/general96/demyas.html 2) American Israel Public Affairs Committee Faces Defeat? http://thenewsdoctors.com/american-israel-public-affairs-committee-faces-defeat/President Trump may be getting his first monument.
Israel’s transportation minister is pushing ahead with a plan to dig a railway tunnel under Jerusalem’s Old City, passing near sites holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims — and ending at the Western Wall with a station named after Trump.
Yisrael Katz proposed naming the station after Trump “for his brave and historic decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital” earlier this month.
Katz’s plan, currently in the initial stages, involves constructing two underground stations and excavating over two miles of tunnel beneath downtown Jerusalem and under the politically sensitive Old City. The project would extend Jerusalem’s soon-to-open high-speed rail line from Tel Aviv to the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray.
The route will run close to — but not directly under — the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where tradition holds Jesus was crucified and buried, and a contested holy site known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary. Previous excavations by Israel near the holy site — the spiritual epicenter of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — have sparked violent Palestinian protests.
Because of those sensitivities, the proposal likely will meet with heavy resistance from the Palestinians, neighboring Arab countries and the international community.
Katz, a senior Cabinet official who also serves as Israel’s intelligence minister, is a close ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and is seen by many as his likely eventual successor as head of the Likud party.
Transportation Ministry spokesman Avner Ovadia said Wednesday the project is estimated to cost more than $700 million and, if approved, would take four years to complete.
Katz’s office said the minister advanced the plan in a recent meeting with Israel Railways executives, and has fast-tracked it in the planning committees.
Katz said a high-speed rail station would allow visitors to reach “the beating heart of the Jewish people — the Western Wall and the Temple Mount.”
Trump’s announcement to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital has enraged the Palestinians and much of the Muslim world. The U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted a resolution last week condemning the move, with several traditional American allies breaking with Washington to vote in favor of the motion.
Israel captured east Jerusalem, which includes the Old City, in 1967, and annexed it in a move not recognized internationally. The Palestinians claim east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, and a longstanding international consensus holds that the fate of the city should be decided through direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
Ikrema Sabri, a senior Muslim cleric in Jerusalem, denounced the planned train line extension, saying that Palestinians won’t accept “any change or act in the occupied territories.”
He said that “giving the name of Trump to this project will not give it any legitimacy. It would be just another implementation of the unacceptable decision of President Trump to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.”
Digging railway tunnels to the Western Wall would also entail excavating in Jerusalem’s Old City, where religious and political sensitivities — as well as layers of archaeological remains from the city’s 3,000-year history — could make for a logistical and legal quagmire.
Last year an initiative to convert an already excavated area abutting the Western Wall into an egalitarian Jewish prayer section was hotly contested by Israeli archaeologists, who said such a move would cause irreparable damage to the historic remains of the ancient city.
The Israel Antiquities Authority declined to comment on the planned train extension.
Despite the likely opposition to the project, Ovadia said he expects the plans to be approved in the coming year, barring major complications. The Tel Aviv-Jerusalem high-speed line is expected to open next spring.
“There’s no reason why this train won’t be built,” he said. “We already know how to deal with no less difficult opposition.”
Katz previously has proposed other ambitious infrastructure projects, including an artificial island off the coast of the Gaza Strip that would serve as an air and seaport for the Palestinian territory, and a railway connecting Israel with Saudi Arabia and other Arab states.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.Presentation & Book Signing
with Ken Mudge
and Steve Gabriel
November 19, 2014
6 to 8 p.m.
Tompkins County Public Library
Ithaca NY
Local authors, teachers and researchers Ken Mudge and Steve Gabriel love the forest. They met in the MacDaniels Nut Grove in 2009 when Steve took Ken’s Practicum in Forest Farming class at Cornell University. Through the frameworks of forest farming and permaculture they found a way to see the forest for more than just the trees. The two began working, researching, and writing together which resulted in a new book from Chelsea Green Publishing (VT) called Farming the Woods.
Farming the Woods combines Ken’s decades of research and international agroforestry experience with Steve’s permaculture and farming knowledge to offer readers a plethora of concepts and ideas for growing a range of non-timber crops in their woods. Mushrooms, medicinals like ginseng and goldenseal, fruits, nuts, and wood products along with design and management considerations are covered in this book which has been called:
“A must-read for anyone interested in agroforestry, forest gardening, or utilizing forests for specialty crops. ” —Martin Grawford, author of Creating a Forest Garden
Join Ken and Steve for an evening to celebrate the book and learn about some of these crops and the farmers around the US growing them.
Books signed by the authors will be available afterwards for $35.
The event is free. RSVPs are not required but can be made through the Facebook event page.The trial of Pussy Riot ended as it began: as an egregious expression of contempt for law, justice, and common sense. The verdict—two years in prison camp for each of the three women, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alekhina, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, members of the punk band Pussy Riot, which had staged a brief anti-Putin performance in a cathedral, was a triumph of anti-modern obscurantism over young Russian modernity, the crushing power of the state over the individual, servility over independence.
In trials, like that of Pussy Riot, that are guided by powerful political interests, convictions are preordained, and the verdicts are generally identical to the initial indictment. In her tedious three-hour reading of the sentence, Judge Marina Syrova repeated the same absurd phrasings that were heard from the prosecution during the hearings. The Pussy Riot women, who are all between twenty-two and thirty, were convicted for violating “conceivable and inconceivable rules”; for “emphatically vulgar” and “deliberately provocative” gesturing; for “crossing themselves in a parodied way;” for their clothing, “inappropriate in a church”; and for other acts that “offended the feelings of religious believers.” The thirty or forty seconds they performed in an almost empty church were characterized as a premeditated act of criminal hooliganism, a grave violation of public order. Though Pussy Riot called their “punk prayer” “Mother of the Lord, Chase Putin Out,” and emphasized that the act was a political protest against the Patriarch campaigning for Putin in the Presidential race, the judge bluntly denied that there was any political inspiration, and ruled instead that religious hatred was the motive of Pussy Riot’s performance.
Asked about the Pussy Riot affair during his recent visit in London, Putin said, “I don’t think that they should be punished too harshly.” To the supporters of Pussy Riot, Putin’s statement, as well as the incredible outpouring of international support, provided some hope that the conviction would be suspended and that the three young women would be released. But, apparently, to Putin, two years of prison camp does not seem too harsh. In fact, the time of the actual incarceration may be even shortened after Pussy Riot’s lawyers appeal today’s verdict. Yet to those outraged by the crying unfairness and the cruel absurdity of the prosecution, the sentence is an insult.
In the closing section of the verdict, Judge Marina Syrova read “psychiatric-psychological examinations” of Nadia, Masha, and Katya, as the women are known. All three were found to suffer from a “mixed-personality disorder,” a condition that included different combinations of a “proactive approach to life,” “a drive for self-fulfillment,” “stubbornly defending their opinion,” “inflated self-esteem,” “inclination to opposition behavior,” and “propensity for protest reactions.”
It’s hard to think of a better definition of the Pussy Riot “crime.” These same psychological “abnormalities” were the targets of systematic eradication during the decades of Bolshevik terror and the following period of the Soviet police state: a Soviet man had to be quiescent, unquestioning, and submissive. The Communist state demonstrated (and used) force and dictated the rights and wrongs in ideology, ethics, artistic tastes, and moral values. Anyone showing independence of the mind, initiative, or individual striving, was seen as suspicious and politically unreliable. There were those who did so anyway; as David Remnick wrote recently, the women’s closing statements were part of a grand tradition of Russian dissidence. But over the decades, the overwhelming majority accepted their powerlessness vis-à-vis the state as a fact of life; those defying the oppression and showing any independence were regarded suspicious troublemakers and a threat to everyday life.
As I wrote in an earlier post, Putin’s Russia is not the Soviet Union. There is more freedom of expression, and the years of post-Communist development have produced a minority of new Russians who are not willing to live by the old norms of fear and quiescence. It is this minority that have joined the mass rallies in Moscow since December. They are the ones who gathered outside the courthouse today and chanted, “Free Pussy Riot!” and “Russia without Putin,” and erupted with “Pozor! Pozor!” (“Shame! Shame!”) each time the police took away yet another busload of protesters. In total, some fifty people were grabbed by the police outside the courthouse. Among them was Garry Kasparov, world chess champion turned political activist.
But they are still a minority: young Muscovites may rage and chant outside the courthouse, but over fifty per cent of Russians showed negative opinions of Pussy Riot in an August national poll; just over thirty per cent were non-negative—of these, most said they were indifferent, and only five per cent said they were sympathetic. Still, their sense of individual achievement, their solidarity, their readiness to defend their dignity despite the government’s pressure, present a growing challenge to Putin, who remains a proponent of the traditional Russian model of an omnipotent state and powerless people.
Facing this challenge, Putin increasingly relies on his more conservative, Soviet-style compatriots, and capitalizes on their habitual dependence on the state and their fears of the new.
The Russian Orthodox Church is Putin’s natural ally in this effort. The Church barely serves as a moral authority or source of spiritual solace. Of the seventy per cent Russians who identify themselves as Orthodox Christians, a significant part readily admit that they don’t believe in god; only a tiny number take part in parish life. The role of the Church is, instead, a pillar of Russian statehood and of a conservative order, professing many of the same virtues of quiescence favored in the Soviet era. The Church has been Putin’s loyal and reliable partner in the prosecution of Pussy Riot, as well as in his more general effort to consolidate his rule. The latter goal requires that non-conformist Russians be neutralized and alienated just as they are increasingly anxious to make a difference. And this means that the women of Pussy Riot are not the last victims.
Read Masha Lipman’s earlier posts about the Pussy Riot trial.
Photograph by Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP/Getty Images.The federal Green party has turned to a familiar face who used to make her living in front of the camera — former meteorologist Claire Martin — for its first video advertisement of the election campaign.
B.C. candidate Martin reprises her weather routine, complete with a giant Canadian map, to deliver a decidedly optimistic party forecast.
She even does a riff on the playful exchanges she used to have with anchor Peter Mansbridge on CBC's The National.
Story continues below advertisement
This time, Martin banters with Peter Bevan-Baker — a Green member of the Prince Edward Island legislature — sitting at the newsdesk.
Click here to watch the Green Party's new campaign ad
"Although this is a long-term forecast, it does look like we just might be seeing a Green front moving across Canada — from coast to coast to coast," she tells viewers.
There's a more serious element to the ad, too, which concludes with Martin stressing the party is focused on everything from jobs to health care — not just the environment.
The Greens gave Martin — not leader Elizabeth May — the starring role to show potential voters another side of the party.
"Claire's a natural," May said in an interview. "I thought this one up as soon as she agreed to run for us."
May said many people still have no idea Martin is running in North Vancouver or that another recognizable name, Gord Miller, the former Ontario environment commissioner, is vying for a seat in Guelph.
Story continues below advertisement
Story continues below advertisement
"We do have a challenge in letting Canadians know that we have candidates who will be wonderful members of Parliament."
By breaking through the usual campaign norm of leader-centred ads, the Green spot reinforces the party's message that it is doing politics differently, said Jonathan Rose, an associate professor of political studies at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont.
"As a novelty ad, I can see this being discussed and shared on line," he said.
But despite Martin's "professional and persuasive" presence, the more serious portion offers only "vague exhortations" to vote Green, Rose said. "After getting the audience's attention in the first half, it might have made sense to use that hook to connect the second half."
The Green ad is the first of several that will roll out online and, the party says, on national and regional television, despite a relatively modest promotional budget.
Viewers have been bombarded with commercials from the governing Conservatives and, to a lesser extent, the NDP and Liberals in recent weeks.
Story continues below advertisement
May hopes the Green ad will engage voters and represent a change from what they've been seeing.
"Won't they enjoy a reprieve from ominous voiceovers and bludgeoning the voter with what's wrong with the other parties?
"There is no way in this world that the Green party will ever run attack ads."
The gentler approach is also intended to tap into the large pool of voters so indifferent or turned off that they have no intention of casting ballots.
"We're working very hard as a party to engage voters who usually don't vote — the young people of Canada, First Nations, marginalized people," May said.
"We want to give Canadians a reason to vote."
Story continues below advertisement
Another key goal is to portray a party that doesn't bend to the whims of the latest opinion poll, said Green communications director Julian Morelli.
"People will see a modern Green party that still retains its values," he said. "And I think that's critically important."New military aircraft get their official nicknames and with time they receive an unofficial nickname from the ranks. Some unofficial nicknames like the A-10 War |
in such a way to shoot down AN ENTIRE ETHNIC GROUP while giving unfair preference to another – means that any and all choices we make in life are hinged on our appearance and that nothing we can ever do can make us as attractive as a white male – as proven by OUR OWN MOTHERS.4) Our own mothers reinforce the horrible stereotypes about Asian men. Regardless of their reasons, there are persistent stereotypes that exist in Western culture about Asian men. Whether or not they believed these stereotypes, we assume that they had no qualms about reinforcing the extreme negative image of Asian men by chasing, in droves, white men, and that our own mothers were very, very capable of betraying the possible future of their own sons by proving to the world, and their own offspring, that Asian men are and forever will be less desirable than white men. For every time that an Asian man is shot down for being Asian, the perception that Asian men are undesirable is reinforced, and our own mothers become GUILTY BY ASSOCIATION for actively being part of the self-congratulation group of Asian women who HATE ASIAN MEN AND THINK THEY ARE TOO GOOD FOR ASIAN MEN. For this, my own mother is a guilty whore, who I shall hate until my last dying breath, and I will never, ever, EVER be able to look at what she did in another way; I shall go out every day, very well aware that Asian men are so undesirable that my own mother sought to avoid them entirely, knowing that I can never, ever be viewed as desirable as them, and that any woman who notices me notices me only because I am whiter than I would otherwise be.In ConclusionAsian women will deny, lie, and beat around the bush until doomsday, but they will never admit that what they do is for purely physical reasons, and they will never admit that the ramifications it has upon their children is profound and disastrous. As I have read on some other blogs, this kind of relationship is purely evil, simply because it follows the patterns of basic biology and evolutionary psychology, while deceiving its offspring into thinking that it is normal; the whole “Eurasian” children or “mixed children” are valuable and / or beautiful is nothing more than a generalization and a lie, and it soon becomes evident that mixed children are birthed from couples forming extremely unbalanced patterns that favor women over men. The male offspring of these relationships are then put at special risk and wind up imploding, as is the case of my brother, who is 32 years old, bed ridden, schizophrenic, and so badly damaged from his combination of racist/religious white father / self hating Asian mother, that he is essentially dead. I am essentially considered crazy by the larger community, have been outcast to China, will die alone in a small apartment, am suicidal, depressed, and unable to work.In short, these relationships are based on the hatred of the Asian male (in some cases, with the extra bonus of hating the white female), and the resulting offspring, should he grow up in America, be keenly aware of this societal hatred, and grow, as I did, to despise his own mother. Luckily, mine is dead, (from a bad blood transfusion after a C-section birth), otherwise I would make it my goal to humiliate, demean and hate her, as I hate Asian women who refuse to date any such race, if only because she is a rotten, ROTTEN person, and it is not enough to assume that “maybe” she did not hate Asian men – as the pattern exists enough that I would sincerely doubt her excuses if she attempted to explain it away.HalfAsianTruthTeller, Stormfront.com 10 Comments [10/23/2014 2:11:59 AM]Fundie Index: 5Submitted By: HEIL SATANAn Episcopal priest in Somerville was arrested this afternoon on charges of repeated indecent assault of one of his child parishioners over a 10-year period, the Middlesex District Attorney’s office said.
Reverend Paul A. LaCharite, 65, of Boston was arrested on one count of assault with intent to rape a child and three counts of indecent assault and battery on a child, said the district attorney’s office.
“We allege that this defendant, holding a trusted position within the Episcopal Church, indecently assaulted and touched the victim over several years, only ending his 10-year-long predatory abuse of the victim when the defendant left the church,’’ Middlesex District Attorney Gerald T. Leone, Jr. said in a statement.
Advertisement
LaCharite began inappropriately touching the child in his office in the 1990s, Leone’s office said.
The victim was in elementary school at the time and his family were longtime parishioners at St. James Episcopal Church in Somerville, where LaCharite worked as a priest, the statement said.
The alleged assaults stopped when the victim was a teenager and LaCharite left St. James Epsicopal Church. The victim revealed the priest’s alleged abuse to authorities this week, the statement said.
The Somerville Police Department is investigating the allegations against LaCharite.A story by CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski and Nathan McDermott published on Thursday features a video showing former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore suggesting the September 11, 2001 terror attacks may have taken place because the country had distanced itself from God.
Moore, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, made the remarks at the Open Door Baptist Church in Enterprise, AL in February. He read from Isaiah 30:12-13 and made the connection.
“[B]ecause you have despised His word and trust in perverseness and oppression, and say thereon … therefore this iniquity will be to you as a breach ready to fall, swell out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instance,'” Moore said. “Sounds a little bit like the Pentagon, whose breaking came suddenly at an instance, doesn’t it? If you think that’s coincidence, if you go to verse 25, ‘there should be up on every high mountain and upon every hill rivers and streams of water in the day of the great slaughter when the towers will fall.'”
“You know, we’ve suffered a lot in this country, maybe, just maybe, because we’ve distanced ourselves from the one that has it within his hands to heal this land,” he added.
The Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC backed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) that is supporting Moore’s GOP opponent Luther Strange in a September 26 runoff, immediately sent the CNN article out in an email blast upon its publication.
However, not everyone is convinced these remarks will be seen as a negative by Alabama Republican voters.
Moore and Strange are vying for the Republican nomination for a special election for the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by Jeff Sessions. The winner of that contest will face Democratic Party nominee former Clinton U.S. Attorney Doug Jones in the special election on December 12.
(h/t CNN’s KFile)
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poorBlizzard Entertainment emailed several fansites and press writers a mysterious email inviting us to be alert to a special announcement at the upcoming 2013 PAX East.
Blizzard: “We’ve been working on a little something, different from our other games… It’s not a sequel, expansion, or that rumored next-gen MMO, but it’s something we’re excited for you to get your hands on”.
The public already knows that the Diablo III (PS3) will be playable at PAX East. There are demo stations for PAX East attendees to play the PlayStation 3 version of Diablo III.
Thus, this cryptic email is suggesting there is something else Blizzard Entertainment is planning to reveal at the upcoming event. It is not a sequel (rule out StarCraft III, WarCraft IV, Diablo IV).
It is not an expansion. (rule out World of Warcraft: The next-expansion-title, StarCraft II: X-title, or Diablo III: x-title).
It is not either the next-gen MMO. But it is something we will be excited to get on our hands. Hmm. So this seems to be the announcement of a new game that is secretly in development.
It could be Blizzard All-Stars, but since we already know that game has been in development, and 2011 BlizzCon attendees already played a demo — I lean to think this might be something new we haven’t heard about before.
The PAX East event where Blizzard Entertainment plans to make a mysterious announcement will be held on Friday, March 22 at 10:00 a.m. (Naga Theater @ PAX East).
UPDATE: Blizzard Entertainment announced Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft at PAX East. It was the mysterious game announcement mentioned in this article. Read more at our PAX East 2013 coverage page.2:29 PM: On the shore at Alki Point, swimmer Erika Norris hugged her dad Jim after she became the first person in more than half a century to swim from Bremerton to Alki Point. She finished the “Amy Hiland Swim” – named after the woman who did it in 1959 – moments ago. We first reported on Thursday about the Northwest Open Water Swimming Association‘s announcement of Norris’s 10.4-mile swim.
3:10 PM: NOWSA says Erika’s official time was 4:09:20; Amy Hiland’s 1959 time was an hour and a half longer, according to the coverage linked in the first paragraph.
ADDED 5:24 PM: Our video as Erika came ashore:
Some of the people who hiked out onto the rocky shore at low tide to watch:
Here’s what they saw as she approached, with the accompanying sailboat:
(That photo and the next one are by David Hutchinson.)
Even before this, Erika was an accomplished swimmer, as explained in the bio published when she was named to the New York University Hall of Fame last year.According to our arithmetic, it would have taken three-and-a-half tweets a day to rewrite the Declaration of Independence if we wanted to finish it in the same 17 days that Thomas Jefferson took to write it. Fortunately, there were hundreds of entries for our #TinyDeclaration contest during its three-day duration. We could have rewritten history many times over.
We asked Slatereaders to condense the 1,300-word Declaration of Independence into a single tweet that they thought captured its essence. And with the mandatory #TinyDeclaration hashtag for all entries, you had a precious 124 characters to tell King George to bugger off.
Speaking of whom, we owe an apology to @KingGeorge3, an actual Twitter user and the subject of many of our readers’ Tiny Declarations. Fortunately, he doesn’t seem like an avid Twitter user (his last post was on Jan. 23). But if you’re wondering why so many people are tweeting mad at you over their lack of liberty, KingGeorge3, look no further.
As for our readers, you quickly placed yourselves into two camps: the literalists and the humorists. Our literalists took their assignment very seriously, condensing American democratic theory into a tweet with surprising elegance. Honorable mentions go out to @MagnusUnda (“English oppression must cease, make haste our national emancipation. Replace your taxation with our liberty. Utopia awaits!”) and to Slate commenter Karen Sullivan (“We protested taxation without representation; we have been patient; we appealed for justice; now we declare ourselves free.”) They show that the King’s English remains intact, even if his empire doesn’t.
Then there were a whole slew of you who reminded us that Americans are known for our brash and ballsy mannerisms—and for our superior pop culture. @grammarninja, you made us chuckle with, “@KingGeorge If you liked it then you shouldn’ta put a tax on it.” Slatecommenter DeAnna Burghart would have rankled the royals with, “@KG: Last straw, GTFO. You deserve to know why, so here: tyranny sux. Sod off, we’ll take it from here. @GB: sry. Friends?” And @RennaW, we’re glad you let your nerd flag fly to produce, “PEOPLE=FREE, IF(PEOPLE=CONSENT),GOVERNMENT=TRUE,ELSE(FALSE). LIST:(COMPLAINTS).” Next time we want to start a revolution, we’ll type that into our computer.
But as is fitting for America, we had to pick winners and losers. And without further ado, here were our favorites:
The third runner-up, for straddling the delicate balance between the literal and humorous: @Boston1775: “We seek independence based on noble and universal ideas combined with petty and one-sided grievances.”
The second runner-up, for his direct and confrontational tweet, goes to @TJMonticello: “All peeps are equal. Sick and tired of your tyrannical BS. Seeking independence. Your permission requested, not required.”
The first runner-up, for both historical accuracy and a Twitter-worthy modernization of communication, goes to @badanes: “Our Rights from Creator (h/t @JLocke). Life, Liberty, PoH FTW! Your transgressions = FAIL. GTFO, @GeorgeIII. -HANCOCK et al.”
And finally, our winner—according to his Twitter bio, a former writer for Conan O’Brien and The Daily Show—is @ApocalypseHow, for reminding us that brevity is the soul of wit: “Bye George, we’ve got it.”
Like Slate on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The president of Ohio State University said Notre Dame was never invited to join the Big Ten because the university's priests are not good partners, joking that "those damn Catholics" can't be trusted, according to a recording of a meeting he attended late last year.
At the December meeting of the school's Athletic Council, Gordon Gee also took shots at schools in the Southeastern Conference and the University of Louisville, according to the recording, obtained by The Associated Press under a public records request.
The university called the statements inappropriate and said Gee is undergoing a "remediation plan" because of the remarks.
Gee apologized in a statement released to the AP.
"The comments I made were just plain wrong, and in no way do they reflect what the university stands for," he said. "They were a poor attempt at humor and entirely inappropriate."
Gee, who has taken heat previously for uncouth remarks, told members of the council that he negotiated with Notre Dame officials during his first term at Ohio State, which began more than two decades ago.
"The fathers are holy on Sunday, and they're holy hell on the rest of the week," Gee said to laughter at the Dec. 5 meeting attended by Athletic Director Gene Smith and several other athletic department members, along with professors and students.
"You just can't trust those damn Catholics on a Thursday or a Friday, and so, literally, I can say that," said Gee, a Mormon.
The Big Ten had for years courted Notre Dame, but the school resisted, seeking to retain its independent status in college football. The school announced in September that it would join the Atlantic Coast Conference in all sports except football. It also agreed to play five football games each year against ACC teams.
In the recording, Gee referred specifically to dealing with the Rev. Ned Joyce, Notre Dame's longtime chief financial officer, who died in 2004.
"Father Joyce was one of those people who ran the university for many, many years," Gee said.
Gee said the Atlantic Coast Conference added Notre Dame at a time when it was feeling vulnerable.
"Notre Dame wanted to have its cake and eat it, too," Gee said, according to the recording and a copy of the meeting's minutes.
Gee was introduced by Athletic Council then-chairman Charlie Wilson, and Gee's name and introduction are included in written minutes of the meeting. Gee's comments drew laughter, at times loud, occasionally nervous, but no rebukes, according to the audio.
The Athletic Council meets monthly during the fall, winter and spring and makes recommendations on athletic policy including ticket prices. December's meeting was at Ohio Stadium.
Ohio State trustees learned of "certain offensive statements" by Gee in January, met with the president at length and created the remediation plan for Gee to "address his behavior," board president Robert Schottenstein said in a statement.
"These statements were inappropriate, were not presidential in nature and do not comport with the core values of the University," Schottenstein said.
Gee has gotten in trouble for his offhand remarks, most recently during a memorabilia-for-cash and tattoos scandal that cost football coach Jim Tressel his job. Tressel had known about allegations that players were trading game paraphernalia for money and tattoos but didn't tell the university in violation of his contract and NCAA regulations.
Gee was asked in March 2011 whether he had considered firing Tressel. He responded: "No, are you kidding? Let me just be very clear: I'm just hopeful the coach doesn't dismiss me." Tressel stepped down three months later.
In November 2010, Gee boasted that Ohio State's football schedule didn't include teams on par with the "Little Sisters of the Poor." An apologetic Gee later sent a personal check to the real Little Sisters of the Poor in northwest Ohio and followed up with a visit to the nuns months later.
Last year, Gee apologized for comparing the problem of coordinating the school's many divisions to the Polish army, an off-the-cuff remark that a Polish-American group called a "slanderous" display of bigotry and ignorance.
Gee has one of the highest-profile resumes of any college president in recent history. He has held the top job at West Virginia University, the University of Colorado, Brown University and Vanderbilt University. He was Ohio State president from 1990 to 1997, and returned in 2007. He earns about $1.9 million annually in base pay, deferred and performance compensation and retirement benefits.
He is a prolific fundraiser and is leading a $2.5 billion campaign at Ohio State. He is omnipresent on campus, attending everything from faculty awards events to dormitory pizza parties. He is known for his bow ties — he has hundreds — and his horn-rimmed glasses.
During his comments to the Athletic Council, Gee also questioned the academic integrity of schools in the Southeastern Conference, and the University of Louisville.
The top goal of Big Ten presidents is to "make certain that we have institutions of like-minded academic integrity," Gee said. "So you won't see us adding Louisville," a member of the Big East conference that is also joining the ACC.
After a pause followed by laughter from the audience, Gee added that the Big Ten wouldn't add the University of Kentucky, either.
During the meeting, Gee also said he thought it was a mistake not to include Missouri and Kansas in earlier Big Ten expansion plans. Missouri has since joined the SEC.
"You tell the SEC when they can learn to read and write, then they can figure out what we're doing," Gee said, when asked by a questioner how to respond to SEC fans who say the Big Ten can't count because it now has 14 members.
Gee noted he was chairman of the SEC during his time as Vanderbilt University chancellor. He also told his audience that speculation about the SEC "remains right here," according to the recording.
Gee took a swipe at Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delaney, one of the most powerful leaders in college athletics, when he answered a question about preserving Ohio State's financial interests in light of Big Ten revenue-sharing plans.
"No one admires Jim Delaney more than I do — I chaired the committee that brought him here," Gee said. "Jim is very aggressive, and we need to make certain he keeps his hands out of our pockets while we support him."
___
Associated Press writer John Seewer in Toledo contributed to this report.For the past 20 years Washington has aggressively pursued the age-old imperial strategy of ‘divide and conquer’ throughout the Middle East, Southwest Asia and East Africa. Frustrated at its inability to control national policy of various independent nation-states, Washington used direct and indirect military force to destroy the central governments in the targeted nations and create patchworks of tribal-ethno-mini-states amenable to imperial rule. Tens of millions of people have been uprooted and millions have died because of this imperial policy.
Washington’s strategy of fragmentation and secession follows closely the “Greater Israel Plan” set forth by Israeli politico-military writer Oded Yinon in February 1982 and published by the World Zionist Organization. Yinon maintained that the key to Israel’s domination of the Middle East rested on fostering ethno-religious and regional divisions. Following the Yinon Plan, in the first instance, Tel Aviv signed accords with Jordan and Egypt to break-up Arab regional support for the Palestinians. It then proceeded to fragment what remained of Arab-Palestine into small warring enclaves between the West Bank and Gaza. Israel then sub-divided and settled wide swatches of the West Bank with the collaboration of the corrupt ‘Palestinian Authority’ under Mahmoud Abbas.
Israel’s ‘divide and conquer’ strategy toward the Greater Middle East depended on its placement of ‘Israel First’ officials in top policymaking positions of the US Defense, State and Treasury Departments and the power of the Zionist Power Configuration (ZPC) — the so-called “Israel Lobby” – to control the US Congress and Presidency in matters related to Israel.
The Israeli Mid-East strategy of fragmenting and weakening pro-Palestinian governments thus become the official US policy toward Arab countries.
This policy has not been limited to the Arab Middle East: Israel and US policymakers intervened to undermine the ‘pro-Palestinian’ government of Sudan by supporting a secessionist war to create a huge resource-rich ‘Southern Sudan’ conglomeration of tribal warlords, leaving a devastated region of mass murder and famine.
Somalia, Libya and Ethiopia were also riven by regional wars financed and armed by the US with overt and covert Israeli operatives and advisers.
Israel’s policy to weaken, fragment and destroy viable developing countries, differed from the traditional policies of colonial regimes, which sought to conquer and exploit unified nation-states. Washington has blindly followed Israel’s imperial ‘model’ without assessing its impact on US interests and thus undermining its past practice of economic exploitation of viable nation states.
‘Israel First’ officials within the US federal administrative policy-making bodies played a decisive role in fabricating the pretexts for the 2003 US invasion and destruction of Iraq. They pushed fake ‘documents’ alleging Iraqi ‘weapons of mass destruction’ and they promoted a plan to sub-divide the country in three ethnically ‘cleansed’ regions: Kurds (as Israel’s allies) in the North, impoverished Sunnis in the center and easily controlled Shia tribal leaders in the South.
The policy of dismantling a central government and promoting regional fragmentation backfired on the US authorities in Iraq: Sunni insurgents, often trained by experienced Baathist (former Iraqi Army) officers, formed the ‘Islamic State’ (ISIS), which took over major cities, slaughtering all non-Arab, non-Sunni residents, and threatened to established an independent state. The Shia-led government in Baghdad turned to Iran for support, forcing the US, Israel and the Kurds to declare war against ISIS, while trying to retain the weakened Sunni tribal clients. No viable central government remains in the once powerful multiethnic republic of Iraq.
The US joined Saudi Arabia in invading and bombing Yemen to destroy the Houthi rebels and favor the Sunni Salafist groups allied to al Qaeda. The goal was to weaken Yemen and prevent popular Yemini revolts from spreading to Saudi Arabia as well as undermining any Houthi alliances with Iran and expression of support for Palestine.
The US directly invaded Afghanistan expecting to easily conquer and ‘neatly’ subdivide that enormous region and ‘skillfully’ pit the various regional ethno-tribal groups against each other – while setting up a lucrative and militarily strategic site for launching future wars against US (and Israeli) rivals in Iran, Central Asia and China.
The battle-hardened Afghan Islamist Pashtun guerrilla-fighters, led by the Taliban, and unified by ethno-religious, national, tribal and extended family ties and customs, have successfully resisted this divide and conquer strategy. They now control most of the countryside, infiltrating and influencing the armed forces and police and have driven the US forces into garrison airbases, reliant on dropping mega bombs from the stratosphere.
Meanwhile, blinded by the media propaganda reports of their ‘successes’, Washington and the NATO powers launched a bloody surrogate war against the secular nationalist government of Syria, seeking to divide, conquer and obliterate an independent, pro-Palestine, pro-Iran, ally of Russia.
NATO’s invading armies and mercenary groups, however, are sub-divided into strange factions with shifting allegiances and patrons. At one level, there are the EU/US-supported ‘moderate’ head-chopping rebels. Then there are the Turkey and Saudi Arabia-supported ‘serious’ head-chopping al Qaeda Salafists. Finally there is the ‘champion’ head-chopping ISIS conglomeration based in Iraq and Syria, as well as a variety of Kurdish armed groups serving as Israeli mercenaries.
The US-EU efforts to conquer and control Syria, via surrogates, mercenaries and terrorists, was defeated largely because of Syria’s alliance with Russia, Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
Syria has effectively been ‘chopped up’ by competing imperial and regional powers leading to a possible confrontation among major powers. The US-Kurdish-Turkey conflict provides the most immediate danger of serious open warfare among major nations.
Among the myriad surrogate groups that Washington supported in its seemingly contradictory policy of violently overthrowing the Syrian government in Damascus while seizing territory from ISIS, Pentagon strategists have relied most heavily on the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (YPG). The US escalated its military support for the YPG, promising heavy arms and increased US ground and air support. Meanwhile, the YPG expanded its control of the Kurdish regions in Syria especially along the Turkish border, creating a powerful territorial tie of Syrian-Kurds with Turkish-Kurds and Iraqi-Kurds. The US generous supply of heavy weapons to the YPG has increased the Kurds capacity to fight Turkey for the establishment of a contiguous ‘Greater Kurdistan’. Moreover, the US government has publicly informed Turkey that its armed forces will provide a ‘shield’ to protect the YPG – and indirectly the PKK – from Turkish attack.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is acutely aware that the YPG’s goal is to partition Southeastern Turkey and Northern Syria and form a Kurdish state with Iraqi Kurdistan. US Defense Secretary James Mattis’ pledge that ‘Washington is committed to protecting its NATO ally (Turkey)’ is ambiguous at best and most likely a hollow promise. Washington is counting on the Kurds as a strategic ally against both Damascus and ISIS. Only after accomplishing their twin goals in Syria might the Pentagon turn against the Kurds and support the Turkish government.
Complicating this scenario, the Israelis have long-standing ties with the Iraqi Kurds as part of their own divide and conquer strategy. Meanwhile, Tel Aviv has been bombing Damascus, aiding ISIS fighters in southern Syria (with material and ‘humanitarian’ medical treatment) while supporting YPG against the Syrian and Turkish militaries.
The Erdoğan regime is in a quandary: A victory for the Kurdish YPG and their occupation of territory along its border will materially threaten the ‘unity of the Turkish state’. An armed, unified Kurdish presence in this region will result in enormous pressure on Erdoğan from the nationalist political parties and supporters and the Turkish Armed Forces. On the other hand, if Erdoğan launches cross border attacks on the Pentagon-supported YPG it will directly face US ground and air power.
President Erdoğan is clearly aware that the US was involved with the silent ‘Gulanist’ permeation of the Turkish state leading up to the 2016 abortive Gulanist coup. Erdoğan’s scheduled meeting with US President Donald Trump in mid-May may not resolve the impending Turkish-Kurdish confrontation in Syria where the US is committed to protecting the YPG.
Washington hopes to convince President Erdoğan that the YPG will hand this strategic territory over to an amorphous, minuscule puppet Arab-led militia, presumably made up of non-Kurdish collaborates of the US-NATO-Saudi war against Damascus. It is hard to imagine the veteran politician Erdoğan believing a Pentagon plan for the YPG to just hand over its territorial patrimony after having fought and died to secure the region. The US is in no position to force the YPG to surrender its gains because the YPG is crucial to the Washington-Israeli-Saudi plan to destroy the central government in Damascus and fragment Syria into weak tribal mini-states.
Erdoğan’s imminent failure to get Washington support for his war with the Kurds will force him to play his ‘nationalist’ card: There will be more pro-Palestine rhetoric, more opposition to a Cyprus accord, more pro-Russia posturing and the ‘discovery’ of more and greater ‘internal threats’ to the great Turkish State.
Will Erdoğan be able defuse the hostility among his own and independent nationalist supporters?
One point is clear: A territorially-based powerful Kurdish militia, armed by the US, will be far more formidable threat to the unity of the Turkish state than the previous ill-armed rag-tag guerrillas in the mountains of northern Iraq.
It will be a humiliating defeat if Erdoğan surrenders to Pentagon demands and tolerates a US-YPG alliance on Turkey’s border. Erdoğan has some powerful options of his own: Turkey might deny the US Armed Forces access to its huge airbases in Turkey thus weakening NATO’s ‘southern flank’. A Turkish threat to withdraw from NATO altogether would have greater repercussions. Even the slightest hint of exercising these options would set off a ‘second coup’ against Erdoğan. This would involve a more serious US-NATO-backed uprising by senior Turkish officers, ‘nationalists’, democratic secularists and Kurds in major urban centers with ‘Gulanist’ politicians and bureaucrats waiting in the wings.
President Trump and the Pentagon may gain a foothold against Damascus with Kurdish surrogates in Northern Syria, but the loss of Turkey will be a strategic setback. Behind all of this confusion and devastation the partition of Syria and, eventually of Turkey, fits in very well with Greater Israel’s ‘Oded Yinon Plan’ for subdividing Muslim countries.Photo The article at the center of two defamation trials against Rolling Stone.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — In a defiant defense of the magazine he founded and owns, Jann S. Wenner said Rolling Stone was wrong to fully retract a discredited 2014 article about allegations of a gang rape at the University of Virginia, asserting in videotaped testimony shown on Friday that much of the material in the article was correct.
“We did everything reasonable, appropriate up to the highest standards of journalism to check on this thing,” Mr. Wenner said in a libel trial in federal court here. “The one thing we didn’t do was confront Jackie’s accusers — the rapists.”
As he has previously, Mr. Wenner assigned much of the blame to the woman at the center of the article, identified as Jackie, whose account of being raped began to fall apart shortly after the article was published two years ago. Mr. Wenner said there was nothing a journalist could do “if someone is really determined to commit a fraud.”
He said that while the magazine rightly retracted “the Jackie stuff,” he disagreed with the decision to retract the entire article in the wake of a damning report on it in April 2015 by The Columbia Journalism Review. He said the bulk of the article detailed ways that the University of Virginia could improve its treatment of victims of sexual assault.
“I stand by the rest of the article: personally, professionally and on behalf of the magazine,” Mr. Wenner said.
Advertisement Continue reading the main story
The defamation suit, which seeks $7.5 million in damages, was brought by Nicole Eramo, a former associate dean of students at the university, who said the Rolling Stone article depicted her as the “chief villain” of the story. Mr. Wenner, like several other witnesses in this trial, which was in its 11th day, testified in video excerpts from their depositions.
The plaintiffs rested their case on Friday. The trial is to resume on Monday.
Mr. Wenner wore an open-collared striped shirt and an olive green sport coat for the deposition, which was taped at the New York office of the magazine’s lawyers in May.
Asked about what is known as Rolling Stone’s “point-of-view reporting,” Mr. Wenner, the editor and publisher, said it presented challenges.
“You just want to be double careful, and by and large we are,” he said. “We are deeply committed to accuracy in a humanistic philosophical pursuit of the truth.”
He asserted that his magazine’s journalistic standards compared favorably to those of The New York Times, The Washington Post and The New Yorker, and its fact-checking to Time and The New Yorker.
At times defiant, Mr. Wenner at other times veered toward contrition, and then abruptly pulled back, as when apologizing to the plaintiff.
“I’m very, very sorry,” he said, then added quickly, “Believe me, I’ve suffered as much as you have.”
Mr. Wenner testified that he knew there was a problem when he came to work the first Friday in December 2014 and found his managing editor, Will Dana, distraught.
The deposition also provided Mr. Wenner’s fullest account of his decision to terminate Mr. Dana and the reporter who wrote the article, Sabrina Rubin Erdely. She had just begun a $300,000 writing contract. Mr. Wenner said that the quality of their work had slipped, in part because of fallout from the article.
Advertisement Continue reading the main story
“I cannot run the company with devastated, traumatized people,” he said.FT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – A cyclist taking part in a Critical Mass bike ride in Ft. Lauderdale last week was arrested for challenging a police officer’s actions.
It happened Friday night when Raymond Strack, 55, and pack of approximately 800 bicyclists, who were heading west on Oakland Park Boulevard, reached a drawbridge, according to the Sun-Sentinel.
Strack’s friend Stuart Nelson told the paper as they began to go up the bridge a police sergeant on a motorcycle set the speed at 3 mph which made it very difficult for the cyclists to maintain their balance.
When Strack, who was in the lead, rode up alongside the officer and complained that she was going to slowly, Nelson said the sergeant turned her motorcycle into Strack, pinning him against a curb which almost caused him to crash, according to the paper.
Strack slowed and tried again, this time coming up on the officer’s other side.
“He was saying, ‘What the hell are you doing? … You almost killed me’,” Nelson told the paper.
That’s when things went from bad to worse.
According to Nelson, as Strack was confronting the sergeant another officer on a bicycle rode up behind him, grabbed him by his shirt, dragged him off his bike and forced him to the ground.
Other bicyclists watched in frustration as Strack, who was yelling that he was not resisting, was cuffed and arrested. They shouted at the officers to be careful because Strack had an injured back.
Strack, who was charged with disobeying an officer and resisting arrest, sustained his back injury on the the same bridge six months ago when he was struck by a car.
Fort Lauderdale police did not respond to a request for comment, according to the paper.
RELATED CONTENT:Other findings: Houstonians feel better about personal economic outlooks, support alternatives to the death penalty, and hold more positive attitudes toward immigration
Findings from the 33rd annual Kinder Institute Houston Area Survey by Rice University reveal that the residents of one of the nation’s largest and fastest-growing cities are now evenly divided on an issue that will have a long-term impact on quality of life – public versus private transportation.
Other key findings from the 2014 survey:
Houstonians overwhelmingly support alternatives to the death penalty.
Attitudes toward undocumented immigrants continue to improve.
Personal economic outlooks have brightened considerably.
Area residents increasingly support gay rights and medical marijuana.
The survey results were presented today by sociologist Stephen Klineberg, co-director of Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research, at the 2014 Kinder Institute Annual Luncheon at the Hilton Americas in downtown Houston.
Quality of life and transportation
While Houstonians agree on the city’s livability — 77 percent said the Houston area is an “excellent” or “good” place to live — residents are evenly divided in their support for improved public transit (49 percent) or expanded highways (47 percent) and for living in single-family, car-dependent residential areas (47 percent) or in more urbanized neighborhoods with a mix of developments (51 percent). In addition, 29 percent (up from 21 percent in 2013) now say that traffic — more than the economy or crime — is the biggest problem facing the Houston area.
“The Houston region is one of the most sprawling, least dense, most automobile-dependent metropolitan areas in the country,” Klineberg said. “By 2030, the Houston-Galveston Area Council forecasts that Harris County will add another one million residents, and another 3.5 million will move into the nine-county region as a whole. Area leaders need to think long and hard about how best to accommodate this growth.”
Klineberg said that while few would call for implementing comprehensive zoning regulations in Houston, 69 percent of this year’s survey respondents agreed that better land-use planning is needed to guide development in the Houston area. Only 28 percent agreed instead that “people and business should be free to build wherever they want.”
“No zoning does not have to mean no planning,” Klineberg said.
Social issues and ethnic relations
Texas is widely known for its use of the death penalty, with the state accounting for 42 percent of U.S. executions in 2013, twice as many as any other state. However, Houstonians themselves are overwhelmingly in favor of alternatives to capital punishment. In the 2014 survey, 68 percent of area residents expressed support for life imprisonment as an alternative to the death penalty “for persons convicted of first-degree murder.” In addition, 72 percent of the survey respondents agreed that “individuals in possession of small amounts of illegal drugs should be fined rather than sent to jail,” and 65 percent support “making marijuana legally available for medical purposes.”
Klineberg noted that the Houston metropolitan area, by 41 to 37 percent, is only slightly more Democratic than Republican. He said the survey’s findings on capital punishment represent an important shift in thinking among both liberals and conservatives, in light of exorbitant costs and the potential for mistakenly executing innocent people.
Klineberg also noted the striking shift in Houstonians’ attitudes toward gay rights over the years. In 1991, for example, only 17 percent of the |
.95 6 412290 Jerde-Hilpert 10005 S1-47412 44 78.91 3472.04 7 412290 Jerde-Hilpert 10005 S1-27722 36 25.42 915.12 8 218895 Kulas Inc 10006 S1-27722 32 95.66 3061.12 9 218895 Kulas Inc 10006 B1-33087 23 22.55 518.65 10 218895 Kulas Inc 10006 B1-33364 3 72.30 216.90 11 218895 Kulas Inc 10006 B1-20000 -1 72.18 -72.18 You can see in the data that the file contains 3 different orders (10001, 10005 and 10006) and that each order consists has multiple products (aka skus). The question we would like to answer is: “What percentage of the order total does each sku represent?” For example, if we look at order 10001 with a total of $576.12, the break down would be: B1-20000 = $235.83 or 40.9%
S1-27722 = $232.32 or 40.3%
B1-86481 = $107.97 or 18.7% The tricky part in this calculation is that we need to get a total for each order and combine it back with the transaction level detail in order to get the percentages. In Excel, you could try to use some version of a subtotal to try to calculate the values.
First Approach - Merging If you are familiar with pandas, your first inclination is going to be trying to group the data into a new dataframe and combine it in a multi-step process. Here’s what that approach would look like. Import all the modules we need and read in our data: import pandas as pd df = pd. read_excel ( "sales_transactions.xlsx" ) Now that the data is in a dataframe, determining the total by order is simple with the help of the standard groupby aggregation. df. groupby ( 'order' )[ "ext price" ]. sum () order 10001 576.12 10005 8185.49 10006 3724.49 Name: ext price, dtype: float64 Here is a simple image showing what is happening with the standard groupby The tricky part is figuring out how to combine this data back with the original dataframe. The first instinct is to create a new dataframe with the totals by order and merge it back with the original. We could do something like this: order_total = df. groupby ( 'order' )[ "ext price" ]. sum (). rename ( "Order_Total" ). reset_index () df_1 = df. merge ( order_total ) df_1 [ "Percent_of_Order" ] = df_1 [ "ext price" ] / df_1 [ "Order_Total" ] account name order sku quantity unit price ext price order total Order_Total Percent_of_Order 0 383080 Will LLC 10001 B1-20000 7 33.69 235.83 576.12 576.12 0.409342 1 383080 Will LLC 10001 S1-27722 11 21.12 232.32 576.12 576.12 0.403249 2 383080 Will LLC 10001 B1-86481 3 35.99 107.97 576.12 576.12 0.187409 3 412290 Jerde-Hilpert 10005 S1-06532 48 55.82 2679.36 8185.49 8185.49 0.327330 4 412290 Jerde-Hilpert 10005 S1-82801 21 13.62 286.02 8185.49 8185.49 0.034942 5 412290 Jerde-Hilpert 10005 S1-06532 9 92.55 832.95 8185.49 8185.49 0.101759 6 412290 Jerde-Hilpert 10005 S1-47412 44 78.91 3472.04 8185.49 8185.49 0.424170 7 412290 Jerde-Hilpert 10005 S1-27722 36 25.42 915.12 8185.49 8185.49 0.111798 8 218895 Kulas Inc 10006 S1-27722 32 95.66 3061.12 3724.49 3724.49 0.821890 9 218895 Kulas Inc 10006 B1-33087 23 22.55 518.65 3724.49 3724.49 0.139254 10 218895 Kulas Inc 10006 B1-33364 3 72.30 216.90 3724.49 3724.49 0.058236 11 218895 Kulas Inc 10006 B1-20000 -1 72.18 -72.18 3724.49 3724.49 -0.019380 This certainly works but there are several steps needed to get the data combined in the manner we need.
Second Approach - Using Transform Using the original data, let’s try using transform and groupby and see what we get: df. groupby ( 'order' )[ "ext price" ]. transform ('sum' ) 0 576.12 1 576.12 2 576.12 3 8185.49 4 8185.49 5 8185.49 6 8185.49 7 8185.49 8 3724.49 9 3724.49 10 3724.49 11 3724.49 dtype: float64 You will notice how this returns a different size data set from our normal groupby functions. Instead of only showing the totals for 3 orders, we retain the same number of items as the original data set. That is the unique feature of using transform. The final step is pretty simple: df [ "Order_Total" ] = df. groupby ( 'order' )[ "ext price" ]. transform ('sum' ) df [ "Percent_of_Order" ] = df [ "ext price" ] / df [ "Order_Total" ] account name order sku quantity unit price ext price order total Order_Total Percent_of_Order 0 383080 Will LLC 10001 B1-20000 7 33.69 235.83 576.12 576.12 0.409342 1 383080 Will LLC 10001 S1-27722 11 21.12 232.32 576.12 576.12 0.403249 2 383080 Will LLC 10001 B1-86481 3 35.99 107.97 576.12 576.12 0.187409 3 412290 Jerde-Hilpert 10005 S1-06532 48 55.82 2679.36 8185.49 8185.49 0.327330 4 412290 Jerde-Hilpert 10005 S1-82801 21 13.62 286.02 8185.49 8185.49 0.034942 5 412290 Jerde-Hilpert 10005 S1-06532 9 92.55 832.95 8185.49 8185.49 0.101759 6 412290 Jerde-Hilpert 10005 S1-47412 44 78.91 3472.04 8185.49 8185.49 0.424170 7 412290 Jerde-Hilpert 10005 S1-27722 36 25.42 915.12 8185.49 8185.49 0.111798 8 218895 Kulas Inc 10006 S1-27722 32 95.66 3061.12 3724.49 3724.49 0.821890 9 218895 Kulas Inc 10006 B1-33087 23 22.55 518.65 3724.49 3724.49 0.139254 10 218895 Kulas Inc 10006 B1-33364 3 72.30 216.90 3724.49 3724.49 0.058236 11 218895 Kulas Inc 10006 B1-20000 -1 72.18 -72.18 3724.49 3724.49 -0.019380 As an added bonus, you could combine into one statement if you did not want to show the individual order totals: df [ "Percent_of_Order" ] = df [ "ext price" ] / df. groupby ( 'order' )[ "ext price" ]. transform ('sum' ) Here is a diagram to show what is happening: After taking the time to understand transform, I think you will agree that this tool can be very powerful - even if it is a unique approach as compared to the standard Excel mindset.AutoGuide.com
The Jaguar F-Type shook things up with it revived the brand’s presence in the sports car segment, but there’s still plenty to come from the British brand that loves to be bad.
Long before the company even launched its initial F-Type product salvo, then-North American Jaguar Land Rover boss Andy Goss told AutoGuide.com in an interview at the 2013 Chicago Auto Show that the company was weighing the possibility of a manual transmission version. At the time, he said top Jaguar’s top brass wanted a stick from the outset, but that it needed to focus on higher volume models before anything so niche would be possible. You see, manuals don’t sell outside of Neverland anymore with luxury sports car buyers.
Information about future plans for the car hasn’t stopped trickling out, even as more models including the 550-hp V8 R version of the coupe nears dealers. Rumors of a more enthusiast focused “club sport” model began emerging in late March that would shed several hundred pounds to enhance performance in what would amount to an even lower volume iteration aimed at enthusiasts. There have also been rumors that Jaguar intends to offer a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder model.
Whether Jaguar makes a business case for a version like that or not, the company is apparently readying a variant equipped with a manual transmission as well as a version of the car with all-wheel drive. Jaguar spokesman Wayne Kung declined to confirm the rumor in an e-mail inquiry.
Offering an all-wheel drive version of the car could pose to greatly enhance its sales potential. Especially in supercharged V8 form, the car easily overpowers its rear wheels and directing some of that force to the front could make it a much more manageable package.
Goss wasn’t shy more than a year ago about the company’s desire and ability to offer a manual and while there still isn’t official confirmation from the company, it wouldn’t be shocking to see Jaguar positioning its sports car for stronger sales. In the U.S., the convertible version just marked its 12th month with over 3,100 units moved to date. The coupe version will hit dealers very soon and presumably, the well-received model will continue to enjoy stronger sales as a result. After all, the V6 coupe variants both come at a substantial discount to their cloth top counterparts.
GALLERY: 2014 Jaguar F-Type
Discuss this story at our Jaguar F-Type forumFormer Hollywood actor Corey Feldman has been arrested on a marijuana charge in Louisiana after his tour bus was pulled over for speeding, days after he made headlines for speaking about allegations of paedophilia in Hollywood.
Feldman, who is currently on tour with his band, was taken to Mangham police station and charged with speeding, driving under suspension and possession of marijuana, KNOE8News reported. He was released after paying a fine.
After pulling the bus over, officers found the 46-year-old's licence had been suspended, police chief Perry Fleming said.
Join Independent Minds For exclusive articles, events and an advertising-free read for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month Get the best of The Independent With an Independent Minds subscription for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month Get the best of The Independent Without the ads – for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
After taking Feldman and four of his crew to the police station, an officer smelled marijuana and searched Feldman. Five other people in the crew were charged with separate offences.
Feldman tweeted about the encounter, claiming that he was not arrested or put in jail but received a misdemeanour due to a member of his crew possessing medical marijuana on his bus, and called the timing “ironic”.
“No illegal or street drugs were found on the bus at all! Which is why nobody spend the night in jail,” he wrote, calling the encounter “a bit of a good ol’ shakedown”.
“After we paid them in cash, they asks for pictures and autographs, then called the local paper to do interviews. I do find the timing of this all ironic,” he added.
Feldman, who has previously made allegations about being sexually abused when he was younger, sent a series of tweets on Friday stating that he will not name his or "anyone else's" abuser, but stated he would "love others to come forward".
“For the record: I will not be going on a talk show to disclose names of my abuser or anyone else’s abusers. So please stop asking me to do so,” he wrote.
“Also let me add, this is not about fear of being sued! Yes that’s a real possibility but the bigger reason is safety for my family.”
He added that he would “love others to come forward as there are many other witnesses to the crimes I have addressed. Still not one of my peers has offered anything up in a decade”.
Feldman, who starred in many films with friend Corey Haim, has spoken of the alleged abuse they were both subjected to on a number of occasions.
In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter last year, Feldman said that Haim, who died in 2010 of pneumonia following long-running issues with drug addiction, “had more direct abuse than I did”.
“With me, there were some molestations and it did come from several hands, so to speak, but with Corey, his was direct rape, whereas mine was not actual rape. And his also occurred when he was 11. My son is 11 now and I can’t even begin to fathom the idea of something like that happening to him. It would destroy his whole being,” he said at the time.wings+horns and adidas Originals join forces ahead of the 2016 fall/winter season on a premium range of tonal apparel, accessories and footwear. A followup to their 2015 effort, the two unveil an impressive range of sportswear pieces utilizing innovative manufacturing methods, iconic silhouettes and inspiration from Japanese shadow theory, all the while retaining a distinct classic edge. The bonded hoodie, crewneck, and track pant are revisited with top-of-the-line Canadian manufacturing and insulating technologies, while a selection of versatile casualwear, most notably the quilted vest, sherpa jacket and ombre track top, serve as a nod to traditional craftsmanship. This juxtaposition of classic and contemporary styles is evident in the choices of footwear for this collaboration, namely the Gazelle 85 and Flux ADV X. Both silhouettes are available in two tonal makeups of off-white and navy blue, and boast co-branding throughout. Rounding out the collection is a utilitarian helmet bag finished in black cotton, and a pair of woven beanies to keep you protected from the cold in style. Check out the accompanying lookbook above and purchase any pieces from the wings+horns x adidas Originals 2016 fall/winter collection at select retailers in September.A new Pentagon-commissioned report, put together by the RAND Corporation, suggests that Port Blair could be ideally suited as a base for American drones in the event of an offensive against China
The paper was commissioned by the Pentagon on the instructions of the US Congress and looks into the presence of the American military at various bases and locations across the globe
As part of this assessment, the researchers at RAND looked into large-scale operations against potential adversaries, including Iran, North Korea and China
The paper said the Navy would strive to station a detachment of broad area maritime surveillance UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles or drones) at Port Blair airport to increase surveillance over the Strait of Malacca, which carries about a quarter of all oil that is transported
Port Blair might not be anything more than a vacation spot for most Indians, but a new Pentagon-commissioned report seeks to turn it into something radically different: a base for American drones.In possibly the first reference to the use of Indian territory for the US military in recent times, the paper, put together by the RAND Corporation, suggests that the capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands could be ideally suited as a base for American drones in the event of an offensive against China.The paper, titled 'Overseas Basing of US Military Forces', was commissioned by the Pentagon on the instructions of the US Congress and looks into the presence of the American military at various bases and locations across the globe.As part of this assessment, the researchers at RAND looked into large-scale operations against potential adversaries, including Iran, North Korea and China.Under this scenario, the paper suggests significant changes in the Indo-Pacific region."The Navy and the Marine Corps would also increase the number of combat forces that are stationed on US territories in the Pacific, in particular in Hawaii and Guam, while seeking to retain more marines in Okinawa than currently agreed," the paper says.It adds that the US should seek to increase the presence of troops at bases in Australia. It then goes on to refers to the use of Indian territory to look over the strategically important Straits of Malacca, which carries about a quarter of all oil that is transported."The Navy would strive to station a detachment of broad area maritime surveillance UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles or drones) at Port Blair airport in the Andaman Islands, to increase surveillance over the Strait of Malacca," the paper said.James Brown, a Military Fellow at the Lowy Institute's International Security Program and Project Coordinator of the MacArthur Foundation Asia Security Project, points out that this is a possibly unprecedented suggestion - particularly because of its China focus."While there is no doubt that the Andaman Islands are strategic real estate, this is the first time I have seen anyone float the thought bubble that the US might be able to operate maritime surveillance assets from Indian territory," Brown wrote in a post examining the paper."At first glance it seems incredibly unlikely, but the US and Indian navies have been steadily increasing their cooperation since 2006... In the event of Chinese aggression, it is not inconceivable that India might permit the US to operate maritime surveillance platforms from its Andaman Islands territory."Canada coach Francois Ratier has named a 26-player squad for the Women’s Rugby Super Series 2016 in Salt Lake City, Utah, from 1-9 July.
Canada will joined by England, hosts USA and France, who replace last year's winners New Zealand, as preparations continue for Women’s Rugby World Cup 2017.
VIEW THE SUPER SERIES FIXTURES >>
Additionally, Ratier has also selected a 23-player Maple Leafs team that will also compete in Utah against the USA All-Americans.
“It’s very important to be in Utah with these two teams,” Ratier said. “It's an opportunity for our senior team to continue on the road to Women’s Rugby World Cup 2017 while giving members of the Maple Leafs a chance to perform and win or reclaim a spot with Canada in the future as well.”
Laura Russell (pictured), who took the armband for last year’s tournament that was held in Alberta, will once again captain Canada’s senior team, and she is joined by 14 other returnees from 2015.
NEW OPPORTUNITIES
"We are still looking to increase our depth at some key positions like scrum-half and fly-half... We want to make sure we can have more than two options before the Women’s Rugby World Cup" Canada Women's head coach Francois Ratier
There’s also an opportunity for eight players - Anais Holly, Fabiola Forteza, Brianna Miller, Frédérique Rajotte, Elysa Sandron, Kristy Sargent, Demi Stamatakis and Amanda Williams - to make their test debuts for Canada.
“We are still looking to increase our depth at some key positions like scrum-half and fly-half,” said Ratier. “We want to make sure we can have more than two options before the Women’s Rugby World Cup.
Additionally, Emily Belchos and Kayla Mack, veterans of Canada’s second-place finish at Women’s Rugby World Cup 2014, have been released from Canada’s women’s sevens programme to play for the senior side.
“They haven’t played 15s since the last World Cup but they are fit and they know how to play rugby,” commented Ratier.
TOUGH COMPETITION
Last year, Canada was narrowly beaten 15-14 by England while USA edged past Canada 36-28 in Red Deer. Canada have not faced France since defeating them in the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2014 semi-final.
“England are the world champions, France just won the Six Nations and USA is always a big battle so the competition will be tough,” added Ratier. “But that is what we need to be better and stronger.”
Canada’s Maple Leafs team features a number of the country’s finest young players while mixing in players with test experience including Gillian Allen, Julia Folk, Lisa Gauthier, Lori Josephson, Jess Neilson, Camile Provençal-Aube, Natasha Smith and Emma Taylor.
Later this year, Canada will head to the UK for another tour as preparation for WRWC 2017, and while two sides have been picked for the Super Series, Ratier insisted selection for that tour is not a foregone conclusion
“We will pick the November squad for the UK based on performances with Canada, the Maple Leafs, National Championships, CIS (Canadian Interuniversity Sport Championship) and released sevens players so it’s a busy summer and provides many chances for the players to confirm or win a spot in the senior team.”
Canada squad for Women’s Rugby Super Series: Emily Belchos, Latoya Blackwood, Tyson Beukeboom, Andrea Burk, Olivia DeMerchant, Fabiola Forteza, Chelsea Guthrie, Anais Holly, Mary-Jane Kirby, Kayla Mack, Carolyn McEwen, DaLeaka Menin, Barbara Mervin, Katie McNally, Brianna Miller, Jacey Murphy, Frédérique Rajotte, Laura Russell (captain), Elysa Sandron, Kristy Sargent,Demi Stamatakis, Katie Svoboda, Alex Tessier, Brittany Waters, Amanda Williams, Julianne Zussman.A starving newborn who was abandoned near a remote forest settlement in Colombia was saved by a responding police officer who breastfed her while they waited for paramedics. Police officer Luisa Fernanda Urrea responded to the call and found the hours-old baby in bushes, Central European News (CEN) reported.
“I’m a new mother and I have milk and I recognized the needs that this poor little creature had,” Urrea told CEN. Medics said without Urrea’s actions the baby, who was still had part of the umbilical cord attached, might have died.
“I think any woman would have given her nourishment in the same circumstances,” she told CEN.
A local who called police after hearing the baby cry said she initially believed it was a cat.
“The girl had some lacerations and was suffering from hypothermia. However, she was treated quickly and is now in good health,” police commandant Javier Martin told CEN.
She is currently being cared for by the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare (ICBF) while they search for an adoptive family. Police are also searching for the newborn’s mother who may face charges.The riveting story of award-winning, legally trained journalist Lee Strobel as told in the book The Case for Christ has become a series of books, which have together sold 14 million copies. Yesterday it opened as a movie, about which Lee Strobel said, “It’s been an incredible journey, not only to go from atheism to faith, but to see the raw reality of our lives played out on film. In the end, it’s our hope that everyone who sees it will take their own faith journey.”
If you’re a Christian who wants a pat on the head and you don’t need to think too hard about the arguments given, that might work. For everyone else, it’s an unsurprising journey from lack of God belief to Christian faith with a greatest hits collection of weak Christian arguments. It would’ve been a lot more engaging if they’d handed out Bingo cards of ridiculous Christian arguments.
Lee Strobel: award-winning journalist
The movie opens at the Chicago Tribune with Lee getting an award for investigative journalism into questions about the safety of the Ford Pinto. We learn the kind of guy he is when he says, “The only way to truth is through facts.”
His family life is blissful, but then at a restaurant, his little daughter chokes on a gumball. A nurse at the restaurant saves her. Afterwards, the nurse tells the wife that Jesus told her to be there that night. At home in bed, the daughter asks about Jesus, and we learn that the parents are atheists.
This event plants a seed in the wife’s mind. She later visits the nurse, and they talk about God. And then go to a church service together. The pastor says that we must listen for God’s whisper. He says, “Open your heart and take a chance.”
Clearly, not all the arguments are of the “just the facts” type.
After more church and a bit of praying, the wife admits to Lee that she’s now drawn to the Jesus thing. He gets offended and goes out to get drunk solo. Is his marriage at a crossroads?
The quest
Lee has two older mentors at the newspaper, an atheist and a Christian, and he discusses his concerns with each. The Christian mentor challenges Lee to investigate the Jesus story and points to a banner on the newsroom wall: “If your mother says she loves you, check it out.” He visits Gary Habermas, and we get the first of more than a dozen weak Christian apologetic arguments. I’ll summarize each argument that I noticed for completeness and for your amusement, but I won’t spend much time rebutting them. (I’ll put brief comments in italics after each one.)
☢ Atheist Gerd Lüdemann says that Paul’s 1 Corinthians 15 passage was written just three years after the event. (That’s debatable, but even so, it doesn’t mean much. More here.) ☢ Paul claims that 500 eyewitnesses saw the risen Christ. (Is that compelling evidence? Then why didn’t the gospels include it, too? More here.) ☢ There are nine sources for the crucifixion, some of them outside the Bible. (I haven’t studied this one. I hope to do so and write about it soon.) Lee gave people drinking poison Kool-Aid at Jonestown in 1978 as an example of people laying down their lives for stupid reasons. ☢ Habermas responds that those people didn’t drink poison for something they knew was a lie or hoax (That’s true, but very few atheists argue that the resurrection was a lie or a hoax! More here.)
Lee sets up an unused storeroom in the newspaper’s basement to organize his research into Jesus, like in a murder case. As he revisits it in subsequent scenes, we see the white board filling with claims and photos.
The plot thickens
And now, a subplot: a Chicago cop is shot, and a man named Hicks is charged with the crime. Lee investigates, and all the evidence points to his guilt... though it’s clear to us in the audience that there’s more to this story.
Lee interviews another Jesus expert, a priest this time, and we get more arguments. ☢ Historians have 5800 copies of Greek New Testament manuscripts, three times more than second-place Homer. The priest shows an illuminated page from Homer that was written 800 years after the original. (I wonder why the priest doesn’t make clear that 800 years is better than 90 percent of those Greek New Testament manuscripts. More here.) ☢ He also has a facsimile of P52, a papyrus scrap of John, which may have been copied just 30 years after the original. (If you actually care about textual criticism, you’ll find that Mormonism has far better evidence than Christianity. More here.) ☢ Finally, there’s the photo negative of the Shroud of Turin hung on the wall of the church. (You like old evidence? Then you’ll be interested to hear that the oldest well-documented reference to this shroud—which is just one of dozens from a time when relics were valuable properties—states that it is a forgery. More here.)
Lee is back in his underground lair to organize all this data. We increasingly see Lee’s quest in parallel with his wife studying the Bible. Back at home, he gets drunk. Tensions flare, and she asks Jesus for help.
See also: Response to Lee Strobel’s “Five E’s of Evidence”
Time to speak to a world-famous apologist
And now, a phone call with William Lane Craig and more evidence. ☢ Maybe the disciples went to the wrong tomb? (Not an argument that I make.) ☢ Lee notes that women weren’t reliable witnesses in Jewish culture. Craig responds with the Criterion of Embarrassment: why would you put something like that in unless it were true? This is evidence that they weren’t making up the story. (Here again, the only one proposing that the story was made up is you. Anyway, women at the tomb makes perfect sense. More here.) ☢ What about the contradictions in the accounts? Craig says that if there weren’t some contradictions, you’d suspect collusion and challenges him: “When is enough evidence enough evidence?” (I discuss contradictions in the resurrection accounts here.)
Lee’s questions are those of an amateur. That’s fine, since we all have to start somewhere, but every question is Lee’s own. He comes up with some good questions, but the Church has had 2000 years to paper over its embarrassing problems, so their riposte is often compelling. Where’s the atheist expert to interview? That expert would give Lee good responses to the Christian arguments and give him more questions to ask. Lee’s attack isn’t bad for a novice, but the average atheist blogger would make quick work of the Christian position.
Lee finds new data in the cop shooter case and writes a front page story that puts Hicks away for a long time. Clearly he’s a great investigator! It’s good we have him on our side to check out the Jesus story.
He placates his wife by going to church once, ☢ where the pastor talks about people turning away from the church simply because of bad experiences with the church, not because it’s not true. (Not an argument I make.)
Lee’s parents show up to see their new baby, and we discover that Lee has issues with his distant father.
Trouble at home
Things are going poorly on the marriage front. He confronts his wife: wouldn’t you want to know if it’s not true? She throws it back at him: Wouldn’t you?
Her nurse friend later references a verse from Ezekiel: “I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” Dear God, when are you going to make that conversion on Lee??
Back on the hunt, Lee visits a famous nonbelieving psychologist. He asks if the disciples could’ve been deluded by a group hallucination. ☢ Nope—she declares that group hallucinations don’t happen. (Not an argument that I make.) She asks about Lee’s father, and we learn more about that bad relationship. ☢ She ticks off famous atheists, all of whom had distant or abusive fathers. (This is Paul Vitz’s flabby argument, which simply cherry picks the data to come to a predetermined conclusion. For example, I wonder why she didn’t list C. S. Lewis, a famous Christian who also had a bad relationship with his father. More here.)
We again see Lee’s quest paralleled with the wife’s journey through the Bible and pray that this movie is stumbling to a close.
Tying up the loose ends
Hold the presses! Lee uncovers new evidence in Hicks case: the cop actually shot himself by accident with an illegal pen gun. It wasn’t Hicks! Shortly after, Hicks gets beaten up in prison (guards don’t do much to protect cop shooters), and Lee visits him in the hospital. Lee tells him that he didn’t see the truth. Hicks replies, “You didn’t want to see the truth.” Take that, atheists!
In what mercifully turns out to be his last interview, Lee asks a doctor about the swoon theory—that Jesus didn’t actually die but that he just fainted on the cross and revived in the tomb. ☢ Wrong again, the doctor tells him. The Roman executioners were very good at making sure the convicts were dead, and we get the obligatory journey through the agony of Jesus’s last day. (I never argue the swoon theory. I try to slap some sense into the resurrection story here and here.)
Remember that atheists-are-atheists-because-of-bad-father-figures hypothesis? We get closure on that one after Lee’s father dies. Lee discovers that the old man wasn’t so bad after all—he just had a hard time expressing his affection. Could Lee’s stoney heart be softening?
Lee’s at the end of his investigation, but what to do with it all? His atheist friend tells him that ☢ it’s a leap of faith either way. (Uh, no—it’s a leap of faith if you’re making a conclusion without evidence; more here. You should believe things only if there’s good evidence to do so. You don’t believe in unicorns, leprechauns, and fairies because there’s insufficient evidence, so why not follow the same approach for something far more important like God?) Inexplicably, ☢ Pascal’s Wager pops up in this conversation; that is, a bet on God is a huge win if you’re right and not a big deal if you’re wrong. (I rebut that here.)
And Lee is left to decide. Back in his man cave, he remembers what the priest had said: Jesus is love. This is the last straw, and he concludes, “All right, God—you win.”
He reconciles with his wife and says, “The evidence for your faith is more overwhelming than I could ever imagine.” They kneel, and he says the sinner’s prayer.
Three months later, justice has been done for Hicks. Lee pitches his conversion story to his editor: one man’s journey from skepticism to faith. The editor turns it down, but then his wife suggests that he write a book. In the final scene, Lee rolls paper into his typewriter and pecks out the words, “The Case for Christ.”
The End. Thank God.
(If you’re interested in how to respond to these ex-atheists with their poor arguments, I have a suggestion here.)Former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke said late Monday that his longtime political adviser, Kenny Knight, was “friendly” with House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) in 2002, and cited that relationship as the reason Scalise accepted an invitation that year to speak at a gathering of white supremacists.
“Scalise would communicate a lot with my campaign manager, Kenny Knight,” Duke said in a phone interview. “That is why he was invited and why he would come. Kenny knew Scalise, Scalise knew Kenny. They were friendly.”
Scalise, then a state lawmaker, spoke in May 2002 at a convention of the European-American Unity and Rights Organization, or EURO, at a hotel in a New Orleans suburb.
Several civil rights groups have criticized EURO as a vehicle for Duke that promotes anti-Semitism and racism.
Duke, who spoke to the crowd remotely, recalled Knight reaching out to Scalise in the weeks before the conference to come and update attendees on state affairs, and that Scalise accepted without reservation.
“Maybe that is evidence he knew what he was doing when he came to the meeting,” Duke said. “Who knows? All I know is that Kenny liked him. He thought Scalise, who remember was just a state representative, was sharp. They’d talk about the Hollywood system, about the war, whatever I was concerned about.”
Duke added, “I think Scalise would talk to Kenny because he recognized how popular I was in his own district. He knew that knowing what I was doing and saying wouldn’t be the worst thing politically. Kenny would keep Scalise up to date on my issues.”
Duke, however, insisted that he and Scalise have “never had a relationship.”
“No lunches, no dinners with Scalise. I never supported him in any campaign,” Duke said. “I didn’t get the impression that he was one of us. I didn’t cultivate a relationship. Kenny was the one who did.”
Knight, who has been a confidant of Duke for decades and has long been seen as Duke’s liaison in state politics, would go on to donate $1000 to Scalise’s 2008 congressional campaign, according to federal election records.
Duke confirmed that the address listed in federal records along with the Scalise donation was the home address for his political confidant.
A spokesperson for Scalise was unavailable for comment on Duke’s claims. Knight was also unavailable for comment.
Scalise said in an interview Monday with The Times-Picayune that he did not know at the time about EURO’s affiliation with racists and neo-Nazi activists.
"I don't have any records from back in 2002, but when people called and asked me to speak to groups, I went and spoke to groups,” Scalise said. “I didn't know who all of these groups were and I detest any kind of hate group. For anyone to suggest that I was involved with a group like that is insulting and ludicrous.”
Later in the interview, Scalise blamed his staff for booking him |
.
In Florida, Belushi’s Comedy Bar in Ft. Myers closed on New Year’s Day 2015 after lasting just more than a calendar year. The Joke Factory in Daytona? Done. Snickerz Comedy Bar in Fort Wayne, Ind., has stopped satisfying. The Funny Bone outside St. Louis went away without telling me or tickling me. Bonkerz locations have closed in Indianapolis and Jacksonville. The Comedy Zone locations in Miami and in Fort Mill, S.C., have surrendered.
And the Newport Funny Bone in Kentucky just closed, although its site claims it’ll reopen in September after renovations. It redirected fans to another location in Liberty Township, where the general manager there told the Cincinnati Enquirer this month: “We would like to get that club to make it up-to-date, make improvements in the club. Business is still going good. The club is staying busy. There’s no question about that. It has been a staple in the community. It needs to be renovated and reinvented.”
What’s the comedy club situation like in your area?Bradley Smith will join the Yamaha Austria Race Team for his second foray into endurance racing later this month, as the MotoGP racer lines up for the 8 Hours of Oschersleben to help the team clinch their second endurance world title.
Smith gained previous endurance experience last year when he won the Suzuka 8 Hours with the factory Yamaha squad – but says when YART team boss Mandy Kainz made the offer it was too good to refuse.
"I'm very excited to announce that I'm going to be racing with the YART team at the 8 Hour of Oschersleben. I was originally in contact with Mandy a few years ago to do the Suzuka 8 Hour race but it never actually came through and then I ended up racing for the Yamaha Factory Racing Team last year.
TOP STORIES
“This year we have been in contact again and I rode the Spielberg racetrack during a two-day test with a bike supplied by Mandy and his team. We continued to keep in touch and after great performances by his team, with Broc Parkes and Marvin Fritz, they are very close to a championship win. It's all resting on the round in Oschersleben, so I'm proud that they have decided to choose me as a rider to help support them in the final race of the series.
“I love endurance and I loved the Suzuka 8 Hours last year so it just seemed a perfect fit and a great way to help the team finish off the job and hopefully become World Champions. I want to thank Monster Yamaha Tech3 for supporting me. It will be a busy five weeks for us now that the second half of the MotoGP season is about to kick off. I'm looking forward to it closing the season in a positive way!"
Smith will join BSB racer Broc Parkes, who reignited the team’s title hopes with an impressive fourth at Suzuka, as well as German Martin Fritz – a squad that boss Kainz says Smith will fit well into.
"We are very excited and proud that Bradley will join the team for the final round in Oschersleben, which will be a very important race for us. The road to the top has not been easy for us this year. At the first race in Le Mans we had only two riders to complete the 24-hour race and in Portimão we were a little unlucky to be forced to make an extra pit stop, but our determination to keep fighting never diminished.
“The results in Suzuka were great and thanks to that, and the continuous effort of the team, we are very close to winning the championship. With the addition of Bradley to our already strong rider line-up we are certain we will be in with a good chance to fight for the title and we can't wait to get started."
The race takes place on the 25-27th August.
DON’T MISS MCN’S BRITISH GP MEGA-ISSUE – Glossy poster + 32-page special preview + magic Brit GP moments + Rossi bikes model offer. On sale August 24th.Raptors guard Kyle Lowry will make his first All-Star appearance next weekend. (Photo11: Bill Streicher, USA TODAY Sports)
Kyle Lowry took the money and ran. And he kept running, kept shooting, kept improving.
The Toronto Raptors point guard is having the best NBA season of his career, again. He has carried the second-best team in the Eastern Conference on his broad shoulders and stout 6-foot frame. And with a boost from Justin Bieber, he will be starting in next weekend's NBA All-Star Game, the only first-timer voted in by fans this year.
Lowry took the rare path to stardom, drifting in and out of starting lineups for the Memphis Grizzlies, Houston Rockets and Raptors in his first seven seasons. Things started to click last season, so Toronto gave him a four-year, $48 million contract to keep their successful core in place.
But instead of sitting back with a nearly doubled salary, Lowry went to the gym for fine-tuning — and a little thievery.
"Every year, it's always something different," he said. "I'm always refining, adjusting. You can always fix your jump shot to make it even better.
"I take bits and pieces from everybody. Last summer, I watched (Golden State Warriors point guard) Steph Curry, the way he shoots the ball. I want to be able to one day get — I won't be as great a shooter as he is, but why not get up there? Why not be that type of shooter, where you can't leave me at all?
"I'm a student of the game. I'm not ashamed of saying I'll steal things from everybody, I'll take tidbits from everybody. That's one thing about it: I just love the game and just watching it.... I've got two TVs in my house just to watch basketball. I sit there and watch the games. I love watching the games."
Lowry is averaging career highs of 19.0 points and 4.8 rebounds along with 7.3 assists and 1.6 steals a game for the Raptors, who were 33-16 entering Wednesday's game against the Brooklyn Nets. His 25.9 usage rate, measuring the percentage of his team's possessions in which a player is involved, also is a career high.
So he's an All-Star, a deserving one after being snubbed last season. Lowry got a late boost from Bieber, the Canadian pop star who urged his 60 million-plus Twitter followers to vote (but forgot to include the proper #NBABallot tag in his tweet). That pushed him past Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade in the final days of the balloting.
"It's still shocking," Lowry said. "It's still pretty cool. I'm still kind of getting used to me being in that position."
Lowry put himself in that position through dramatic improvement. He's always been a remarkable athlete, his speed and power offering a difficult to defend combination. But this season brought a new level out of Lowry, particularly when shooting guard DeMar DeRozan, the Raptors' All-Star last season, went down for 21 games. Lowry averaged 21.8 points and 8.7 assists during that stretch, as the team went 12-9 to stay among the East's top teams.
"He's become a lot more efficient offensively," said Washington Wizards guard Garrett Temple, who met Lowry at a high school All-Star camp a decade ago. "When you saw DeMar go out, people kind of wrote off the Toronto Raptors for at least as long as he was going to be out. Kyle showed that he could basically carry a team and put them on his back. The biggest thing is he's getting in the lane more."
DeRozan is back now, and the Raptors had a six-game winning streak before losing Monday to the Milwaukee Bucks. Lowry's chemistry and friendship with DeRozan was key in his free agency, when he was courted by the Rockets and Miami Heat, most prominently.
Lowry ended up returning to Toronto, where a "We The North" movement has increased the team and sport's popularity. He credited his teammates along with mentors such as retired All-Star Chauncey Billups. But the improvement was a process, whether he was stealing from Curry and the Los Angeles Clippers' Chris Paul (going to the right on pull-up jumpers) or developing his low-post game.
The recognition followed, though it's not the kind he wants most.
"No, I still got to work. I still got more work to put in. I still got more to do," Lowry said. "I want to get to the Finals. I want to win a championship. That's my goal for my career."
FIRST-TIMERS
Along with Lowry, four others will make NBA All-Star Game debuts Feb. 15 in New York.
SG Jimmy Butler Chicago Bulls
Statistics: 20.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.8 steals a game.
20.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.8 steals a game. Why he made it: The fourth-year swingman has increased his scoring output 56% this season. As Derrick Rose felt his way back from injury, Butler has been the Bulls' rock and perhaps the most improved player in the NBA.
The fourth-year swingman has increased his scoring output 56% this season. As Derrick Rose felt his way back from injury, Butler has been the Bulls' rock and perhaps the most improved player in the NBA. Quick fact: The former Marquette star has averaged 39.1 minutes per game over the past two seasons to lead the NBA.
C DeMarcus Cousins Sacramento Kings
Statistics: 23.7 points, 12.5 rebounds and 1.6 blocks a game.
23.7 points, 12.5 rebounds and 1.6 blocks a game. Why he made it: Selected by Commissioner Adam Silver as an injury replacement, the fifth-year big man is the league's most dominant traditional low-post player who's also averaging 3.2 assists a game. He even improved his free throw shooting, to 81.7%.
Selected by Commissioner Adam Silver as an injury replacement, the fifth-year big man is the league's most dominant traditional low-post player who's also averaging 3.2 assists a game. He even improved his free throw shooting, to 81.7%. Quick fact: Cousins is one of six All-Stars to miss at least 10 games already this season.
PG Jeff Teague Atlanta Hawks
Statistics: 16.8 points, 7.5 assists and 1.7 steals a game.
16.8 points, 7.5 assists and 1.7 steals a game. Why he made it: Teague is second on the Hawks in scoring (to fellow All-Star Paul Millsap), player efficiency rating (to fellow All-Star Al Horford) and on-court point differential (to sharpshooter Kyle Korver).
Teague is second on the Hawks in scoring (to fellow All-Star Paul Millsap), player efficiency rating (to fellow All-Star Al Horford) and on-court point differential (to sharpshooter Kyle Korver). Quick fact: Teague joins Tim Duncan and Chris Paul to give Wake Forest three All-Stars, tying Kentucky for most this season.
SG Klay Thompson Golden State WarriorsCiting competitor interest as the reason, organisers of the production car enduro have added the latest version of Ford’s iconic muscle car to the invitational class for next years race.
Potential Mustang competitors will need to enter quickly, though, with 64 entries already lodged for the 2017 race, just eight short of the circuit’s capacity.
“There has been demand for the Ford Mustang to be included on the eligibility list and we know of at least one team advanced in their plans to enter one in the race,” said event director James O’Brien.
“Regardless, it is likely the car is going to be a popular addition to Production Car racing in the near future and we expect to see several of them on the grid.
“We are now at a point where teams who are planning to race but have not entered need to seriously consider lodging their official entry as soon as possible because we are close to reaching capacity.”
The 2017 Bathurst 6 Hour could see a record grid at Mount Panorama, with the 64 cars qualifying for the 1969 Hardie Ferodo 500 believe to be the existing high-point.
Provisional Entry ListImage copyright AFP Image caption Ms Zschaepe, seen here arriving in court in Munich on 9 December, is breaking her silence for the first time in her trial
A German woman accused of being part of neo-Nazi cell that murdered 10 people has denied involvement in the killings.
Breaking her silence for the first time in two-and-a-half-years, Beate Zschaepe said she was not a member of the National Socialist Underground (NSU).
The group carried out series of racially motivated murders, bomb attacks and robberies over a decade.
In her statement, Ms Zschaepe apologised to the victims' families for failing to stop what had happened.
"I feel morally guilty that I could not prevent 10 murders and two bomb attacks... carried out by Uwe Mundlos und Uwe Boehnhardt," she said.
The two men apparently killed each other in a suicide pact in 2011 shortly before Ms Zschaepe handed herself in.
The 40-year-old said she first fell in love with Mundlos but met Uwe Boehnhardt on her 19th birthday and came into contact with his more nationalist friends.
Disappointed families - Jenny Hill, BBC News, Berlin
Image copyright EPA Image caption Gamze Kubasik, whose father Mehmet was murdered, was unimpressed by the statement
"Zschaepe's confession - nothing but excuses!" So runs a headline in the tabloid newspaper Bild.
Her statement was much anticipated - by the families of the NSU's victims, who hoped she might tell them why the cell killed their loved ones; by the German media who wondered whether she would show remorse; and by the German public.
The NSU's campaign of violence terrorised this country for more than a decade. Ms Zschaepe is the only surviving suspected member. And this is the first time she's given evidence since her arrest four years ago.
Most were disappointed. Few took her apology seriously. In the words of Gamze Kubasik, whose father was killed by the NSU: "Frau Zschaepe is trying to avoid responsibility. She won't save herself from a conviction."
Neo-Nazi trial shrouded in intrigue
The cell murdered 10 people, eight of them of Turkish origin, between 2000 and 2007 but went undetected for more than a decade. Critics say police and the security services made serious errors.
Image copyright Reuters Image caption Uwe Boehnhardt (left) and Beate Zschaepe are seen here in an undated photo
Reading her 53-page statement aloud, Ms Zschaepe's lawyer Mathias Grasel began by telling the court about his client's childhood in East Germany, formerly the German Democratic Republic, and her difficult relationship with her mother.
He went on to deny his client's involvement in the preparation or execution in any of the group's attacks, but apologised to the victims' families for failing to stop them.
'Life was worth nothing'
She said she was unaware of the group's first murder until three months after it occurred. Enver Simsek, a florist, was shot in Nuremberg on 9 September 2000.
Ms Zschaepe said she told Mundlos and Boehnhardt that she wanted to go to police to hand herself in but they had threatened to commit suicide.
In her statement, she said she still did not know the motive for the killing.
However, she told the court the men murdered policewoman Michele Kiesewetter in 2007 in order to steal her gun.
She said she was so "disappointed" that her lovers had killed repeatedly that she drank three or four bottles of sparkling wine a day and neglected her cats.
Timeline of killings
Image copyright German police handout Image caption Eight of the 10 people the NSU is accused of killing
2000: Enver Simsek shot in Nuremberg
2001: Abdurrahim Ozudogru shot in Nuremberg, Suleyman Taskopru shot in Hamburg, Habil Kılıc shot in Munich
2004: Mehmet Turgut shot in Rostock
2005: Ismail Yasar shot in Nuremberg, Theodoros Boulgarides shot in Munich
2006: Mehmet Kubasık shot in Dortmund, Halit Yozgat shot in Kassel
2007: Michele Kiesewetter, a policewoman, shot in Heilbronn
"I realised I was living with two men to whom human life was worth nothing," Ms Zschaepe said.
The NSU cell remained undetected until Ms Zschaepe gave herself up in November 2011, after police discovered the bodies of two of her alleged accomplices in a caravan.
She is accused of setting fire to the apartment she shared with the men in Zwickau.
Prosecutors say the aim of the execution-style killings was to spread fear among immigrants and prompt them to leave Germany.
However, until now Ms Zschaepe has refused to shed any light on the group's motivations.Cloudcroft chief stops Israelis with suspicious cargo
By Michael Shinabery Staff Writer
Alamogordo Daily News
Cloudcroft, New Mexico -- That they were speeding through the school zone first got his attention.
That they had Israeli driver's licenses and expired passports made him suspicious.
Cloudcroft Police Chief Gene Green stopped the 2-ton van on Thursday, for speeding. Initially, Green thought the truck was commercial because of exterior markings. But when he found it was out of Chicago, he asked for documentation such as logs books and manifests.
"They said this is a U-Haul truck and handed me a rental agreement (for) in-town delivery only in Illinois, (which) had expired two days before," Green said. He called for backup, and Otero County Sheriff's Deputy Billy Anders, who patrols the Sacramento Mountains, arrived, along with Capt. Norbert Sanchez and Det. Eddie Medrano.
"We got them out and started digging a little deeper," Green said, "got permission to search the truck. They claimed they were hauling furniture from Austin to Chicago." When officers advised the men they were not exactly en route from one town to another, Green said the two men claimed they were Deming bound. "But they couldn't give us an address in Deming they were going to," he said. "Once we got into the truck, they had some junk furniture I wouldn't have given to Goodwill."
Also inside the vehicle were, Green said, "50 boxes" they claimed was a "private" delivery, but the men insisted they had no "idea what was in them."
At that point, the officers called for drug-sniffing and bomb-sniffing dogs. The men were turned over to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and U- Haul recovered the truck.
Contents of the boxes remain unknown, pending investigation.
"The specific claim is made that residue from a cigarette lighter confused the tests for TNT and RDX. That doesn't explain why the trained bomb-sniffing dog, who surely knows the difference between explosives and cigarettes [else he would false-positive every smoker, ashtray, and convenience store he came across] gave the first indications of explosives in the truck that led to the tests in the first place. Likewise, were the chemical tests unable to discriminate between tobacco and TNT/RDX, which are chemically quite different from tobacco combustion products, they would give false positive results for every vehicle ever tested in which smokers had ever ridden. Given the likelihood of finding tobacco residues in any car, such tests would have to be designed to tell the difference. The same is true for other products from non- electric cigarette lighters, the vast majority of which are butane."
The rise of Jewish power and the disestablishment of the specifically European nature of the U.S. are the real topics of CofC. The war to disestablish the specifically European nature of the U.S. was fought on several fronts. The main thrusts of Jewish activism against European ethnic and cultural hegemony have focused on three critical power centers in the United States: The academic world of information in the social sciences and humanities, the political world where public policy on immigration and other ethnic issues is decided, and the mass media where "ways of seeing" are presented to the public. [...]
By all accounts, ethnic Jews have a powerful influence in the American media - far larger than any other identifiable group. The extent of Jewish ownership and influence on the popular media in the United States is remarkable given the relatively small proportion of the population that is Jewish. [The Culture of Critique: An Evolutionary Analysis of Jewish Involvement in Twentieth-Century Intellectual and Political Movements
On January 12, 2000, 11 Islamic preachers were detained in India prior to boarding a flight headed for Dhaka, Bangladesh on suspicions of being terrorists. Although, the Indian official eventually cleared the clerics to leave, officials in Bangladesh indicated that they would not grant them visas.
The Muslims, who all had Israeli passports, were allowed to board a flight to Israel - under Israeli pressure. An Indian intelligence analyst, Ashok Debbarma, explained to The Week, "It is not unlikely for Mossad to recruit 11 Afghans in Iran and grant them Israeli citizenship to penetrate a network such as Bin Laden's. They would begin by infiltrating them into an Islamic radical group in an unlikely place like Bangladesh." He added that Israel's obvious concern for the men, and the haste with which they were flown back indicated a possible "aborted operation." [The Week, 2/6/00]
In March 2003, the U.S. State Department published a fact sheet, in which it reported, "In the United States, approximately 80% of ecstasy seized in 2000 came from or through the Netherlands. Israeli [drug] trafficking syndicates are currently the primary source to distribution groups operating in the United States, smuggling through express mail services, via couriers aboard commercial airline flights, or more recently, through air freight shipments." [U.S. Department of State, 3/20/03, also cited in the Ha'aretz, 4/6/03]
Wednesday, 26 September 2001 15:05 (ET)
By Arnaud De Borrchgrave
UPI Editor at Large
RAWALPINDI, Pakistan, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States were perpetrated by renegade U.S. Air Force elements working in conjunction with Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service, according to the retired Pakistani general who is closest to the Taliban and Osama bin Laden.
Gen. Hameed Gul, head of Inter Services Intelligence, the equivalent of a CIA-cum-FBI combination, during the war against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, spent two weeks in the war-torn country immediately prior to Sept. 11. He has been acting as "strategic adviser" to Pakistan's extremist religious political parties. Four religious leaders left his house in the army's principal garrison town as this reporter arrived at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday. The interview lasted 90 minutes.
Already countless millions of Muslims believe that the World Trade Center and Pentagon suicide attacks were part of a Mossad plot to force the United States into confrontation with the Muslim world.
Now Gul has added a new disinformation wrinkle to the plot. And what Gul says or writes is taken at face value by religious leaders and is repeated in thousands of mosques at Friday prayers.
In an exclusive interview with United Press International, the fundamentalist general said it is now clear that there was also a plot by U.S. Air Force officers against the Pentagon.
"The twin towers were first attacked at 8:45 a.m.," he said, "and four flights were diverted from their assigned air space, and yet Air Force jets didn't scramble until 10 a.m. That smacks of a small-scale Air Force rebellion, a coup attempt against the Pentagon perhaps? Radars are jammed, transponders fail. No IFF -- friend or foe identification -- challenge... This was clearly an inside job. (President) Bush was afraid and rushed to the shelter of a nuclear bunker.
"(Bush) clearly feared a nuclear situation. Who could that have been? Will that also be hushed up in the investigation, like the Warren report after the Kennedy assassination?"
Gul said that his friend bin Laden had sworn to him on the Koran that he was not involved.
"From a cave inside a mountain or a peasant's hovel," Gul asked, how could bin Laden mount such a sophisticated operation? "Let's be serious," he said with a smile. "Mossad and its American associates are the obvious culprits," he added by asking, "Who benefits from the crime?"
Asked why Israel would benefit, Gul replied, "Israel knows it has a short shelf-life before it is overwhelmed by demographics (and it) has now handed the (Bush administration) the opportunity it has been waiting for to consolidate America's imperial grip on the Gulf and acquire control of the Caspian basin by extending its military presence in Central Asia."
[...] Bush 43 doesn't realize he is being manipulated by people who understand geopolitics. He is not leading but being led. All he can do is think in terms of the wanted-dead-or-alive culture which is how Hollywood conditions the masses to think and act."
"Bush 43" is actually Washington shorthand for distinguishing President George W. Bush from his father. President George W. Bush is the 43rd president: George Bush Sr. was the 41st.
Gul admitted that he turned against America when the United States walked away from Afghanistan following the Soviet withdrawal in 1989.
"We were all pro-American (during the war) but then America left us in the lurch and everything went to pieces, including Afghanistan."
[...]
Asked to consider the possibility that bin Laden -- or OBL as he is referred to in Pakistani conversations -- was lying to him and is indeed guilty as charged by the United States, Gul said, "If Taliban are given irrefutable evidence of his guilt, I am in favor of a fair trial. In America one is entitled to a jury of peers. But he has no American peers. The Taliban would not object, in the event of a prima face case, to an international Islamic court meeting in The Hague. They would extradite Osama to the Netherlands." [United Press International]
The other day I was scanning the news reports and came across a rather mundane item that really got me to thinking.Well, don't that just beat all? Another "moving company" with Israeli drivers with bad papers, and nobody even noticed...Well, I noticed.Not only did I notice, I remembered the strange story about a similar event:On May 7, 2002, local police authorities pulled over a Budget rental truck in Oak Harbour, Washington near the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station. The driver and his passenger were Israeli nationals, one of which had entered the country illegally. The other had an expired visa. Tests performed on the vehicle revealed that there were traces of TNT on the gearshift and RDX plastic explosives on the steering wheel. But no actual explosives were reported to have been found in the truck. [Fox News, 5/13/02]A report in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer the following day reported that the FBI performed follow-up tests on the truck which turned-up negative. One source speculated that perhaps the original tests had actually detected just cigarette residue, and not explosives. [Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 5/14/02, Jerusalem Post, 5/14/02].Critics argued that it would make no sense for U.S. authorities to use a method of testing that could be skewed by cigarette residue. The website whatreallyhappened.com remarked:The same website also provided references to three documents with detailed information on the tests used to detect TNT and RDX. None of the documents indicated that the presence of cigarette residue might induce inaccurate test results. [International Society for Optical Engineering 1984; Cold Regions and Research Engineering Laboratory 5-1996; Security Management n.d.]I also remembered another peculiar item: the so-called Urban Moving Company that some researchers suggest was a cover for Mossad.Many observers have suggested that Israel had foreknowledge of the 9/11 terrorists attacks. Some have even argued that they may have been behind the attacks, and it seems that the funny stories about Israelis with trucks and bad papers just keep popping up here and there.On September 11, five employees of Jewish ownedwere detained as a result of witness accounts that they were taking pictures of the flaming ruins of the World Trade Center and celebrating!Yes indeedy! Shortly after the collapse of the towers a witness called the police and reported that the 5 individuals were, "going to unusual lengths to photograph the World Trade Center ruins" and they were obviously and blatantly "making light of the situation." The witness stated that these men were on the roof of the office of their employer, Urban Moving Company, and were posing, dancing, and laughing. [New York Times 10/8/01; Bergen Record 9/12/01; Ha'aretz 9/17/01; Gotham Gazette 11/2/01]After their indiscreet celebration on the roof of the building, the five Israelis headed down to a nearby parking lot where they mounted the roof of their truck and resumed their photographing and celebrating. Another witness called the police and told them that the men were smiling, dancing, and giving each other high-fives while viewing the destruction of the symbol of Free Enterprise in America. [Gotham Gazette 11/2/01; ABC News, 6/21/02]A few hours later, the five Israelis were stopped by police while driving their truck. One individual had $4,700 in cash hidden in his sock, while another had two foreign passports. They were also found to be in the possession of a box- cutter, which they presumably had because of their job as professional movers. [New York Times 10/8/01; Gotham Gazette 11/2/01; ABC News, 6/21/02]On September 14, Dominic Suter, the owner of the moving company, left the country very abruptly after FBI agents indicated that they wanted a second interview with him. According to ABC News' 20/20 [ABC News 6/21/02], "Three months later 20/20's cameras photographed the inside of Urban Moving, and it looked as if the business had been shut down in a big hurry. Cell phones were lying around; office phones were still connected; and the property of dozens of clients remained in the warehouse. The owner had also cleared out of his New Jersey home, put it up for sale and returned with his family to Israel." [New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety, 12/13/01; Gotham Gazette 11/2/01; ABC News, 6/21/02; Forward, 3/15/02]Shortly after the arrest of the men,. Vince Cannistraro, a former chief of operations for counterterrorism, told ABC News that the FBI was concerned that the moving company had been "set up or exploited for the purpose of launching an intelligence operation against radical Islamists in the area, particularly in the New Jersey-New York area." [ABC News, 6/21/02]The five employees that were taken into custody were all former members of the Israeli Army. After being transferred to jail, the FBI's Criminal Division sent the case to the Counterintelligence Section on account of suspicions that they were Israeli spies. They were then detained for more that two months. Some of them spent 40 days in solitary confinement. [New York Times 11/21/01; ABC News, 6/21/02]Naturally, several individuals attempted to research this item.. It should be noted that, at present there is no publicly available information that conclusively confirms this allegation. However the above described incident, reported by various news sources, certainly casts a very dark shadow of suspicion on the company and its employees.It seems that Urban Moving CompanyAccording to a small local newspaper in Pennsylvania, The Mercury, three Israeli employees working for Moving Systems, Inc. were detained by police on October 11, 2001, after being caught illegally dumping garbage from their moving truck into the dumpster of a restaurant. The suspects had fled the seen after being confronted by the restaurant's manager, who immediately reported the incident to the police. [The Mercury 10/17/01]The Mercury reported: "The area was searched by township police, and the vehicle was spotted parked on the curb in front of John Kennedy Ford on Ridge Pike, just west of Industrial Way. An officer proceeded to make contact with the occupants of the truck by knocking on the cab, according to reports.A Middle Eastern [an Israeli according to Executive Intelligence Review 3/29/02] man, later identified as Ron Katar, 23, exited the sleeper area of the cab and said that the operator - Elmakias - was across the street as he pointed toward the Don Rosen Porsche dealer, reports said.Elmakias and a white female, Ayelet Reisler, 23, were approaching the vehicle from the dealership, but the female then began walking in a different direction, acting as if she were not with Elmakias, according to reports....Elmakias said that his destination was New York and that he was also coming from New York. He said he was in Plymouth because he was supposed to make a pickup from a male in the morning and pointed toward the Storage USA facility on Belvoir Road and West Ridge Pike, police said. Elmakias could not, however, provide a name or telephone number of the customer." [The Mercury 10/17/01]A search of the truck turned up detailed video footage of the Sears Towers along with several other suspicious articles. It was also discovered that the driver of the truck had falsified his driver log.As of this date, no ties to Israeli intelligence have been made. [The Mercury 10/17/01]Then, of course, there was the "Art Scandal.". They were detained by the FBI and later deported to Israel on account of visa violations. The FBI first took notice of them in January of 2001.A highly detailed DEA report that was acquired by French intelligence analysts documented 180 cases of Israeli art students infiltrating DEA facilities. It provided names, drivers' license numbers, addresses and phone numbers of the Israelis. [DEA report 6/01; Insight 3/11/02]Despite official confirmations of the report, other U.S. officials denied its existence. In response, Intelligence Online released the document to CreativeLoafing.com who published it on the Internet for the public. [DEA report 6/01] The Associated Press also reported that it had a copy [AP 3/9/02] The report acknowledged that the art students "may well be an organized intelligence-gathering activity." [DEA report 6/01; AP 3/5/02; Sun Sentinel 3/7/02]Bill Carter, a spokesman for the FBI, said, "After an agency reported suspicious activities by those so-called students, the FBI conducted an investigation and determined that there was no credence to the assumption that this was an Israeli spying operation. None of the Israelis were charged with espionage and they were all deported by the INS for visa violations." [Forward 3/15/02]Now, here is where things get very interesting!You see, five of the so-called Israeli Art Students that weren't really art students, had been living at 4220 Sheridan St in Hollywood, Florida.Where in Hollywood?Why, it just happens that Mohammed Atta, the presumed lead hijacker had lived at 3389 Sheridan St, only a few blocks away from the Fake Israeli Art Students! [Le Monde 3/5/02; Reuters 3/5/02; Jane's Intelligence Digest, 3/15/02; Salon, 5/7/02]Well, don't that just beat all! And to think,Hmmm... I smell a rat somewhere!Of course, the Israelis have a good reason for this: they were "investigating terrorists!"We are assured by German news sources that: "between December 2000 and April 2001 a whole horde of Israeli counter-terror investigators, posing as students, followed the trails of Arab terrorists and their cells in the United States. In their secret investigations, the Israelis came very close to the later perpetrators of Sept. 11. In the town of Hollywood, Florida, they identified the two former Hamburg students and later terror pilots Mohammed Atta and Marwan al-Shehhi as possible terrorists. Agents lived in the vicinity of the apartment of the two seemingly normal flight school students, observing them around the clock." [Der Spiegel 10/1/02]I guess they didn't observe them "around the clock" enough to see when they were getting on those planes that were hijacked. A failure of intelligence? What's more, this truly pathetic "explanation" doesn't explain the joy of the Israelis at the collapse of the World Trade Center Towers, nor why Bob Graham was having breakfast with the guy who paid off Mohammed Atta...Well, it gets deeper: In addition to the close proximity of the Israeli 'art students' to the Florida-based hijackers,. [DEA report 6/01]And if that doesn't just crumble your cookies, how about the fact that[Le Monde 3/5/02]The passports of the students revealed that they had been visitors in several different countries including, Thailand, Laos, India, Kenya, Central and South America, Australia, Germany, the Netherlands and Canada. [Insight 3/11/02]In spite of the findings of the DEA report, the students were deported back to Israel on account of visa violations. [AP 3/5/02]Now, let me try to understand this: at that point in time when every single American citizen was subject to being a suspected terrorist, a gang of Israelis with "SPY" practically branded on their foreheads, were simply shipped home with NO QUESTIONS ASKED?!EXCUUUSE ME?!We had to stand in line for four hours - with our dog and four children - at the Miami Airport to have our luggage searched by hand, to be scanned, inspected, questioned, suspected, and in every way insulted by privacy violations - and these thugs just went home to do the happy dance? What is the Bush Reich covering up by protecting Israeli spys who are claimed to have been monitoring Islamic terrorists, but apparently not well enough to know what they were really up to, or didn't bother to tell Georgie and his gang of warmongers? The question these facts bring to mind are crucial. Is the |
of the socialist party – to instigate such a critical in-depth examination. But we cannot allow him, in order to support his idea that it is necessary to preserve the unity of the Italian party at all costs, to falsify the meaning of the revolutionary method adopted by the International.
Precisely because the International still wants all the old forms of action to be utilised, renewing them with a new and oppositional revolutionary content, from the communist movement, the latter needs to be purged of all heterogeneous elements, without which the overall balance sheet of its intervention in these institutions, hitherto the domain of reformists, would be bound to be disastrously negative. For example, a commune like the Milanese one, and organisations like the Confederation of Labour and the National League of Co-operatives, are, according to the method established in Moscow, organisations which communists must still conquer since the traditional pernicious work of the 2nd International is still being carried out within them; insofar as the various Caldaras and D’Aragonas, whilst happy to help the bourgeoisie resolve the various problems and difficulties threatening to engulf them, do absolutely nothing in terms of revolutionary propaganda, agitation and action. It is therefore necessary, according to Moscow’s criteria, that the posts within those organisations must be taken over by good communists who are disciplined to their party, who, even if technically less able to resolve contingent matters in the way the bourgeoisie would like, would, nevertheless, make use of the positions they have won to carry out work conducive to organising for the revolutionary struggle. To want to resolve this problem – set out very clearly on the basis of the incontrovertible documentation of the work carried out up until now within the aforesaid institutions – by announcing that D’Aragona and Caldara are card carrying members of the Italian Socialist Party, which in turn is part of the 3rd International, is simply ridiculous. The International can only but respond: expel Caldara and D’Aragona, even if it costs the party the Milan Commune and the Confederation. Especially since it will demonstrate that those champions of reformism only managed to obtain the votes of organised workers due to the prestige of being labelled revolutionary, which party membership bestows on them. So once again, slowly but surely, another of Serrati’s sophisms has been easily dismantled; once again he has shown how he poses as a master of intransigence, but provides only lessons in opportunism (...).
But Serrati is wheeling all this stuff out in support of his favourite thesis, i.e. that although Moscow’s 21 Conditions should be recognised, more time should be given to the member parties, each responsible unto themselves, to start cleansing themselves of opportunist elements. It is on this basis that in Florence Serrati intends to uphold the preservation of party unity, apart from a few personal expulsions to throw dust in people’s eyes. Rather than asking more time for it to become a revolutionary communist party, I maintain that the Italian Socialist Party it is already enormously behind schedule, and that the break should have happened some time ago. Furthermore, with every day that passes the problem becomes more complicated and difficult to resolve.
All this can be deduced from the our party’s recent past, and today I will only skim over it quickly, apart from returning to what I mentioned above since it is the nub of the question. Besides, I already wrote that in Moscow – in the minute or two I had to speak about Italian matters – I made a statement recording that such was the opinion of Lenin and Zinoviev and all those who have criticised the Italian Party. The particular circumstances in which the war question was posed in Italy allowed too many rightwing elements to save face by passing themselves off as opposers of the war, whilst in fact they differed in no respect from the foreign social-patriots of August 4, 1914. The presence of these people in the party was shown to be especially dangerous at the time of the Austrian invasion, when the question of national defence became a particularly burning issue. As comrade Gennari (a unitarian in Bologna in 1919) often reminds us, the right should have been expelled back in 1918 when they were championing the country’s defence. But many of the best comrades of the Left weren’t at that congress, and those who were, were naïve enough to be tricked by Modigliani and co. When first the party Directorate then the Bologna Congress voted for the party to join the International, another opportunity to separate from the Right was missed (the thousand and one reasons why it needed to happen we don’t wish to go into here). But since it didn’t happen, adherence to the International was patchy to say the least (...) The amount of time gone by since Bologna, the time being spent now leading up to Florence, and the time which, according to Serrati and his most pious desires – or profane vaticinations – should be spent after Florence, represents ever greater difficulties and dangers not only for the renewal of the party but for the historic development of the revolutionary struggle of the Italian proletariat. The bulk of the party is now more a prisoner of the Right than ever it was at the end of the war. The situation invoked by Serrati referring to leadership positions entrusted to non-communists – or rather, defeatists of the revolution – has worsened precisely because of the Unitarians, precisely because of Serrati.
After the war the big economic organisations reconstituted their membership and cadres, and the maximalists allowed their enthusiasm for the revolutionary methods established in Russia to be linked up with the horribly opportunist practice of the organisations directed by their own party. After Bologna, the party, bogged down in a unitary approach to the political elections despite everything, ended up with a parliamentary group which, although bigger than ever before, repeated all the mistakes which the previous one had been denounced for over the course of six years of polemics; and once again they were predominantly drawn from the right-wing minority of the party. And so we come today, skipping over everything else, to the local government elections; elections in which maximalism becomes even more of a prisoner to a thousand and one local situations. The party is identified with its councillors in the communes and provinces, made up of its worst petty bourgeois and opportunist elements, by all the people who stayed within, or entered, our ranks because tolerant or supportive of demagogic extremism; after they had been totally reassured that the old practice of winning electoral mandates hadn’t changed at all – given, that is, that you accept, against the heresy of the present writer, that it is susceptible to change – and that they aren’t serious, without which assurance this rabble would retreat ignominiously into the ranks of the timid, or become outright traitors.
I’ve recently seen a chart illustrating our party’s growth. The chart is one of galloping elephantiasis. We have more than two hundred thousand members: that means that in proportion to the population our membership has overtaken the Russian Communist Party, but with the simple difference that here the bourgeoisie can give us a thrashing whenever it feels like it, whilst over there the counter-revolutionary dogs hardly dare draw a breath, let alone bark. And the worst of it is all this is happening – why deny it? – while many of the best proletarian elements, ready to give themselves over to hard struggle rather than engaging in the idiotic and cowardly pursuit of comfortable positions, are going off with the anarchists, whose movement – and I hardly need to repeat my radical disagreement with them – is growing in numbers and combative energy. If it were left to Serrati and the Unitarians, the party would go on to evolve not in a communist direction, as they claim, but relapse into performing the worst of social democratic functions as the stupid servant of the bourgeoisie, holding the working masses in contempt. A good dose of courage is needed... to propose: let’s wait a bit longer! The bottom line is, you can wait if you want, but we’re not waiting any longer. At Florence, party unity will be buried, without honours; and all the worse for those, however many there are, who, persisting in their error, wish to stick by the corpse, and poison themselves with its noxious exhalations”.
(N.B. In the course of the article, Florence is often referred to as the venue of the imminent socialist congress; in fact although the PSI’s 17th congress should have been held in the Tuscan capital, it was eventually moved to Livorno for reasons of security.
c. The Communist Fraction
The article entitled ‘The 3rd International and Parliamentarism’ published in Il Soviet on August 22, 1920, was the last to be inspired by the theme of abstentionism. From that moment onwards the Communist Abstentionist Fraction would devote its entire energy to diffusing and applying the decisions of the 2nd Moscow Congress and thus clear the way of any obstacles to the formation of the Communist Party of Italy. Activity would unfold on two fronts, firstly in polemics with the Centre and Right of reformism, secondly in the organisation of those forces which sided with the Communist International.
In a bulletin issued by the Fraction’s Central Committee, appearing in Il Soviet on the day after the meeting of the PSI Directorate, it was asserted, word for word: “Since the Committee has heard comrade Bordiga’s report on the Moscow Congress, and having considered the political situation in Italy, it considers that recent events, and the development of the metal workers’ conflict, dramatically confirm the Communist Fraction’s criticisms of the PSI, regarding both the presence within the PSI of social democratic elements and the ineptitude of the maximalist majority, which can neither bring the proletarian movement under its control nor issue robust directives to guide mass action. It considers that the remedy to these extremely grave deficiencies is to apply the decisions taken at the Moscow Congress regarding the situation in the PSI, and to apply them seriously and energetically with a view to breaking up its dubious unity and liquidating the inauspicious inheritance of social democratic and opportunist tactics within Parliament and the unions, even if concealed behind a maximalist label. It invites the Fraction’s comrades to support any action that the CC and Il Soviet will take in pursuance of this aim in preparation for the next congress, from which the new Communist Party will have to emerge. It also makes a general appeal to all communists who do not belong to the Abstentionist Fraction, with a view to finding common grounds for resolute action, and in order that the forces which will ensure the victory of communism at the next congress may be organised as soon as possible”.
In the same edition an important resolution on the Turin abstentionists was published. These comrades, mainly workers who had proved their combativeness and determination to fight on a thousand and one occasions, believed the moment for separating from the PSI had already arrived and that the Fraction’s CC should immediately convene a national congress.
To these comrades, influenced to a certain degree by councilist spontaneism, the Fraction’s CC responded that the decisions of the International Congress had to be executed to the letter, and therefore it was necessary to hold on and prepare for the extraordinary national Congress.
“The Turin comrades, from whom we expect much – wrote ‘Il Soviet’ – haven’t worked that long for the Fraction at whose head they now wish to place themselves. In fact they have adopted tactical directives we don’t agree which were advanced by other groups. These directives, despite the marvellous revolutionary work of the Turin comrades, have recently indirectly contributed to the unhappy outcome of two great proletarian battles” (the ones in April and September).
The same paper contained another bulletin, which took up once again the issue of observing discipline towards the International. This was on the eve of the local government elections. The Fraction stipulated that comrades should abstain, ‘for discipline’s sake, from abstentionist activity’. Il Soviet tackled the underlying problems, the problem of the party and of the urgent need for it to be formed, linking it to the balance sheet of the factory occupations and the collapse of the myths of councilism and workers’ self-management. On October 3rd Il Soviet wrote: “The famous question of ‘control’, and all the agitation started in Turin by a group of comrades whose orientation leaves much to be desired, has never really fired our enthusiasm. From the very earliest stages we could easily predict it would open the way to new reformistic expedients and that workers’ ‘control’ over production, far from being enough to ignite a revolutionary blaze, would end up as some legislative provision of the bourgeois state (...) We don’t mean that such a question is without real content, or that the factory councils and factory occupations are movements/organisations which are artificial. Quite the contrary. We detect in them fundamental manifestations of the bourgeois crisis unravelling; a crisis in which communists, the communist party, is duty bound to intervene precisely in order to introduce the revolutionary content into them that they are ‘intrinsically’ lacking, as is the case in the traditional trade union struggle (...) Some minor breach in purely bourgeois forms of economy and bourgeois law is never revolutionary until the point is reached when the bourgeoisie forcibly represses it, thus posing the question of power; we can only move on after the establishment has been overthrown! Thus, once upon a time, postulating the right to strike was ‘revolutionary’ whereas nowadays it is taken for granted. Once these postulates – regarding workers’ control – are accepted by the bourgeoisie their dialectical efficacy becomes counter-revolutionary, in the sense that in the economic field they offer a means of ordering the anarchy of production, whilst in the political field they put a break on the impetus of the masses when heading towards a collision with the bourgeoisie (...) Truly revolutionary struggle will happen when the problem of political power, of social leadership, is posed irrevocably, and the battle is led by the conscious vanguard, the Communist Party (...) In order to get the question of the dictatorship of the proletariat on the agenda, and the masses seem marvellously predisposed to take part in it, precisely such a party will be required in Italy. The prevarications of the maximalists have maybe made constituting it more difficult, since dissatisfaction and revolutionary impatience are not sufficient material with which to build it (...) There must be a radical change of direction and the dead weight disposed of without further ado. With every passing day the party’s illness becomes more and more gangrenous. Moscow’s diagnosis is in general correct. The surgeon’s knife is required and the incision needs to be made without false sentiment”.
The Milan Meeting of October 15th
Attending this meeting were representatives from the Abstentionist Fraction, from Ordine Nuovo, from the Milanese maximalist Left, from the majority within the Youth Federation and also a number of maximalist groups without any clear physiognomy but who opposed Serrati’s line. Of those present, the Abstentionist Fraction was the only one with a solid organisation of its own at a national level, the one grouped around Il Soviet.
It was from this meeting that the Manifesto-Program of the Communist Fraction of the PSI would emerge; on the basis of which programme the so-called Imola Fraction of ‘pure communists’ would arise. Addressed to all comrades and sections of the PSI, the Manifesto-Program was published in Il Soviet on October 17th: it denounced, in the first place, the incompetence of the PSI and declared that the Fraction, at the next congress, would resolve the acute party crisis. It stated that the trade-union organisations and political organisations, to which had been entrusted the task of developing a victorious opposition to the bourgeois policy of self-preservation during this period of open class struggle, had proved inadequate, that the party hadn’t modified the criteria of its policies and that the masses, having been disappointed, were turning to organisations outside the party, for example to syndicalists and anarchists. It stated that the 2nd Congress of the CI had established the foundations for party renewal on which the next congress would have to work, namely: 1) changing the party’s name to the Communist Party of Italy; 2) revision of the program, as approved in 1919 at Bologna; 3) expulsion of all members and organisations which have pronounced against the communist program; 4) revision of the party’s internal statutes with a view to introducing into it the criteria of homogeneity, centralisation and discipline; 5) as regards action, discipline towards all the decisions of the CI Congress and the national Congress, observance of which will be entrusted with full powers to the CC elected by the Congress; 6) The directives on party action: to prepare for insurrectional action with consequent legal and illegal work; to organise communist groups in all workers’ organisations; to work inside the ‘economic organisations’; participation in the political and local government elections to be distinguished by features totally opposed to the old social-democratic practice; control to be exerted over all propaganda activity.
On October 17 Il Soviet also published the Abstentionist Fraction’s bulletin of adherence to the Manifesto-Program: “The Fraction’s Central Committee, reassembled on October 9th 1920, having listened to the report (...) on the agreements reached with the other left fractions and tendencies in the party, regarding preparations for the Congress and proposed action to achieve the most efficacious application of the resolutions of the Moscow Congress; and having examined the Manifesto-Program that was issued with this end in view, has decided to fully adhere to this movement in the name of the Communist Abstentionist Fraction. This decision has been communicated to the provisional committee in Bologna [the committee soon moved from there to Imola - ed.] and it invites all groups that adhere to it to examine the above-mentioned program in a special assembly, and then proceed to their relevant sections to seek agreement, on the basis of the program, with similar groups. It wishes to record that (...) the Communist Abstentionist Fraction still retains its own organisation and constitution, and, as regards the local council elections, stands by the criteria taken into consideration byn recent CC decisions. It hopes, moreover, that the joint effort of all communists will be crowned with success in their work of putting new life into the organisations and revolutionary activity of the Italian proletariat”.
A brief comment recorded how the Communist Abstentionist Fraction’s adherence to the Manifesto-Program wasn’t really that surprising since the abstentionists had proposed an agreement with the electionist communists before, at the Bologna Congress in 1919, at which time it was actually the latter who dropped the proposal, in the name of party unity.
The Milan Manifesto-Program, however, made no reference to the Ordinovism that taken over all the positions adopted by the abstentionists, except abstentionism itself, abandoned (for reasons we have often mentioned) even by the abstentionists themselves. The emphasis was instead placed on the question of the party, its centralisation, and on the question of conquering the trade-union organisations and the national confederations. No special role, however, was attributed to the factory councils.
A provisional CC and a three man Executive Committee had been nominated with a provisional headquarters in Bologna; it was also decided to publish the weekly Il Comunista, and to convene the Fraction’s national congress at Imola for November 28th.
That the influence of the abstentionists, at both the theoretical and organisational levels, would be a determining factor in every aspect of the work of forming the Communist Fraction, and making preparations for the national socialist Congress, is something no-one can deny. At the same time nobody can accuse them of using their theoretical, organisational and numerical superiority to impose their personnel on the governing body. As a matter of fact, then as now, our fraction has always rejected petty personalistic politics and, in 1924, in reply to a slanderous campaign against the left incited by future Stalinists, one of our comrades insisted that the abstentionists had never demanded a presence within the leadership organs which was disproportionate to their forces. The comrades of the Left never saw making bids for leadership roles as one of their political functions. On the contrary, whilst getting ready for the Imola Congress the abstentionists would maintain a certain detachment towards the Fraction’s official organs, keeping their own organisation intact right up to the Livorno Congress. In fact the Fraction’s entire network was entrusted to comrade Fortichiari, who would work perfectly well with the abstentionists even though he wasn’t an abstentionist himself.
An Historical Necessity
The great questions of principle had been cleared up once and for all with the theses and conditions of admission to the International and with the theses and writings of the Communist Abstentionist Fraction. Now it was a case of conducting an all-out battle against the opportunism of right and centre. In the second half of 1920 the Fraction fulfilled this task, through Il Soviet, with great energy and gusto. Il Soviet also published a whole series of articles aimed at unmasking opportunism and the duplicity of the CGL leadership, which whilst underwriting the documents of the Red Unions in Moscow continued to adhere to Amsterdam, thanks in part to Serrati’s support.
The internal party polemics took place while the Giolitti government was discussing “control of industry” with the unions, and offered police operations to the reformists to control subversives whilst the fascist groups started to launch their “punitive expeditions”. The October 24th edition of Il Soviet explained that it was a matter of a single counter-revolutionary policy, not opposed and contradictory government policies; and that the bourgeois tendency of the moment was in fact more predisposed to social-democratic government. To this end, the part of the bourgeoisie supporting the social democratic solution played its final card. On December 9th, Il Soviet published an article, entitled ‘Defeatist Manoeuvres’, denouncing Turati’s parliamentary speech, in which, following the events in Palazzo d’Accursio in Bologna, he had condemned not only the black-shirts, but also the “red flag fanatics”. Turati affirmed the urgent need to “disarmare gli spiriti - quell high spirits”, “deporre le armi e pacificare gli animi - lay down arms and pacify souls”, thus allowing free rein to the fascist groups, armed to the teeth and protected by the State. Even the party centre indulged in pacifism, and declared loudly against liberties trampled underfoot, invoking the protection of the public powers, and advising workers not to respond to “provocation”!
All of which would confirm the urgent necessity of constituting the Communist party, a necessity dictated by considerations of principle: as long as the proletariat remains under the influence of a party which orders it to disarm precisely when the class enemy is mustering its forces, it will never be able to defend itself if. The workers’ struggle to defend itself against fascist and state repression was inseparable from the liquidation of the socialist right and centre. The victory of reaction was largely the product of the excessive delay in achieving the split and the consequence of the reformist influence over the working masses.
b - The Imola Congress
In the Autumn of 1920 there was held a congress of communists who believed in acceptance without reserve of the resolutions of the International’s 2nd Congress, and consequently in the expulsion of the reformists from the party. Present at the conference were representatives of the Abstentionist Fraction, Ordine Nuovo and the left maximalists. The abstentionists’ representative gave an introductory speech in which he declared that it wasn’t just the social-patriots who had deserted the proletarian cause but also the social democrats, who rejected the violent destruction of the bourgeois power and the dictatorship of the proletariat in the same way they refused to accept the new communist program elaborated by the International. His speech was seconded by the delegates from the other groups. Naturally there was argument and differences of opinion on certain points, but not such as to erode the principles on which the Communist Fraction was built. It was an open secret that the communists had met at Imola to organise the Communist Party of Italy, not to win votes at the next congress of the PSI. The overriding question, which had been deliberated on in Moscow, was that of the purging of the party: nothing remained now but to put it into practice, severing links both with the reformists and the maximalists, whichever way the vote went at Leghorn (Livorno). At Imola it had already been accepted, even if not decided on formally, that if the congress vote put the communists in a minority, the latter, already organised in the Fraction, would abandon the congress and the socialist party in order to constitute the new Communist Party of Italy (section of the 3rd International). Indicative of the underlying consistency is the fact that the motion approved unanimously at Imola would be the same as that presented by the Communists to the Leghorn Congress.
The article which follows poses in the clearest possible way the question of the split as a historical necessity independent from any considerations of a numerical character, that war-horse of the usual traitors. The article, entitled ’Towards the Communist Party’ was published by the Fraction’s newspaper Il Comunista on the 19th and 23rd of December, and also in Avanti!
c. Towards the Communist Party
«The Imola Convention believed it opportune not to pronounce on the attitude that our fraction should take if the vote at the national congress puts us in a minority. This was because it would have contradicted the convention’s character as one based on fractional work, which aimed to organise the conquest of the majority of the party at the congress.
«On the other hand, as Gramsci observed, there was a sense in which the convention was not just working towards a congressional victory, but towards the constitution of a new party. And the true objective of our entire work is precisely that. We need to bear in mind that a matter as important as the constitution in Italy of the Communist Party will not, in the final analysis, be settled by a majority at the national congress; rather it will be after the congressional vote that the matter can be tackled directly, and resolved. The elements of the solution are to be found in the entire experience and political preparation of the Left of the present party, the Left party, or rather, the two of them that have co-existed up to now, and even more are they contained within the Communist International’s program of action.
«Anti-democratic even as regards this, we cannot accept as ’ultima ratio’ the arithmetic expression of the consultation of a party which isn’t a party. We can start to recognise the correctness of the opinion of the majority at the point where homogeneity of program and purpose begin; in a society divided into classes we cannot accept it; not within a proletariat necessarily dominated by bourgeois influences; not within a party with far too many petty bourgeois members, and which historically has oscillated between the old and the new internationals; which, therefore, isn’t, either in its thinking or its practice, the class party of Marx.
«And so we need to immediately start thinking about all the possible situations which could arise immediately after the vote; which must not, and cannot, cause a break in the continuous development of our activity towards that fundamental objective. Let us set out from this initial consideration in which is summed up precisely the most important result of the Imola Convention: the communists will vote for the motion already deliberated on at the convention. There must be no changes introduced or any kind of softening or toning down of the motion. If certain elements end up oscillating between us and the Unitarians, we won’t be making any concessions to win their votes. Nothing therefore remains but to examine the two hypotheses: of our motion gaining a majority, or a minority, of the votes.
«In both cases, we must make sure we follow the same directives. The Italian proletarian movement is at a crossroads, but the choice before it is not between the politics of Reggio Emilia or the politics of Communism but between our program of action, and that of the Unitarian social-communists. Despite the latter constantly assuring us that we only diverge on minor points, and that we are all chips off the same programmatic block, the truth is that it is through them that the right conducts its politics: a pure reformism if it emerged would be immediately ruled out, whilst the effort of the reformists is applied according to the laws of least resistance, i.e., aiming to get their method to permeate the majority of our plethoric party under the label of intermediate tendencies.
«The Unitarians cannot be clearly distinguished from the reformists. The whole of their argumentation during these fervent and extremely animated debates has been virtually identical. Everywhere the Unitarians defend the policies of the right fraction and above all of the General Confederation of Labour. They emphasise that their purging of the party of the extreme right is on the same level as purging it of extreme left elements.
«Yet more proof: the Unitarians are in favour of hitting out at the present party leadership for the stance they have taken from Bologna up till now, blaming it for the failure of the revolutionary bids made by the Italian proletariat, and clearing the reformists of all blame. It is almost as though, politically and historically – leaving aside any personal positions taken by any of its members today – the present leadership wasn’t the executor of the maximalist and Unitarian majority led by Serrati at Bologna. The Unitarians fail to see that the leadership couldn’t pursue a purely maximalist policy precisely because it was impossible to do on the basis of the ambiguous Unitarian positions. They can’t see that in such a way they produce arguments against their own theses and against their political direction, and they can’t see it because in fact they have more or less taken over all of reformism’s polemical positions against maximalism; as is proved too by the fact that they address the entire problem of what the conditions and possibilities of revolution are in the same way as the right-wingers. One part of the maximalist majority therefore goes beyond Bologna, and the abyss is opening up between them.
«There is a clear split between Unitarians and communists, and discussion between them is sometimes immeasurably violent. This clear split isn’t attenuated at all by those subtle differences which may exist amongst the extremists, but which are usefully integrated into the elaboration of a better awareness for all of the best way to go forward, compact and united. In local discussions, therefore, we see communists and Unitarians lining up into two opposed camps, with the right manoeuvring in the background and not very easily distinguishable from the Unitarians. And it’s not that surprising. Just as the bourgeoisie delegates its defence, at critical moments, to reformism, so reformism, when it is losing ground among the masses, is forced to delegate its counter-revolutionary function to the centrism, labelled right-wing communism, which we can see at work in all countries. When attending the party assemblies and conferences the feeling you get today is that it is really the communists and Unitarians who are heading for a definitive split; they for whom existing alongside one another has become an impossibility.
«The conclusion is this: we must strive to form a communist party which is not influenced by today’s kind of politics based on the thesis of party unity, one not led in collaboration with the exponents of today’s Unitarian communisms. Lenin in his article explained this to us very well, and it must be our open objective.
«I hope that not all Unitarian communists break away from us in order to form an independent party, or a social-democratic party with the reformists. I think our situation is at least as mature as the situation in Germany. The mass of the Unitary communists, our home-grown independents, need to be set free, and their leaders put out to grass.
«If we end up in the majority, therefore, we will set them free by means of the steady application of our Imola motion, ostracising the right and the right-leaning, and making sure that all the leading party organs are exclusively under the sway of extremist communism.
«But what if we find ourselves in the minority? We could neither put up with a party led by the Unitarians, nor sharing the leadership with them. Our task as a fraction is over. With the present massing of the party’s extremist groups on the base of the deliberations in Moscow, of our program, of our motion, and, based on the latter, of the struggle inside the party against both reformism’s direct and indirect manifestations, our duty as a party is starting. We are not going to stay, resuming the hard work of proselytism, if it means the proletariat and ourselves are immobilised until the next congress is called. And neither will we make the criminal blunder of entrusting the leadership of Italian proletarian movement to a confused and imprecise mixture of communist and centrist directives: this would be the triumph of the Unitarian theses, already condemned both in Italy and within the Communist International.
«It is therefore strikingly obvious that immediate departure from the party and the Congress, as soon as the vote has put us in the minority, is the logical, courageous and tactically appropriate solution. From this there would follow, in line with the norms we have indicated, the setting free of the centre: in fact I think that this important objective of ours is more likely to be achieved under these circumstances.
«Let us therefore be prepared for such a resolution. More than any other it corresponds to the directives of the Communist International, it is therefore inappropriate to suppose that it wouldn’t meet with the latter’s approval; and to invoke this supposition to postpone an act which, once delayed, would undermine its beneficial and positive effects.
«I think that the groups in the Fraction should confront this issue and say something about it to their Congress delegates. However, on this basis our fraction – which is the kernel of a genuine and viable party – cannot and must not under any circumstances be divided. It must make its move, intentionally and deliberately, all together, as one body. I am certain that this stance will be met with your virtually unanimous approval.
«Let us therefore look at the situation squarely in the face and let’s take full responsibility for it. What we are conducting is a battle without quarter against all wavering and all misunderstanding».
Capitalist Development and the American Civil War
Chapters expounded at the September 2003 party meeting.
(Part 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 )
A War of Long Duration
After the bombardment of Fort Sumter – which can be considered as having given the North an initial advantage, since the South appeared as aggressors, therefore silencing those in the North who were opposed to the war – the rush to arms was enthusiastic, with both sides convinced, for different reasons, that the war would not last long.
Recruitment was initially dependent on volunteers, who would flock to both camps in considerable numbers, but by the second year of the war conscription had already been introduced, particularly in the South. In the North the system didn’t take definite shape until 1863.
Since there could only be a quick resolution to the war in the East, with the fall of one of the two capitals, it was here that attention would therefore be focused in the summer of 1861. In the North public opinion was clamouring for a decisive victory, not least because most of the troops were only enrolled on three-month terms, giving an idea of how long Washington thought the war would last. “Forward to Richmond!” was the battle-cry of politicians and hack journalists alike; the battle-cry, that is, of those who thought they would be travelling there in carriages or trains, not marching, or languishing in trenches. But they would have to wait a few years: the battle which took place on July 12th 1861 at Bull Run in Virginia saw the North soundly defeated, even if it was little more than skirmish compared to the ones which followed.
The Northerners dug themselves in around fortified Washington to take stock of the situation. For Lincoln, at least, defeat be transformed into victory insofar as it confirmed Congress’s determination to press forward to victory. Lincoln was allowed to float a huge 400 million dollar loan, and enrol 500,000 volunteers for either a 3 year term or for the duration of the war. Apart from parties, frondes and interest groups, this was the way the bourgeoisie would express its unitary determination to achieve its economic and political objectives.
Even if there was contact between the rival armies in Missouri, in West Virginia and in the peninsular to the South-east of Richmond, as well in Virginia itself, the rest of the year would roll by without further major engagements. The North would also deploy its overwhelming naval superiority to impose a blockade and would conquer a certain number of coastal forts and islands.
What should be done? For the Southerners the decision was relatively simple: whilst defending themselves from attack, they needed to bide their time and allow defeats, attrition and pressure from the foreign powers to convince public opinion in the North that the war wasn’t worth continuing. But for the North, which had set itself the task of defeating an enemy occupying a limitless territory which could count on a massive population, there was nothing for it but to attack. But where?
Winfield Scott, the General-in-chief of the Northern forces, predicted it would take a war of three years at least, with heavy losses, to subdue the South. Along with the naval blockade, he considered driving down the Mississippi as a primary objective. In Northern hands it would effectively separate the South from the West, and the South would be slowly strangled due to its isolation, lack of supplies and the military pressure exerted on it from all sides. Due to these characteristics, Scott’s plan would become known as the ‘anaconda plan’, and although it had its weak points, it was better than many later ones. Lincoln, after Bull Run, didn’t want to modify it that much, but when McClellan was entrusted with the command later on this would force a change of direction. McClellan saw the East as the one spot where pressure needed to be applied to crush the rebellion, whereas the West he saw as a very secondary theatre of war. And on this basis he directed his next campaign. In fact Richmond had a psychological rather than a strategic value: if the city fell, the Southerners could retreat into their limitless hinterland and choose the time and the place from which to launch their counter-attack.
In any case, war was continuing. In the West the Southerners occupied Columbus, a city in Kentucky, leading the State to abandon its neutrality and definitely side with the North. The North would then counterattack in the same zone with a series of attacks on cities and fortified positions, with the consequence that the Southerners abandoned the State in February 1862. The commander in the west was actually Halleck, but later history would consider Grant as the military star of the age.
A good description of this campaign can be found in an |
organizing a show in 1981 to celebrate the artist's centennial. Krause began a long friendhship with Baumann's daughter Ann, who gifted nearly 150 pieces to the IMA collection in 2008.
Planning for the exhibit began in 2011 when Krause believed there were enough Baumann pieces to do the artist justice in a large career retrospective. It's enough to get a feel for the man's woodblock art — and there is plenty of it on display — but the exhibit goes the extra route and gives the patron a view of the man himself.
Baumann's wry sense of humor is put on display through objects, including self-portraits as a child's doll and a marionette. Equally telling is a quote that followed a large botched project: after messing up several blocks, Baumann quipped that he was doing his part to support the lumber industry. A photo shows Baumann organizing his prints in a home safe, pipe in mouth, and a later print is missing a corner to stray ash.
A lot of love has been poured into the exhibit, and it came at a good time and location. A large portion focuses on Baumann's depictions of Brown County, Ind. where he lived for several years as a working artist. When the leaves are beginning their descent to the ground, it's very calming to see beautiful art made in and of our state by a master craftsman. It was in Brown County that Baumann matured as an artist.
"Baumann came to Brown County in 1910 on the advice of his fellow-members in the Palette and Chisel Club," Krause explains. "Baumann's intended vacation stretched to six years, because he found the surroundings much more conducive to his work than the bustle of Michigan Avenue in Chicago where he maintained his commercial art studio". It was in Brown County that Baumann's art matured to what Krause described as "five or six colored painterly landscapes... rare for a printmaker."
The attention to detail continues the IMA's streak of creating immersive environments that do justice to the work on display. The layout of the exhibit itself is attractive and simple. The rooms have been painted one of the predominant colors of each period of Baumann's career. Each piece is carefully annotated, and one thing I especially appreciated was the inclusion of contemporary art and its influence on his work.
There are many unexpected flourishes and detours. This includes a short section on Baumann's secret flirtation with postwar abstraction and political commentary. Interspersed throughout the rooms are photographs, unfinished projects, and an entire room at the end devoted to the elaborate marionettes Baumann fashioned toward the end of his career. One room to a rare complete folio depicting the culture and terrain of New Mexico. And videos explore the artist's influences, process, and even a section where children could create their own printmaker's symbol.
A room midway through is the temporary working studio to an artist named Leslie Dolin, who teaches printmaking and works through the process as guests watch.
"Work" is a recurring descriptor. Baumann described his creative environment as a space for work instead of a studio and his laborer's qualities are made very apparent throughout the space. "Baumann inherited a feel for craftsmanship from his cabinet-maker father," says Krause. Practical quality was apparent in the way Baumann would cater his art to the individual, never charging more than $100 for a print during his lifetime.
"I hope that the visitor gains an appreciation for the exquisite craftsmanship in each of Baumann's woodcuts and then ignores it while enjoying the glorious images that he created," says Krause.
Gustave Baumann, German Craftsman — American Artist
When: Through Feb. 14
Where: Indianapolis Museum of Art, 4000 Michigan Road
Tickets: Members free, $18 admission
Info: imamuseum.org(All stats are current as of the end of April 24th.)
During the offseason, Jason Heyward and Troy Tulowitzki were two of the highest-profile players on the trade block. Heyward was ultimately dealt as the Braves gear up for the future and the Cardinals look to fortify RF after the passing of Oscar Taveras. Tulowitzki was not dealt, as the Rockies hope that they can make an improbable run to the playoffs. Both players could be looking for new homes within the next year, as Heyward hits free agency (barring an extension) and Tulowitzki would be a very tempting target at the trade deadline or in free agency.
However, both players have started the season slowly. While Tulowitzki has a 103 wRC+ (which is pretty darn good for a SS), that figure is far below his 2014 results (171 wRC+) and his career figure (125 wRC+). Much of the blame can be placed on his.197 ISO, which is far below both his 2014 and career ISO. Tulowitzki has been able to counteract the drop in power somewhat due to a.370 BABIP that is far above any BABIP he has recorded over a full season. Heyward’s drop has been even more severe, as he is the owner of a B.J. Upton-esque 64 wRC+. While much of that should be attributed to a paltry.235 BABIP, some blame also can be ascribed to a poor batted ball distribution. However, it is too early to say that either player won’t see these trends reverse as the season progresses.
On the other hand, both players are suffering a precipitous and concerning decline in their plate discipline. Tulowitzki’s K rate has shot up from between 15 and 16 percent to almost 24 percent. Likewise, his walk rate has fallen to a paltry 1.6 percent as he has drawn one walk over the season. That shift is being driven by an increase in his swings on pitches out of zone, which has grown to 35 percent from 27 percent in 2014 according to Pitch F/X data:
In addition, Tulowitzki is making less contact as he swings, as his contact rate is below 80 percent – a percentage he has never had at the end of the season. He is also swinging and missing more and is over the league average for the first time since his disastrous cup of coffee in 2006. Tulowitzki’s also seen 8 percent more pitches in the zone (a higher figure than ever before), which indicates that pitchers are not as afraid of him as they once were. All of this comes directly after he had hip surgery, which suggests that he may not be fully recovered yet or that the injury may have eroded his skills slightly.
Heyward also has seen his plate discipline deteriorate but not to the same level that Tulowitzki has. First the good news: his strikeout rate, while slightly elevated from his totals in the past few years, is still in line with his career norms. However, the rest of his plate discipline numbers are worse than his career numbers. As noted by Bernie Miklasz, Heyward only has one walk, is swinging at far more pitches out of zone than ever before, and is seeing fewer pitches in the zone than ever before. Miklasz also notes that Heyward is pounding groundballs – he is currently putting 62 percent of his balls in play on the ground. This is far above his career averages (as shown in the chart below) and is a sign that chasing more pitches is not helping him generate power.
In addition to the points that Miklasz made, Heyward is also swinging far less at pitches in the zone. This season, he has swung at 58 percent of pitches in the zone, the lowest percentage since his rookie year. These diverging trends have allowed Heyward to set a personal record: for every pitch that Heyward swings at out of the strike zone, he only swings at 1.04 pitches in the strike zone.* This is far below his career ratio of 1.69.
Now, as loyal FanGraphs members (only the truly committed read the Community board!), I can hear your refrain of “Small Sample Size.” And I certainly agree that it is too early to completely believe in the magnitude of these changes. It is extremely unlikely that both players will walk less than 2 percent of the time this year. However, I believe that the magnitude and consistency of the changes is a clear sign that both players are suffering due to the erosion of their plate-discipline skills. Both players have reached the stabilization point for strikeout rate, are halfway to the stabilization point for walk rate, and Heyward is quickly approaching the stabilization point for groundball rate. In addition, per pitch metrics like O-Swing and Z-Swing stabilize quickly, with swing rate stabilizing at 50 PAs. While those stabilization points only denote the point at which the data is half noise and half signal, the changes are consistent enough across multiple measures of plate discipline that its extremely hard to argue that it could **all** be a fluke. While both of these players are plus defenders and have the power to still be plus hitters with poor plate discipline, their value will suffer unless they can find a way to turn around their plate discipline.
* This statistic can be calculated using the following formula: (Zone%*Z-Swing%)/((1-Zone%)*O-Swing%).Those folks at the Wall Street Journal are really turning reality on its head. Today it ran a column by Robert Ingram, a former CEO of Glaxo Wellcome, complaining about efforts to pass “transparency” legislation in Massachusetts, New York and a number of other states.
This legislation would require drug companies to report their profits on certain expensive drugs, as well as government funding that contributed to their development.
Ingram sees such laws as a prelude to price controls. He then warns readers:
There is no surer way to bring pharmaceutical innovation to a halt in the US than letting governments decide how much companies can charge for their products or harassing them into lower prices. It also represents a fundamental misunderstanding of how pharmaceutical research works. Scientific discoveries involve trying and failing, learning from those failures and trying again and again, often for years.
Ingram bizarrely touts the “flowing pipeline of new wonder drugs spurred by a free market,” which he warns will be stopped by “government price controls.” This juxtaposition is bizarre, because patent monopolies are 180 degrees at odds with the free market. These monopolies are a government policy to provide incentives for innovation. Ingram obviously likes this policy, but that doesn’t make it the “free market.”
Of course, there are other ways that the government can finance research and development, such as paying for it directly. It already does this to a large extent. At the encouragement of the pharmaceutical industry, it spends more than $30 billion a year on mostly basic research conducted through the National Institutes of Health. It could double or triple the amount of direct funding (which could be contracted with private firms like Glaxo) with the condition that all findings are placed in the public domain.
This would eliminate all the distortions associated with patent monopolies, such as patent-protected prices that can be more than 100 times as much as the free-market price. This would eliminate all the ethical dilemmas about whether the government or private insurers should pay for expensive drugs like Sovaldi, since the drugs would be cheap. It would also eliminate the incentive to mislead doctors and the public about the safety and effectiveness of drugs in order to benefit from monopoly profits.
It would be great to have an honest debate about the best way to finance drug research. The first step is to stop conflating government-granted patent monopolies with the free market.
One important point that Ingram gets wrong in this piece is his claim that
prescription drugs account for only about 10 percent of US healthcare spending, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This percentage has not changed since 1960 and is projected to remain the same for the next decade.
While spending on drugs is roughly the same share of health care spending as it was in 1960, this is a sharp recovery from the level of the early 1980s, when it was close to 5 percent. Furthermore, spending on pharmaceuticals rose by more than 10.0 percent in 2014, which means that currently they are growing rapidly as a share of total healthcare spending."Saturday Night Live" celebrated its 40th anniversary last February with an avalanche of stars parading through a three-hour prime-time special. Overlooked in all the excitement was the fact that the show’s actual 40th anniversary wouldn’t arrive until eight months later — until this Sunday, to be exact.
"SNL" premiered on Oct. 11, 1975 (it was actually named "NBC’s Saturday Night" at the time) and it’s startling to compare the shaky, unformed show that almost nobody saw that night to the high-wattage, high-rated season opener we saw last week.
Advertisement:
We devote a chapter to the first show in our book, "Saturday Night: A Backstage History of Saturday Night Live." Here are a few details that illuminate the remarkable distance the show has traveled over the course of those 40 years.
Lorne Michaels' scruffy, pot-smoking, disrespectful "enlightened amateurs"
It’s odd how many people, including not a few guest hosts, never seem to grasp that "Saturday Night Live" really is, as its name plainly suggests, a live show, a fact that makes it one of the most ambitious, complicated and dangerous programs ever produced. By now SNL has a production schedule that can be described as routine chaos, meaning that, despite a determination to keep things loose and flexible, there are seasoned professionals at the helm who can be relied on to get 90 minutes of comedy on and off the air.
Such was not the case going into the premiere. To the contrary, there was no confidence that the first show would come off at all. "SNL" Fearless Leader Lorne Michaels, who was a master at appearing in complete control at every moment, tried to cut the tension in staff meetings by telling his terrified cast and writers to relax. “The worst thing that can happen,” he assured them, “is that none of us will ever work again.”
Many of the crew members who worked in Studio 8H and most of the executive hierarchy at NBC thought that was exactly what would happen — and the sooner it happened, the better they’d like it. When Lorne started putting together the show’s cast and writing team during the summer, he’d decreed that no one who’d ever worked in television before would be hired. He was looking for what he called “enlightened amateurs,” meaning talented renegades from the thriving underground comedy scene who were contemptuous of everything network television in those days stood for — a nearly relentless bath of mainstream mush.
Lorne’s demands, and the attitude that inspired them, hadn’t gone over especially well with the old-timers in 8H, many of whom had been working there since the days of Milton Berle’s "Texaco Star Theater." They recognized immediately that, whatever “enlightened” was supposed to mean, the amateurs Lorne had hired were just that: amateurs who didn’t have a clue what it took to actually make a television program. Almost as quickly, Lorne realized the show was going to need some seasoned support and backpedaled, but the damage had been done. Thus "SNL" premiered in the midst of hostile territory. The show had managed to get as far as it had mainly because of the support of one man — NBC President Herb Schlosser. Pretty much everyone else in the building had done as little as possible to help the scruffy, pot-smoking, disrespectful troops of "SNL" before the show went on the air, and they couldn’t wait to see them fall flat on their faces when it did.
Advertisement:
NBC panicked over guest host George Carlin
The guest host for the premiere show was comedian George Carlin, who was chosen, Lorne said in a press release, because “he’s punctual and fills out forms well.” The real reason was that Lorne didn’t want to subject hosts he cared about more, like Lily Tomlin and Richard Pryor, to the trauma of a first show — he wasn’t sure, he told us, that he’d be able to “protect” them adequately.
Carlin had no idea what he’d signed on for when he arrived and what he saw didn’t make him comfortable. A practitioner of the standup monologue, he found himself booked on a sketch comedy show run by a bunch of neophytes. Partly for that reason and partly because he was, he later admitted, “in another world” on cocaine at the time, Carlin stayed aloof from the proceedings, declining as the week went on the opportunity to appear in any of the sketches he was offered.
NBC, for its part, was extremely nervous about having Carlin appear, live, on its airwaves, given that he’d been the focus of a major free-speech battle over his routine about the seven dirty words you can never say on television. Putting the show on a seven-second delay was considered but eventually abandoned. Network executives, however, did demand that Carlin cut his hair and wear a suit. Carlin compromised: he didn’t cut his hair, but he did wear a three-piece suit — with a blue t-shirt rather than a white dress shirt and tie underneath.
Advertisement:
Billy Crystal's long ride home
One of Lorne’s nightmares for the first show was that he’d run out of material 30 minutes before it was supposed to go off the air. In order to make sure that wouldn’t happen, he booked what turned out to be a ridiculous number of guests. Besides Carlin there were three other standups: Billy Crystal, Andy Kaufman and Dan Aykroyd’s longtime comedy partner from Canada, Valri Bromfield, and not one but two musical guests, Janis Ian and Billy Preston (as close as Lorne could get to his original targets, Carole King and Stevie Wonder).
During the hour between dress rehearsal and the air show, Lorne realized he’d overcompensated and told Crystal and Bromfield they’d have to drastically cut their routines. Crystal’s manager, Buddy Morra, vehemently resisted, and for once Lorne lost his temper, ending up in a shouting match with Morra in a hallway outside 8H. Morra insisted that if Lorne didn’t relent he and Crystal were walking. Lorne didn’t, and they did. Instead of making his network TV debut, Crystal soon found himself riding a train home to Long Island, his face pressed against the window, wondering how things could have gone so wrong.
Advertisement:
The disastrous run-through
The first full run-through of the premiere show, on Friday night, October 10, didn’t go well. Somebody forgot to make sure that there was an audience in Studio 8H, and at the last minute, pages from NBC’s Guest Relations staff were outside 30 Rock, pulling in any warm bodies they could find. Thus a fair number of those who witnessed SNL’s first full rehearsal were homeless people taking the opportunity to spend 90 minutes off the street.
They got more than they bargained for: the rehearsal ran at least twice the show’s allotted 90 minutes and, thanks to a sound system that hadn’t been significantly upgraded for decades — certainly not to the standards needed for both sketch comedy and rock and roll — few people in the audience could hear what was being said onstage anyway.
Advertisement:
NBC’s vice president in charge of late-night programming, Dick Ebersol, who had hired Lorne and helped run interference for him within NBC, managed at 2 a.m. to find an outfit called Hollywood Sound that was in the process of breaking down the sound system they’d used that night for a concert at Madison Square Garden. With the help of a generous disbursement of network dollars, Ebersol convinced them to truck their equipment over to 30 Rock, where they worked all night setting it up for the premiere.
They worked alongside the stagehands, who with set designers Eugene Lee and Leo Yoshimura were frantically trying to finish home base — the main set. Lee had stubbornly insisted, for authenticity’s sake, on using real 8 x 8-inch facing bricks for the floor, instead of the more conventional contact paper or paint. The bricks weighed half a pound apiece and had to be cut to fit. The carpenters at the Brooklyn set shop had refused to build the bricks into the set, saying they’d break when they were trucked to Manhattan. Instead, the bricks arrived at 30 Rock in a crate along with a single carbide saw blade. To Yoshimura, the message was clear: “Cut them yourself, asshole.”
Yoshimura was still finishing the set a half an hour before show time. Every few minutes Dick Ebersol would run up to him to ask, “Are you gonna get done? Are you gonna get it done?” Yoshimura, who at that point had been without sleep for several days, shrugged and said, “I don’t know Dick. If I don’t, you can fire me.”
John Belushi almost didn't go on
Advertisement:
John Belushi was at the center of another drama that unfolded just before air time. Like all the cast members, Belushi had been insulted by the salaries the network had offered the Not Ready for Prime Time Players, for good reason. NBC was demanding that the performers commit themselves to the network for an absurd length of time — five years — for an even more absurd amount of money – $750 a show in the first season. Take it or leave it.
For much longer than the other cast members, Belushi kept insisting he wasn’t going to take it, and by 11 o’clock the night of the premiere he was still refusing to affix his signature to the deal.
With ever-growing desperation — Belushi was one of two characters in the show’s opening sketch, and he wouldn’t be able to go on without a contract — Ebersol kept begging him to sign, but Belushi was having none of it. Finally he spotted Lorne’s manager, Bernie Brillstein, who was standing nearby, and waved him over. “This guy is telling me this is favored nations,” he said to Brillstein, referring to a common clause in ensemble show contracts that ensures every cast member is paid the same. “The only way I’ll sign,” Belushi continued, “is if you tell me it’s fair, and I’ll only sign if you represent me.”
Brillstein shrugged and said fine, and Belushi took Ebersol’s pen and signed. Crazy John Belushi, Brillstein would later reflect. He conned himself right into a deal with the boss’s manager. Crazy like a fox.
Advertisement:
(Like most show-biz contracts, the initial one Belushi and the other cast members signed turned out to be negotiable. As their stardom increased, so did their salaries, in both cases precipitously.)
And it wasn't even an immediate hit
The first show did come off without any disasters, although afterward it disappeared more or less soundlessly into the late night void. Contrary to popular belief, "SNL" wasn’t an overnight success — far from it. Ratings for most of the first season were unimpressive. It stayed on the air partly because it had strong support from young newspaper critics and partly because it seemed to be building an audience among young viewers, including the teenaged children of many of NBC’s top executives, who were begging their fathers to get them tickets to the show. (One of those influential offspring was Herb Schlosser’s son Eric, who attended the show often and who later became the author of the best-selling exposé, "Fast Food Nation.") "SNL" didn’t qualify as a genuine hit until its third season.
One viewer on Oct. 11, 1975, got the joke immediately, however. Steve Martin had watched the premiere in Aspen, Colorado, and remembers not laughing so much as looking on in wonder. “Fuck,” he said to himself as the credits rolled. “They did it. They did the show everyone should have been doing."It appears that the reference model of Radeon RX Vega has been leaked.
AMD Radeon RX Vega smiles for camera
Again, we don’t know which model this is, but we might be looking at Radeon RX Vega with full Vega 10 GPU. As far as I know, cut-down Vega will only be released by AIBs.
So how do we know it’s not Polaris? The board number you can see above the PCIe interface is the exact same number you can find on AMD Radeon Vega Frontier. This is the same board, just adopted for RX series. It’s Vega-based card for sure.
They only had this card for few hours, but they promised exclusive RX Vega FreeSync vs GTX 1080 Ti G-Sync comparison to be published later. It’s worth noting that AMD asked him to compare it with GTX 1080 non-Ti:
Just a little tease here as to what is coming this week. RX Vega FreeSync vs. GTX 1080 Ti G-Sync Blind Gaming test video being edited now. All done at my house, with gamers with a couple hundred years of twitch gaming experience. All system UEFI and OS set up by me personally. […] AMD wanted me to use a 1080. […] AMD hand delivered this card to my house on Saturday morning, and took it with them Saturday evening. That all said, this card was an engineering sample but I was specifically told that it was representative of retail product. So basically a “reference” card built outside of mass production.
We don’t know what happened to the card from leaked teaser from Chinese event, but it might just be one of the variants of Radeon RX Vega.
by WhyCry Tweet
Previous Post
COLORFUL announces iGame GTX 1080 Ti Kudan, world's fastest 1080 Ti Next Post
GIGABYTE X399 AORUS Threadripper motherboards soon available for preorders
Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Angelo Cataldi and Chip Kelly had a very amusing sports-media relationship.
It started with Wing Bowl 21, days after Kelly was hired in 2013. It blossomed with their weekly Monday morning conversations on SportsRadio 94WIP throughout Kelly’s tenure in Philadelphia. And it flourished with the lucky pie delivery system and a $4,000 donation to charity.
On Wednesday afternoon, the now former Philadelphia Eagles head coach privately called the 25-year radio host, who called the conversation the most gracious conversation in sports that he’s ever been a part of.
“I gotta say it was the most gracious conversation I could ever remember having with anyone I ever talked about or dealt with in sports in my life,” Cataldi said on Thursday’s 94WIP Morning Show. “He could not had have been nicer. He was very complimentary on the conversations we had over the years. He was very philosophical about what had happened to him, very confident of his future. And I couldn’t believe it because I had just done a show saying that he doesn’t know how to deal with people and he had dealt with me in a way that no one had ever done. Rhea [Hughes], all the years.”
Listen: Angelo Cataldi tells the story of his phone call with Chip Kelly
Initially, Cataldi admitted he was shocked to discover that Kelly wanted to have a private conversation.
“I was flummoxed,” Cataldi said describing how he felt upon realizing Kelly wanted to talk to him privately. “Chip Kelly wants to talk to me, not on the show. Chip Kelly and I had talked every Monday at 8:00 a.m. after games and maybe two or three other times when I delivered pies. We had no conversation, we had no relationships beyond the professional world.
“Right away my thought was, I have to read a sponsorship because every time I’ve talked to him it’s been sponsored,” Cataldi joked.
One day prior, the morning after Kelly was fired, Cataldi ripped Kelly for his personnel decisions and inability to relate to his players. He says his opinion has not changed, despite the courteous call from Kelly.
“It doesn’t color in anyway my ultimate judgement of him,” Cataldi said. “I think he blew it as GM and I think that’s why he’s not here anymore and he didn’t relate well to his players, that’s why he isn’t here anymore. But I’d be lying to you if I didn’t disclose that he made this phone call yesterday.”
Did the conversation make Cataldi feel any sense of guilt for criticizing Kelly?
“No I don’t, I really don’t [feel guilty],” Cataldi said. “I’ve always been able to separate like the graciousness of an individual from how to asses their performance. But I gotta say it was shocking to me and very appreciated. It was really a cool thing to hear, one time I can say when I leave this job that a coach called me after getting fired and actually thanked me for being fair to him and reasonable.
“[Kelly] said, ‘I found you to be very professional.'”
Cataldi did get one quality line in, at the end.
“At the end I said, ‘Chip I’m sure you’ll get another job and I’m sure you’ll be very successful at that job. When you know where it’s gonna be let me know, so I’ll know where to send the pies.’
“And I did get a good laugh out of it. That was it. Maybe that’s where we bonded, with the pies.”U.S. Army's federal service academy in West Point, New York
The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known as West Point, Army, Army West Point,[6] The Academy, or simply The Point, is a four-year federal service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort that sits on strategic high ground overlooking the Hudson River with a scenic view, 50 miles (80 km) north of New York City. It is one of the four U.S. military service academies, and one of the five U.S. service academies.
The Academy traces its roots to 1801, when President Thomas Jefferson directed, shortly after his inauguration, that plans be set in motion to establish the United States Military Academy at West Point. The entire central campus is a national landmark and home to scores of historic sites, buildings, and monuments. The majority of the campus's Norman-style buildings are constructed from gray and black granite. The campus is a popular tourist destination, with a visitor center and the oldest museum in the United States Army.
Candidates for admission must both apply directly to the academy and receive a nomination, usually from a member of Congress or Delegate/Resident Commissioner in the case of Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Virgin Islands. Other nomination sources include the President and Vice President of the United States.[7] Students are officers-in-training and are referred to as "cadets" or collectively as the "United States Corps of Cadets" (USCC). Tuition for cadets is fully funded by the Army in exchange for an active duty service obligation upon graduation. Approximately 1,300 cadets enter the Academy each July, with about 1,000 cadets graduating.
The academic program grants a bachelor of science degree with a curriculum that grades cadets' performance upon a broad academic program, military leadership performance, and mandatory participation in competitive athletics. Cadets are required to adhere to the Cadet Honor Code, which states that "a cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do." The academy bases a cadet's leadership experience as a development of all three pillars of performance: academics, physical, and military.
Most graduates are commissioned as second lieutenants in the Army. Foreign cadets are commissioned into the armies of their home countries. Since 1959, cadets have also been eligible for an interservice commission, a commission in one of the other armed services, provided they meet that service's eligibility standards. Most years, a very small number of cadets do this.
The academy's traditions have influenced other institutions because of its age and unique mission. It was the first American college to have an accredited civil-engineering program and the first to have class rings, and its technical curriculum was a model for later engineering schools. West Point's student body has a unique rank structure and lexicon. All cadets reside on campus and dine together en masse on weekdays for breakfast and lunch. The academy fields fifteen men's and nine women's National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) sports teams. Cadets compete in one sport every fall, winter, and spring season at the intramural, club, or intercollegiate level. Its football team was a national power in the early and mid-20th century, winning three national championships. Its alumni and students are collectively referred to as "The Long Gray Line" and its ranks include two Presidents of the United States (as well as the President of the Confederate States of America), presidents of Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and the Philippines, numerous famous generals, and seventy-six Medal of Honor recipients.
History [ edit ]
West Point fortifications 1780
Artillery cadet 1805, in the mixture of commissioned and non-commissioned uniforms prescribed for cadets of artillery.
West Point, from Phillipstown (1831) engraving by W. J. Bennett showing the original buildings of the United States Military Academy (1831) engraving by W. J. Bennett showing the original buildings of the United States Military Academy
Colonial period, founding, and early years [ edit ]
The Continental Army first occupied West Point, New York, on 27 January 1778,[8] and it is the oldest continuously operating Army post in the United States.[9] Between 1778 and 1780, the Polish engineer and military hero Tadeusz Kościuszko oversaw the construction of the garrison defenses.[10] The Great Hudson River Chain and high ground above the narrow "S" curve in the river enabled the Continental Army to prevent British Royal Navy ships from sailing upriver and thus dividing the Colonies.[11][12] While the fortifications at West Point were known as Fort Arnold during the war, as commander, Benedict Arnold committed his act of treason, attempting to sell the fort to the British.[13][14] After Arnold betrayed the patriot cause, the Army changed the name of the fortifications at West Point, New York, to Fort Clinton.[13] With the peace after the American Revolutionary War, various ordnance and military stores were left deposited at West Point.[15]
"Cadets" underwent training in artillery and engineering studies at the garrison since 1794.[16] In 1801, shortly after his inauguration as president, Thomas Jefferson directed that plans be set in motion to establish at West Point the United States Military Academy.[17] He selected Jonathan Williams to serve as its first superintendent.[18] Congress formally authorized the establishment and funding of the school with the Military Peace Establishment Act of 1802, which Jefferson signed on 16 March.[2] The academy officially commenced operations on 4 July 1802.[19] The academy graduated Joseph Gardner Swift, its first official graduate, in October 1802. He later returned as Superintendent from 1812 to 1814.[16] In its tumultuous early years, the academy featured few standards for admission or length of study. Cadets ranged in age from 10 years to 37 years and attended between 6 months to 6 years.[16] The impending War of 1812 caused the United States Congress to authorize a more formal system of education at the academy and increased the size of the Corps of Cadets to 250.[16]
Thayer monument
In 1817, Colonel Sylvanus Thayer became the Superintendent and established the curriculum, elements of which are still in use as of 2015. Thayer instilled strict disciplinary standards, set a standard course of academic study, and emphasized honorable conduct. Known as the "Father of the Military Academy," he is honored with a monument on campus for the profound impact he had upon the academy.[20][21] Founded as a school of engineering, for the first half of the 19th century, USMA produced graduates who gained recognition for engineering the bulk of the nation's initial railway lines, bridges, harbors and roads.[22][23][24] The academy was the only engineering school in the country until the founding of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1824. It was so successful in its engineering curriculum that it significantly influenced every American engineering school founded prior to the Civil War.[23][24][25]
The Mexican–American War brought the academy to prominence as graduates proved themselves in battle for the first time. Future Civil War commanders Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee first distinguished themselves in battle in Mexico.[26][27] In all, 452 of 523 graduates who served in the war received battlefield promotions or awards for bravery.[26][28] The school experienced a rapid modernization during the 1850s, often romanticized by the graduates who led both sides of the Civil War as the "end of the Old West Point era."[29] New barracks brought better heat and gas lighting, while new ordnance and tactics training incorporated new rifle and musket technology and accommodated transportation advances created by the steam engine.[29][30] With the outbreak of the Civil War, West Point graduates filled the general officer ranks of the rapidly expanding Union and Confederate armies.[31] 294 graduates served as general officers for the Union, and 151 served as general officers for the Confederacy.[29] Of all living graduates at the time of the war, 105 (10%) were killed, and another 151 (15%) were wounded.[29] Nearly every general officer of note from either army during the Civil War was a graduate of West Point and a West Point graduate commanded the forces of one or both sides in every one of the 60 major battles of the war.[29][31][32]
After the Civil War [ edit ]
Immediately following the Civil War, the academy enjoyed unprecedented fame as a result of the role its graduates had played.[33] However, the post-war years were a difficult time for the academy as it struggled to admit and reintegrate cadets from former confederate states.[34] The first cadets from Southern states were re-admitted in 1868, and 1870 saw the admission of the first black cadet, James Webster Smith of South Carolina.[34][35] Smith endured harsh treatment and was eventually dismissed for academic deficiency under controversial circumstances in 1874.[36] As a result, Henry O. Flipper of Georgia became the first black graduate in 1877, graduating 50th in a class of 76.[34][37] Two of the most notable graduates during this period were George Washington Goethals from the class of 1880, and John J. Pershing from the class of 1886.[34] Goethals gained prominence as the chief engineer of the Panama Canal,[38] and Pershing would become famous for his exploits against the famed Pancho Villa in Mexico and later for leading American Forces during World War I.[39]
Besides the integration of |
a few more times this season, an unconfirmed amount, which is a positive. Every time I’m back in it’s a chance to show what I can do, and while everything is undecided, it’s a good chance to prove why I should be in.”Reports of the death of the Elbo Room were greatly exaggerated! We ourselves spoke too soon — we just didn't want to drag it out, to get hurt more. But there's very good news for the Valencia Street staple — it seems plans for a condo conversion, specifically a set of residences that the building's owners indicated they'd like to inhabit themselves in their twilight years — have been postponed.
We're good through 2018, people, so get over there, grab a beer, and bust a move. It won't, thankfully, be your last there!
It's been a prolonged process fraught with separation anxiety: Before current owner Matt Shapiro received a reprieve through the end of this year, the Elbo Room was supposed to sail into the sunset on November 1st. But what was going to be a monthly lease renewal affair — presumably based on demolition/construction plans — has turned out to be a sure thing for two years to come.
Personally, I consider this a Hanukkah miracle — this seems the most apt seasonal analogy — but thanks go to any and all party gods.
Previously: Elbo Room Clings To Life With Month Reprieve, Open Through Year's EndTo Bookmark This PCWorld Article On The Future Of Browsers, Just Lick Your Screen
Some people dislike April Fools Day. We do not. In fact, we think those who do are wrong. Not to mention a little weird, too.
It’s just damn funny when we post things like Google going nuclear and witness respectable industry blogs like Venturebeat break the news in quasi real time … only to realize we were just kidding later on. Good times. But you know what’s better than a good April Fools joke?
A good April Fools joke that keeps on giving long after April 1 has passed.
This morning, I picked up on a tweet from Opera Software, embedded above, pointing to a PCWorld article on the future of the Web browser. Titled ‘Your Browser in Five Years’, it’s an interesting read on how browsers are undergoing changes that could potentially alter our day-to-day computing lives in the coming years.
Writes PC World’s Jeff Bertolucci:
Meanwhile, Google is building voice recognition and text-to-speech functionality for browsers. And Opera Software’s free Opera browser–which pioneered voice and mouse-gesture browsing–also supports face gestures through your Webcam.
Face Gestures. To control your browser. Next time, better check that publication date, Jeff. :)
And I truly hope you didn’t watch that video without wondering if this was actually real.— Two more United States soldiers were killed in southern Afghanistan on Thursday when an Afghan soldier, apparently in league with a civilian, killed an Afghan tower guard and attacked a barracks with gunfire and a rocket, officials said.
Four American soldiers were shot dead last week, including two at the Afghan Interior Ministry, after the burning of copies of the Koran at a NATO base in Afghanistan set off protests across the country.
The attack on Thursday took place at a joint Afghan-NATO base in the Zhare district in Kandahar Province. Four other Americans were wounded in the attack, which began around 2:30 a.m. local time.
The two men who mounted the assault fled afterward, but American forces called helicopters to pursue them. Masoom Khan, the district chief of police, said that the two were killed by helicopter gunfire more than a mile from the scene of the attack.
Advertisement Continue reading the main story
The base is close to the village of Sangesar, the birthplace of the Taliban and the hometown of its leader, Mullah Muhammad Omar. Mr. Khan said the attackers were suspected of having links to the insurgency.
Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You will receive emails containing news content, updates and promotions from The New York Times. You may opt-out at any time. You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters.
The Afghan soldier involved in the shooting, he said, was a platoon leader who had taken part in joint patrols with Americans. The civilian was an Afghan literacy instructor at the base.If, like me, you suffer from lazius extremis (lazy bastard, for the layman), you probably hate having to lock your computer when you leave and entering a password when you come back.
Fear not, young padawan, UDEV and xdotool to the rescue!
Here's how it works: UDEV (a linux mechanism that detects device events (including USB)) can be configured with rules that fire whenever something changes (i.e. a device is connected or disconnect from the system). When that happens, you want to run a script to lock or unlock your system, based on the type of rule that was fired. So, let's get started:
1. Create the UDEV rules:
1.1. Create a new file at /etc/udev/rules.d/100-lock-unlock-with-iphone.rules, with the following contents:
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ENV{PRODUCT}=="2bc/12c8/520", ENV{DEVTYPE}=="usb_device", ACTION=="add", RUN+="/home/youruser/bin/unlock" SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ENV{PRODUCT}=="2bc/12c8/520", ENV{DEVTYPE}=="usb_device", ACTION=="remove", RUN+="/home/youruser/bin/lock"
1.2. In those lines, replace 2bc/12c8/520 with your device product id, which you can find running the following command in the terminal:
udevadm monitor --environment -u | grep PRODUCT
1.3. Disconnect or connect your iphone and you should see something like this:
PRODUCT=2bc/12c8/520
1.4. That's the value you put in the rules.
1.5. Replace youruser with your own user name, by the way.
2. Which leaves us with the /home/youruser/bin/lock and unlock scripts to create. Here is the lock script:
#!/bin/bash export XAUTHORITY=/home/youruser/.Xauthority export DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS=`ps -u youruser e | grep -Eo 'dbus-daemon.*address=unix:abstract=/tmp/dbus-[A-Za-z0-9]{10}' | tail -c35` log=/home/youruser/lock-unlock.log echo `date` "-" `whoami` "- Locking system..." >> $log su youruser -c "DISPLAY=:0 gnome-screensaver-command -a" echo `date` "-" `whoami` "- System locked!" >> $log
2.1. Again, replace youruser with your own.
2.2. You might be wondering what those lines about DBUS and the X server are all about. The reason for those is that UDEV runs stuff as root. And we want to lock and unlock the screen as our own user. Those lines make sure of that.
2.3. For the unlock script we need to install a tool called xdotool. It's basically an automation command that allows you to make the computer type stuff and control the mouse automatically. The reason to use this is because there is no way in hell you can unlock a locked screensaver (believe me, i've tried). This tool simulates user input (moves the mouse a little bit and the enters your password and presses enter). I know it's not the most secure thing in the world but it's the only way i could make it work. Install it with:
sudo apt-get install xdotool
2.4. Here's the unlock script:
#!/bin/bash export XAUTHORITY=/home/youruser/.Xauthority export DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS=`ps -u youruser e | grep -Eo 'dbus-daemon.*address=unix:abstract=/tmp/dbus-[A-Za-z0-9]{10}' | tail -c35` log=/home/youruser/lock-unlock.log echo `date` "-" `whoami` "- Unlocking system..." >> $log export DISPLAY=:0 xdotool mousemove 0 0 && xdotool type yourpassword && xdotool key Return echo `date` "-" `whoami` "- System unlocked!" >> $log
2.5. Replace youruser with your own user and yourpassword with your user password.
3. Reload the UDEV rules with:
sudo udevadm control --reload-rules
4. And now when you disconnect your phone from the computer, it should lock it. When you plug it back in it should unlock.
5. Happy hacking!Lard thought to be from World War II has washed up on a beach.
Four large barrel-shaped lumps of the foodstuff have appeared on the Angus coastline after storms on the east coast, according to staff at the nearby St Cyrus nature reserve.
SNH
According to BBC News, the lard is thought to have come from a boat that was bombed during the war, and was originally contained in wooden barrels.
St Cyrus reserve manager Therese Alampo explained: "The depth of the swell during the storms we had over the holidays must have broke apart the shipwreck some more and caused the lard to escape."
However, local resident Angus McHardy has said that it is not the first time that lard has appeared on shore in the area.
McHardy revealed: "Some barrels were complete and others were just lumps. People collected it. My grandma boiled it up to get the sand out. It was great because we couldn't get any fat during the war.
"After a storm in the late '60s or '70s, the lard came up on shore again."Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Ennio Morricone tells Will Gompertz he did not compose for films directed by Clint Eastwood out of loyalty to Sergio Leone
Renowned Italian film composer Ennio Morricone said he regrets saying "no" to Clint Eastwood.
The 86-year-old wrote the score to the 1960s trilogy of spaghetti Westerns by Sergio Leone, which saw Eastwood rise to fame.
But Morricone said he turned down the chance to write for films Eastwood directed "out of respect" to Leone.
"I missed a great opportunity and I am really sorry," he told the BBC's arts editor Will Gompertz.
Morricone, or Maestro, as he is known in his hometown of Rome, added: "When Clint called me, I said no out of respect to Sergio Leone, not because I did not like the movies that he did."
Although he had first met Sergio Leone when they were at school, it was not until 25 years later that their professional partnership began, on a Fistful of Dollars in 1964.
"Gradually over time, he as a director and me as a composer, we improved and reached our best, in my opinion, in Once Upon A Time In America," the composer said.
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Ennio Morricone was awarded an honorary Oscar in 2007 by Clint Eastwood
They went on to work together on Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) and Leone's last credited western, A Fistful of Dynamite (1971).
"After this relationship with Leone I was able to suggest to other directors how to respond to the music
"Often directors ask me for pieces lasting 20 seconds and in 20 seconds people do not understand - it is music that is wasted," he added.
Morricone, who will resume his European tour next year, said that being a composer is a "difficult profession" and he gets worried by every film he works on.
"There are ideas that crop up immediately but the majority arrive late.
"There is no film that has not worried me. I was worried for all of them, it is a difficult profession," the composer said.
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Ennio Morricone has received 56 awards for his musical scores
Some of Morricone's most memorable scores include Roland Joffe's The Mission (1986), Giuseppe Tornatore's Cinema Paradiso (1988), and Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill (2003) and Inglourious Basterds (2009).
Over the years, the Italian Maestro has received 56 awards, including five Baftas, but missed out on Oscars for Days of Heaven (1979) and The Mission (1986).
In 2007, he was awarded an honorary Oscar, presented by Clint Eastwood, for "his magnificent and multifaceted contributions to the art of film music".
Image copyright Rex Features Image caption Morricone wrote the musical scores for some of Leone's westerns such as Once Upon a Time in the West
The Italian composer said that winning awards is a "celebration of the cinema".
"They are great to advertise the cinema, they are important for those who receive them but most of all for the cinema, it is a celebration of the cinema."
Despite working in an American-dominated industry, Morricone has never moved to Hollywood, remaining rooted in Rome, where he was born in 1928.
"I have been tempted. I was invited to live in Hollywood, I said no. I am better here," he said.
After a year of recovery from a spinal injury, Morricone's My Life in Music, World Tour will resume on 1 February 2015 in Amsterdam, stopping in 20 European cities.'Strange bedfellows' team up to lobby against wiretap bill Nick Juliano
Published: Friday June 20, 2008
|
Print This Email This Updated below: Republican Sen. Specter opposed to FISA compromise With a vote expected as soon as Friday on a controversial surveillance law, activists are shifting into high gear a lobbying effort aimed at convincing moderate Democrats to stand for civil liberties and against a whitewash of lawless behavior from the Bush administration. The American Civil Liberties Union is teaming with supporters of former Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul and scores of liberal bloggers to pressure Congress on the surveillance law; the effort is calling itself Strange Bedfellows. House and Senate leaders announced Thursday they had reached an accord in a yearlong fight over domestic spying; the deal would essentially legalize the National Security Agency's warrantless wiretapping program and would cause courts to dismiss privacy lawsuits pending against the telecommunications companies that facilitated the program. Salon's Glenn Greenwald provides a lengthy analysis of the new bill. The ACLU says the new deal is "crap" and unconstitutional, comparing it to a lousy bill the Senate passed last year. "Remember that horrible bill the Senate passed earlier this year? The one that had virtually no Fourth Amendment protections? Ok, now imagine Congressman Hoyer and Senator Bond putting a really pretty, really meaningless bow around it to distract you from whats actually inside," Amanda Simon writes at the ACLU's blog. "Then they added a giveaway to the phone companies. There. Now you have the current FISA bill." Parallel to the civil liberties' lobbying push is an effort being spearheaded by the Blue America PAC that aims to raise $350,000 to campaign against lawmakers who support giving immunity to the telecommunications companies, including moderate and conservative Democrats. Markos Moulitsas, founder of DailyKos, laid bare the challenge Thursday: When we started this "netroots" thing, we worked to get "more and better Democrats" elected. At first, we focused on the "more" part. This year, we're focusing a bit more on the "better" part. And in 2010, we'll have enough Democrats in the House to exclusively focus on the "better" part.
That means primary challenges. And as we decide who to take on, let it be known that this FISA vote will loom large. Voting to give telecommunication companies retroactive immunity may not guarantee a primary challenge, but it will definitely loom large.
We kicked Joe Lieberman out of the caucus. We got rid of Al Wynn this year. Those were test runs, so to speak. We've got a lot more of that ready to unleash in 2010. Already, liberal bloggers are working to unseat incumbent Democrats who support the administration's request for immunity, such as Reps. Chris Carney and John Barrow. In an effort to provide more immediate pressure to Capitol Hill, several blogs are encouraging their readers to call their representatives and urge votes against the compromise surveillance law. Firedoglake's Christy Hardin Smith writes: Please get on the phone and tell your members of Congress (Senate and House) that voting for a bill that is being railroaded through without them being given an opportunity to review it for constitutional and civil liberties concerns is unconscionable. No telecom immunity, no violation of fourth amendment rights with blanket warrants -- no vote unless and until the bill is fully vetted by people who respect the rule of law. If you'd like to help with our campaign on this, you can do so here. Lawmakers are considering an update to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, a 1978 law that prevents foreign intelligence agencies from spying on Americans without first receiving a warrant. Legal experts say the Bush administration violated this law with the massive wiretapping and datamining programs it implemented after Sept. 11, 2001, and possibly before. Democratic leaders in the House like Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Speaker Nancy Pelosi heralded a FISA bill unveiled Thursday as a bipartisan compromise, but lawmakers who are most concerned about civil liberties protection like Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy and Sen. Russ Feingold panned the bill. The "compromise" measure would have federal courts review nearly 40 pending privacy lawsuits and dismiss them if the telecom companies received a "written directive" from the government ordering them to begin surveillance. Timothy B. Lee, writing for the libertarian Cato Institute, says this compromise is nothing of the sort: It seems to me that this misses the point rather badly. Under our system of government, searches are conducted pursuant to warrants or other court orders. This is an important check on the executive branchs surveillance powers because it ensures an independent magistrate will review any surveillance activity and block those that arent conducted pursuant to the law.
To treat a written directive from the government as a substitute for a court order is to abandon this fundamental principle. Once we accept the premise that the executive branch can authorize surveillance without judicial oversight, the standard of review for analyzing the resulting written directives is entirely beside the point. I dont care if the Bush administration wrote letters to telecom companies certifying that participation in the warrantless spying programs was legal. Thats not how the law works. These are large companies with plenty of lawyers on staff who know this area of law as well as anyone in the executive branch. They could and should have done what Qwests former CEO says he did and told the Bush administration to come back when they had a relevant FISA warrant. The fight over updating FISA has gone on for nearly two-and-a-half years, beginning soon after the New York Times revealed the administration's warrantless wiretapping program in December 2005. A temporary measure passed last summer expired in February, when House Democrats actually showed some backbone and refused to rush through an even-worse FISA update measure that had passed through the Senate. It should be noted that the House has previously been able to pass an immunity-free FISA update, although there are not enough votes in the Senate to overcome a Republican filibuster. Rather than keeping up the fight to avoid immunity, Democrats seem ready to fold and turn their sights to election preparations. The top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee also announced his opposition to the compromise deal Friday. "I am opposed to the proposed legislation because it does not require a judicial determination that what the telephone companies have done in the past is constitutional. It is totally insufficient to grant immunity for the telephone companies prior conduct based merely on the written assurance from the administration that the spying was legal," Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) said in an e-mailed statement. "The provision that the bill will be the exclusive means for the government to wiretap is meaningless because that specific limitation is now in the 1978 Act and it didnt stop the government from the warrantless terrorist surveillance program and what the telephone companies have done. That statutory limitation leaves the president with his position that his Article II powers as commander in chief cannot be limited by statute, which is a sound constitutional doctrine unless the courts decide otherwise. Only the courts can decide that issue and this proposal dodges it."A design for a home anchored to a sheer cliff face offers a striking vista. But what would it take to live in such a place, asks Jon Kelly.
For sale: distinctive seaside property with spectacular coastal views. Would suit high-value buyer untroubled by vertigo.
So far it only exists as a concept, but the design for the Cliff House by Modscape, an Australian firm that designs and builds prefabricated homes, is enough to give a lurch to the stomach of anyone uneasy with heights.
Here's the pitch - it features three bedrooms (two doubles, the other en-suite), a stylish living space, a carport, separate bathroom and (tantalisingly or nausea-inducingly, depending on your tolerance of sheer drops) an open-air spa and barbecue area on the bottom floor. Artfully minimalist interior décor focuses visitors' attention on "transcendent views of the ocean".
According to the company's website, the plans were drawn up after a couple approached the firm asking its designers to explore how to build a holiday home along "extreme parcels" of coast in Victoria.
Image copyright Modscape/REX
Inspired by the way barnacles cling to a ship's hull, the design envisages that the house would be made up of five modules connected by a lift and secured to the cliff face using engineered steel pins.
It might look precarious - and a hostage to coastal erosion - but there's no reason why the design shouldn't be structurally sound, says Maxwell Hutchinson, a former president of the Royal Institute of British Architects. Cantilever beams drilled into the rock could support the building just as crampons support a climber.
While people assume homes must be built upwards from foundations in the ground, it's equally possibly in theory for them to be suspended or hung, says Hutchinson. There's a tradition of unconventional properties around the world including floating homes, underwater homes and even ice hotels.
But, he warns, "all of these things are expensive because the construction industry hates anything unusual". Any prospective owner of the Cliff House would need very deep pockets.
And that wouldn't be the only thing required of them, Hutchinson says. "It would have to be someone with a very, very strong stomach."
Subscribe to the BBC News Magazine's email newsletter to get articles sent to your inbox.A private park in inner Southeast Portland that serves as a daytime haven for the homeless appears destined for development.
Catholic Charities is purchasing the property adjacent to St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church for roughly $2 million, said Trell Anderson, the organization's director of housing and community development. The church owns and manages the property, known as St. Francis Park.
Celebrate the park
What:
Live music, food, storytelling
Where:
St. Francis Park, SE Stark St. and SE 12th Ave.
When:
4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 24
The Buckman neighborhood park is bordered by Southeast 11th and 12th avenues and Southeast Stark and Oak streets.
The sale is expected to be finalized in the next 30 days. Anderson said it's been an "ongoing conversation" for about three years.
The non-profit has submitted a development proposal and application for monetary assistance to the city's housing bureau. Catholic Charities hopes to build 102 affordable studios and one-bedroom apartments.
Most units would be "workforce housing," which is an increasingly popular term meaning the units are affordable for families earning 60 percent of the median income. Ten units would be set aside for those earning only 30 percent of the median income.
"That neighborhood is gentrifying rapidly," Anderson said. "Our intent here is to provide the affordable option for people working in the neighborhood."
Catholic Charities plans to reserve 25 units for women transitioning out of homelessness or abusive homes through the organization's assistance programs. (Those reserved units include the 10 priced for people earning 30 percent of the median income.)
Anderson said he expects to hear back from the city early next month. If the charity is awarded funding, Anderson hopes to break ground in the next year.
The park will remain open until construction begins.
The proposed J-shaped building is four stories high along Southeast 12th Avenue, and three stories along Southeast Stark Street and part of 11th avenue.
Anderson said the non-profit hopes to "activate" Oak Street, which is a pedestrian right-of-way through the block, by designing welcoming gardens in the courtyard. Creating a hospitable environment is one of the charity's guiding principles for the project.
St. Francis Park has been a popular site for respite among the homeless population for several years. Taking that space away is "hard," Anderson said.
"It absolutely provides some peace and some sanctuary for people who are really struggling," he said. "We hope that is mitigated in some way by dedicating 25% of the units to homeless women."
-- Melissa BinderMichael Dapaah (born January 1991)[1] is an English actor, rapper, and comedian best known for portraying the fictional rapper Big Shaq (also known as Roadman Shaq). He is also known for his mockumentary SWIL (Somewhere in London), which focuses on four characters and their journey to success.
Early life
Michael Dapaah was born in 1991 in Croydon, south London, to first-generation Ghanaian immigrants.[2] While he was growing up, his parents wanted him to study science in order to become a doctor, but he was never interested in the subject, instead being more interested in acting and comedy. He also spent time in South Africa as a child. For a time he was in prison.[2] He studied film, acting and theatre at Brunel University and took a course from the National Youth Theatre.[3]
Career
Dapaah began his career by garnering a social following among the British-African community for his brief comedic parts in shows like Meet the Adebanjos, which deals with a Nigerian family in London.
In May 2017 along with friend and fellow Brunel graduate Marv Brown, he launched a mockumentary series on YouTube titled SWIL (Somewhere in London) which amassed over 1 million views in its first series.[4] In this series he created the characters MC Quakez and Big Shaq.[3]
"Man's Not Hot"
Dapaah saw a rapid growth in public attention when he appeared on Charlie Sloth's BBC Radio 1Xtra show "Fire in the Booth".[5] His comedic rap "Man's Not Hot" (whose backing track was sampled from 67 and Giggs' 2016 track "Let's Lurk") developed into a viral meme, and a studio track version of the song was released on 22 September 2017.[6] The song's music video was released by Dapaah himself on 26 October of the same year;[7] which features cameos from Waka Flocka Flame, Lil Yachty, Dutch rap-group Broederliefde and DJ Khaled, who calls Dapaah's character a "legend".[citation needed]
Discography
Singles
As lead artist
As featured artist
Title Year Album "The Ting Go Challenge"[27]
DJ Flex featuring MC Quakez) 2017 Non-album singleThose who report consuming cannabis two or three times per week are less likely to engage in at risk drinking behavior, according to data published online in The American Journal of Addictions.
Investigators from Sweden’s Lund University, Department of Clinical Sciences, analyzed data from a nationwide survey on alcohol and drug use conducted by the National Institute of Public Health. Over 22,000 respondents between the ages of 15 and 64 participated in the survey.
Researchers reported that frequent cannabis consumers (defined as having used cannabis two or three times per week) were less likely to engage in hazardous drinking practices compared to infrequent users (those who reported having consumed cannabis fewer than four times per month).
They concluded: “In the present study, it has been shown that, in the Swedish general population, cannabis use is associated with a higher prevalence of other illicit drug use and hazardous alcohol use. Among cannabis users, frequent cannabis use is associated with a higher prevalence of other illicit drug use and a lower prevalence of hazardous alcohol use when compared to occasional cannabis use. … … The inverse relationship between the frequency of cannabis use and hazardous drinking has not been reported before to our knowledge. … This may indicate that cannabis users and alcohol users are different groups, albeit with a high degree of overlap between groups, with different characteristics and clinical needs.”
A review paper published in February in the journal Alcohol and Alcoholism similarly acknowledged that some cannabis consumers likely substitute the plant for alcohol. It concluded: “While more research and improved study designs are needed to better identify the extent and impact of cannabis substitution on those affected by AUD (alcohol use disorders), cannabis does appear to be a potential substitute for alcohol. Perhaps more importantly, cannabis is both safer and potentially less addictive than benzodiazepines and other pharmaceuticals that have been evaluated as substitutes for alcohol.”
An abstract of the study, “Alcohol and drug use in groups of cannabis users: Results from a survey on drug use in the Swedish general population,” appears here.
Article republished from NORMLComparing Bryce Harper and Mike Trout is like comparing Snickers and Twix. They’re both pretty darned good. Which one’s better? For the moment, Trout. At least according to our BBTN 100 rankings, in which the Los Angeles Angels outfielder again holds the No. 1 spot. That noise you hear? That’s the sound of Harper breathing down Trout’s neck more loudly than Darth Vader at the finish line of an ultramarathon.
Given that Harper is a former first overall pick who was selected 24 spots higher than Trout (albeit a year apart), not to mention a freakish talent who has been on the national radar since before he was shaving, the underlying assumption was that the Washington Nationals' best player would eventually develop into the best player in all of baseball. That time appears to be upon us.
Once again, Mike Trout is No. 1 in our BBTN 100 rankings. But Bryce Harper (up to No. 2 from No. 34 last year) is hot on his heels -- and after 2016, it could be a whole new ballgame. Getty Images
First, let’s get the caveat out of the way: Any discussion of Trout vs. Harper has to take durability into account. In 2013 and 2014 combined, Harper missed 106 games due to various injuries, while Trout missed just 10. Last year, Harper’s third full season in the big leagues, he was finally able to stay healthy and appeared in a career-high 153 games. As you might have heard, the results were pretty good. Assuming the reigning National League MVP can stay whole again this season, it’s hard not to envision a change atop our leaderboard.
As good as Trout is -- and to be clear, there’s no reason he shouldn’t be making hotel reservations in Cooperstown for, say, the summer of 2035 -- the numbers suggest Harper was better in nearly every facet of the game last year. From doubles to homers to walks to K-rate to batting average to on-base percentage to slugging percentage to OPS to WAR, Harper outdid Trout in pretty much every statistical category. That doesn’t even factor in defense.
BBTN 100 SCHEDULE The top 100 players of 2016 as voted by a group of 70 ESPN experts were revealed over 10 days. Date Players March 15 Nos. 100-91 March 16 Nos. 90-81 March 17 Nos. 80-71 March 18 Nos. 70-61 March 19 Nos. 60-51 March 20 Nos. 50-41 March 21 Nos. 40-31 March 22 Nos. 30-21 March 23 Nos. 20-11 March 24 Nos. 10-1 March 25 Pos. top 10s
To most casual fans, Trout probably seems like the better defender. Chalk it up to the speed. Or to playing center field. Or to his preternatural knack for scaling outfield walls and turning bombs into outs. Or to all three. But if you look a little more closely, advanced metrics suggest Harper is the better defender. For his career, according to FanGraphs, Trout has been credited with a total of 10 defensive runs saved. Meanwhile, Harper and his rocket arm have accounted for a total of 28 runs saved, despite playing about a thousand fewer innings. As for last season, Harper finished 14th among outfielders with 10 DRS. That’s twice as many as Trout's 5 DRS, which ranked 24th at the position. The scary part is that after he spent his first three seasons playing mostly left and center, last year was Harper’s first full season playing right field.
That’s the thing. When you look at Trout, who has been unfathomably consistent the past four years, you get the sense that he has already reached his potential, that what you see now, which isn’t all that different from you saw in 2012, is what you’ll get for the next decade or so. But when you look at Harper, both with the bat and the glove, you get the impression that he’s just scratching the surface, that before all is said and done, he could do things baseball has never seen before.
The obvious question, then, is that if Harper is so stinking good, why isn’t he already No. 1 on our list? The obvious answer: Because he has been that good for only one season. But if his 2016 campaign in any way resembles his 2015, the smart money says that a year from now, he’ll have leapfrogged Trout. I’ll even bet you a Snickers -- and a Twix.Perhaps feeling like they haven’t reminded Seattleites how much they loathe drivers, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) is in the process of hurting drivers and increasing the cost of living in South Lake Union.
New signs have been posted along Dexter Ave. near Mercer indicating that free parking will be replaced with paid parking because there’s too much demand. The idea is that paid parking will allow for more reliably open spots because it prevents people from camping out in the spots all day long (which, as someone who lives in the area, can tell you doesn’t actually happen, but the dishonest SDOT doesn’t need to prove their contentions).
SDOT’s reasoning is deeply flawed, their moves are hypocritical, and it’s informed by a desire to collect more revenue from people visiting local businesses.
The demand for parking in South Lake Union exists because there’s not much free parking to begin with. In fact, the City just made it worse. Just blocks away from where these signs are posted, the City removed nearly a dozen spots for protected bike lanes, even though bike lanes already existed alongside free parking and were frequently unused.
The people parking on the free street parking aren’t primarily residents of the nearby apartments (there are restrictions on how long you could leave your cars in the spots, making it nearly impossible to leave them there without getting tickets). They are being used by folks visiting local restaurants, like Mollusk and Tacos Chukis. So, the City just made visits to local, small businesses even more expensive.
And for the few people who were using the spots, somehow, so they wouldn’t have to pay insanely high apartment complex parking fees? You just added nearly $200 a month for them to pay to park in their lots; a price that is pushed higher and higher because of lack of supply (that the City takes away) and increased demand (which the City creates).
You and I don’t benefit from these moves. The City does. And for them, it’s the best kind of funding: money they didn’t earn and won’t ever be truly held accountable to.OZY was first to this story, putting you ahead of the curve. View More OZY Originals
Jen Day and her boyfriend of 11 years, Pepper Mint (yes, that’s his real name), live together with their cat in a whitewashed house on a narrow, leafy street in Berkeley, Calif. They kiss and nuzzle and have date nights, like any other couple.
Just not always with each other.
Day has another boyfriend. Mint has another girlfriend — and just began seeing two other women, too. The couple practice polyamory: They have multiple committed relationships at once, with the knowledge and consent of everyone involved.
There’s a shaken belief [leading to] more openness to seeing what works rather than believing in some tradition.
Yes, it’s Berkeley, but also? Apparently more people across the country are getting on the big-love bus. Large-scale studies tracking the number of polyamorous (aka “poly”) individuals don’t exist, but evidence from polyamory groups, relationship therapists and dating websites suggests that figure is rising fast. University of Michigan psychologist Terri Conley, for instance, estimates that 5 percent of Americans are involved in consensual non-monogamous relationships.
Why are we embracing more than one partner? Skepticism of monogamy plays a part. Roughly 20 percent of U.S. marriages end in divorce. “There’s a shaken belief” leading to “more openness to seeing what works rather than believing in some tradition,” said San Francisco clinical psychologist Deborah Anapol, before she passed away earlier this year. And, in general, people have grown more open to alternative lifestyles. Of course, it’s also possible that interest in polyamory has remained stable — but people just have more opportunity to take part. Thanks, Internet!
Still, the poly-curious should think hard before making the leap. Polyamory might sound like free love, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Maintaining multiple healthy relationships takes McKinseyian time-management skills and grace dealing with jealousy. Skeptics worry about the welfare of children in polyamorous families. The stigma hasn’t quite worn off, either.
They don’t really think of you as a partner, but as a human.
“A lot of people get into this relationship style and don’t really have the tools to do it ethically, so people get hurt,” says Michael (last name not given), who organizes polyamory events in the San Francisco Peninsula and South Bay Area, Calif. “ |
they can take what they’re learning from Raptors practices and take it back and put it into high-pressure situations in a G-League game, the better. Anything other than within the GTA would’ve been very difficult and probably would have defeated the purposes of it.”
The other determining factor was the ability to own the team, and therefore retain control over decision-making. “If we’re really going to take this tool and use it to its highest potential we need complete control in terms of having a say in what these guys are doing,” Tolzman says of early conversations about potentially purchasing a G-League franchise. “The more similarities between the two the better because it’s less of a transition for the players.”
You don’t need to look any further than Bruno Caboclo’s rookie season to see why that was so important.
When Caboclo was drafted, the Raps G-League affiliate was the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. They shared the affiliate with 11 (!) other NBA teams didn’t have regular access to their coaching staff. This was from a profile of Caboclo I wrote two summers ago:
On a Mad Ants team full of veterans looking to crack NBA rosters, helping to turn the then-19 year old rookie into a pro wasn’t exactly a focus for anybody in Fort Wayne. “You’re talking,” says former Mad Ants coach Jaren Jackson, “about guys who really don’t have the time to help him.”
In Caboclo’s D-league debut, he scored 13 points in 20 minutes. The next night, he went scoreless in five first-half minutes and didn’t leave the bench for the rest of the game. “So strange,” recalls Bruno, furrowing his brow as he looks down at the floor. “I would play well in the practice; the coach would tell me I’ll play in the next game. The next game, I sit on the bench. I wait, wait, wait, then nothing. I think, ‘What am I doing here?’”
“From the moment he stepped foot in Canada,” says Tolzman, “Bruno was a project player, and to not have that from his first year … we always say, ‘Where would he be if we had the 905 from day one with him?’”
For the kids stepping up big this season who had the 905 in place from Day 1, it’s proven its worth tenfold. But for that group, and rookie OG Anunoby, who has stepped into an NBA role ready to contribute, the 905 appears to be a thing of the past.
“It’s a good thing if they’re not needed [in the G-League] anymore,” says Tolzman. “It’s a good problem to have.”
So what’s the plan now? Tolzman says the team is still figuring it out, and don’t be surprised to see a more traditional use this season, with under-the-radar prospects and diamonds-in-the-rough finding a home with the 905. Two players on the Raptors roster, Malcolm Miller and Lorenzo Brown, are signed to two-way deals and will go back and forth. But save for Caboclo, don’t expect to see too many Raptors regulars making the trip to Mississauga.
“We’ve built in some holes in the past,” Tolzman says, “where we knew other guys would be coming down and we didn’t want to have too much depth. Now it’s going to be a totally different mindset.”Nope, Dashie, you're just a pegasus.I've seen some drawings where humanized characters still have their "ponies attributes". And I can tell that with wings it can work, you know, angels, that's cute and stuff.But human character with a horn in the middle of the forehead..?Don't get me wrong, fo me it looks kind of funny.But I know that everyone has his own conception about how they could look as the humans and of course can draw them like he wants! Just like me. I'm so poor in creating my own characters, so for me it's a lot better to use already created some characters and make something with themAnd I can easily understand that someone can find my way of drawing them ridiculous or stupidMy little pony (Friendship is Magic) belongs to Hasbro.Tata Steel has "in principle" reached an agreement to end the saga over its £15bn pension scheme and clear a path for a merger with German energy giant ThyssenKrupp, says the Financial Times.
"If the settlement moves to a successful conclusion, it could spell an end to the crisis in the steel industry that blew up last spring when Tata said it intended to quit Britain after years of losses," the paper adds.
Unions voted earlier this year to approve the closure of the old British Steel pension schemes, which have assets of around £15bn and offered a guaranteed payout rate based on salary, to new accrual.
This next step would address the trickier issue of what to do about scheme's existing members. Their accrued benefits added up to a £700m shortfall against projected assets and were costing the company £136m a year to fill.
While the bill was considered too high for ThyssenKrupp to take on, pension scheme law prevented Tata from reducing the rates it would pay to members.
This solution would see the scheme hived off into a separate vehicle into which Tata would invest £550m and 33 per cent of the UK business.
Members will have the choice of transferring into this new fund, where payments would be uprated at a slower inflation rate, or staying with the existing scheme, which would then fall into the pension protection fund (PPF), where most members would see payouts cut ten per cent.
Unions say the majority of members would be better off transferring to the new scheme.
"Tata said the deal was subject to approval by the Pensions Regulator and non-objection on the part of the PPF. The Pensions Regulator said important details remained to be finalised," said the FT.
Tata workers agree to close defined benefit pension scheme
16 February
Tata Steel workers have voted in favour of the company's proposal to close their generous defined salary pension scheme.
"In return for pension changes, Tata Steel has pledged to guarantee production and jobs at Britain's largest steelworks in Port Talbot, Wales, for five years and to invest £1bn in its UK business over the next decade," says Reuters.
A ballot had been open to more than 10,000 workers who are members of the Community and GMB unions for the past two weeks, says Sky News, and around three-quarters agreed to the reform.
Consequently, all new pension contributions will go into a new money purchase pension scheme, which does not guarantee a set payout and is exposed to market risk.
It should, however, help avoid the British Steel Pension Scheme "from having to be taken over by the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) lifeboat scheme", adds Sky. That would have cut payouts to existing pensioners by around ten per cent.
The deal also guarantees 4,000 workers at Port Talbot their jobs for the next five years, even if a proposed merger of Tata with German conglomerate ThyssenKrupp goes ahead.
However, the agreement - and with it the future of the steelworks in the UK - remains dependent on a bigger change to the pension scheme that would affect all 130,000 existing members.
Tata is seeking what Reuters describes as "rare regulatory approval" to cut future payouts by linking to a lower rate of inflation. It also wishes to hive off the scheme into a new company to avoid further contributions to meet a massive funding shortfall.
The company says its UK unit, which is set to post its first profit in five years, "will fail if it has to keep ploughing funds into a scheme with 13 times more pensioners than paying employees", Reuters adds.
Even if the deal does succeed, some remain unconvinced on the longer-term future for jobs at Port Talbot.
"Thyssenkrupp has said its main goal in merging with Tata's European operations is to combat overcapacity in the steel sector, and many expect this makes jobs at Port Talbot… vulnerable in the long term," says Reuters.
Tata Steel agrees £100m sale of'speciality' business
10 February
Tata Steel has finally secured a formal £100m deal to sell its "speciality steel" arm to turnaround industrials consolidator Liberty House.
The deal brings to an end months of uncertainty for 1,700 staff across a number of Tata sites in South Yorkshire, as well as service centres in Bolton, Greater Manchester, and in China.
Upheaval dates back to March last year following the announcement that Tata was exiting the UK market altogether – and then the news that it had signed a "letter of intent" on a sale of the speciality arm in November.
In between Tata initially claimed it would only sell its UK businesses as a single asset. It later relented and split off its non-core arms, including the "long products" arm based out of Scunthorpe, which was sold last June.
The remainder of the operations, including the steelworks in Port Talbot, Wales, which has a 4,000-strong workforce, are set to be merged with German conglomerate ThyssenKrupp.
In order to facilitate that deal, which incorporates all of Tata's European steel assets, the Indian-owned firm is consulting on reforms to its UK business, including hiving off its pension scheme and limiting future payouts.
The speciality unit produces steel for the automotive, aerospace and oil and gas sectors.
In common with the improvement in the wider steel sector, it generated pre-tax earnings of £74m in the third quarter of its latest financial year, compared to a £90m loss the previous year, says the Daily Telegraph.
The purchase will make Liberty one of the largest steel and engineering employers in the UK with more than 4,000 workers across Britain, including Scottish mills that were also formerly owned by Tata.
Tata Steel still pursuing pension scheme law change
13 January
Tata Steel is still pursuing a radical shake-up of its £15bn UK pension scheme in a move that would require a change in the law, the Financial Times reports.
"Under plans being drawn up… members will be asked to consent to increases in future payouts being pegged to a lower measure of inflation, with the scheme put in a special purpose vehicle holding a guarantee from Tata Steel," the paper says.
The key challenge is the inflation change, which would save billions of pounds in future liabilities but would contravene a provision in the Pension Scheme Act 1995 stating promised benefits cannot be taken away.
Experts worry any alteration will create a precedent that unscrupulous employers could exploit to reduce pension bills. Tata argues it can be considered an exception because its own pension scheme documents from 1990 allow for benefit changes.
The proposals had the backing of former business secretary Sajid Javid, but his successor, Greg Clark, is understood to have refused to countenance the change.
Tata Steel has been stuck with a dilemma: it wants to offload its UK business, but a proposed merger with German rival ThyssenKrupp is unlikely to progress unless the burden of funding the pension scheme is removed.
Its plan to separate the scheme, with members that refuse falling into the Pension Protection Fund, also needs to be approved by the Pensions Regulator. However, officials are unwilling to give a green light because Tata is no longer on the brink of collapse.
Being "close to insolvency… is a pre-requisite for obtaining a regulated apportionment arrangement", says the FT.
Tata Steel was making losses of £1m a day last year, but a rise in steel prices means it is now eking out a modest profit. It is still on the hook for hefty pension payments that are only likely to rise, however.
The company's pension plans also advanced this week with a new offer of "hundreds of millions of pounds" to buy out a guarantee the scheme holds over a plant in the Netherlands.
Tata Steel rescue'still faces pension hurdles'
9 December
The Pensions Regulator has warned "there are still major hurdles to overcome" to secure Tata Steel's pension scheme, despite this week's rescue deal, says The Guardian.
Tata has agreed to keep open both blast furnaces at the massive Port Talbot steelworks in South Wales, invest £1bn in the wider UK business and seek to avoid redundancies for the next five years.
However, in return it has demanded that workers make concessions on pay and terms, including agreeing to the closure of the final salary pension scheme to new contributions.
But experts say the move will only see a modest 1.5 per cent saving on pension contributions and that this is not sufficient to resolve the outstanding shortfall in the scheme.
John Ralfe, a pension consultant, told the Guardian: "Tata Steel is making annual cash contributions for new defined-benefit pension promises of 11.5 per cent of salary versus ten per cent for the replacement defined-contribution scheme.
"Closing the defined-benefit scheme does nothing to address the existing £15bn of liabilities."
When Tata put its UK business up for sale, its pension scheme had a £700m deficit. It is paying around £136m a year to fund this, an amount that is expected to keep rising.
That burden is a blocker to a proposed merger with German company ThyssenKrupp, which Tata is pursuing to secure its European and UK operations' long-term future. It has said it ideally wants to offload the scheme altogether.
The Pensions Regulator said: "We note the announcement from Tata Steel and look forward to seeing more detail from them regarding any proposal for the British Steel pension scheme.
"There are still significant issues to be resolved and we will consider any proposals carefully in light of their impact upon the 130,000 pension scheme members and PPF levy payers."
Regulators have been sceptical about the plan to set up the scheme up without a sponsoring employer and reluctant to send it into the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) without a much bigger financial contribution from Tata.
Entering the PPF would also be opposed by unions as it would reduce payouts to pensioners.
No easy solution presents itself, but the company is pressing on for now. The Financial Times reports Tata is close to agreeing a payment with pension scheme trustees to buy out the fund's claim on Tata's Dutch steelworks.
Pension experts warned of the risks to the financial health of the scheme if trustees did not extract a high enough price for its guarantee.
Tata Steel's £1bn rescue deal at mercy of pensions ballot
8 December
Tata Steel and trade unions have agreed a deal that will see both the blast furnaces at Port Talbot in South Wales stay open for at least five more years.
The Indian company will also invest £1bn in future steel production and pledge to seek to avoid compulsory redundancies over the next five years.
However, it wants staff concessions in return, including the closure of the £15bn final salary pension plan.
Tata wants to close the "defined benefit" scheme to new contributions and replace it with money purchase "defined contribution" funds, something most companies in the private sector have already done.
To help the deal, it has promised a maximum top-up of ten per cent of salary-to-employee-contributions of six per cent.
It's undoubtedly a less generous set-up, but is more affordable for the company.
While the unions have tentatively backed the plan, Roy Rickhuss of Community said the pension scheme closure was "a serious concern" and that they will ballot members on the proposal in the New Year.
"Tata has put a lot on the table in terms of investment and it is not clear what would happen to those commitments if this pensions deal was voted down," says the BBC.
Koushik Chatterjee, the group executive director of Tata Steel, said: "The proposed changes to future pension provision and other employment terms are necessary to de-risk the company and help achieve long-term sustainability.
"We are also working separately on a necessary structural solution for the British Steel pension scheme fund."
Pension expert John Ralfe told The Guardian the reduction from 11.5 per cent currently to ten per cent "saves virtually nothing".
Instead the long-term sustainability of the company depends on finding a workable solution to funding existing pension liabilities, against which the company has a £700m shortfall requiring it to invest £136m a year.
That is seen as blocking a proposed merger of Tata's UK steel assets with German rival ThyssenKrupp and the company has proposed spinning out the pension scheme into a separate company, or placing it in Pension Protection Fund.
Tata Steel proposes closing £15bn pension scheme
7 December
Tata Steel has suggested closing its massive £15bn final salary pension scheme as part of a plan to secure new investment into its Port Talbot plant in Wales.
The Indian-owned industrial giant was revealed yesterday to have put forward a deal to secure new investment into its remaining UK assets, which employ 9,000 people. The rescue plan would mean keeping up both blast furnaces at the South Wales site.
Tata has so far only committed to keeping both open for three years – and the Financial Times says one was due to close when that guarantee expires, "raising fears of downsizing and job cuts".
A total of 7,000 people are employed by Tata in Wales, 4,000 of whom work at the Port Talbot facility. Of these, half have roles "at the 'hot end' of the site, working on the blast furnaces and other processes that turn coke and iron ore into steel", says the Telegraph.
"An option being examined by local management is a partial relining of its interior that could extend its life by up to 10 years," adds the FT.
In return for this and other ongoing investment the company wants unions to agree to changes to staff terms and conditions.
Reports today reveal that the existing final salary pension scheme would be closed to new contributions and replaced by a "less generous – but today commonplace – defined contribution scheme".
Even if unions accept the proposals this will not be the end of the road for the pension scheme, which is seen as a "millstone" and a blocker to a mooted merger with Tata's German rival ThyssenKrupp.
"Tata Steel UK poured £136m into the defined benefit scheme during its last financial year," says the FT. This is expected to rise to £146m this year under current arrangements.
One option would be to seek agreement to move the scheme into the industry lifeboat, the Pension Protection Fund (PPF), despite the firm not being insolvent. But this would involve cutting future payouts and unions would therefore resist strongly.
The trustees of the scheme have expressed a preference for it to be hived off into a separate company, but the PPF has raised objections on the basis that with no sponsoring employer there is a greater risk of the fund eventually failing.
Tata Steel closes in on Port Talbot rescue deal
6 December
Tata Group is on the brink of a deal that will safeguard 4,500 jobs and both of the blast furnaces at its main plant in Port Talbot, Sky News says.
Unnamed sources claim the Indian-owned company is "edging closer to agreeing a deal with the steel unions which would see continued investment into the plant in return for concessions on staff terms and conditions".
Councillor Tony Taylor, who worked at the Welsh plant for 44 years, told Sky that if the future of two blast furnaces can be guaranteed, it will "secure the plant for 15 to 20 years". Currently, Tata has only guaranteed the furnaces for three years.
The Indian conglomerate announced in March it was planning to sell its UK operations following a sharp drop in steel prices, only to reconsider after the government stepped in to pledge hundreds of millions of pounds of support.
Tata has since sold off two satellite units. In June, it completed the sale of its Scunthorpe-based "long products" business, which produces steel for the rail and construction sectors, to turnaround investor Greybull Capital.
That business is now trading profitably under the revived British Steel brand.
Then last month, it struck a £100m deal to sell its speciality and pipes business in Yorkshire, which supplies the automotive, aerospace and oil and gas sectors, to global consolidator Liberty House.
The remaining rump of the business, with Port Talbot at its core, is now part of a plan to merge the broader European arm of Tata with German conglomerate ThyssenKrupp.
However, last week it was claimed the company could close of one of the blast furnaces at Port Talbot to save money irrespective of merger plans.
Port Talbot is Britain's biggest steelworks and employs more than 11,000 people directly or through its many contractor and service firms.
Tata's continued investment – and the merger with ThyssenKrupp – is said to be contingent on being able to offload or reduce liabilities in relation to the £15bn British Steel pension scheme, says the BBC.
Tata Steel could close Port Talbot furnace
30 November
Tata Steel and the German conglomerate ThyssenKrupp could close one of two blast furnaces at the UK's largest steelworks at Port Talbot following their proposed merger, Reuters reports.
The agency cites two "industry sources", one of whom is "close to ThyssenKrupp's board", as saying the companies expect "the struggling plant to be downsized" if the tie-up goes ahead.
Port Talbot accounts for around 4,000 steel workers. That's almost half of the 9,000 or so that will still be employed by Tata in the UK after the sale of its speciality and pipes unit, which was announced yesterday.
Reuters cited an email sent by two senior officials at the Community steel union that says that Tata has only pledged to keep the two blast furnaces at Port Talbot running for three years.
A union source said: "Three years is nowhere near enough. Our line in the sand has always been keeping two blast furnaces running. We want guarantees and besides, they've given us guarantees before that haven't materialised."
Separately, Wilhelm Segerath, who represents the works council on ThyssenKrupp's supervisory board, said in an interview this week that "workers would resist shutting down capacity in any merger", says CNBC.
Segerath added: "We have capacities that are worth preserving, and we will fight for that. I don't see any strengthening through a merger with Tata."
Commitments to retaining staff at Port Talbot could be part of any government-back rescue deal. Plans to include concessions on energy costs and cheap loans were mooted earlier this year.
Critically, the government is involved in talks to resolve an impasse relating to Tata's £15bn pension scheme, which is said to be £700m in deficit. ThyssenKrupp has said it does not want to take on the pension scheme in its current form.
Richard Farr, managing director at Lincoln Pensions, said: "There has to be some sort of compromise over the [pension] deficit. They [Tata] are doing their bit, now it's the government's turn."
Tata announced on Monday that it would invest £85m in its UK operations, "but the plan did not include any investment in Port Talbot, other than funds for an environmental scheme for its power plants", says Reuters.
Tata to sell Yorkshire steel plants in £100m deal
29 November
Indian conglomerate Tata has finally struck a £100m deal to sell its speciality and pipes business, safeguarding the future of hundreds of its employees. The business currently employs some 1,700 workers across several plants in Yorkshire.
The unit, which produces steel for the automotive, aerospace and oil and gas sectors, was put up for sale in the summer, after being separated from Tata's wider UK steel portfolio, which was at the time being sold as a combined entity.
A transaction was thought to be imminent in September, but nothing was forthcoming.
Now Tata has signed a "letter of intent" to sell the business to Liberty House, a buyer of distressed industrial assets that has already acquired a number of plants in Scotland and Wales from the Indian firm.
The steel union Community says it welcomes news of the negotiations following "months of unnecessary stress and concern".
The BBC adds: "The union said it would be seeking urgent talks with Liberty House… and would be asking what their plans were for investment, protecting jobs and providing decent pensions for members in retirement."
Tata has already split off another of its UK businesses, the long products division that supplies the construction industry. The division, which is based at the firm's plant in Scunthorpe, was sold to the turnaround investor Greybull in April.
Tata's remaining UK assets are the subject of merger talks involving its broader European operations and the German conglomerate ThyssenKrupp.
Crucial to those talks, and to the fate of the major Port Talbot works in South Wales, is the company pension scheme. Earlier this year it was £500m in deficit.
Ministers had hoped to change the law to allow future pension payouts to be capped and for the scheme to be hived off into a standalone company, but those plans were "shelved" earlier this year.
According to the Daily Telegraph, pressures on the UK business have eased because global steel prices have risen, while "moves in the market" mean the size of the pension scheme "funding hole has been reduced considerably".
Tata Steel pension reform plans'shelved' by ministers
14 September
A controversial plan to reform Tata Steel's pension scheme and cut around £2.5bn from future payouts has been "shelved" by ministers, according to insiders briefed on the ongoing talks.
The revelation adds to questions over a proposed rescue of the bulk of Tata's UK steel operations, which it hopes to merge with its German rival Thyssenkrupp.
Like previous would-be suitors for Tata's assets, it is known that Thyssenkrupp is not willing to combine the businesses if they remain liable for a £15bn scheme that is billions of pounds in deficit, says the Financial Times.
A consultation on proposals to hive off the scheme and cut the rate at which future pension payouts are increased each year to the lowest level of inflation closed in June.
There has since been no formal word from the government. The post-Brexit departure of former business minister Sajid Javid (he is now communities secretary) means the reforms have lost their biggest supporter.
A number of other ministers and opposition MPs are also against the plans, not least because cutting payout rates would involve a change in the law that would be seen as setting a dangerous precedent.
Some sources believe Tata and Thyssenkrupp are already reconciled to losing the argument on the reforms and are "considering alternatives".
One such plan could involve pension scheme members being given the choice of joining a new scheme on the revised terms, or remaining in the existing scheme that would be placed in the Pension Protection Fund (PPF).
As joining the PPF would involve a 10 per cent cut to payouts, this would actually leave many worse off. Many pension scheme members could therefore opt to leave, achieving the intended outcome without requiring a legal change.
But, according to City AM, the trustees of the scheme appear to continue to favour the reform plans that were put to consultation.
Allan Johnston, chairman of the trustee board of the British Steel Pension Scheme, said: "The disapplication of Section 67 continues to be our preferred option and we expect to have further discussions with government before any decision is taken on the consultation outcome."
Tata Steel could agree rescue deal to save 2,000 jobs this week
13 September
Tata Steel could finally agree a sale of its speciality and pipes business this week, in the process saving around 2,000 jobs across sites in Rotherham, Stocksbridge and Hartlepool.
The business was placed up for sale earlier in the summer, having been separated from a plan to sell all of Indian-owned Tata's UK steel assets.
Having initially been adamant that any rescue buyout would have to be for the whole UK operation, the firm later backtracked by splitting its speciality unit from its main business.
Tata subsequently abandoned the sale of its remaining assets, instead including them in ongoing talks with the German conglomerate ThyssenKrupp over a merger of the companies' pan-European businesses.
That process is ongoing and remains dependent on talks with the government over Tata's £15bn British Steel pension scheme. The scheme has a huge funding shortfall that the company is keen to offload.
Tata's executive director Koushik Chatterjee told The Guardian: "We need more time – there is the complication of pensions. All bidders come with a univocal approach – that pensions have to be separated from the business."
As for the speciality unit, the Daily Telegraph says the "frontrunner" to acquire it is global commodities group Liberty House, which had been interested in making a bid for the whole UK operation.
Liberty House is expected to pay a "realistic" price of less than £100m, according to sources.
A sale earlier this year of the long products unit, which employs 4,000 staff and is based at a plant in Scunthorpe, was revealed by Tata yesterday to have swung the whole group to a net loss for the third quarter.
Greybull Capital paid a nominal £1 for the business, crystallising a £370m write-down and triggering a £350m loss for the three months.
On a cheerier note, the remaining UK assets, including the massive plants at Port Talbot in Wales, turned previous losses into a £90m gain for the quarter, with the weak pound helping to boost exports.
Chatterjee added: "Today we see a more depreciated pound, which is where exporting competitiveness has improved. That provides a lever [for the UK business] to sustain itself... but that’s very fickle."
Pension lifeboat tightens 'dumping' rules ahead of Tata Steel rescue
22 August
A prospective rescue of Tata Steel's UK business, which would save primary steelmaking in the UK and with it, tens of thousands of jobs, still has to get over the significant hurdle of its huge pension deficit.
Now the industry's pension lifeboat has laid down the gauntlet in the form of toughened rules to prevent employers "dumping" their pension schemes to free up costs.
The Pension Protection Fund (PPF), which looks after £23bn in assets, has changed its regulations to put more of the cost of a bailout onto the offloading firms.
Companies will have to pay "all legal, financial and redundancy costs", says the Daily Telegraph. Bank fees charged to facilitate a restructuring will have to be deemed "reasonable".
The PPF mainly rescues pension plans whose sponsoring employer has gone bust. Members of bailed-out schemes face having their payouts cut by ten per cent.
However, on 24 occasions in the past eight years, the fund has agreed to take on plans from employers as part of a restructuring to allow them to stay in business. In these cases, it has also taken stakes in the surviving company of up to 33 per cent to secure a funding stream.
These conditions would form a blueprint for any rescue of the Tata Steel-underwritten £14bn British Steel pension scheme. It has a funding shortfall of around £300m, rising to at least £700m if it has to be bought in the private sector.
The huge burden has been a major obstacle to a sale of Tata Steel's UK unit, which was put up for sale in March.
It remains a potential blocker even to a revised rescue plan from Tata Steel's Indian parent company, which would see the UK arm bundled in with the wider European operations in a merger with German conglomerate ThyssenKrupp.
Pension trustees believe they can keep the scheme out of the PPF if it is hived off into a separate plan, as long as they can reduce obligations by cutting the rate at which payouts increase over time.
That might yet prove too politically sensitive, however, as it requires a change in the law. The PPF has also said that if it goes through, the scheme should be made ineligible for a future rescue.
Hopes rise for Tata Steel rescue deal despite pension doubts
12 August
Hopes have risen that Tata Steel UK and its 11,000 workforce will be rescued despite doubts over a controversial plan to restructure its pension scheme.
Last month, Tata's Indian parent company announced it was no longer seeking a sale of the UK assets it put on the block in March. Instead, the company intends to include the operations in its long-standing plans to merge its wider European business with German steel group ThyssenKrupp.
The Guardian says the revised plan depends on the government's previous pledge to give hundreds of millions of pounds to the company's UK operation in investments and loans.
A source has indicated that the financial package is still on the table and that the "sentiment is the same", adds the paper.
However, the deal also hinges on finding a solution to the £15bn British Steel pension scheme underwritten by Tata, which is thought to be at least £700m in the red.
One plan, backed by the former business secretary, Sajid Javid, is for the fund to be hived off into a new company with future accruals linked to a lower level of inflation. This has proved controversial as experts say it would drive "a coach and horses" through existing legislation.
It is now "understood" that the new Business Secretary, Greg Clark, has not given the proposal his backing and it is therefore no longer an option.
Trustees of the scheme told the Guardian it "would not be realistic" for the Tata/ThyssenKrupp joint venture - or any other bidder, for that matter - to take on the burden. This raises the prospect of pension liabilities bringing down the company.
They are confident, however, that a solution can be found and the scheme can be sustained outside the Pension Protection Fund, ensuring that payouts are better protected.
Clark has visited Tata bosses in India and talks are ongoing with the Pension Regulator. The mood is optimistic, although discussions are expected to drag on into the fourth quarter.
It is unclear how a revised pension scheme restructure would work, but the Guardian hints at Tata "pumping money into it in return for a change in workers' benefits" including potentially "limiting future increases in pension payments to the minimum required by law".
Overall, the pressure appears to have abated thanks to a turnaround in steel prices in March, when Tata's UK arm was losing £1m a day. The Brexit vote has also helped, as the pound's plunge has made steel exports more attractive and Chinese imports more expensive.
Greg Clark seeks to assure Tata Steel on rescue package
21 July
In one of his first engagements since becoming business secretary, Greg Clark has visited the under-threat Port Talbot blast furnace to meet Tata Steel bosses and unions.
Such an early visit sends a signal of the reshaped government's desire to press on with plans to protect primary steelmaking in the UK. The Guardian reports Clark took the opportunity to restate that the crisis remains a "priority" for his new, bigger business department.
Roy Rickhuss, the general secretary of steelworkers union Community, said: "The new secretary of state clearly understands the scale of the challenge still facing the industry, but his words to steelworkers today must be followed by firm actions to help save their jobs."
A spokesman for Tata Steel said: "We look forward to working urgently with the new secretary of state, alongside other stakeholders, to develop the best outcome for our UK business and its employees, as well as others including members of the British Steel pension scheme."
Tata's mention of the pension scheme arguably shows the key, contentious issue facing Clark. The government has already repledged hundreds of millions of pounds in commercial loans to the firm -and vowed to develop an "industrial strategy" that will cover issues such as energy costs.
But one of the major blockers to Tata's revised plan to retain its UK assets through a merger with German group ThyssenKrupp is the £14bn British Steel pension scheme, which is at least £700m in deficit and represents a huge ongoing financial liability.
A consultation on controversial plans to restructure the fund and reduce inflation increases closed in June, but the government changes mean there has as yet been no official response. The proposals are opposed by, among others, the Pension Protection Fund.
Finding some kind of solution could be the make-or-break issue to protect 11,000 direct jobs at Tata and potentially tens of thousands of others across its supply chain and wider industry.
There have already been job losses related to the uncertainty surrounding Tata Steel. Port Talbot's Fairwood Fabrications, an engineering firm with strong links to the steel sector, is to be liquidated with the loss of 250 jobs, reports the South Wales Evening Post.
Chairman Gherold Davies said the financial problems were related to the troubles in the steel industry.
Tata Steel pushes for speedy sale of units
13 July
Tata Steel UK is pressing ahead with plans to spin out its speciality division, which makes products for the aerospace industry, despite abandoning the sale of its broader British business.
The Indian-owned company is pushing for a speedy sale and has invited bids for the unit by this Friday, says Sky News.
The speciality division is the third-largest producer in its corner of the steel sector, with a client list including Airbus, Boeing and Rolls-Royce. It employs 2,000 people across plants in Rotherham and Stocksbridge, as well as service centres in Bolton, Xian in China and Nagpur in India.
According to documents sent to bidders, the arm made a pre-tax loss of £81.4m in the year to March 2016, but is expected to swing into a £33m profit within three years.
It is not the only part of the UK business being split and sold separately, Sky News claims. Tata is also said to be seeking a buyer for its pipeline tube business, which supplies steel products to the oil and gas industry and has a workforce numbering several hundred people.
Tata said in March it would sell its UK arm, which now employs 11,000 people since the sale of its Scunthorpe steelworks earlier this year.
The company initially said it would only consider bids for the whole of the business but as the process became mired in delays, rumours circulated that some standalone units might be sold independently.
The sale of its UK assets was cancelled altogether last week, amid merger talks with German rival ThyssenKrupp. It is believed an increase in global steel prices has returned the UK arm, which was losing about £1m a day, to profit.
Questions remain over pledges made by the government to support the business, specifically its proposals to reform Tata's £14bn British Steel pension scheme by reducing the rate of inflation increases.
Politicians have bemoaned the ongoing uncertainty surrounding Tata, which poses a threat to tens of thousands of jobs across a range of sectors.
This week, Welsh Assembly member Bethan Jenkins said two suppliers to Tata Steel have "gone into administration in recent weeks through being owed money by the steelmaker", reports the South Wales Evening Post.
"Contractors and suppliers are swiftly becoming the silent victims in this time of great uncertainty," she added, citing estimates that "as many as 18,000 people" work in Tata UK |
hostile tone. Labour, as internal critics have been saying from the start, made the basic error of believing that all it had to do was stand to the Left of the wicked Tories and wait for voters to come to their senses.
The funny thing is that the tone of their campaign may well have skewed the polls, and so pushed Miliband into a false sense of confidence, making him even less accommodating. The election was defined, at least by broadcasters, as values versus policies, decency versus competence, kindness versus efficiency. In such a climate, people don’t much want to identity themselves in public with the party accused of lacking humanity. An opinion poll question about voting intentions comes across as, “So, do you care about the poor, or are you selfish?” There isn’t a box to tick for “I think Labour is bad for the poor: it keeps people on benefits where the Conservatives create jobs”. So people hang back from admitting to their sympathies.
But they don’t just feel intimidated; they feel insulted. When Leftists attack the Tories, they’re not just having a go at 300 MPs, or 100,000 party members: they’re scorning everyone who has contemplated supporting the party. Here, to pluck an example at random, is Charlie Brooker: “The Conservative Party is an eternally irritating force for wrong that appeals exclusively to bigots, toffs, money-minded machine men, faded entertainers and selfish, grasping simpletons born with some essential part of their soul missing”. Never mind the pleasing irony of “faded entertainers”: how do you think this sort of thing goes down, not only with anyone who has ever voted Conservative, but with moderate people who, though they haven’t voted Tory themselves, have friends and family who have?
When you adopt a bullying tone, you find that 1) voters don’t like it; 2) you solidify the other side’s core support; and 3) some people hide their voting intentions.
We can’t rely on Labour making the same mistake next time. Nor, indeed, should we want to. All countries need capable oppositions, and Labour is at its best when it is a strong voice for working as well as workless people. It’ll be back. We still have much to do to win over chunks of the electorate – most urgently, perhaps, ethnic minorities. We shouldn’t make the disastrous mistake of thinking that, because we could beat Brown and Miliband, the country has shifted decisively in a Conservative direction.
In the meantime, though, we should celebrate the sturdy good sense of our fellow countrymen. Britons understand, as some European electorates evidently don’t, that debts must be paid, that the private sector ultimately sustains the public, and that you don’t improve living standards for the rest of us by driving plutocrats into emigration or early retirement. They may not always want to articulate these truths for fear of being branded “Tory scum”; but they know them in their bones.
If you want an explanation of the 2015 election in a single sentence, it’s hard to improve on the words of that great Whig, and founder of modern conservatism, Edmund Burke:
“Because half a dozen grasshoppers under a fern make the field ring with their importunate chink, whilst thousands of great cattle, reposed beneath the shadow the British oak, chew the cud and are silent, pray do not imagine that those who make the noise are the only inhabitants of the field.”Breaking Bad - The Cult of not Giving Bad News
Anthony Boobier, Practices Coach BNZ Digital, nomad8.com, @antboobier
Why is it so hard to break bad news? Why is there a cult of people who do not want to give bad news about their projects to stakeholders? Why do we let our fears cloud our judgement? Things can seem bad when they don’t go as we planned and hoped, but in reality things ‘just are’. As Esther Derby [1] notes "The ability to ‘face the truth’ and take effective action rests on the ability to be in a mental state where our emotions and fears aren’t running us". How do we remove that fear and emotion, create an environment in which we are not afraid to break ‘bad news’, into ‘news’ that allows us to make informed decisions [2,3].
What is 'Bad news' anyway?
Bad news is information that conveys negative or unpleasant information that is likely to disappoint, upset or even anger a recipient. So what news would do that to someone on a project? Take, for instance, the following piece of news that needs to be presented back to the stakeholders:
"The feature has taken longer than expected to develop and user testing has thrown up the need for a number of changes"
Is that news 'good' or 'bad'? The fact is it is neither, it is just 'news'. It is feedback or information on a current state. What makes it 'bad' is the context in which it is delivered and the human emotion that goes along with it. If that news were delivered at a smaller scale as rapid feedback, in a collaborative environment, where the whole team was awaiting the answer; it could be construed as 'good' news.
Conversely what if that news was a surprise to the stakeholders? If it were given at a large scale after 6 months of work, tracking to a contract that looked to deliver a pre-determined output? Someone would be sorely disappointed, upset, or angry. The news would become much more emotionally charged. The key is not to promise and commit to something you have no control over.
The gap between the desired state and current reality
Every project seeks to deliver a desired state, an outcome that benefits someone. Bridging the gap between that desired state and the current reality is the role of the delivery team. News is the mechanism to communicate that gap.
The danger all too often is that we set expectations far in advance and lose focus on the original outcome and what we set out to achieve. There is instead a fixation on the outputs and the perfect plan. The plan and desired state becomes the objective by which the team is measured. Many agile projects are no different, with a focus on a detailed product backlog far in advance of any delivery; a long committed list of things to be accomplished. The result is the iterative delivery of the desired state to which the expectant stakeholders have become fixated; any deviation from this is an emotional disappointment. The truth is, when our best-laid plan meets reality, it has a nasty habit of doing unexpected things.
News is feedback
Kent Beck [4] said that: "Optimism is an occupational hazard of programming. Feedback is the treatment". In terms of project and product delivery, 'news' should be treated as that valuable feedback. At the heart of agile is empiricism; knowledge based on observation and feedback. That feedback is 'news', without it we lack the ability to make informed rational decisions.
The news has to be a timely check that enables us to take action. If not, we need to question - are we actually being agile? Or is it just incremental development of a fixed plan and given output?
Kent Beck also made the point that "product Roadmaps should be lists of questions, not lists of features" [5]. Questions that should be linked to achieving that desired outcome. If we have this mindset and treat'requirements' as hypotheses that need to be validated through feedback, rather than a given that must be achieved it completely changes the way we approach news. A rapid empirical news feedback, driven by building upon hypotheses, measuring its outcome and objectively learning from it.
Focus on the outcome
A requirement that uses the following format [6] makes the 'desired state' an outcome that is awaiting feedback to either prove or disprove:
We believe that [building this feature]
for [these people/personas]
will achieve [this outcome].
We will know we are successful when we
[observe/measure this impact].
It helps put focus on the outcomes and impacts, rather than the features and outputs. The success through measuring that impact, takes the emotion out of the news; "What can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence" [7]. This framework for delivering outcomes differently from originally envisaged, enables the benefit of learning through iterative delivery [8].
Facing up to reality
Dan Milstein [9] notes that when we do product development we can do one of two things when we get feedback:
a) face the unpleasant reality (aka "I was wrong")
b) reinterpret reality to fit your plan (aka "This is not bad news")
As humans we tend to choose 'b' [10]. We would rather be told a reassuring lie than an inconvenient truth. It can be very hard for us to face reality; but being able to change direction if you go down a dead-end path is all part of an empirical process. Not doing so is self-deception borne out of fear. We need to be comfortable embracing ambiguity "we may not know what that answer is, but we know that we have to give ourselves permission to explore." [11]
The fear of failure
Fear is especially strong when we are bringing something new into the world, where there is innovation and uncertainty. There are things in this situation we cannot control. Fear should not drive your decision-making; the important thing is to be objective. Who are you protecting by not giving the information? Is it that we fear what others would think of us? Or that 'I'll get the blame', or 'I've made a promise…now I'll look bad'.
The courage to treat news as feedback, comes from within the individual. The work of Carol Dweck [12] highlights this with the concept of the 'Fixed' versus 'Growth Mindset'. The Fixed mindset is one where we need to be perfect right away and any ignorance is seen as a failing. The Growth mindset however is about thriving on a challenge, seeking opportunities to grow and learn.
Goal: to look smart Avoid Failure Avoid challenges Failure defines your identity Feedback and criticism is personal Goal: to learn Confront uncertainty Embrace challenges Failure provides information Feedback is about current capabilities
Don't let failure define you and try and reinterpret reality to avoid being wrong. Failure is not an identity it is just feedback and information. How we as individuals respond to it, defines how we socialise news with others and in turn how we interpret it.
The important thing to note is that agile is a team game; we succeed or fail together. An individual does not reside in a project vacuum. Mindsets change the meaning of failure, but even if the individual has that Growth mindset, their environment has to support concrete feedback and open communication.
The amygdala [13] is an area of the brain, which, amongst other things, is responsible for decision-making and emotional reaction. It frequently asks the same question about it's surroundings' 'Am I safe?' if you are and things are familiar, you remain calm and collected; if not it sends fight or flight self preservation response to the rest of your body, to get away from the situation. We are feeling creatures that think; we need to feel safe so that we can think rationally.
Create an environment where it is safe to fail
I used to work in a Telco product development company, where the CIO would ask us, his delivery teams, 'What did you fail at this week?' He would be curious if we had nothing to tell, and if our updates was as he put it'suspiciously green'. He knew many people become paralysed by the fear of failure, afraid of what others will think. Failure is life's way of nudging you and letting you know you're off course. The job of a leader is to create a safe environment, where news can be openly shared; otherwise we need to question are we truly working in an agile environment? Agile is, after all a team game.
Tools and techniques
The giving of news should follow the same patterns as agile empirical feedback. Based on my experience I have found the following approaches support making feedback effective.
Make it timely: Bad news does not get any better with age. Fast and early feedback is the key to ensure timely decisions can be made. Minimise the learning and feedback loop, as there is nothing more frustrating to be told something that is now far too late to take any action over.
Small batches: News should be broken down into small batches and checked to ensure the message is received and understood. Doctor's use this approach and call it 'Chunk and Check' [14]:
Chunk your message into small batches and check for understanding
Listen actively to feedback from the recipient
Encourage reflecting back what they have heard to ensure the message you sent is received and understood
Drop the jargon: The recipient needs to understand the news you are conveying, so drop the jargon and use language and terms that they understand. News such as - 'our velocity was impacted due to technical debt', may not be understood by all your stakeholders.
Visualize, visualize, visualize: Make it visible and accessible, because, as a colleague of mine used to say "no-one ever shouts at the board". Information on a board makes the conversation far less emotive.
Same team, same message: Take it in turns to deliver the news. There are many shoulders in a team and you should be happy to share the same message. Watch out for the situation where one person is filtering the news. You don't want to be afraid of your team talking to stakeholders around the coffee machine and 'giving the game away'.
Conclusion
News is neither good nor bad; it is just feedback that if used correctly enables us to make objective decisions. The perception of news being 'bad' is a symptom that something is broken within the system itself, where fear and emotion have the upper hand. We need to create a system where people look forward to news and facing the truth, a system where:
expectations with the stakeholders are being set correctly as outcomes, rather than outputs;
there is a collaborative environment, where it is safe to fail and your colleagues are allies rather than judges;
we treat news as frequent feedback that allow us to take concrete action;
References
Esther Derby http://www.estherderby.com/2010/04/facing-up-to-the-truth.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1JjqdRGGxE http://www.slideshare.net/AgileNZ/anthony-boobier-nomad8 Kent Beck, eXtreme Programming explained, Addison-Wesley, 2000 https://twitter.com/kentbeck/status/339435106961854464 Jeff Gothelf with Josh Seiden, http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920021827.do https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Hitchens Gojko Adzic, https://gojko.net/2013/02/13/the-february-revolution/ http://www.slideshare.net/LeanStartupConf/4-dan-milstein-pdf Dan Milstein, Leadership, Uncertainty and Self-Deception https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9UkOyjcaes An Introduction to Human-Centered Dessign, https://www.ideo.com/work/human-centered-design-toolkit/ Carol Dweck, http://www.amazon.com/Mindset-The-New-Psychology-Success/dp/0345472322/ Jill Bolte-Taylor https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzT_SBl31-s Skills for communicating with patients, 2nd edition, Jonathan Silverman, Suzanne Kurtz and Juliet Draper 2005
Related Methods & Tools articles
More Agile and Scrum Resources
Scrum Expert
TV Agile
Click here to view the complete list of archived articles
This article was originally published in the Spring 2016 issue of Methods & Tools35 Shares 0
35
0
0
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is in a steadfast resistance campaign against a proposed pipeline project that will threaten the Missouri River which serves as a drinking source for the indigenous community, as well as threatening the sacred burial grounds that the pipeline will intrude upon.
The Dakota Access Pipeline is a proposed project that involves building an oil pipeline that will start from North Dakota, pass through South Dakota, Iowa and all the way into Illinois. This development project was initiated by Dakota Access LLC which is a subsidiary to Energy Transfer Crude Oil Company.
Oil companies and corporate projects like this one are increasingly being faced with resistance by the indigenous peoples and their allies. Indigenous peoples are resisting settler colonial state oppression that aims to violate the rights of indigenous peoples and other communities on the periphery to live a healthy and sustainable life in the name of progress and corporate expansionism enabled by corrupt political endeavours. The Energy Transfer Crude Oil Company has appointed former Texas Governor Rick Perry on the Board of Directors in the midst of two state-level felony charges for abuse of power.
This is the essence and epitome of the corruption prevalent in the very nature of the settler colonial state and its dealings with indigenous peoples. Such state sponsored actions are not new for indigenous peoples in Canada. A prime example of such corruption and impunity is the case of the Lubicon Cree who have resisted against state-sponsored oil company developments in their territories; a fourteen year ongoing battle in the courts that had the Lubicon Cree’s legal case presented in the face of Government appointed judges, who were the ex-head lawyers for involved oil companies, judges who were the ex-partners of senior oil company lawyers on the case and judges who, upon retirement, were appointed to the governing boards of involved oil companies.
Lateral Violence and the United Nations: A Two Prong Problem for Indigenous Peoples
Impunity and corruption in relation to the arrested advancement or protection of indigenous peoples’ rights in North America is an all too familiar experience for the Palestinians. Setting aside the similar historical patterns of settler colonial expansionism, systemic racism and ethnic cleansing as well as genocidal processes, both past and present taking place in various methods, the Palestinians, like the indigenous peoples of North America, are facing joint corporate political ventures that violate indigenous peoples’ rights. The examples of such an affront to indigenous rights are outlined in a Human Rights Watch report known as Occupation Inc., in relation to the Palestinian context.
However, what needs to be mentioned is the fact that indigenous peoples’ rights are threatened by a two-prong problem - the role of the co-opted leadership in perpetuating the violations of the settler colonial state, as well as the impotence and genuine inaction by the United Nations in internationally enforcing the protection of indigenous peoples’ rights in times of impunity and corruption by the settler colonial state.
A good example of this in Canada is with a former Assembly of First Nations Chief taking an employment opportunity with TransCanada Corp and specifically working on the proposed Energy East pipeline. Obviously, such co-opted leadership was not only denounced by the indigenous peoples in Canada, but has also been exposed in the globalized aspect of the co-optation in relation to his visit to Israel, during which he vocalized support for the settler colonial state of Israel. The Palestinian Authority operates with the same calibre of corruption, which includes members of the Palestinian Authority engaging in partnerships with Israeli companies at the expense of their own peoples’ struggle for political and socio-economic self-determination.
And with the recent news of the police and corporate mercenaries in the United States attacking protesters and activists at the Dakota Access Pipeline site with dogs and pepper spray, this tactic among others has been exported by Israel whereby the use of dogs to taunt and terrorize Palestinians is prevalent as a means to halt protest and activism; similarly including such attacks targeting women and children. Israel’s exportation of colonial suppression and oppression tactics against the Palestinians emphasizes the level of globalized injustice against indigenous rights issues.
Therefore, in addition to the fact that there are leaders co-opting with the settler colonial state’s political-economic establishment that Standing Rock Sioux Tribe need to be wary of, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples clearly protects Standing Rock Sioux Tribe from this Dakota Access Pipeline Project within Article 32 of the Declaration. Given that the United Nations recently decided to investigate the plight of Native Americans for the first time in history through a human rights inquiry, this project is a chance for the world to see this as part and parcel of a greater injustice taking place that must be halted on an international level.
A court ruling will be released in relation to the halting of the project on September 9, 2016. One would hope that the rule of law demonstrates its independence from political and economic contingencies. However, given the realities and recent developments on the ground, the United Nations must be ready to hear the voices of the people of Standing Rock, and Palestine, and comply.A startup called Exyn Technologies Inc. today revealed AI software that enables drones to fly autonomously, even in dark, obstacle-filled environments or beyond the reaches of GPS. A spin-out of the University of Pennsylvania’s GRASP Labs, Exyn uses sensor fusion to give drones situational awareness much like a human’s.
In a demo video shared by the company with TechCrunch, a drone using Exyn’s AI can be seen waking up and taking in its surroundings. It then navigates from a launch point in a populated office to the nearest identified exit without human intervention. The route is not pre-programmed, and pilots did not manipulate controls to influence the path that the drone takes. They simply tell it to find and go to the nearest door.
According to Exyn founder Vijay Kumar, a veteran roboticist and dean of Penn’s School of Engineering, “Artificial intelligence that lets drones understand their environment is an order of magnitude more complex than for self-driving cars or ground-based robots.”
That’s because the world that drones inhabit is inherently 3D. They have to do more than obey traffic laws and avoid pedestrians and trees. They must maneuver over and around obstacles in un-mapped skies where internet connectivity is not consistently available. Additionally, Kumar said, “With drones you actually have to lift and fly with your payload and sensors. Cars roll along on wheels and can carry large batteries. But drones must preserve all the power they can for flight.”
The AI that Exyn is adapting from Kumar’s original research will work with any type of unmanned aerial vehicle, from popular DJI models to more niche research and industrial UAVs. Exyn Chief Engineer Jason Derenick described how the technology basically works: “We fuse multiple sensors from different parts of the spectrum to let a drone build a 3D map in real time. We only give the drone a relative goal and start location. But it takes off, updates its map and then goes through a process of planning and re-planning until it achieves that goal.”
Keeping the technology self-contained on the drone means Exyn-powered UAVS don’t rely on outside infrastructure, or human pilots to complete a mission. Going forward, the company can integrate data from cloud-based sources.
Exyn, which is backed by IP Group, faces competition from other startups like Iris Automation or Area 17 in Silicon Valley, as well as companies building drones with proprietary autonomous-flight software, like Skydio in Menlo Park, or Israel-based Airobotics.
The startup’s CEO and chairman Nader Elm is hoping Exyn’s AI will yield new uses for drones, and put drones in places where it’s not safe or easy for humans to work.
For example, the CEO said, the company’s technology could allow drones to count inventory in warehouses filled with towering pallets and robots moving across the ground; or to work in dark mine shafts and unfinished buildings that require frequent inspections for safety and to measure worker productivity.
Looking forward, Exyn’s CEO said, “We’ll continue advancing the technology to first of all make it more robust and hardened for commercial use while adding features and functionality. Ultimately we want to move from one drone to multiple, collaborating drones that can work on a common mission. We have focused on obstacle avoidance, but we’re also thinking about how drones can interact with various things in their environment.”As a young player, you need games and minutes. Moments to enjoy some glory as well as those times where you make mistakes and learn from them. Practices offer plenty of learning experiences, but there is no substitute for game action.
Moises Hernandez wasn't getting first-team minutes for FC Dallas. The rare left back by trade, Hernandez was stuck behind stalwart left back Jair Benitez, as well as backup Carlos Rodriguez, without another position on the field where he could really pitch in. Lacking any minutes on the horizon, Fernando Clavijo found him a way out and a chance to return to his roots.
DFW-born with a Guatemalan father, Hernandez was offered a loan spell with Guatemala City giants Comunicaciones. It meant leaving the comfort of home behind and going on a new adventure, a big step for a 20-year-old, but Hernandez accepted the move with open arms.
"Everyone thought that Moises was a guy we have to find a way to get him games because he has what it takes and if we get him games he’s only going to get better," Clavijo said about Hernandez. "He took the chance and I give a lot of credit to him."
"I’m the one who’s looking for teams for him and trying to sell what he can do, but at the same time he took the chance because that chance was presented to other players and they didn’t take it. He took it, it’s paying off for him."
As everyone enters their early-20's, they are forced to take a few leaps of faith and the one that Hernandez took has majorly paid off for the young American. Saddled by some lingering paperwork issues, Moises was prevented from making his first-team debut for quite some time but finally, right before the playoffs, Hernandez finally made a professional first-division start. But it didn't end there.
Comunicaciones, known as Los Cremas, went on to win their 25th league championship, a moment that had to rank at the top of Hernandez' budding career.
A move back to FC Dallas in the 2013 pre-season seemed likely until former Comunicaciones head coach Ronald Gonzalez, having earned a move to Costa Rican giants Saprissa, gave Clavijo a call. Gonzalez wanted Hernandez back, and this time in a bigger role.
"This is somebody who sacrificed some of the luxury of being in Dallas at the beautiful fields and everything else to go to Guatemala and win a championship," said Clavijo. "Now he’s being requested for the team to be a big and important piece of Saprissa’s team in the 2013 season."
Hernandez has joined Saprissa for the 2013 spring campaign with even more first-team minutes looking likely.
Whether or not Hernandez ever carves out a successful career with FC Dallas, the youngster who soon turns 21 in March is a budding young player in central America with a full career as a professional looking more and more likely.
And it was all because he took a chance that others wouldn't.
"This is great and I think the idea of loaning some of these younger players to get minutes is paying off," said Clavijo. "Hopefully we can do it for more and more players to hopefully get opportunities to get young players minutes."
Deportivo Saprissa begins the 2013 Verano season on Sunday at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa vs San CarlosLieutenant General Sir Launcelot Edward Kiggell, KCB, KCMG (2 October 1862 – 23 February 1954) was a British Army officer who was Chief of General Staff for the British Armies in France under Sir Douglas Haig from late 1915 to 1918.
Early life and military career [ edit ]
Kiggell was born in County Limerick on 2 October 1862, son of Launcelot John Kiggell (1829-1911), a Justice of the Peace and Major in the Cork Light Militia. He attended the Sandhurst and was commissioned into the Royal Warwickshire Regiment as a lieutenant on 10 May 1882.[1][2]
He was Adjutant of the 2nd battalion 1886-90[3][1] and was promoted captain on 3 April 1889.[1] He attended Staff College, Camberley from 1893 until December 1894.[4] He was then an instructor at Sandhurst from 1895 to 1897.[1] From 1897 to 1899 he was Deputy Assistant Adjutant-General (DAAG) at South-Eastern District,[5][1] and he was promoted to major on 6 April 1898.[1]
He served in South Africa throughout the Second Boer War. From late 1899 he served on the staff of General Sir Redvers Buller, then spent six months on the staff at HQ at Pretoria.[6] He was promoted to brevet lieutenant-colonel on 29 November 1900.[7] He then served as Assistant Adjutant-General (AAG) for Harrissmith District, then held the same post in Natal after the end of the war. He was Mentioned in Despatches.[8] After the war had ended, he returned to the United Kingdom in August 1902.[9]
From 1904-7 he was Deputy Assistant Adjutant-General (DAAG) at Staff College, Camberley.[1][10] In 1905 he presented a paper to the Aldershot Military Society, which was criticised for excessive emphasis on the lessons of the Napoleonic and Franco-Prussian Wars rather than the more recent Boer and Russo-Japanese Wars. He wrote a revised edition of Edward Hamley’s Operations of War. He wanted to change the name of Staff College to the “War School” and to train commanders rather than just staff officers, a view which he shared with Rawlinson, Robertson and Haig.[11]
He was a General Staff Officer (GSO1) at Horse Guards (Army Headquarters) from 1907 to 1909.[1][12] He was awarded the CB in 1908.[13] He was then Brigadier-General in charge of Administration at Scottish Command from March to October 1909.[14][1] He was Director of Staff Duties at the War Office from 1909 to 1913, in succession to Haig, of whom he was something of a protégé. He was considered as a successor for Henry Wilson as Commandant of Staff College in 1910, but the post went to Robertson; instead he succeeded Robertson as Commandant in 1913.[15][1] J F C Fuller, a student at Staff College at the time, saw Kiggell as “a highly educated soldier, but a doctrinaire … he possessed knowledge, but little vision … a dyspeptic, gloomy and doleful man”.[16]
First World War [ edit ]
He served in World War I as Director of Military Training at the War Office from 1914, as Director of Home Defence at the War Office from later that year until 1915.[17] He served briefly as Deputy Chief of the Imperial General Staff at the end of 1915.[18]
When Sir Douglas Haig was promoted to Commander-in-Chief of the BEF in December 1915, Kiggell was appointed Chief of General Staff to the BEF. Richard Butler, Haig’s preferred choice, was considered too junior for the role. Kiggell would hold this position until early 1918.[19][1] Kiggell was awarded the KCB in 1916.[20] On 1 January 1917, he was promoted to temporary Lieutenant General.[21] Wilson, liaising with French Grand Quartier General early in 1917, claimed that Kiggell “hated the French”.[22]
Nigel Cave exonerates Kiggell from some of the questionable decisions which are sometimes attributed to him. Kiggell’s stress on high-morale infantry attacks cannot be blamed for the catastrophe of the First Day of the Somme, as an infantry advance in straight lines was only one of the formations suggested in Rawlinson’s Fourth Army Tactical Notes and modern research has shown that it was not widely adopted. By contrast, the decision to prolong the Third Ypres Campaign into the wet weather of November 1917 (to capture the high ground of Passchendaele Ridge) and to postpone the initially more successful Cambrai Offensive from 20 September until November, were ultimately taken by Haig rather than by Kiggell.[23] Nigel Cave writes that Haig was highly critical of what he perceived as unsatisfactory performance, even in such senior generals as Rawlinson (in 1915) and Plumer (in 1916), and that it is therefore unlikely that he would have retained Kiggell’s services had he not been up to the job. Cave writes that Kiggell was “a solid effective administrator” and “basically sound and capable” but that “it is questionable whether he should have been allowed to carry on for so long”.[24]
Along with a number of other senior officers at GHQ in the winter of 1917-18, including Butler and John Charteris, Kiggell was removed from his position, as a result of political pressure from Prime Minister David Lloyd George. He was a scapegoat following the failure of allied forces to achieve a decisive result at the Battle of Passchendaele and the German counterattack which retook almost all the British gains at Cambrai.[25] However, he had not taken the leave which he was due, and two doctors testified that he was genuinely suffering from nervous exhaustion.[26]
Later life [ edit ]
Kiggell was awarded the KCMG in 1918.[27] He was Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey from 1918 until 1920,[1] in which year he retired from the Army. He worked on the Official History of the Great War from 1920 to 1923, but had to give up the task on health grounds.[28]
Kiggell had married Eleanor Rose Field, daughter of a colonel, on 10 March 1888. They had three sons, born in 1890, 1894 and 1903. His wife died in 1948.[29]
Kiggell died, after a thirty year retirement, at Felixstowe on 23 February 1954. His estate was valued for probate at £2,286 1s 3d (just over £56,000 at 2016 prices).[30][31]
References [ edit ]
Books [ edit ]URBANA — Nighttime emails from the president are almost never good news, according to University of Illinois Professor Bruce Reznick.
And so the announcement that the university is again deferring a general salary-increase program until a state budget materializes was met with "dull disappointment combined with a lack of surprise," said Reznick, a professor of mathematics since 1979.
If the salary freeze holds, this will be the fourth year in the last eight that the UI has provided no general salary increases, though some employees get raises through promotions, retention offers, union-wage increases and the like.
The situation is no different at nearby public universities. Both Illinois State University and Eastern Illinois University have put raises on hold until the fiscal 2017 state budget is resolved.
"We're kind of in the same boat," said ISU spokesman Eric Jome.
Lawmakers approved a stopgap funding measure in April and roughly another six months' worth of funding in late June, but ISU is applying that to fiscal 2016, which ended June 30. The school received a total of $59.2 million from the state, about 82 percent of its allocation the previous year, or an 18 percent cut, said chief of staff Jay Groves.
ISU has about 3,200 employees and has no plans for any layoffs or furloughs, Jome said. But it has left 100 positions open from retirements or other departures.
Eastern, which relies more heavily on state funding, has seen its payroll shrink by 413 employees, to 1,330, a drop of nearly 24 percent. It laid off 285 workers and lost another 115 through retirements and resignations, said spokeswoman Vicki Woodard. In addition, 13 faculty members did not have their annual contracts renewed.
The UI's Urbana-Champaign campus received $180 million less from the state in fiscal 2016, and as a result cut $49 million from its budget — about $20 million from academic units and another $29 million in administrative and research units, according to interim Provost Ed Feser.
"We all know about the political complications of state funding and the cuts that have been made, in the context of some new programs, such as the College of Medicine," Reznick said.
But he and other professors interviewed this week are worried about faculty flight.
'It's becoming a pattern'
Competing universities see the financial troubles at Illinois and Wisconsin as an invitation to "poach" attractive professors, Reznick said. The campus said this week that 50 faculty members had decided to leave the university as of May, double the previous year, and others are still considering outside offers.
While the campus has money to provide raises to counter those offers, "it is bad for the morale of the campus community if faculty feel that the only way they can be fairly compensated is to threaten to leave," Reznick said.
Adding to the anxiety is the uncertainty about health insurance costs and the lag in medical reimbursements by the state, faculty members said. Gov. Bruce Rauner has pushed state unions to accept a larger share of health insurance premiums, arguing that they receive "Cadillac" insurance at a fraction of the cost of private-sector health plans. But the UI Chicago's faculty union says the governor's proposals would cost workers another $3,100 a year, on average, and a much bigger share than public-sector employees across the country.
It's a bigger issue for lower-paid staff members, because the costs would not be proportional to income, Reznick said.
"It's difficult to plan ahead for life at Illinois when salaries are stagnant from year to year," said Merinda Hensley, a recently tenured professor in the University Library. "It's becoming a pattern. I'm worried about my retirement. And with health care premiums expected to rise again, it's getting harder to make ends meet.
"You can only receive the 'please be patient' email from administration so many times before wondering what our collective future looks like."
Time to tap reserves?
There may be some small relief on the salary front, UI officials hinted Thursday.
UI spokesman Tom Hardy said President Tim Killeen wants to work with the campuses to "see what kind of options there might be, with or without an appropriation."
"This is really a top priority for us," said Abbas Benmamoun, vice provost for faculty affairs and academic policy. "It's critical for us because we cannot deliver our educational mission without our faculty. It is our competitive edge.
"We have been talking about what more we can do at our end to ensure that our faculty feel valued and convince them that this is the place where they can develop their careers."
Killeen has also convened a task force to study the health insurance issue. The panel held town-hall meetings on all three campuses this summer and is expected to wrap up its report soon, Hardy said.
Reznick suggests the campus rethink its use of a $1 billion reserve fund. That money |
of Slager’s taser, thus making him a threat worthy of fatal elimination.
So the threat of a 50-year-old black man with a taser is so great that 8 shots into the back can be justified — but line up hundreds of white men on horseback and armed to the hilt with military-grade weapons, and agents of the government are powerless.
Advertisement:
A single unarmed black man in Staten Island selling loosies is considered enough of a threat to be choked to death in broad daylight. Yet armed ex-military men protecting a criminal with high-powered rifles trained on federal agents are not enough of a threat to law and order to similarly merit the use of force.
Is that what we learn when we look at the cases? Does the specter of some imagined violent nature of black men exceed the fear stoked by white men with actual guns, actually pointed at state agents, fingers on triggers?
Or is it that the Bundy army was too much of a threat? The simmering anger on the American right since President Obama’s election has seethed just at the precipice of violence, and for Obama’s troops -- as they would be viewed -- to rightly fire on white people angry about taxes would have no doubt enraged extremists to a degree unseen since perhaps the 19th century. These weren’t the creepy cultists of the Waco standoff; Bundy was a hero headlining Fox News, the Drudge Report, and the other leading conservative news outlets. He would have been a martyr to Tea Partiers and the far right.
The militia and “Patriot” movements have seen “stunning growth” during the Obama years, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a group that tracks violent extremism. Bloodshed at the Bundy ranch could have very well sparked violence elsewhere, just as the federal sieges at Ruby Ridge and Waco during the 1990s animated the nascent militia and Patriot movements.
Advertisement:
What lesson then have we learned from Cliven Bundy? What lesson do we learn from Walter Scott? Or Eric Garner. Or Michael Brown? Sean Bell?Oscar Grant? Amadou Diallo? Ramarley Graham? Maybe the Huey P. Newton Gun Club in Texas has the right idea. Named after Black Panther Party co-founder Huey Newton, the group takes advantage of open carry laws in the Lone Star State to patrol their neighborhoods in squads of men and women armed with assault rifles, what Newton and the Panthers did in Oakland in 1966.
But while Panther-style armed resistance might protect some victims from police violence, it’s hard to imagine it remedying the underlying problem: white supremacy and the assumption of black men as almost supernaturally dangerous. That’s why Slager’s initial story about Walter Scott would have probably sufficed, were it not for the video; the perceived threat posed by black men is that great. And it’s why Bundy’s men were permitted to point sniper rifles at state officials and still not be considered a threat worthy of elimination.
Saturday will be a day of celebration in Nevada; the day brings a funeral to North Charleston.Dr David Legg, a paleontologist with the Department of Earth Science and Engineering at Imperial College London, has discovered an ancient creature with scissor hand-like claws and named it after the actor Johnny Depp for his portrayal of Edward Scissorhands in the 1990 film about an artificial man who has scissors for hands.
The 505-million-year-old fossil, named Kootenichela deppi, is a distant ancestor of lobsters and scorpions.
“When I first saw the pair of isolated claws in the fossil records of this species I could not help but think of Edward Scissorhands. Even the genus name, Kootenichela, includes the reference to this film as ‘chela’ is Latin for claws or scissors. In truth, I am also a bit of a Depp fan and so what better way to honour the man than to immortalize him as an ancient creature that once roamed the sea?” explained Dr Legg, who has described Kootenichela deppi in a paper published in the Journal of Paleontology.
Kootenichela deppi belongs to a group known as the ‘great-appendage’ arthropods, or megacheirans, which refers to the enlarged pincer-like frontal claws that they share. The ‘great-appendage’ arthropods are an early relation of arthropods, which includes spiders, scorpions, centipedes, millipedes, insects and crabs.
“Just imagine it: the prawns covered in mayonnaise in your sandwich, the spider climbing up your wall and even the fly that has been banging into your window and annoyingly flying into your face are all descendants of Kootenichela deppi. Current estimates indicate that there are more than one million known insects and potentially 10 million more yet to be categorized, which potentially means that Kootenichela deppi has a huge family tree,” Dr Legg said.
Kootenichela deppi lived in very shallow seas, similar to modern coastal environments, off the cost of British Columbia in Canada, which was situated much closer to the equator 500 million years ago. The sea temperature would have been much hotter than it is today and although coral reefs had not yet been established, the creature would have lived in a similar environment consisting of sponges.
Kootenichela deppi was about 1.5 inches (4 cm) long with an elongated trunk for a body and millipede-like legs, which it used to scuttle along the sea floor with the occasional short swim. It also had large eyes composed of many lenses like the compound eyes of a fly. They were positioned on top of movable stalks called peduncles to help it more easily search for food and look out for predators.
Dr Legg believes that Kootenichela deppi would have been a hunter or scavenger. Its large Edward Scissorhands-like claws with their elongated spines may have been used to capture prey, or they could have helped it to probe the sea floor looking for sea creatures hiding in sediment.
______
Bibliographic information: David Legg. 2013. Multi-Segmented Arthropods from the Middle Cambrian of British Columbia (Canada). Journal of Paleontology 87(3): 493-501The number of male workers taking paternity leave soared more than 40 percent last year, reaching nearly 5,000, government data showed Wednesday.
According to the data compiled by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the number of male employees getting paternity leave in 2015 came to 4,872, up 42.4 percent from a year earlier.
The number of male workers who took parental leave in 2014 was 3,421, showing a rapid increase from 1,790 in 2013 and 1,402 in 2011.
Still the rate of men taking leave came far behind that of their female counterparts, only accounting for 5.6 percent of all 87,339 people who took parental leave.
Obviously, however, the rate showed a steady increase from 2.4 percent in 2011, 3.3 percent in 2013 and 4.5 percent in 2014.
According to data, male workers who are employed at large businesses with more than 300 employees have taken more leave than those who work for small companies, an indication that large businesses provide more opportunity for them to take leave.
The increase has been attributed to the government's measures to encourage paternity leave, including turning unpaid leave into paid leave in 2001 and extending the age limit for the children in 2008, according to the labor ministry.
New fathers and mothers are both eligible for up to one year of paid time off, receiving up to 40 percent of their monthly income while on leave.
A government official said paternal leave is designed to help parents balance their work and family affairs and to resolve problems arising from the country's low birthrate.
South Korea's birthrate, or the average number of children born to each woman in her lifetime, stood at around 1.24 in 2011. This is much lower than the average birthrate of 1.71 tallied for members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. (Yonhap)This is easily one of the top 10 metal albums of all time. One that will always be on every device I play music on and one that will stand the test of time. My CD is unfortunately obsolete as it has been masterfully remastered, but my digital Flac download is perfect. If you never heard this album/CD, get the remastered version now as it is a necessity for every metal fan. I am by the way, not a power or speed metal fan at all. I actually hate these genres. Thrash, death and black metal are where I have spent most of my time when I am in the mood for metal, which is often. The fact that I love this album so much therefore is only more of a declaration that this is an unknown classic to many and a complete and utter favorite of mine. Pure metal perfection. 10/10. 100/100. 1000/1000........The front-runner in Mexico‘s presidential race, Enrique Peña Nieto, might have movie star looks and a seemingly unbeatable lead ahead of the July 1 election, but he also has a knack for gaffes when straying from the script.
So if anything is his to lose, it is the presidential debates, the first of which took place last night in Mexico City.
His opponents tried to put him on the spot: They attacked his term as governor in the state of Mexico, and suggested that if he won, the country would return to corruption and cronyism. His party, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), ruled Mexico for 71 years, and is believed to have made pacts with drug cartels as part of their governing strategy.
But it appears that Mr. Peña Nieto held his own. He made no major fumbles that could go viral across social media, contrary to his December slip-up at a book fair when he was unable to cite any books, beyond the Bible, that influenced him.
But this probably has less to do with a new-found skill to talk off the cuff. Instead, the debate itself was highly structured, lending itself to the kinds of scripting that serves Peña Nieto well. All four presidential candidates agreed to the format beforehand, and in fact, they even knew which questions would be asked of them. Each candidate had two minutes to respond, and 90 seconds for a rebuttal.
As a result, instead of a lengthy, dynamic conservation that could push the agenda forward on the economy, security, and education, last night’s debate was mostly an evening for candidates to articulate their positions (again), peppering them with attacks and counter-attacks.
“Everyone talked about what they wanted,” says Aldo Muñoz, a political analyst at Mexico State’s Autonomous University. “None of the issues were talked about with profundity. So the one who wins the debate is the one who was ahead in the first place.”
And that means that Mr. Peña Nieto remains clearly out in front.
Josefina Vázquez Mota of the ruling National Action Party (PAN) has, according to most polls, been at a distant second throughout the race, and she has focused on undermining Peña Nieto’s lead. Ms. Vázquez Mota pulled out an article by The Economist last night that questioned the veracity of statistics on homicides during Peña Nieto’s time as governor in the state of Mexico.
She emphasized that as the country’s first woman president she would represent a turn towards a more honest and sensitive government.
“I want to be president because I have the sensitivity, as a woman, to listen,” she said.
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador from the left-leaning Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) also used visual props to attack Peña Nieto, holding up a photo showing him with a former governor whose term ended amid corruption allegations.
The PRI governed Mexico for most of the 20th century until the PAN won the presidency in 2000. All candidates are trying to paint Peña Nieto as a return to an authoritarian past, and Mr. Lopez Obrador added that voting in either the PRI or PAN would not represent true change in the nation.
“This dominant group has privatized the government,” Lopez Obrador said. “Do you think things will get better if the PRI comes back? Let’s take a totally new path.”
Peña Nieto navigated the attacks with solid rebuttals and tried to paint his two main opponents as taking the negative road (the fourth candidate, Gabriel Quadri, while considered by some to be the winner for a solid performance, mostly stayed out of the fray — though it helped that he was largely ignored by the other candidates). “They seem to have come to an agreement,” Peña Nieto said of the attacks by Vazquez Mota and Lopez Obrador. “They’re coming with knives sharpened.”
One of the latest polls ahead of the debate, published in El Universal Sunday, put Peña Nieto ahead at 39.2 percent, Vazquez Mota at 22.1 percent, Lopez Obrador at 17.5 percent, and Mr. Quadri at 1.1 percent. In the leading papers in Mexico today, analysts disagreed over who the winner ultimately was, which means the race is probably going to be unaltered by the debate.
“The debate allows the candidates to present their ideas and how they will tackle issues if they become president, but it did little to influence the vote,” says Javier Oliva, an analyst at Mexico’s National Autonomous University.
The format of the debate hails from an older idea that you can’t touch the candidates — for one day one of them will be president, Mr. Oliva says. “I call them ‘Soviet debates’ … It was not like the debate of Hollande and Sarkozy, which had more freshness,” Oliva says, referring to the candidates in France‘s recent election.
But it’s not the format itself that made this debate so uninspiring, says Mr. Muñoz, it’s the participants. Last election Lopez Obrador skipped out on one debate, which cost him crucial points. In 2000, when Vicente Fox of PAN won the presidency, his charisma behind the lectern caused him to soar.
“This time [debates] won’t make the difference of a single point,” Muñoz says.Welcome to this week’s Math Munch! Some cool pictures, videos, and a new game this week.
A couple of week’s ago, Anna wrote about the familiar hexagonal honeycomb that bees make, but that’s not the only sort of honeycomb. Mathematically, a honeycomb is the 3D version of a tessellation. Instead of covering the plane with some kind of polygon, a honeycomb fills space with some polyhedron. The cube works. Do you think tetrahedra would work? Can you think of other shapes that might work. Can you believe this works!?! (Look at the one at the bottom of that page.)
I want to introduce you to one of my new favorite “space-filling polyhedra.” Meet, the rhombic dodecahedron, which you can see packed nicely on the right or in crystal form below. (Click the crystal for a really great video by George Hart about crystals and polyhedra.)
I’ll let this video serve as an introduction to the rhombic dodecahedron and some of its features. Plus, it gives you something to make if you’d like. You’ll just need a deck of cards, and maybe a ruler and some tape.
Pretty wonderful, am I right? Here’s a link for a simple paper net you can fold up into a rhombic dodecahedron. For the really adventurous or dexterous, here’s a how-to video for a pretty tricky origami model. And here’s two more related videos showing how one can be built from two cubes.
Here’s one final amazing fact about the rhombic dodecahedron. Its first stellation is the star form of the Yoshimoto Cube!!! (background info on stellation here) Perhaps more amazing is the fact that even this shape can stack to fill 3D space!
But now, as promised, I present a new game. Microtone is a mindbending pathwinding game played on, you guessed it, rhombic dodecahedra. (I know.) Click to move around the shape and land on all of the X’s. To rotate the dodecahedra, click and drag on the page.
Bon appetit!Image copyright AP Image caption The Netherlands tolerates the sale of small amounts of cannabis
The Dutch lower house of parliament has narrowly voted to approve the cultivation of cannabis.
The bill would exempt professional growers working within certain conditions from punishment.
But it is not yet law, as it must also get majority support from the Senate.
Buying small amounts of cannabis at so-called coffee shops has long been tolerated in the Netherlands, but cultivating and selling it to the coffee shops is illegal.
Coffee shops often fall back on supplies from criminal networks.
Tuesday's bill was put forward by an MP for the liberal party, D66, which has long supported a relaxation in the law. It passed with 77 votes to 72, despite the public prosecutor raising concerns legalising cultivation would put the Netherlands in contravention of international law.
The department of health has also been critical.
But it is thought unlikely to get through the Senate, or First Chamber, if the vote goes along the same party lines.
Despite the bill's uncertain future, those working within the industry have welcomed it as a positive step.
"It is good news for the coffee shop industry because it will finally - if it passes the First Chamber - put an end to a lot of stuff we can't organise in a normal and transparent way," Joachim Helms, chairman of the Coffee Shop Union, told the Associated Press news agency.State machine behaviours are scripts that can be attached to animator states or sub-state machines in an Animator Controller. These can be used to add all sorts of behaviour that is state dependent such as playing sounds whenever you enter a state. They can even be used to make logic state machines which are independent of animation. To add a state machine behaviour to a state or sub-state machine, click the Add Behaviour button in the inspector.
From here you can choose from existing state machine behaviours or create a new one.
New state machine behaviours are created in C#.
All state machine behaviours inherit from the same base class, StateMachineBehaviour. Since they support inheritance, if there is functionality that you wish to add to multiple classes then that can be easily achieved. For more information on inheritance, see the information linked below.
StateMachineBehaviour functions
The core of state machine behaviours are 5 functions that are automatically called whilst in an animator state and 2 functions that are automatically called whilst in a sub-state machine. Commented out versions of some of these functions are added to new state machine behaviours when they are created. These functions are OnStateEnter, OnStateUpdate, OnStateExit, OnStateMove and OnStateIK. The additional functions for sub-state machine transitions are OnStateMachineEnter and OnStateMachineExit.
All of these functions have 3 parameters passed to them: an Animator, an AnimatorStateInfo and the layer index.
Code snippet override public void OnStateEnter (Animator animator, AnimatorStateInfo stateInfo, int layerIndex) { }
The Animator parameter is a reference to the specific animator that this state machine behaviour is on. For example, this could be used to set the values of animator parameters that were only necessary in this state, such as those for a blend tree.
The AnimatorStateInfo is the current info for the state that the state machine behaviour is on. It is the equivalent of writing animator.GetCurrentStateInfo(layerIndex); This can be useful in operations that involve the normalised time of the clip.
The layerIndex is the layer the state machine behaviour’s state is on. For example, zero for the base layer, one for the first, and so on.
As with MonoBehaviours, the functions of a StateMachineBehaviour are called under specific circumstances.
OnStateEnter is called on the first frame of the state being played.
OnStateUpdate is called after MonoBehaviour Updates on every frame whilst the animator is playing the state this behaviour belongs to.
OnStateExit is called on the last frame of a transition to another state.
OnStateMove is called before OnAnimatorMove would be called in MonoBehaviours for every frame the state is playing. When OnStateMove is called, it will stop OnAnimatorMove from being called in MonoBehaviours.
OnStateIK is called after OnAnimatorIK on MonoBehaviours for every frame the while the state is being played. It is important to note that OnStateIK will only be called if the state is on a layer that has an IK pass. By default, layers do not have an IK pass and so this function will not be called. For more information on IK see the information linked below.
OnStateMachineEnter is called on the first frame that the animator plays the contents of a Sub-State Machine.
OnStateMachineExit is called on the last frame of a transition from a Sub-State Machine.
Example of using State Machine Behaviours
Consider a beat’em up style game where when you perform special moves, you want particle systems to spawn and follow whichever limb is doing the attacking. This script could be used on the animator state containing the special move’s animation.
Code snippet using UnityEngine; public class SpecialAttackParticlesSmb : StateMachineBehaviour { public GameObject particles; // Prefab of the particle system to play in the state. public AvatarIKGoal attackLimb; // The limb that the particles should follow. private Transform particlesTransform; // Reference to the instantiated prefab's transform. private ParticleSystem particleSystem; // Reference to the instantiated prefab's particle system. // This will be called when the animator first transitions to this state. override public void OnStateEnter(Animator animator, AnimatorStateInfo stateInfo, int layerIndex) { // If the particle system already exists then exit the function. if(particlesTransform!= null) return; // Otherwise instantiate the particles and set up references to their components. GameObject particlesInstance = Instantiate(particles); particlesTransform = particlesInstance.transform; particleSystem = particlesInstance.GetComponent <ParticleSystem> (); } // This will be called once the animator has transitioned out of the state. override public void OnStateExit (Animator animator, AnimatorStateInfo stateInfo, int layerIndex) { // When leaving the special move state, stop the particles. particleSystem.Stop(); } // This will be called every frame whilst in the state. override public void OnStateIK (Animator animator, AnimatorStateInfo stateInfo, int layerIndex) { // OnStateExit may be called before the last OnStateIK so we need to check the particles haven't been destroyed. if (particleSystem == null || particlesTransform == null) return; // Find the position and rotation of the limb the particles should follow. Vector3 limbPosition = animator.GetIKPosition(attackLimb); Quaternion limbRotation = animator.GetIKRotation (attackLimb); // Set the particle's position and rotation based on that limb. particlesTransform.position = limbPosition; particlesTransform.rotation = limbRotation; // If the particle system isn't playing, play it. if(!particleSystem.isPlaying) particleSystem.Play(); } }
Communication between MonoBehaviours and StateMachineBehaviours
To properly understand the difference between MonoBehaviours and StateMachineBehaviours it is necessary to understand the difference between assets and scene objects.
Scene objects only exist in a single scene. These include GameObjects and their components as well as instances of prefabs. Assets exist in the project and can be referenced in any scene. These include Animator Controllers, prefab assets and StateMachineBehaviours. Since the scene with a specific object might not be loaded, an asset cannot refer to a scene object. Since assets always exist in the project, scene objects can refer to assets.
Remember that since state machine behaviours are Assets, they cannot store references to scene objects. In order to refer to a scene object in a state machine behaviour the reference must be found or passed to the state machine behaviour. For example:
Code snippet override public void OnStateEnter (Animator animator, AnimatorStateInfo stateInfo, int layerIndex) { player = GameObject.Find(“Player”); }
State machine behaviours are not like MonoBehaviours in the way that they are created. Instances of MonoBehaviours are created when they are added to a GameObject and are therefore scene objects. The StateMachineBehaviour class derives from ScriptableObject. As such, state machine behaviours are assets, not scene objects. This means that in order to exist within a scene, instances of state machine behaviours are automatically created at runtime during the Animator’s internal Awake call. This means that finding a reference to them during a MonoBehaviour’s Awake function is not recommended as it will yield unpredictable results.
To get a reference to a StateMachineBehaviour in a MonoBehaviour, you can use either animator.GetBehaviour<>() or animator.GetBehaviours<>(). These functions work in a similar way to GetComponent<>() and GetComponents<>(). GetBehaviour will return the first instance of the specified StateMachineBehaviour found on the animator. GetBehaviours will return an array of all the StateMachineBehaviours of the specified type found. Since it cannot be guaranteed that the state machine behaviours have been instantiated in Awake, these functions should be called in Start.
Here is a short example of finding references between a single StateMachineBehaviour and a MonoBehaviour.
Code snippet using UnityEngine; public class ExampleMonoBehaviour : MonoBehaviour { private Animator animator; // Reference to the Animator component on this gameobject. private ExampleStateMachineBehaviour exampleSmb; // Reference to a single StateMachineBehaviour. void Awake () { // Find a reference to the Animator component in Awake since it exists in the scene. animator = GetComponent <Animator> (); } void Start () { // Find a reference to the ExampleStateMachineBehaviour in Start since it might not exist yet in Awake. exampleSmb = animator.GetBehaviour <ExampleStateMachineBehaviour> (); // Set the StateMachineBehaviour's reference to an ExampleMonoBehaviour to this. exampleSmb.exampleMb = this; } }Protesters hold a banner in the Chinese village of Wukan in 2011. (Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images)
The Global Times, an English-language newspaper run by the Chinese Communist Party, says that this week's turmoil in Egypt is proof that all forms of street protests are now "outdated" and counterproductive, and should cease. Unsurprisingly, it concludes that the "political damage caused by street movements nowadays is bigger than their positive influences." But there are actually some interesting little moments in this otherwise standard Communist Party output.
The newspaper editorial actually makes a reasonably strong case against protests, pointing out that they can be co-opted, are often politically polarizing and can actually subvert legal and political systems that are often better suited at channeling dissent. Those are all solid points, even if they're made in implicit defense of China's severe restrictions against political protest.
Ironically, the Global Times paints itself into a corner, reaching the compelling but highly self-defeating conclusion that governments should preempt protests by developing "smooth legal channels for political expression" and making it easier for people to seek "political expression" through "the framework of the constitution." China is good at lots of things, but "smooth legal channels for political expression" is not one of them. And you could argue that one reason China has dozens or hundreds of protests every single day is because the country lacks an inclusive political or legal system.
The Global Times's attempt at discrediting street protests in general, then, actually ends up being a pretty persuasive case on behalf of street protesters in places such as China.
The paper also makes the less-compelling argument that protests are "not a mainstream means of political movement in developed countries, such as the U.S. and the European countries," where governments can "control the movement's scale and influence." Americans will of course be familiar with the tea party and Occupy Wall Street protests, at least the former of which effected some real political influence, and many Europeans will know all about anti-austerity demonstrations.Things started changing late last week in Tennessee's search for an athletics director.
Now, especially with newly confirmed and soon-to-start Chancellor Dr. Beverly J. Davenport meeting today on campus with Dr. Joe DiPietro and others, as well as attending the Lady Vols' upset win against No. 6 Notre Dame, it appears Davenport's search for a new athletic director has a clear-cut favorite and familiar name: Phillip Fulmer.
While sources Sunday night and into Monday morning were continuing to indicate Davenport is adamant she wants UT to interview sitting athletics directors, with a source indicating last Friday was the deadline for interested potential candidates to submit their curriculum vitae and qualifications, Fulmer has gone from wishful candidate early in the process to replace the forced-out Hart to off the radar and now back front and center.
Literally, Fulmer was front row in courtside seats alongside John "Thunder" Thornton for the Lady Vols' game and also recently sat courtside for a Vols' hoops game.
(Want the latest scoop on Tennessee football and basketball? Make sure you're in the loop — take five seconds to sign up for our FREE Vols newsletter now!)
In fact two different sources, intricately connected to University of Tennessee athletics, on Monday told 247Sports that a move to tab Fulmer as the new top athletics administrator was "about done" and another saying "it's all but done" in terms of hiring Fulmer to a multi-year deal as A.D.
Additionally, numerous sources on Monday told 247Sports that Fulmer's strong rapport with UT system president Dr. Joe DiPietro, particularly their work together as ambassadors and in fundraising for UT approximately the past half-year.
Lastly, Fulmer according to multiple sources has the backing of a couple of Tennessee's overwhelmingly most prominent boosters.
With Davenport likely in town the majority of this week, per sources speaking on condition of anonymity because UT is deferring public comment on its search process, it also is indicated indepth talks on the A.D. position are imminent in the coming days.The Editors of Cedar Posts are not responsible for the comments posted or for anything arising out of use of the comments or other interaction among the readers of Cedar Posts. We reserve the right to screen, remove or edit user-generated content at any time and for any or no reason in our absolute and sole discretion without notice, although we have no duty to do so or to monitor any of the comments. Employees of the CMPD are encouraged to post comments on any subject for or against, however please refrain from posting comments from your CMPD computer, its just not smart.
Cedar Posts and Barbed Wire Fences
He had a different way of looking at the land,
the trouble at hand
or any circumstance
that might just come along.
And while much in the world has changed
the pull of the mountains
and the range
for him has always been strong.
His back to the wind
he placed the last post
and at last
the day's work was done.
As the seasons changed,
the work got harder
but he still rose
with the sun.
The posts became heavy,
bails of wire he’d need some help
but he just pushed
himself more.
His back now ached
and his legs tired quickly
even his bed
made him sore.
Over the years
he’s always done his best
right up to the present tense,
and he measured his life in cedar posts
and miles of barbed wire fence.What is a Webstile?
Webstiles is a template to help you prototype in the browser, to quicky define colors, fonts, and the overall mood of a website.
It is a type of design deliverable, heavily inspired from Style Tiles.
You download the template, open up its CSS, set fonts and colors. You then open up the HTML file, and change the headlines/slogans and adjectives, and optional, remove any sections not required. Once you’re done, you have a finished webstile that you could present to your clients or share with your team.
Webstiles tell the mood of the website, by defining typography, colors, layout and buttons. They help communication between the designer and the client, and are a step before full-fledged mockups, but one step after wireframes.
Feel free to check out the demo, download webstiles’ template, and mess around!
Like it? Tweet it!Josef Newgarden has shown us this summer that he's one of the world's fastest and toughest drivers. Newgarden bounced back from a big accident at Texas in June to fight his way to eighth place at Elkhart Lake two weeks later before scoring a dominant victory on the short, banked Iowa oval a month after his accident. It was one of the most dominant performances in IndyCar history and confirmed Newgarden's standing at the pinnacle of the sport.
Recently, I enjoyed a discussion with Josef about the challenges of racing a modern Indy car and his ideas about the best way forward for the sport. We started by talking about the amount of downforce today's Dallara Indy cars make and how Firestone's tires work on the wide variety of tracks IndyCar races on. Josef first talked about oval tracks.
"In race trim on the speedways we're generally running 2,100-2,500 pounds of downforce in race configuration," Newgarden said. "That's what we've been running the last couple of years depending on the amount of mechanical grip.
"Firestone has really provided a very consistent tire for us which is good in a lot of respects because it allows you as a driver to push the limits of the car continuously throughout a run, which is fun. It's nice when you have a stable, consistent tire. They do degrade but I think for everyone that's a little different. I think you can actually manipulate the tire to degrade on one end or the other.
© Ed Carpenter Racing
"At Indianapolis, we're not really pedaling the car much. With the downforce levels we run you really should be flat out through a whole stint. The only time you're lifting is in severe traffic or enough traffic where you're losing enough downforce that you have to lift and really, there is very little or no tire degradation."
Newgarden next addressed the road and street tracks.
"On the road courses and street circuits the setups are really quite similar," he said. "Some road courses you have to use a lot more downforce and on some others you're a lot more trimmed out because of the long straights. I would say as an average for all of them we're making between 6,000-7,000 ponds of downforce, which is pretty astronomical. That's a way higher number than anyone has ever produced on an Indy car and more than any Formula 1 car. The grip level from the wings is pretty significant. In fact, it's huge.
"The tires are similar to the ovals. Firestone has the softer red and harder black compounds and they are very consistent tires that are very easy to bring in. I don't have any problem with a consistent tire. I think it allows the driver to extract what he needs to extract from it and drive the car to the limit without much drop off.
"I like a consistent tire. Some people argue that the more tire degradation you have, the better the racing because people struggle. I don't mind that, but I think if we create cars that are easier to follow like a Formula Ford and the tires last really well throughout the stint, that's not going to change the nature of the racing. We have trouble following each other closely because of the aerodynamic effects on the car and the massive amount of downforce the cars make. If we fixed the aerodynamic problem so we could run closer and we had enough mechanical grip the racing would be great.
"There are some tracks where we have high degradation and some tracks where we have low degradation depending on the surface. I would say the Barber and Sonoma road courses are two of the highest degradation circuits that we race on. At Sonoma you'll experience a lot of overall degradation in grip, more at the rear end and that makes it pretty difficult to drive because you fall off pretty aggressively, probably about two and half to three seconds per lap. At Mid-Ohio, that degradation is cut almost in half. It really depends on the surface."
© Ed Carpenter Racing
"I think we had a pretty nice formula with the original DW12 Dallara," he said. "It had an absolutely hideous body kit, but it was great for following relatively close in a modern formula car. That was the closest racing we ever had but we've taken some steps back from that over the last couple of years with the aero kits. It hasn't been terrible racing. We've still proved that we can run very close with massive winged cars, but it's not been as strong as it with the original DW12.
"With the current car and the aero kits, it's a struggle to follow another guy closely. There has to be some drop off in the tires to allow you to race more closely and pass people.
"We took off the downforce with the DW12. It made the car harder to drive but the races on the ovals were terrible. We had terrible races at Texas and everyone complained so we cut the downforce back and we went a little too far. There is a balancing act and we're not going to be able to fix it with our current formula. We have our best racing now when we have a little bit too much downforce but that's the way the formula has been written.
"The problem with the current car is you can't just take the wings off. The entire design is made for what the car is today, not what we're suggesting. The floor is all wrong for running a car without wings. You would have to make a whole new car.
"But I think Firestone has done a pretty good job with their tires for the current formula. The amount of drop off that we have is probably about what it should be. We have a relative drop off that we have to deal with but it's not so exaggerated so that it looks stupid and we have to start slowing-down too much in lap time. I think it's about right at the moment.
"Some tracks separate drivers more than others, but there are times when we reach a certain level of grip at Mid-Ohio for instance. When you get plenty of rubber laid down at Mid-Ohio the grip level is so high that I think the field becomes a little artificially close together. I think the front and the rear of the field should always be close. When you have good teams and good drivers they're always going to be close and pushing each other. But I don't think it's good when the entire field becomes very close and you see people doing things that you don't think they can do."
© Ed Carpenter Racing
"You really want to be able to separate yourself by having a little better talent behind the wheel," he remarked. "I think more horsepower would be one of the main things in achieving that and also by providing a car that is mechanically robust and more mechanically dependent to drive. With a bias ply tire you |
site.
Tran said his family visits the crash site two or three times a day to pray. Tran said that, based on the length of the skid marks, he believes Michael Koistinen was going well over the speed limit.
"If you're a police officer in the town, you should know the roads," Tran said.
State Police Lt. Paul Vance said the investigation is ongoing and he urged anyone who witnessed the accident or has information about it to call state police at 860-685-8190.
"We have interviewed a lot of people and found some witnesses,'' Vance said. "We are making progress with this investigation, but if there is anybody out there who may have information, we ask them to come forward."Atlanta United has hired veterans Alan Green, Kevin Egan, Dan Gargan and Brittany Arnold as the team’s broadcast crew for its inaugural MLS season on Fox Sports South and Fox Sports Southeast.
Green, of BBC Radio Sport, and Egan, of beIN sports, will split play-by-play duties. Gargan, an MLS veteran, will be the color analyst. Arnold, of beIN Sports, will be the studio host and sideline reporter.
“We’re thrilled to have such a distinguished and dynamic group of talent for our broadcasts,” Atlanta United president Darren Eales said in a team release. “With Alan’s vast experience calling major international tournaments and Kevin’s strong MLS and hosting background, they will lend a unique and qualified point of view to our play-by-play commentary. We are also very excited to welcome Dan to the team providing the perspective of a former MLS player turned analyst, as well as Brittany, who brings fantastic energy and presence to the field.”
Green, a native of Belfast, Northern Ireland, has been a soccer commentator since 1982 and has served as BBC Radio Sport’s lead commentator since 1990. He has broadcast seven World Cups, among other notable tournaments. He will broadcast the Champions League final in Cardiff, Wales, before his first Atlanta United broadcast on June 17 against Columbus.
Egan, native of Dublin, Ireland, will call Atlanta United’s first five matches televised regionally, starting with an April 8 game at Toronto. He spent three seasons with the Chicago Fire (2009-11) as a commentator before joining beIN Sports.
Gargan was drafted by Colorado in 2005. He played for several teams before retiring after the 2015 season and moving to the booth as an analyst.
Arnold has been an on-air host for beIN Sports pre-match and post-match shows.
Nineteen Atlanta United games will be broadcast on either Fox Sports South or Fox Sports Southeast. The studio show, Atlanta United: Match Week, will start on April 4.Ferdinand I (12 January 1751 – 4 January 1825), was the King of the Two Sicilies from 1816, after his restoration following victory in the Napoleonic Wars. Before that he had been, since 1759, Ferdinand IV of the Kingdom of Naples and Ferdinand III of the Kingdom of Sicily. He was also King of Gozo. He was deposed twice from the throne of Naples: once by the revolutionary Parthenopean Republic for six months in 1799 and again by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1805.
Ferdinand was the third son of King Charles VII of Naples and V of Sicily by his wife, Maria Amalia of Saxony. On 10 August 1759, Charles succeeded his elder brother, Ferdinand VI, becoming King Charles III of Spain, but treaty provisions made him ineligible to hold all three crowns. On 6 October, he abdicated his Neapolitan and Sicilian titles in favour of his third son, because his eldest son Philip had been excluded from succession due to illnesses and his second son Charles was heir to the Spanish throne. Ferdinand was the founder of the cadet House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.
Styles [ edit ]
Ferdinand was styled both Ferdinand III of Sicily (6 October 1759 – 12 December 1816) and Ferdinand IV of Naples (6 October 1759 – 23 January 1799; 13 June 1799 – 30 March 1806; 22 May 1815 – 12 December 1816).
On 21 January 1799,[1] the Kingdom of Naples was abolished and replaced by the Parthenopaean Republic which lasted until 13 June 1799. Ferdinand was restored to the throne for a while. On 26 December 1805, Napoleon I of France declared Ferdinand deposed again and replaced him with his own brother Joseph Bonaparte on 30 March 1806.
Ferdinand was restored for the second time following the Austrian victory at the Battle of Tolentino (3 March 1815) over rival monarch King Joachim I. On 8 March 1816 he merged the thrones of Sicily and Naples into the throne of the Two Sicilies. He continued to rule until his death on 4 January 1825.
Childhood [ edit ]
Ferdinand was born in Naples and grew up amidst many of the monuments erected there by his father which can be seen today; the Palaces of Portici, Caserta and Capodimonte.
Ferdinand was his parents' third son, his elder brother Charles was expected to inherit Naples and Sicily. When his father ascended the Spanish throne in 1759 he abdicated Naples in Ferdinand's favor in accordance with the treaties forbidding the union of the two crowns. A regency council presided over by the Tuscan Bernardo Tanucci was set up. The latter, an able, ambitious man, wishing to keep the government as much as possible in his own hands, purposely neglected the young king's education, and encouraged him in his love of pleasure, his idleness and his excessive devotion to outdoor sports.[2]
Reign [ edit ]
Ferdinand in 1760, at age nine.
Ferdinand's minority ended in 1767, and his first act was the expulsion of the Jesuits. The following year he married Archduchess Maria Carolina, daughter of Empress Maria Theresa. By the marriage contract the queen was to have a voice in the council of state after the birth of her first son, and she was not slow to avail herself of this means of political influence.
Tanucci, who attempted to thwart her, was dismissed in 1777. The Englishman Sir John Acton, who in 1779 was appointed director of marine, won Maria Carolina's favour by supporting her scheme to free Naples from Spanish influence, securing rapprochement with Austria and Great Britain. He became practically and afterward actually prime minister. Although not a mere grasping adventurer, he was largely responsible for reducing the internal administration of the country to a system of espionage, corruption and cruelty.
French Occupation and the Parthenopaean Republic [ edit ]
Although peace was made with France in 1798, the demands of the French Directory, whose troops occupied Rome, alarmed the king once more, and at his wife's instigation he took advantage of Napoleon's absence in Egypt and of Nelson's victories to go to war. He marched with his army against the French and entered Rome (29 November), but on the defeat of some of his columns he hurried back to Naples, and on the approach of the French, fled on 23 December 1798 aboard Nelson's ship HMS Vanguard to Palermo, Sicily, leaving his capital in a state of anarchy.[1]
The French entered the city in spite of the fierce resistance of the lazzaroni, and with the aid of the nobles and bourgeoisie established the Parthenopaean Republic (January 1799). When, a few weeks later the French troops were recalled to northern Italy, Ferdinand sent a hastily assembled force, under Cardinal Ruffo, to reconquer the mainland kingdom. Ruffo, with the support of British artillery, the Church, and the pro-Bourbon aristocracy, succeeded, reaching Naples in May 1800, and the Parthenopaean Republic collapsed. After some months King Ferdinand returned to the throne.
The king, and above all the queen, were particularly anxious that no mercy should be shown to the rebels, and Maria Carolina (a sister of the executed Antoinette) made use of Lady Hamilton, Nelson's mistress, to induce Nelson to carry out her vengeance.[citation needed]
Third Coalition [ edit ]
The king returned to Naples soon afterwards, and ordered a few hundred who had collaborated with the French executed. This stopped only when the French successes forced him to agree to a treaty which included amnesty for members of the French party. When war broke out between France and Austria in 1805, Ferdinand signed a treaty of neutrality with the former, but a few days later he allied himself with Austria and allowed an Anglo-Russian force to land at Naples (see Third Coalition).
The French victory at the Battle of Austerlitz on 2 December enabled Napoleon to dispatch an army to southern Italy. Ferdinand fled to Palermo (23 January 1806), followed soon after by his wife and son, and on 14 February 1806 the French again entered Naples. Napoleon declared that the Bourbon dynasty had forfeited the crown, and proclaimed his brother Joseph King of Naples and Sicily. But Ferdinand continued to reign over the latter kingdom (becoming the first King of Sicily in centuries to actually reside there) under British protection.
Parliamentary institutions of a feudal type had long existed in the island, and Lord William Bentinck, the British minister, insisted on a reform of the constitution on English and French lines. The king indeed practically abdicated his power, appointing his son Francis as regent, and the queen, at Bentinck's insistence, was exiled to Austria, where she died in 1814.
Restoration [ edit ]
After the fall of Napoleon, Joachim Murat, who had succeeded Joseph Bonaparte as king of Naples in 1808, was dethroned in the Neapolitan War, and Ferdinand returned to Naples. By a secret treaty he had bound himself not to advance further in a constitutional direction than Austria should at any time approve; but, though on the whole he acted in accordance with Metternich's policy of preserving the status quo, and maintained with but slight change Murat's laws and administrative system, he took advantage of the situation to abolish the Sicilian constitution, in violation of his oath, and to proclaim the union of the two states into the kingdom of the Two Sicilies (12 December 1816).
Ferdinand was now completely subservient to Austria, an Austrian, Count Nugent, being even made commander-in-chief of the army. For the next four years he reigned as an absolute monarch within his domain, granting no constitutional reforms.
1820 revolution [ edit ]
Palermo insurrection of 1820
The suppression of liberal opinion caused an alarming spread of the influence and activity of the secret society of the Carbonari, which in time affected a large part of the army. In July 1820 a military revolt broke out under General Guglielmo Pepe, and Ferdinand was terrorised into signing a constitution on the model of the Spanish Constitution of 1812. On the other hand, a revolt in Sicily, in favour of the recovery of its independence, was suppressed by Neapolitan troops.
The success of the military revolution at Naples seriously alarmed the powers of the Holy Alliance, who feared that it might spread to other Italian states and so lead to a general European conflagration. The Troppau Protocol of 1820 was signed by Austria, Prussia and Russia, although an invitation to Ferdinand to attend the adjourned Congress of Laibach (1821) was issued at which he failed to distinguish himself. He had twice sworn to maintain the new constitution but was hardly out of Naples before he repudiated his oaths and, in letters addressed to all the sovereigns of Europe, declared his acts to have been null and void. Metternich had no difficulty in persuading the king to allow an Austrian army to march into Naples "to restore order".
The Neapolitans, commanded by General Pepe, made no attempt to defend the difficult defiles of the Abruzzi, and were defeated at Rieti (7 March 1821). The Austrians entered Naples.
Later years [ edit ]
Following the Austrian victory, the Parliament was dismissed and Ferdinand suppressed the Liberals and Carbonari. The victory was used by Austria to force its grasp over Naples' domestic and foreign policies. Count Charles-Louis de Ficquelmont was appointed as the Austrian ambassador to Naples, practically administrating the country as well as managing the occupation and strengthening Austrian influence over Neapolitan elites.
Ferdinand died in Naples in January 1825. He was the last surviving child of Charles III.
Ferdinand I in cinema [ edit ]
Issue [ edit ]
Ancestry [ edit ]
Titles, styles and honours [ edit ]
Titles and styles [ edit ]
12 January 1751 – 10 August 1759: His Royal Highness Prince Ferdinand of Naples and Sicily, Infante of Spain
Prince Ferdinand of Naples and Sicily, of Spain 10 August 1759 – 12 December 1816: His Majesty The King of Naples and Sicily 23 January 1799 – 13 June 1799: Titular King of Naples 30 March 1806 – 22 May 1815: Titular King of Naples
The King of Naples and Sicily 12 December 1816 – 4 January 1825: His Majesty The King of the Two Sicilies
National honours [ edit ]
Heraldry [ edit ]
Heraldry of Ferdinand of Naples, Sicily and the Two Sicilies
Coat of arms as King of Naples
(1759–1799 / 1799–1806 /1814–1816) [4]
Coat of arms as King of Sicily
(1759–1816) [4]
Coat of arms as King of the Two Sicilies
(1816–1825)[4]
References [ edit ]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Ferdinand IV. of Naples". Encyclopædia Britannica. 10 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 264–265.Media playback is not supported on this device England women win team award
England women's rugby team won the Team of the Year award at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year show.
The World Cup winners took the honour ahead of Europe's Ryder Cup golfers, the GB & Northern Ireland athletics squad and the Mercedes F1 team.
England beat Canada 21-9 in Paris to win the World Cup for the first time since 1994 after three final defeats.
"This is a massive turning point for women's sport," said captain Katy McLean.
"I would like to thank the Rugby Football Union and Sport England and our friends and family and to everybody at home."
"Also to the ex-players who have battled to win England the World Cup. This is just as much to you as it is to us.
"This is for you guys," added McLean.
Many of the England players returned to full-time jobs following the win.
It was later announced that the England Women's Sevens squad would be turning professional, with the Rugby Football Union giving full-time contracts to 20 players.Sept. 11, 2010
Final Stats
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Almost three years ago to the day, the Penn State women's volleyball team lost a five-set match to Stanford on Sept. 15, 2007 in the Yale Classic. After three storybook seasons, No. 1 Penn State's record-breaking 109-match winning streak came to an end Saturday night with a 3-0 (28-26, 25-12, 25-18) loss to No. 2 Stanford (7-0).
During the streak, which is the longest Division I women's streak in history and second overall only to the Miami men's tennis team's streak of 137 straight matches, the Nittany Lions won an unprecedented three straight NCAA titles. Between Sept. 21, 2007 and Sept. 10, 2010, Penn State lost just 19 sets and won a record breaking 111 straight sets beginning with the final set of the 2007 National Championship match against Stanford and ending in the third set of the 2008 NCAA National Semifinal against Nebraska. In addition, Penn State won an NCAA-best 55 straight road matches and was not out-blocked for 68 consecutive matches.
Seniors Blair Brown (Purcellville, Va.), Arielle Wilson (Broadview, Ill.), Florida's Kelly Murphy and Callie Rivers, Stanford's Cassidy Lichtman and Texas' Rachael Adams made up the Nike Big Four Volleyball Classic All-Tournament Team. Stanford's Alix Klineman was the MVP.
Brown led the Nittany Lions with 11 kills, while freshman Deja McClendon (Louisville, Ky.) and Wilson tied with five apiece. Sophomore Kristin Carpenter (Mechanicsville, Va.) split setting duties with freshman Mikinzie Moydell (Parker, Colo.). The tandem posted 16 and 11 assists, respectively. McClendon led the team with six digs and Wilson had a team-best two blocks.
Stanford held Penn State to.091 hitting, 30 kills, six aces, 30 digs and 3.0 team blocks. Stanford finished the match hitting.389, tallying 47 kills, six aces, 42 digs and 5.0 team blocks.
The Nittany Lions jumped out to a 7-1 lead to start off the match. Brown had two kills, while McClendon had one as well as back-to-back aces. Stanford recorded two errors early on. The Cardinal fought back to within three, 8-5, but two PSU kills had the Lions ahead by five, 10-5. Penn State's lead grew to seven, 15-8, but a Stanford put down and a PSU error had the Cardinal back within five, 15-10. Kills by Katie Slay (Raleigh, N.C.) and Katie Kabbes (Raleigh, N.C.) moved the gap to seven once again, 17-10, but a 5-0 Cardinal run had the set tied at 15-15. The score was tied twice before a Kabbes kill and a Stanford error gave Penn State a two-point edge, 19-17. However, three straight Stanford points gave the Cardinal its first lead of the set, 20-19. Wilson tied the set at 20-20 with a kill, but Stanford's Cassidy Lichtman answered right back with a kill to put Stanford back up by one, 21-20. After a Nittany Lion timeout, a McClendon kill and an ace from junior Megan Shifflett (Falls Church, Va.) put PSU in the lead, 22-21. Two straight kills from Cardinal Alix Klineman moved Stanford ahead by one and forced Penn State back to the bench. The score tied four more times before Stanford closed out the set with two straight points for a 28-26 win.
Stanford took the early lead in set two, going up 8-3. The Nittany Lions called a timeout and used two Wilson kills and one from Kabbes to come within four, 10-6. Stanford embarked on a 6-0 run for a 10-point lead before Penn State managed another point. The Nittany Lions were unable to steal any momentum as the Cardinal kept rolling. Leading 17-8, Stanford went on a 5-0 run to take a 22-8 lead. A Cardinal service error and a Brown kill cut off the Stanford run, but a Klineman kill and a PSU error put the Cardinal in set-point position. McClendon tallied a kill and Wilson and Moydell teamed up for a block to hold off Stanford momentarily, but Lichtman closed out set two for Stanford with a kill for a 25-12 victory.
The third set started out close with Stanford taking a slim 5-3 lead to start. The Nittany Lions stayed within three until a 3-0 run by Stanford put the Cardinal up, 11-6. Penn State held the Cardinal to a five-point lead for much of the set, but was unable to crack Stanford. As Stanford crept closer to winning set three, Penn State attempted to make a comeback. Brown tallied three kills in the run and the Nittany Lions were aided by four Stanford errors. It proved too little too late, however, and Lichtman closed out the set for Stanford with a kill for the 25-18 win.
What's Next?
Penn State returns to Rec Hall on Friday, Sept. 17 for a 7 p.m. match up with George Washington in the Rockvale Outlets Classic. The Nittany Lions host Princeton (10 a.m.) and St. John's (7 p.m.) on Saturday, Sept. 18.
For more information on the Penn State women's volleyball team, please visit GoPSUsports.com. The Penn State women's volleyball 2010 season is presented by Rockvale Outlets and The Outlets at Hershey.On Wednesday, a federal judge was told that while Paramount Pictures and CBS have produced a "limited number" of Star Trek television episodes and films, "they do not not own a copyright to the idea of Star Trek, or the Star Trek universe as a whole."
The proposition comes from Alec Peters' Axanar Productions, which put out on YouTube a 20-minute "mockumentary" titled Prelude to Axanar and was in the midst of pursuing a feature-length version touted as a professional-quality Star Trek fan film before being hit with a copyright lawsuit. The litigation survived an initial motion to dismiss, and despite some hopes expressed by Star Trek Beyond director Justin Lin that all this would go away, Paramount and CBS are marching forward in their lawsuit.
Now, after both sides have conducted depositions with the likes of Peters, Lin and J.J. Abrams, and also gathered scholars to opine on the nature and impact of Prelude to Axanar, summary judgment motions have been filed. U.S. District Court Judge R. Gary Klausner will soon have the opportunity to weigh just how far in this galaxy Paramount's grip on the Star Trek franchise extends. The Star Trek rights holders have long tolerated and even encouraged fan-made work, but have drawn the line on what the defendants have made, and for the first time in the sci-fi franchise's history, a judge will be articulating whether some of Star Trek's fans have crossed the neutral zone.
Peters is defending a work that features some backstory on Garth of Izar, an obscure character that appeared in a 1969 episode of the original Gene Roddenberry series. The character is described as a "war veteran with psychological issues resulting from his traumatic experiences during the Four Years War between the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire," and "otherwise abandoned by Plaintiffs in their more recent episodes and films."
Most of the other characters in Prelude to Axanar are original, but there are features like Vulcans and the Klingon language that will be instantly recognizable to Star Trek fans. The work at issue is said to be inspired by works such as M*A*S*H, Band of Brothers, Babylon 5, The Pacific and The Civil War.
In a summary judgment motion (read here), the defendants argue that copyright claims made over a feature film are "premature" since the work is evolving and a direction or style hasn't been set in stone. They also assert that Axanar isn't substantially similar to what Paramount and CBS actually own under copyright.
"Third, even if the Court reaches the merits of Plaintiffs’ claims, Defendants’ Works fall squarely within the protection of fair use," write defendants' attorney Erin Ranahan. "There is no evidence whatsoever that Defendants’ Works have caused any negative impact on Plaintiffs’ market. While Defendants have used elements that have appeared in the Star Trek universe, Defendants’ Works are transformative — going where no man has gone before."
Paramount and CBS obviously disagree.
In their own summary judgment (read here), the plaintiffs highlight the "professional, commercial" nature of Axanar, talking how the production had raised $1.5 million and had "professionals working in front and behind the camera, with a fully professional crew — many of whom have worked on Star Trek itself."
It's also revealed for the first time that Peters "attempted to meet with Netflix to become a producer of Star Trek productions."
As to the contention that its ownership over Star Trek is limited, the plaintiffs say that the Klingon and Vulcan races, Ambassador Soval, and Garth of Izar were "sufficiently delineated" in various works to merit copyright protection. Not just in films, but also in works like a 2003 published novel titled Garth of Izar and the Four Years War supplement to Star Trek: The Role Playing Game. And nodding to a recent 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision over the Batmobile, Paramount and CBS assert that the U.S.S. Enterprise, Vulcan Ships and Klingon battlecruisers also constitute copyrighted characters.
That said, plaintiffs' attorney David Grossman writes that arguments over protection of "pointy ears" and "spaceships" is a "disingenuous straw man"; that Peters has "intentionally appropriated the entire Star Trek universe for the purpose of creating an authentic 'professional' and 'independent Star Trek film.' Defendants’ copying did not consist only of characters, costumes, and space ships. Rather, to create their 'professional independent Star Trek film,' Defendants took their plot about Garth of Izar and The Four Years War from the Star Trek Copyrighted Works and attempted to flesh out a Star Trek story about events that were discussed in The Original Series. Defendants also took characters, sequence, themes, mood, dialogue, and settings from the Star Trek Copyrighted Works. Far from merely taking unprotectable 'ideas,' Defendants infringed specific, creative and original expression from Plaintiffs’ copyrighted works."
Paramount and CBS says fair use has no application to these facts.
"It is beyond dispute that Defendants’ works were not created for purposes of criticism, comment, news reporting, or teaching," states the summary judgment memorandum. "Similarly, the Axanar Works do not constitute either parody or satire, and (prior to this lawsuit) Defendants never claimed they were."
They even point to testimony from Christian Gossett, the director of Prelude.
Asked whether his work infringed upon Star Trek property, Gossett answered, "Yes... in that it is an unlicensed filmed entertainment that uses countless elements of the Star Trek fictional world without — yeah, unlicensed."
The amount of Star Trek taken, and the purpose and character of use, are but two of the factors that Judge Klausner will be considering when determining whether Axanar is a fair use.
What was the effect of the use upon the potential market?
"While there is no evidence of a negative market impact on Plaintiffs’ Works, there is evidence of increased and continued enthusiasm for Plaintiffs’ Works stemming directly from Defendants’ Works because Defendants’ Works provide free promotion for Plaintiffs’ franchise," states the defendants' brief. "Moreover, Star Trek fans have produced and disseminated fan fiction for over 50 years, without complaint, and rather with encouragement from Plaintiffs. Plaintiffs have benefitted from the unpaid and often unacknowledged labor of fans, who have helped to maintain engagement in Plaintiffs’ Works during leaner years in Plaintiffs’ cycle of production."
In turn, the plaintiffs say that by creating a derivative Star Trek work, Peters is by definition causing market harm.
According to Paramount and CBS, "If other producers were permitted to create their own 'independent Star Trek films' with paid actors, directors and crew members, and incorporated copyrighted elements and characters into those films, as Defendants have done here, the damage to Plaintiffs’ market would be manifest."SAN FRANCISCO — Tim Lincecum is being removed from the Giants’ starting rotation and replaced by Yusmeiro Petit, manager Bruce Bochy said Monday, and the switch will be open-ended depending on how both pitchers perform in their new roles.
Lincecum will move to the bullpen and could be available as soon as Tuesday. Petit, who is working on a remarkable string of 38 consecutive batters retired, will take Lincecum’s start Thursday against the Colorado Rockies.
“We’re going to give Timmy a break,” said Bochy. “More than anything, he needs to clean up his delivery a little bit. He was out of sorts, and he’s been working on it hard. Sometimes you can tinker a little bit too much with it. We just want to get him cleaned up and get him back to where he was not too long ago.”
For now, Lincecum will simply be skipping one start, but that could change.
“We’ll make the call on the next start after the Petit start,” Bochy said.
Bochy added that Lincecum is “all for this,” but the manager was clear that he hopes that the 30-year-old right-hander can find the form he exhibited from May through mid-July and regain his rotation spot during the September stretch run.
“A month or six weeks ago, he was throwing the ball as well as anybody,” Bochy said. “But he knows it’s probably a good time for this to try and clear his head. It would be critical to get him throwing like he was not too long ago, but I also think he can help us out in the bullpen. That’s not a bad thing.”
Over his last six starts, Lincecum has a 9.49 ERA and has given up 41 hits in 242/3 innings. His last start on Saturday against the Washington Nationals was a total disaster — he lasted just 22/3 innings, the second-shortest outing of his career, and gave up six hits and six runs while walking four.
When Lincecum was going well earlier in the year, Bochy said Lincecum “had better balance, less effort with his delivery and obviously he had confidence, too. I’m sure that’s part of it. When you can’t get the ball where you want, you start pressing and you compound the damage.”
Lincecum was not available for comment before Monday’s game against Colorado.
Follow Carl Steward on Twitter at twitter.com/stewardsfolly.A couple years ago, a researcher named Curtis Ellison took the podium in a crowded lecture hall at Boston University’s School of Public Health to tackle a question that had divided the university’s public health community: whether moderate drinking should be recommended as part of a healthy lifestyle. Ellison’s take? “I mean, it’s so obviously ‘yes,’” he told the crowd.
You’ve heard Ellison’s pitch before: A glass a day can make for a healthier heart and a longer life. On stage, he told the story of “Jackrabbit” Johannsen, a famed cross country skier who lived to be 111. Johannsen had four pieces of advice for a long and healthy life, Ellison said: “Don’t smoke, get lots of exercise, don’t drink too much.” He paused. “On the other hand, don’t drink too little, either.” The crowd erupted in laughter and applause.
But Ellison wasn’t going unchallenged. Watching from the other side of the stage was Tim Naimi, a public health professor at BU who studies binge drinking in the same building as Ellison. He was there to argue the less attractive position: Drinking is distinctly unhealthy. And not in the typical ways you might associate with alcoholism, but in the sense of increased cancer risk—even for moderate drinkers.
Alcohol’s potential health benefits may have been oversold by industry-funded research, distracting consumers from the realities of cancer risk.
For folks within the realm of public health, that’s no surprise. The World Health Organization has recognized alcoholic beverages as a Group 1 carcinogen since 2012, meaning evidence supports a link between alcohol and increased cancer risk. This past March, Jennie Connor, a preventative and social medicine researcher from New Zealand’s University of Otago, published a review of studies looking at the correlation between drinking and cancer, concluding that “there is strong evidence that alcohol causes cancer at seven sites in the body and probably others.” Her analysis credits alcohol with nearly 6 percent of all cancer deaths worldwide.
Connor’s use of the word “cause” separates her from most alcohol researchers and cancer advocacy groups in the US, where the conversation revolves around a more delicate term: “risk.” American consumers and researchers are both uncomfortable—or at least unfamiliar—with the idea of alcohol as health threat. When the American Institute for Cancer Research put out a survey to measure public perception of various cancer threats, less than half of respondents believed that alcohol was a risk factor for cancer. Which is odd, because 56 percent thought GMOs were, even though there’s no scientific proof that they are.
To be fair, the science around how alcohol impacts the body is still nascent. Ellison and Naimi’s debate wasn’t a mock trial: The public health community is split among people who think alcohol has its benefits and those who caution against its risks. The WHO’s designation puts alcohol in the same category as processed meats and sunlight: They’re carcinogenic, but that label doesn’t tell you how much is how carcinogenic. Consumers are faced with the conflicting message that moderate drinking can actually increase their level of good cholesterol and decrease their risk of heart disease, which kills more people in the US than anything else.
“Lots of us drink and we’d really like to believe drinking is good for us,” says Naimi. “But the research around that has really fallen apart in the last couple years.” Since Ellison made his confident statement into that mic two years ago, Naimi and many of his peers have gone on the offense against the studies that support alcohol’s potential health benefits, saying they may have been grossly oversold by industry-funded research—in the end, distracting consumers from the realities of cancer risk.
Bias in Booze Science
In late 1991, Ellison went on 60 Minutes to share the good news about red wine and heart health, and the idea took off. Underlying his claim were years of observational studies that compared moderate drinkers to non-drinkers. A handful of studies found that the moderate drinkers were actually healthier than the non-drinkers.
But in recent years, alcohol scholars like Connor and Naimi have criticized those studies for what’s become known as a “sick quitters” bias. Some of the groups of non-drinkers that were compared to moderate drinkers were actually groups of former alcoholics or people who were too sick to continue drinking, so they were generally sicker than the healthier moderate drinkers. When Naimi adjusted the results in a meta-analysis that took the bias into account, the study still showed that moderate drinkers were better off than non-drinkers when it came to heart health—but not by nearly as much as originally thought.
Ellison says recent studies have gotten more sophisticated about eliminating those selection problems. But that’s not the only source of bias in the literature. In the summer of 2014, the journal Addiction published a scathing editorial that outed Ellison for receiving “unrestricted educational donations from the (alcohol) industry.” That money had supported his work at BU, along with his leadership of a peer group that wrote positive reviews about studies highlighting the potential health benefits of drinking.
It wasn’t the first time the journal had called out the often-cozy relationship between alcohol academics and industry. Trade organizations like the Distilled Spirits Council, which represents alcohol companies and is the largest alcohol lobbying arm, often work hand in hand with regulators and researchers. Some researchers go on to work for their industry connections, like Samir Zakhari, a former director at the US National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (the National Institutes of Health’s alcohol research division). After he retired from the NIH, he went to work for the Distilled Spirits Council.
The council, for its part, doesn’t buy the newer research that highlights the link between alcohol and cancer. Frank Coleman, a spokesman for the DSC, says that many of those meta-analyses are flawed, skewed by cherry-picking data points.
The Trouble with Analyzing Alcohol
Those biases are a direct challenge to the validity of science on alcohol and health. But even if they didn’t exist, the nature of drinking still makes it extraordinarily difficult to come up with reliable results. Health risks, including those for cancer, are based on a complex interplay of variables—lifestyle factors, age, genetic predispositions—and they play out differently in each individual’s body.
People who drink a bit of wine each day, for example, tend to sit down and drink it with meals. And they’re predominantly wealthier, more privileged consumers—making them predisposed to better health, says Ellison. Beer drinkers also tend to be more susceptible to binge drinking, he says.
Those factors can be difficult to separate from alcohol’s isolated effect on the body. “We’re not studying beer or wine specifically,” says Ellison. “We’re studying people who drink them.” Even low calorie beers come with a lot of empty calories, says Kenneth Portier, who directs the statistics and evaluation programs at the American Cancer Society. “Drink enough of it and it can put you in that other risk factor: obesity.”
Ellison doesn’t deny that there is a link between alcohol and cancer—he just thinks it’s only relevant for heavy drinkers. But that starts a whole new debate: What exactly constitutes moderate drinking, and how do you study moderate vs. heavy drinking in study participants with vastly different body sizes, metabolisms, and socioeconomic backgrounds? In order to guide people in making informed decisions, researchers will need resources from somewhere outside the alcohol industry to conduct randomized studies that can isolate alcohol’s impact on the body over the course of decades.
Still, the less-than-perfect current evidence suggests that about 15 percent of breast cancer deaths are alcohol-related, says Naimi. Nearly 20,000 cancer deaths are attributable to alcohol every year in the US alone, he says, and we’re not even the world’s biggest drinkers. Simultaneously, the craft beer market has grown into a $22.3 billion industry and AB InBev and SAB Miller, the world’s two largest alcohol companies, are in the midst of a mega merger. If there was ever a time to come to a consensus about what exactly alcohol does to our bodies, it would be now.
Shaping the Message
Connor’s analysis of existing alcohol research was a turning point for the conversation on booze and cancer. But once you’ve decided that alcohol is a substantial public health risk, you still need to convince drinkers of that fact. And it’s a lot easier to tell people drinking is good for them than to explain how and why it isn’t.
“Things that are familiar to us are perceived as less risky,” says Portier. “Most of us have been around alcohol our whole lives and we know people who drink and they’re not dead.”
It becomes even more difficult to construct a coherent public health message when consumers hear conflicting information. For each drink a woman |
.
Here’s more from some regional coverage on the subject: “NTU is one of the first research institutions to have trialled a self-driving electric shuttle within the campus and CleanTech Park since 2013. It will now translate that know-how to develop two electric hybrid buses, equipping the vehicles with sensors and other capabilities to allow them to operate without a driver. The 12m-long buses could potentially ferry people between NTU and CleanTech Park in the Jurong Innovation District, to even Pioneer MRT station in the future. The single-deck buses can accommodate about 80 passengers. The vehicles will also be equipped to charge at a bus stop or depot.”
“Current efforts worldwide have been focused on cars,” stated Professor Lam Khin Yong, NTU Chief of Staff and Vice-President of Research. “So, this autonomous bus trial is the first of its kind in Singapore that will aim to improve road safety, reduce vehicle congestion, alleviate pollution and address manpower challenges.”U.S. equities traded sharply higher on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones industrial average climbing above 21,000 for the first time, on the back of President Donald Trump's speech to Congress.
The Dow advanced more than 200 points with Goldman Sachs contributing the most gains. The 30-stock index first closed above 20,000 on Jan. 25.
The S&P 500 climbed 1 percent, with financials rising 2.58 percent to lead advancers. The Nasdaq jumped 0.97 percent.
Trump's speech, which was delivered Tuesday night, was widely praised for its positive tone but lacked specifics about tax reform and deregulation, two key components of the market's postelection rally.
Quincy Krosby, market strategist at Prudential Financial, said the speech's tone "has gone a long way for the market" as it "assuaged fears that his agenda was not going to be able to be passed."
Dow futures soared more than 150 points ahead of the open, while S&P and Nasdaq futures advanced 18 and 34 points, respectively.
"While it's understandable that these things take time to plan and implement properly, markets have been way ahead of the game since Trump's victory and there comes a time when we need to know exactly what they're rallying on," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda, in a note.
Equities had closed lower on Tuesday, with the Dow snapping a 12-day winning streak.UPDATE (9/24/14):Alright I finished it. It's not quite perfect. The hands are still just a little off. It's hard to animate hands who would have thunk? I also got photoshop to cooperate so now it loops! I hope you like this.gif. It's the first one I've made and I think that it turned out nicely!
This is the first animation I've done with Equestria Girls. It's based off of a sequence from one of the Rainbow Rocks trailers. I recreated the little dance she does. It wasn't a perfect loop in the trailer, so I had to add some frames to make it loop. Sunset's hair is a nightmare to animate. It's also the first time I've made a.gif in photoshop. I can't quite figure it out. It keeps dropping the 24th frame for some reason. I'm tired though, so I'll figure it out later.
I also need to change the hands to make them flow better. Anyways 3 days until Rainbow Rocks!Copyright by KRQE - All rights reserved
LOS LUNAS, N.M. (KRQE) - It's official, Facebook is coming to New Mexico. The internet giant announced Wednesday it's building a sprawling server farm in Los Lunas and New Mexico politicians are hoping other companies will follow.
This deal has been in the works for about a year. Los Lunas had been competing against a city in Utah for the project.
Village residents say they're thrilled with the news.
"It'll be good for the housing market. There will probably be a lot of new houses going in and there will be more stores and businesses and restaurants. It'll be a big boast for the Los Lunas economy," said Susan Cox.
"I'm hoping it will bring some pretty good jobs to the area and hopefully get some local people to start working and get Los Lunas going again," said Rene Gutierrez.
Mayor Richard J. Berry offered congratulations on Wednesday: "Getting Facebook to choose New Mexico did not happen overnight," said Mayor Berry. "This was achieved due to a concerted effort by the State and our Governor, the City of Los Lunas, PNM, and many others. This is a huge economic opportunity for the surrounding area as we continue to make the Albuquerque Metro and New Mexico a hub for the high tech industry."
Facebook's investment will be about $250 million. Facebook is planning to build the 250-acre facility in an industrial area off I-25 near the Walmart Distribution Center.
The first phase of the project is expected to provide hundreds of construction jobs then 30 to 50 full-time jobs.
Facebook says they will be looking to hire engineers of all kinds and site managers.
The state and village were able to lure Facebook to Los Lunas with a 30-year deal. The company won't pay any taxes during that time but Los Lunas officials believe the village will reap the benefits.
"This is great for the village. Individuals who work for the company and who are involved with the construction jobs will shop, buy homes, go to hotels and spend money in our town for the gross receipt taxes," said Los Lunas Economic Development Manager Ralph L. Mims.
Facebook also liked New Mexico because of the agreement they reached with the PRC to work with PNM to power the facility with 100 percent renewable energy using solar or wind or a combination of the two.
Facebook plans to start construction as early as next month and the facility should be online in 2018.
New Mexico's inability to attract good jobs over the past decade is well-documented. But state officials hope this will send a message to other marquee companies to follow Facebook's lead.
"This was an incredibly intense national search, in which to locate their facility, and the fact that New Mexico won this, speaks volumes about where we have come in the last six years," said Jon Barela, New Mexico Economic Development Department Cabinet Secretary.
Governor Susana Martinez released this statement on the decision:
"Facebook is a stellar, cutting-edge, high-tech company, and it's an honor to welcome them to New Mexico," said Governor Martinez. "Making our state more competitive for jobs and new investment is critical to growing our private sector and diversifying our economy. With the improvements we've made over the past several years, New Mexico is finally competing again, and in this case, it's a big win for the people of our state and our economic future. When we first sat down with Facebook executives 13 months ago, we weren't even on their radar. But we made a strong case and laid out how competitive we have become," continued Governor Martinez. "Two months later, we got the call and went straight to work. We competed. And, by working together at all levels of government, and with private partners like PNM, we have helped make New Mexico a home for one of the largest tech companies in the world."Wayne State to give 10 students a free medical degree
Buy Photo Students walk on the campus of Wayne State University in Detroit. (Photo: File pohoto by Patricia Beck, Detroit Free Press)
Ten students are about to get a big helping hand toward their dream of becoming a doctor — Wayne State University will announce today it will pay for the complete education of 10 students each year from undergraduate to medical school.
The move is aimed at getting talented students from low-income backgrounds into and through med school and eventually to work on addressing issues around health disparities.
"I want Wayne State to be known as the place for training biomedical scientists and MDs," Wayne State President M. Roy Wilson told the Free Press in an exclusive interview. "We want kids who can go anywhere, but choose to go to Wayne."
The idea is built, in part, off Wilson's own academic career.
Wilson, a doctor who specialized in research on glaucoma and blindness in populations from the Caribbean to West Africa, applied a year early to Harvard's medical school.
He got a letter back, placing him on the waiting list.
"It wasn't quite a guarantee that I'd get in, but it said I was a really strong student and they wanted me to finish up my undergraduate degree," Wilson said. He did get in and graduated with his MD.
"Medical school is so difficult to get into, even for people with good credentials," he said. "Knowing that I was in early meant I didn't have some of the anxiety some of my classmates had. It allowed me to take classes like philosophy and advanced English that really helped me be a better person and a better physician ultimately.
"Students who are in this program will really be able to emphasize learning and not competition with other students."
The program, Wayne Med-Direct, will include four years of paid undergraduate tuition, four years of paid undergraduate room and board costs in university housing and four years of paid medical school tuition, a total savings of $251,000.
It will admit 10 new students each year starting next summer. The university is accepting applications until Jan. 15.
To get into the program, a student will have to have a minimum 3.5 GPA and 1340 SAT or 30 ACT score, be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident and be an incoming freshman. Preference will be given to students from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds who are also interested in studying health disparities. It is open to students from anywhere.
"We expect a large part of each cohort will be underrepresented minorities," Wilson said. "That will also help us in terms of diversity in the medical school over time."
Ambika Mathur, dean of Wayne State’s Graduate School and one of the architects of Wayne Med-Direct, will help oversee the administration of specialized programming for the cohort to ensure the students are equipped for success once they reach the School of Medicine.
“Incoming freshman who are admitted to the program will arrive on campus in the summer to participate in summer enrichment courses focused on chemistry, biology, physics and writing,” said Mathur. “In addition to their early arrival on campus, Wayne Med-Direct cohorts will participate in seminars, workshops and hands-on research and clinical training in the School of Medicine throughout their undergraduate careers.”
Contact David Jesse: 313-222-8851 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @reporterdavidj
Read or Share this story: http://on.freep.com/1LO4YZpFull Preseason Poll
AUBURN, Ala. -- The Auburn soccer program finished the 2015 season exactly where it will start 2016. The Tigers will open the upcoming campaign ranked at No. 12, according to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America's (NSCAA) annual preseason poll.
Auburn earned its ranking after producing a stellar 16-6-1 record, highlighted by its first trip to the Sweet 16 in last year's NCAA Tournament.
The Tigers have reached the NCAA Tournament 13 times since 2000 and capped last season with its highest ranking to finish a season ever at No. 12.
Auburn roars into the 2016 season on the backs of quality leadership through the senior class, including sisters Brooke and Casie Ramsier in the midfield. C. Ramsier made her way onto the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List a week ago, following a season where she paced the Tigers with 12 goals, the second-most all-time in program history.
Auburn is set to tackle one of the toughest slates in all of college soccer, including five teams ranked in the preseason poll. The Tigers open the season against No. 14 Clemson on Aug. 19 at the Auburn Soccer Complex.
The other ranked non-conference foe is just one spot higher in No. 11 USC. Auburn welcomes the Women of Troy Sept. 4 in part of the Auburn Soccer Classic that also features Georgia and Iowa State.
In conference, the Tigers are set to face No. 24 South Carolina at home before travelling to No. 7 Florida and No. 8 Texas A&M.
South Alabama and LSU -- two opponents on Auburn's 2016 slate -- were just outside the Top 25, but received votes.
Auburn begins preparation for the season on Wednesday when practice is officially open for all programs.Florida coach Mike White said earlier this week that his team’s defense was catching up to its offense.
The Gators showed more defensive intensity in their second scrimmage on Friday while still putting together some productive offensive stretches.
Offensively, junior forward Devin Robinson was the standout, finishing with 23 points on 8 of 9 shooting from the floor and 4 of 4 shooting from 3-point range. After knocking down back-to-back 3-point attempts to start the scrimmage, the 6-foot-8 Robinson used shot fakes nicely to attack the rim, draw fouls and finish closer to the basket.
“A couple of those plays he even finished off one foot in the paint, we are challenging him more to play off of two feet,” White said. “I just think it translates a little bit better for game success, but he’s shooting the ball well and he had a very good day.”
Both of UF’s point guards also provided sparks on both ends of the floor. Junior point guard Chris Chiozza had 17 points, 3 assists and 4 steals, while senior point guard Kasey Hill had 13 points, 8 assists and 4 steals. Hill used his speed down the floor to create offense, while Chiozza was hot from the perimeter, going 4 of 6 from 3-point range. Hill and Chiozza’s combined assist-to-turnover ratio was 10 to 2.
“I was pleased to see both point guards play well,” White said. “We had a segment where we played them together and we’ll try it. Both if they are both playing really well we’re gonna try to put the best five on the floor in certain situations at least.”
After making 20 3-pointers in its opening scrimmage against what White termed as “token” defense, Florida still made 14 3-pointers and shot 56 percent (14-25) from beyond the arc in its second scrimmage. But White felt there was better attention to detail defensively and was pleased with how well both intra-squad teams played in the press, which was installed less than two days ago. Combined, Florida finished with 13 steals and 5 blocked shots.
“Our help side defense was better, just positionally overall, it’s been a big point of emphasis throughout the past week because we were a little bit too good offensively in our first scrimmage for where we are,” White said. “So I thought there was more attention to detail in transition defense.”
Forward Canyon Barry, forward Keith Stone and center Kevarrius Hayes each added 11 points in the scrimmage. KeVaughn Allen (1-8, 2 points) and John Egbunu (2-5, 4 points) both struggled to get going offensively. Florida also had a drop off in free-throw shooting in the second scrimmage, going 15 of 24 from the line (.625). With three officials from the SEC calling the scrimmage, the Gators had 33 fouls in four eight-minute segments (Justin Leon fouled out with 7 points). White did a six-minute halfcourt segment at the end of the scrimmage in which both teams struggled to score.
“We were playing two stops in the row to get the ball,” White said. “I thought we executed better there than in the scrimmage, we just didn’t finish very well. Sometimes when you end a fullcourt scrimmage and you finish it in the halfcourt, there’s a big letdown, we definitely lost focus. I don’t know how productive that was.”The BBC is to be given free reign to dramatically slash the number of hours it devotes to religion on Radio 4, under a shake-up of the rules by the broadcasting watchdog.
Ofcom has ripped up the old broadcasting licence - and many of its strict targets for BBC radio - to make it easier for the corporation to keep pace with audience demands for podcasts and other new ways of listening to radio-style content.
Under the current regime, BBC radio must meet around 200 targets demanding regular coverage of things like health, farming, consumer affairs, business, education and disability on Radio 4.
The BBC is to be given free reign to dramatically slash the number of hours it devotes to religion on Radio 4 (file picture)
The station is also obliged to devote 180 hours a year to comedy and 600 hours of drama.
Ofcom has dramatically slashed that rule book to just 20 targets, according to a draft document.
Critics have warned that the BBC could become less distinctive as a result, and warned that it would dilute its public service role.
Voice of the Listener and Viewer, the lobby group, told Ofcom that the move risked undermining 'Radio 4's distinctiveness and its ambition to deliver the mission to engage and entertain.'
However, BBC chiefs said that it needed more 'flexibility' to exercise its 'creative discretion' as audiences abandon traditional broadcasts and listen to digital music services and other radio-style content in new ways.
In a letter to Ofcom, BBC policy director Clare Sumner said that the broadcaster remained committed to drama and comedy but questioned whether targets demanding a certain number of hours in these 'expensive genres' was the best way of'maximising the distinctiveness.Hey, Men’s Health Awareness campaigns, it’s high time we all get on the same page. No Shave November or Movember? Moustaches or full beards? Prostate cancer or all Men’s Health issues? How are people supposed to become aware if they can't even figure out which campaign they should follow?
It’s November, and depending on who you ask, it's either No Shave November or Movember. For 30 days, men, other than hipsters, are encouraged to grow out their beards (or mustache... See? This is already getting confusing) to help raise awareness for prostate cancer (or a number of health issues impacting men, including depression, physical inactivity, etc.) But let’s face it, men are stubborn and the best way to get your point across is by really driving it home. Not by confusing us.
No Shave November Or Movember
According to the No Shave November website, the goal of the campaign is to grow awareness by embracing our hair — something that many cancer patients lose — and letting it grow wild and free. The tradition had been there for years, but the children of Matthew Hill, who passed away from colon cancer back in November 2007, took it a step further by using the cause to raise money for charity.
The Movember Foundation was started in Australia back in 2003 by Travis Garone and Luke Slattery, who were having a beer and couldn’t understand why the mustache ever went out of style. Unlike No Shave November, Movember is a global initiative that has spread to 21 countries.
Mustache or Beard
While the Movember Foundation is all about the mustache, No Shave November asks men to participate by “growing a beard, cultivating a mustache, letting those legs go natural, and skipping that waxing appointment.” For the most part, No Shave November is more laissez-faire when it comes to participation rules. “Grooming and trimming are perfectly acceptable” for people with a strict dress code at work, and participants coming into November with a few whiskers are more than welcome.
Movember, on the other hand, is a little stricter with its no shave rules. Men are asked to come into November clean shaven and focus their growing and grooming on their mustache for the next 30 days. Movember enthusiasts call mustaches “nature’s billboard.” When Garone and Slattery started the movement it was simply to bring back the stache as a look. However, when the men realized how much of a conversation starter their soup strainer was, they decided to use it to start meaningful conversations.
Prostate Cancer Or All Men’s Health Issues
Movember focuses its charitable contributions on four particular Men’s Health issues: prostate cancer, testicular cancer, poor mental health, and physical inactivity. Prostate and testicular cancer are considered the two most common cancers among men, while around one in four adults suffers from a mental health issue and over half of men do not meet federal guidelines for physical activity. Since its inception in 2003, the Movember Foundation has raised around $650 million that has helped fund more than 1,000 programs focusing on these four issues that affect men everywhere.
No Shave November also focuses its efforts on benefiting cancer research, but they open it up to all cancers as opposed to just prostate and testicular. This web-based, non-profit organization, which has partnered with the American Cancer Society, Prevent Cancer Foundation, and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, donates no less than 80 percent of the donations it receives to participating charities. Participants are asked to donate the money they would otherwise spend on grooming, like razors and trips to the barber shop.
No matter what the cause and no matter what grows on your face, though, everyone should do their part in standing up for Men’s Health Awareness this November. Men around the world die, on average, six years earlier than women. The World Health Organization reports that an estimated 510,000 men die each year due to suicide and the number of prostate cancer diagnoses worldwide is expected to double to 1.7 million by 2030. If you can wear pink in October, then you should be able to handle a conversation about Men’s Health.The National Capital Commission’s (NCC) request for proposals to redevelop part of Ottawa’s long-barren LeBreton Flats calls for a “memorable capital landmark” of the “highest quality of architecture and sustainable design.” One bidder had “proposed multiple cultural institutions around a grande allée as its anchor attraction,” the Ottawa Citizen reported recently. But mysteriously enough, sources tell the paper that proposal now revolves around “an NHL-calibre arena” — as does the only other bid submitted, by a consortium that includes the company that owns the Ottawa Senators.
Assuming an arena could meet those terms of reference and the NCC is willing to choose amongst just two options, the table could be set for the Senators to move from the Canadian Tire Centre in suburban Kanata, Ont., to a location on a planned light rail line that’s a mere 25-minute walk from Parliament Hill. And that could be news for hockey fans (assuming they don’t live in Kanata).
But this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to redevelop prime, long-neglected land in the nation’s capital. It is perplexing that it should come to only two proposals — and the fact the non-Senators bid now suddenly proposes an NHL arena smacks of motives rather different than architectural excellence.
If would be one thing if the Senators’ current building were falling down. But on Jan. 15, the Canadian Tire Centre will celebrate its 20th birthday. If it went to a Senators game at Madison Square Garden, it would be too young to buy a beer. Lots of NHL teams manage to tolerate arenas of that vintage — and even older, if you can believe it. The Senators do not “need” a new arena. They sell plenty of tickets where they are. It is perfectly understandable that they wish not to be in Kanata, a legendary game-night traffic jam away from the city centre, and if private interests want to blow several hundred million dollars remedying their buyer’s remorse, then it’s none of anyone else’s business.
LeBreton Flats is owned by the Canadian taxpayer, though. Any deal that might sign it over to a billionaire for the use of his millionaire hockey players must be closely scrutinized both for below-market favouritism and for the opportunity costs of forsaking a different kind of redevelopment.
Subsidizing Canadians’ leisure activities is a perennial debate. Doctrinaire conservatives would turn up their noses at any, be it a symphony or an art gallery or a hockey team. Others might distinguish among them: the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra is a registered charity, and flautists aren’t known for flamboyant wealth. ESPN estimated the Ottawa RedBlacks 2014 payroll at just $4.1 million. Perhaps the sort of grassroots Canadiana the CFL offers deserves a hand if it needs it.
If there is one policy that ought to unite Canadians across the time zones and the political spectrum, however, it should be not subsidizing megabucks league like the NHL in any way, shape or form. It should be thumbs down to any undeserved perks for the Senators, on the ice just as in the upper chamber. The prudent course for the NCC is probably to consider why its RFP yielded such little interest, seek some more diverse and creative bids — and then choose.
National PostOrdering Numbers Least to Greatest Activity 1: Arrange the given numbers in ascending order or from the smallest to the largest.
Click to Read More
Do you know what ‘Ascending Order’ means? We say the numbers are in ascending order, when the numbers are arranged from the smallest to the largest. In this way we place the numbers in an increasing order. For example, look at these numbers; 49, 23, 107, 95 and 77. How to arrange these numbers in ascending order? First pick up the smallest out of all the given numbers. Then the second smallest, and so on until the largest. Likewise, in the given series of numbers 23, 49, 77, 95 and 107 are arranged in ascending order. With these online worksheets you can improve your ability in ordering numbers in ascending order by arranging numbers from the smallest to the largest. Learn ascending order by arranging numbers from least to greatest. Enjoy ordering numbers in ascending order!From Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia.
Excadrill (Japanese: ドリュウズ Doryuzu) is a dual-type Ground/Steel Pokémon introduced in Generation V.
It evolves from Drilbur starting at level 31.
Biology
Excadrill has a dark brown body with diagonal, red splotches. Three markings are on its front, with two under each arm, and two on its back. It has short legs with small, narrow feet, each containing three toes. Its small white face is long and thin, tipped by its pink nose. Its eyes are set back, on either side of the bridge of the nose. Under them, on each side, are two thin, red stripes. A large blade roughly twice as large as its face extends from its forehead. The top of the blade contains two smaller blades, resembling fins. Its arms are thick and have three large blades instead of fingers, with two smaller blades on top of the middle ones. On its knees, halfway down its arm, and just behind where its forehead meets its face, are small red spots.
Excadrill can straighten its entire body, allowing it to spin like a drill. It has the ability to cut through iron and steel plating. It uses its excellent digging abilities to build complex tunnels for its nest at more than 300 feet (100 meters) below the surface. Its tunneling can be both beneficial and harmful to humans, as it can help workers with its swift digging prowess, but it can be detrimental to underground structures, such as Subway tunnels.
In the anime
In the main series
Major appearances
Excadrill debuted in The Bloom Is on Axew!, under the ownership of Iris. It is a powerful Pokémon, but when it first appeared, Excadrill was disobedient. However, in Iris and Excadrill Against the Dragon Buster!, the cause of the disobedience was discovered: when Iris battled Drayden with Excadrill, it was defeated by his Haxorus, which left him disillusioned and changed his obedient and happy personality. After some training with Iris, Excadrill became obedient once again.
An Excadrill appeared in Battling the King of the Mines!, under the ownership of Clay. It was used to battle Ash in a Gym battle, and it was able to defeat Snivy. It then battled Roggenrola, but it was defeated when Roggenrola evolved into Boldore.
Minor appearances
An Excadrill appeared in Kyurem VS. The Sword of Justice, during the Swords of Justice legend.
Pokédex entries
Episode Pokémon Source Entry BW009 Excadrill Ash's Pokédex Excadrill, the Subterrene Pokémon, and the evolved form of Drilbur. Excadrill can dig maze-like underground tunnels for over 100 meters and is powerful enough to cut through thick iron plates using its steel claws. This concludes the entries from the Best Wishes series.
In Pokémon Generations
Clay's Excadrill appeared in The Uprising.
In the manga
In the Be the Best! Pokémon B+W manga
In The Battle for More Friends!, Monta captured one using his Snivy.
In the Pokémon RéBURST manga
Hilgreitz has an Excadrill which he can use as a Burst form.
In the Pokémon Adventures manga
A Trainer's Excadrill appeared in a fantasy in Black's First Trainer Battle.
Clay has an Excadrill which was first seen in Lights, Camera...Action! digging up a mysterious stone at the Desert Resort.
An Excadrill appeared in a fantasy Hallway Hijinks.
In the Pokémon Pocket Monsters manga
Clay owns an Excadrill in Pocket Monsters BW.
In the TCG
Game data
NPC appearances
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity: Four Excadrill serve as several of the main antagonists under the guidance of Munna who actively try to prevent the player from saving the world alongside Toxicroak, two Gigalith, and a Purugly.
Pokédex entries
This Pokémon was unavailable prior to Generation V. Generation V Black It can help in tunnel construction. Its drill has evolved into steel strong enough to bore through iron plates. White More than 300 feet below the surface, they build mazelike nests. Their activity can be destructive to subway tunnels. Black 2 Forming a drill with its steel claws and head, it can bore through a steel plate, no matter how thick it is. White 2 Generation VI X It can help in tunnel construction. Its drill has evolved into steel strong enough to bore through iron plates. Y More than 300 feet below the surface, they build mazelike nests. Their activity can be destructive to subway tunnels. Omega Ruby It can help in tunnel construction. Its drill has evolved into steel strong enough to bore through iron plates. Alpha Sapphire More than 300 feet below the surface, they build mazelike nests. Their activity can be destructive to subway tunnels.
Game locations
In side games
Held items
Stats
Base stats
Stat Range At Lv. 50 At Lv. 100 HP : 110 170 - 217 330 - 424 Attack : 135 126 - 205 247 - 405 Defense : 60 58 - 123 112 - 240 Sp.Atk : 50 49 - 112 94 - 218 Sp.Def : 65 63 - 128 121 - 251 Speed : 88 83 - 154 162 - 302 Total: 508 Other Pokémon with this total Minimum stats are calculated with 0 EVs, IVs of 0, and a hindering nature, if applicable.
Maximum stats are calculated with 252 EVs, IVs of 31, and a helpful nature, if applicable.
Type effectiveness
Learnset
By a prior evolution
Generation VII Other generations: V - VI Stage Move Type Cat. Pwr. Acc. PP This Pokémon has no moves exclusive to prior evolutions. Bold indicates a move that gets STAB when used by Excadrill
indicates a move that gets when used by Excadrill Italic indicates a move that gets STAB only when used by an evolution of Excadrill
indicates a move that gets STAB only when used by an evolution of Excadrill Click on the generation numbers at the top to see moves from other generations
Side game data
Evolution
Sprites
Trivia
A screenshot depicting Excadrill's earlier design
Origin
Excadrill is based on a mole with characteristics of digging tools such as shovels and drills.
Name origin
Excadrill might be a combination of excavate and drill.
Doryuzu may be a combination of ドリル drill, meaning "drill", 竜 ryū as in on'yomi reading of 土竜 doryū, meaning "mole", and 渦 uzu, meaning "spiral" or "swirl".
In other languages
Language Title Meaning Japanese ドリュウズ Doryuzu From ドリル drill, 竜 ryu, and 渦 uzu French Minotaupe From mine, taupe, and minotaure Spanish Excadrill Same as English name German Stalobor From Stahl and Bohrer Italian Excadrill Same as English name Korean 몰드류 Moldryu From mole, drill, and screw Cantonese Chinese Mandarin Chinese 龍頭地鼠 / 龙头地鼠 Lóngtóudìshǔ From the Japanese 竜頭 ryūzu, 地 dì, 鼠 shǔ, and 地鼠 dìshǔ. More languages Russian Экскадрилл Ekskadrill Transcription of English name
Related articlesWests Tigers have today been informed that player Matthew Lodge was arrested while holidaying in the United States.
Lodge has been charged with a number of offences following an incident while in New York.
The Club has made the decision to terminate Lodge’s playing contract, effective immediately.
Wests Tigers CEO Justin Pascoe said that the Club would not tolerate this type of behaviour.
“The Club is incredibly disappointed to learn that Matthew Lodge has been charged by police while overseas on holiday,” said Pascoe. “We have since made the decision to terminate Lodge’s playing contract with Wests Tigers, effective immediately.
“This type of behaviour does not fit with the culture we are building at the Club, nor is it to the behavioural standards that we accept,” he said. “Whilst our playing contract obligation to Matthew will be terminated, the Club will continue to offer welfare and counselling options to Matthew to ensure he has the support he needs.”
Lodge has not played for Wests Tigers since being stood down on August 21 this year following an incident that resulted in charges being laid against him.
Wests Tigers will be making no further comment on the situation at this stage.Right after their "orgy of mutual loathing," also known as the final presidential debate, Clinton and Trump attended the annual Al Smith Dinner in New York. Unfortunately, neither was pleasant for the presidential nominees.
"The event forced them almost as close together as Maria Bartiromo's show stealing ta-tas," joked "Full Frontal" host Samantha Bee.
"Was it awkward, no, not at all," the host added before playing a clip of Trump accusing Hillary of pretending to hate Catholics and getting kicked off the Watergate Commission, for which he was booed by the Al Smith audience.
"Trump shocked a Catholic cardinal, and cardinals have seen some sick sh*t," Bee pointed out.
But while the Catholic church may be a powerful peacemaker, "their big growth lately is in hospital mergers," she revealed.
Catholic hospitals have become the largest non-profit healthcare provider in the US, with 1 out of every 6 patients in the US being cared for by a Catholic hospital.
SPONSORED
Make no mistake, "Catholic hospitals provide excellent care until your medical needs conflict with their dogma," Bee continued.
Unfortunately, this also means that these hospitals can no longer provide abortions even if the mother's life is in danger, perform sterilization or provide contraception.
"Decisions affecting millions of vaginas are being determined by people who have never owned one or touched one," blasted Bee.
The host then revealed a horrifying tale that sounds right out of the Middle ages, in which a nun was excommunicated for saving a life… in modern day Arizona.
Watch:The ambassador of Azerbaijan in a message on the occasion of Republic Day of his country and 25th anniversay of diplomatic relations with Pakistan has said, this year we celebrate the 99th anniversary of foundation of The Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan. On May 28, 1918, Azerbaijan declared its independence establishing the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, which became the first secular parliamentary democracy in the entire East and was recognized by other democratic nations. During the short period of independence, Azerbaijan granted all its citizens the right of vote regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, and religion, becoming the first Muslim nation to give women equal political rights with men.
Though as a result of the military intervention of the Soviet Union that violated international norms, Azerbaijan was annexed to the Union in 1920, but the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan entered forever into the history of our nation. Existing for only 23 months, the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan proved that neither bloody tyranny nor the regime of suppression could terminate the independent state system establishment and concepts of freedom of Azerbaijani people. And Azerbaijani people continued to struggle for their state independence during 70 years. 26 years ago, in 1991, the Supreme Council of Azerbaijan adopted the Constitutional Act on State Independence. Thus, Azerbaijan gained independence for the second time in the 20th century and established the state system, the political and economic structure of the independent Republic of Azerbaijan. The early years of our independence were not so successful. There was political and economic crisis. The industry was practically paralyzed.
It was a period of lost opportunities. Armenia unleashed aggression against our country and as a result of Armenia’s military aggression 20 per cent of our lands was occupied. But after coming to power of the national leader of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev in 1993, Azerbaijan began to develop as a modern and secular state. Azerbaijan made great strides in all areas. Azerbaijan embarked on economic reforms and established the principles of market economy. The political reforms carried out in Azerbaijan under his leadership were designed for the development of democracy and protection of human rights and these same reforms are being continued by the present leader of Azerbaijan too.
Alizada said, that difficult time of early years of our independence Pakistan was one of the first countries which recognized independence of Azerbaijan in 1991 and in 1992 we established our diplomatic relations. And since then we enjoy cordial and warm relations. We always support each other on all issues, as well as on Nagorno-Karabakh and Kashmir issues based on UN Security Council resolutions. And because of the Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani lands Pakistan has not recognized Armenia as an independent state and have not established diplomatic relations with agressor country. The Government and people of Azerbaijan highly value this brotherly and fair approach. Thanks to the efforts and positive views of the leaders of both countries, our relations are at the strategic partnership level. Last year we had a fruitful visit of H. E. Prime Minister of Pakistan to Azerbaijan, and this |
Sony's PSone Classics series with a handful of first-party PlayStation games.
PlayStation 3 debuts, kicking off Sony's PSone Classics series with a handful of first-party PlayStation games. 2009: CD Projekt Red launches Good Old Games, now GOG.com, a service dedicated to selling DRM-free versions of classic games capable of running without serious problems on modern systems. GOG.com has a more contemporary focus these days, but it retains a healthy library of classics, some capable of running on platforms they never originally appeared on.
CD Projekt Red launches Good Old Games, now GOG.com, a service dedicated to selling DRM-free versions of classic games capable of running without serious problems on modern systems. GOG.com has a more contemporary focus these days, but it retains a healthy library of classics, some capable of running on platforms they never originally appeared on. 2010:Microsoft launches Game Room, but it proves disappointingly short-lived.
If you want to play a game like, say, The Guardian Legend (which I gave a nod to in last week's "Best NES Games of 1988-89" feature), your only legal option is to track down the original cartridge on eBay or Craigslist and hope your dusty old front-loading NES still works (spoiler: It probably doesn't). We'll probably never see the game in any form ever again. The original developer of The Guardian Legend, Compile, went bankrupt in 2002, splitting into Compile-Heart and MileStone. With its focus on vertical shooters, MileStone probably had the strongest connection to The Guardian Legend, but the company shut down last year when its president was arrested for financial improprieties.
Many of Compile's properties ended up with Sega, though others have landed at Hudson (which was swallowed and shut down by Konami). Meanwhile, the U.S. version of The Guardian Legend was published by Brøderbund, which was absorbed by The Learning Company, which in turn was purchased by Mattel. In Japan, Irem published the game. So who owns the rights to The Guardian Legend? Sega, Irem, and Mattel, most likely. And what are the chances that these three companies are going to sit down at some point in the future and say, "Hey, let's spend time and money to sort out the rights for republishing this obscure NES game that'll probably sell a thousand copies"? The probability numbers look startlingly similar to zero.
Vanishing history
And so it goes for countless classics and near-classics. I can't imagine many people will be heartbroken if, say, the shoddy NES port of Cinemaware's The Three Stooges never makes it way back to widespread availability, and no one wants to play Alf for Sega Master System unless they're just being ironic. But what about Vic Tokai's Clash at Demonhead, a quirky game that helped inspire Scott Pilgrim? What about Compile's Zelda-esque Golvellius: The Valley of Doom? Or even a fairly well-known property like Bonk, which now rests in the hands of Konami, a company that's demonstrated remarkable indifference to the extensive Hudson library it owns?
The availability of classic games in readily accessible forms has plummeted over the past decade. During the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 era, a wide array of publishers kept their back catalogs in circulation through the release of anthologies and compilations. These became far more scarce last generation, though, thanks to the advent of digital distribution on consoles, Steam, and mobile devices. Publishers began experimenting with different means of keeping their properties alive, both through standalone releases and archival services like Nintendo's Virtual Console, Sony's PlayStation Classics, and Microsoft's Game Room.
None of these ventures have lived up to their potential. Virtual Console started strong but fizzled out after a couple of years, and the service has undergone an effective reboot for Wii U - a process that has left most of the consoles supported on Wii out in the cold, including all third-party systems and even Nintendo's own N64. Game Room was even shorter-lived, with developer Krome throwing in the towel almost immediately (or more likely having the tower thrown in for them). Only PlayStation Classics seems to have made the transition to the current generation, with all but a handful of releases playable on PlayStation Vita - though, significantly, not PlayStation 4.
The veil of secrecy
The most baffling thing about these console services, though, is how utterly opaque they are. The processes behind Virtual Console remain almost as much of a mystery today as they were when it launched in 2006. Who curates the games? Why are some platforms so poorly represented? Why did Nintendo President Satoru Iwata make Virtual Console Arcade a cornerstone of his 2010 Game Developers Conference keynote address only for the service to fizzle before ever republishing a single classic Nintendo arcade title?
Who Owns What?: Electronic Arts
Few publishers have been around as long as Electronic Arts, and few (if any) companies have as extensive a list of acquisitions as they do. Most of these subsidiaries have been shut down. This is by no means a comprehensive list; it's merely the highlights, and the key classic properties involved.
Westwood Studios: Command and Conquer, Dune II
Command and Conquer, Dune II Maxis: SimCity, The Sims, Spore
SimCity, The Sims, Spore Bullfrog: Populous, Syndicate, Magic Carpet, Dungeon Keeper
Populous, Syndicate, Magic Carpet, Dungeon Keeper BioWare: Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights
Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights Criterion: Burnout, Black, Redline Racer
Burnout, Black, Redline Racer Origin: Ultima, Wing Commander, Crusader: No Remorse
Ultima, Wing Commander, Crusader: No Remorse Dreamworks Interactive:The Neverhood, Jurassic Park: Trespasser, Medal of Honor, Skullmonkeys
Nintendo remains resolutely silent on these matters, repeatedly turning down all attempts I've made over the years to talk to someone about the mechanics of Virtual Console (a tale I've heard repeated by my like-minded friends in the press). Third parties also remain tight-lipped, at least on the record; my attempts over the past few months to get a conversation going with several different publishers with a strong presence on Virtual Console and PlayStation Classics have withered at different points on the vine. One very vocal publisher volunteered to provide some insights into the processes at work behind these services but never responded to multiple follow-ups. Another third party's responses were shut down by its marketing department. And so on, and so forth.
To date, the only company willing to comment at all on its classic archive processes has been Sony, who allowed George Weising (a Managing Producer in Product Development at Sony Computer Entertainment America) to field some questions via email.
"I manage a small team of producers, two of whom (Chris Fusco and David Alonzo) work with me on the PS Classics initiative along with R+D Emulation team programmers in the United States and Japan," Weising writes. "Our team, International Software Development, works with teams all around the world to bring titles into our territory."
Who Owns What?: Square Enix
Square Enix actually represents the collision of three major powerhouses from the '90s: Squaresoft, Enix, and Eidos. Each of those companies in turn owned a number of subsidiaries, making the current company a juggernaut of classics... most of which rarely resurface.
Squaresoft: Final Fantasy, Mana, SaGa, Einhänder, Bushido Blade
Final Fantasy, Mana, SaGa, Einhänder, Bushido Blade Enix: Dragon Quest, Valkyrie Profile, Star Ocean
Dragon Quest, Valkyrie Profile, Star Ocean Quintet: ActRaiser, SoulBlazer
ActRaiser, SoulBlazer Eidos: Deathtrap Dungeon, Hitman, Fear Effect
Deathtrap Dungeon, Hitman, Fear Effect Quest: Ogre Battle, Tactics Ogre
Ogre Battle, Tactics Ogre Taito: Space Invaders, Elevator Action, Qix, The New Zealand Story, Bubble Bobble
Space Invaders, Elevator Action, Qix, The New Zealand Story, Bubble Bobble Ion Storm: Deus Ex, Thief
Deus Ex, Thief Crystal Dynamics: The Legacy of Kain
The Legacy of Kain Core Design:Tomb Raider
Behind the veil
Weising offers a glimpse into the process through which archival PlayStation and PlayStation 2 releases make the trip to PSN. While Sony's process likely differs from Nintendo's, you can nevertheless get a sense of the complications involved in something seemingly as simple as republishing a beloved classic. For starters, the systems that support PS Classics - PSP, Vita, and PlayStation 3 - don't run on the same architecture as PS1 and PS2 games did, and the difficult act of making those older titles compatible becomes a major factor in the process. In fact, for Sony, that's where things begin.
"The process is initiated when our team in Japan develops a new emulator," says Weising. "They assign resources in each territory to develop the emulator and test it against titles in the catalog, starting with first-party titles. As the emulator expands its capabilities to run the classics without technical issues, we will add them to a master list of titles that 'work,' and then put them through a legal clearance process. The emulator development is coordinated globally with teams in each territory testing the emulator on titles from their own region."
Who Owns What?: Konami
Konami doesn't have many holdings, but it's an interesting of an example of a single company having absorbed another publisher with a legacy almost as vast as its own.
Hudson:Adventure Island, Bonk, Bomberman, Military Madness, Star Soldier, a massive portion of the TurboGrafx-16 library
"In order to make PlayStation and PlayStation 2 games work on newer systems, our R+D teams needed to develop virtual emulation platforms that work just like the actual hardware. Our emulation teams are amazing both here and in Japan, and they work very hard to be sure each game runs as well as it did on the original hardware. This takes a lot of testing of a lot of games."
While Weising didn't indicate precisely how much input the Western side of Sony has into determining the prioritization of getting classics up and running, it's likely negligible. That's most likely because PlayStation Classics are driven more by tech than content. Sony's preservation process begins with the development of an emulation shell into which software can be slotted and tested; Sony's developers generally work by creating one-size-fits-all tech and then figure out which titles work best with the new shell.
The tech-first approach is by no means a hard-and-fast rule, though. As Weising explains, "If a publisher has the rights to release a title and reaches out to SCE to release it, we begin working on it right away and do everything we can to release it."
Who Owns What?: Atari
The Atari name has had a rocky life. After the video game crash of the early '80s, Atari split into two, and the home console and computer side was shuttled around to a variety of owners. Today it's in the hands of French publisher Infogrames, which rebranded itself Atari - representing a massive portfolio of American and European companies alike.
Atari Corp.: Lynx system and all first-party games, Jaguar system and all first-party games, Missile Command, Centipede, Pong, Tempest
Lynx system and all first-party games, Jaguar system and all first-party games, Missile Command, Centipede, Pong, Tempest Infogrames: Drakkhen, Shufflepuck Cafe, North and South, Alone in the Dark
Drakkhen, Shufflepuck Cafe, North and South, Alone in the Dark Ocean: Mr. Nutz, Zero Divide, Batman
Mr. Nutz, Zero Divide, Batman GT Interactive: Oddworld, Unreal Tournament, Duke Nukem 3D, Shadow Warrior, Total Annihilation, Doom, Lode Runner, Hexen, Driver
Oddworld, Unreal Tournament, Duke Nukem 3D, Shadow Warrior, Total Annihilation, Doom, Lode Runner, Hexen, Driver Hasbro Interactive: Frogger, Monopoly, Clue, Battleship, Glover, Scrabble, Trivial Pursuit
Frogger, Monopoly, Clue, Battleship, Glover, Scrabble, Trivial Pursuit MicroProse: RollerCoaster Tycoon, Civilization
RollerCoaster Tycoon, Civilization Shiny Entertainment: Earthworm Jim, Enter the Matrix
Earthworm Jim, Enter the Matrix Melbourne House: Shadowrun, Way of the Exploding Fist, Nightshade
Shadowrun, Way of the Exploding Fist, Nightshade Gremlin Interactive: Monty Mole, Jungle Strike, Body Harvest, Top Gear
Still, this generalist approach - working at the platform level rather than targeting individual titles - likely accounts for why games that used very specific types of programming or were developed "close to the metal" and worked outside of Sony standard library are slow to arrive or even entirely absent. And while this approach may be efficient in terms of software development resources, it clearly demands considerable resources on the testing side, meaning the cost of reissuing classic games doesn't end with programming.
"I can't get into exact numbers [regarding costs], but we feel like curators of PlayStation's heritage. We take quality very seriously. Testing and QA is a big part of that," Weising confirms.
Technical perils
It's not simply enough for a game to work on the latest emulator shell, either; as Weising explains, it has to be the correct version of the game as well.
"PlayStation and PlayStation 2 were fixed systems," he says. "Games were released without patches and system software updates. It was common practice for publishers to release several different versions of a game with each manufacturing run as they made improvements. This means that there can be multiple versions of a game available, so we always need to be sure we have the final master version and that we are testing that version."
Beyond that, each game must also navigate the more daunting straits of bigger technological concerns beyond mere emulation as well. They have to be made to work with contemporary technology, bridging the gap between old and new interfaces.
"We are very concerned with the importance of capturing the nostalgic feeling of playing these older games," Weising explains. "We want to make sure consumers have the best experience possible on each platform that PS Classics are designed to run on. We do this by taking advantage of the DualShock 3 and PlayStation Vita D-Pad, analog control inputs, as well as modern HD flat screens."
Who Owns What?: Non-Gaming Companies
Equally vexing are game rights still held by their original owners... when those owners have long since departed the games business. This is quite common among smaller Japanese publishers who were most active during the '80s; during the Famicom boom, countless companies doing business in other industries jumped in to ride the 8-bit gravy train. Squaresoft, for example, began life as the software publishing branch of an electric company.
As the economic boom faded and the barriers to entry for acceptable video game design rose, many of these companies decided to abandon ship, no longer seeing profits in game design. Most of them took their properties with them. Take Pony Canyon/FCI, for example: Their parent company, Fujisankei (aka Fuji TV), still exists, but they've long since abandoned video games. You'll likely never see their products republished - not only does Fuji demonstrate little interest in games, most of those products featured licensed properties.
Even more frustrating are cases like Irem, formerly hardcore-focused publishers who have dropped their support for video games. Irem decided to reorient itself as a gambling machine manufacturer; according to Kazuma Kujo, the director of games like Disaster Report and Steambot Chronicles, the company's decision to cancel the fourth Disaster Report in the wake of 2011's Fukushima earthquake wasn't precipitated by the quake itself; rather, Irem simply wanted to divest itself of its game interests, and the quake offered a convenient excuse.
Unfortunately, when Irem exited the games business, it took its properties with it. Irem titles (most notably the R-Type titles) were delisted from Virtual Console and PSN alike. While those games have resurfaced from time to time, they've been inconsistently available for the past three years.
In short, the PlayStation Classics emulators have to take into account factors like the input lag of current televisions - something that can prove exceedingly tricky, as any fan of music games like UmJammer Lammy can attest - and the change from old-style cathode ray tube televisions to current technology like plasma and LCD. This presumably makes games that were dependent on one factor or another in their original incarnations (or both, as with light gun games like Point Blank and Elemental Gearbolt) ineligible for rerelease.
"Most of the original games released for the PlayStation system didn't make the cut for legal and licensing reasons, and there are some PlayStation and PlayStation 2 titles we could not release for technical reasons (like non-supported peripherals and coding practices that make games difficult to emulate)," Weising confirms.
The chosen few
"Ideally, we would like to release all of the titles from the back catalog, but there are issues that can prevent a title from being released," says Weising. "These mainly fall into the categories of legal and technical issues."
Weising declined to comment on the legal matters that can affect a game's eligibility for reissue, but those challenges would seem by far represent the most significant complication in the archiving process. The "Who Owns What?" asides scattered throughout this feature only begin to touch on the tangle of legality and contracts that can affect a game. Everything from an obvious media property license like The Muppets or Image Comics to hidden disputes like voice acting contracts that never took into account digital distribution rights (a factor that barely even existed 10 or 15 years ago) can derail a rerelease.
Who Owns What?: Defunct companies
And what happens when a company simply goes out of business? On occasion, its catalog is snatched up in its entirety by another publisher. More often, however, its games are auctioned off individually to the highest bidder. We may learn where high-profile or high-selling brands end up, but more niche or obscure titles are just as likely to vanish into the vaults of someone who buys the rights speculatively only to never use them again.
Consider THQ: When its properties were parceled out last year, Deep Silver grabbed the Homefront franchise and is already working to expand it with an ambitious sequel. But what about THQ's lesser titles that no one really remembers? What happened to all of Acclaim's old games? Or countless European publishers who had a minor Spectrum hit in the '80s and vanished?
Between the technical ability to run a game on current platforms and the legal rights to do so, the task of republishing classic games involves navigating a tricky minefield. Assuming a game survives the gauntlet, though, the final leg of the PlayStation Classics process is simply one of scheduling.
"Once we have a list of titles that have no technical or legal issues, we look at a variety of criteria to prioritize what games we release, and in what order," Weising writes. "This includes things like gamer feedback and demand (especially the gaming community forums and websites), and even possible marketing tie-ins such as the launch of a new title in a franchise. Over time, as the initial backlog of titles is reduced, we simply release everything we're able to as soon as possible.
"Assuming there are no technical or legal issues, final say for a particular title falls on the studio or publisher that holds the publishing rights for a title. Our goal is to strive to release every title that we can.
"Third-party publishers have full control of the release and management of their own titles. We outreach to publishers and let them know when we have titles that are bug-free to get them to consider allowing us to release them. Publishers also reach out to us for release of their titles. As hardcore gamers ourselves, there are a lot of titles that we'd love to see released, and we are always pushing for more."
While clearly not a top-level priority for Sony, PlayStation Classics evidently have enough of an audience to make the endeavor worthwhile; not only do we continue seeing a steady stream of releases each month, but Weising indicates there's more to come.
"We know that our R+D teams are always working to improve their emulator technology, and we still have a great deal of PlayStation and PlayStation 2 Classics titles still to be released for current platforms."
Who Owns What?: Licensed properties
Things get especially murky when you start to deal with licensed properties. Those usually come with all sorts of caveats in tow - things like time limits, multiple stakeholders, and more. What happens when the original property is sold from one owner to another? Or when the property owner simply becomes defunct? And often in the case of a long-standing property like Batman or Star Trek, the rights to develop related games switches from hand to hand as well, meaning the old licensee and new licensee have to work together in order to reissue a classic title.
The ups and downs of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game really demonstrates this. Konami developed and published the original version, but about a decade ago the rights to TMNT switched over to Ubisoft. Ubi republished Konami's game on Xbox Live Arcade, but eventually the rights lapsed somewhere along the chain and it was delisted. Likewise, Ubisoft republished Konami's original NES TMNT for Virtual Console for a while, but that too has vanished.
And TMNT is one of the few instances where the new rights holder has even bothered to make the effort to collaborate with the original licensee. Most of the time they just don't bother.
If anything could derail the PlayStation Classics effort, it would be Sony's own advances. The PS Now streaming service, which recently entered beta, would seem to moot the idea of ownership - provided, of course, that Mark Cerny's promise that the full gamut of PlayStation family releases will be available to stream on Now actually comes to pass. The beta service focuses entirely on recent releases, with no indication of older games on the horizon. And then there's the looming obsolescence of the PlayStation 3; with an incredible 10 million PlayStation 4s already sold through in just nine months, Sony has reason to be confident in the new platform and push ahead full steam on making that their main pillar... a pillar with no support for PS3 software, including PlayStation Classics.
"We're all excited about the upcoming PS Now service and think that Classics are a good fit for it in the long term," Weising agrees. "That said, there may be times when players can't access the Internet, like on a long flight or during vacation, so having the game running on their system natively is the best option. Some gamers also might prefer hanging on to their favorite games for nostalgic reasons.
"Our goal with all of this is to curate our creative legacy at PlayStation and preserve our gaming history for future generations. Because we believe, new or old, a great game is a great game."
A clear and present danger
It's a noble goal, and an essential one. For anyone who believes in the validity of video games as a creative medium, game preservation has become a crucial concern. With games having existed on so many incompatible systems over the past 40 years, often on volatile and fragile media, essential and incidental works alike run the risk of vanishing forever.
Being as commercial a medium as it is artistic, though, games remain subject to the concerns of copyright and ownership. The recent Twitch video-on-demand announcements - in which video streams containing any matches to copyrighted material will be instantly muted in 30-minute chunks - really underscore the fact that while fans and enthusiasts may feel a personal connection to the games they love, the rights to those creations remain in the hands of corporations. While sites like The Lost Levels work for the noble purpose of unearthing and publicizing prototypes of unreleased games that otherwise would truly cease to exist, in the eyes of the law there's no real difference between that altruistically motivated venture and a ROM distribution site or torrent that functions as a clearing house for mass disbursement of others' property.
In the end, America's twisted copyright laws may pose the biggest threat to video game preservation. The original idea behind copyright was to protect creators for a reasonable amount of time - a couple of decades - before allowing others to create derivative works and distribute the original media freely. Over the years, though, copyright has been stretched further and further at the behest of major publishing corporations in order to maintain control over their oldest archival works.
Who Owns What?: Original game content rights
Even when all the stars line up and a classic game is an original property rather than a licensed work, the publisher is still active, and the brand in question is still viable, that still may not be enough. After all, contributors to the original work may have a stake in the game.
Soundtracks offer a perfect case in point. Many game composers retain the rights to their music - Yuzo Koshiro for example - which creates an extra complication in licensing for reissues. Likewise, voice audio can gum things up. Capcom still holds all the rights to the Mega Man Legends games, but by some accounts those have never reappeared on PSN (despite considerable demand) because of complications with the voiced dialogue. Hope you don't mind paying two or three times the original price of those games on eBay....
If copyright law worked the way it was intended, Donkey Kong would now be in the public domain, and anyone would be able to play the original version of this landmark video game creation. But instead, the arcade original sits locked away in Nintendo's vaults, evidently suppressed by a binding legal agreement in perpetuity. The only way to experience Donkey Kong properly today is to track down an increasingly rare, fragile, and expensive arcade machine... or to steal it from a ROM torrent.
The silence surrounding the process of console game preservation - save Sony - perfectly embodies the frustrations would-be video game historians and enthusiasts alike face going forward. An ever-growing pool of history rests in the hands of disinterested companies, and for every sought-after gem like EarthBound or Shantae that makes its way into rerelease, there are hundreds of games we'll almost certainly never see again. Short of swap meets, eBay, and ROM theft, the medium's heritage remains almost completely inaccessible. Legally available "Archives" largely consist of a cherry-picked selection of essentials and less-worthy games that their owners deem potentially profitable enough to send marching through the tech and rights gauntlets involved in reissues.
Video games, which represent the collective output of hundreds of thousands of people toiling for untold millions of man hours to bring their respective creative visions to life, deserve better than that.As part of a course on the production of digital media at the University of Texas, the two were invited for an interview to share their views on copyright and the movie industry in the digital age.
The two touched on a wide variety of subjects such as three-strikes policies, the future of DVDs and fair use. They also gave some background information on key decisions they’ve made over the years. Although the MPAA believes that piracy can be decreased by beating pirated films in terms of quality and availability, they don’t think that it will ever go away completely.
“We will do whatever we can to discourage illegal accessing of our motion pictures,” Fritz Attaway said. “We have no illusions that we will be 100 percent successful. Piracy has always been and will always be with us. Our goal is to keep it under a reasonable level of control where we can make enough revenue in a legitimate market to recoup expenses and continue to make new movies.”
“And I am very optimistic that we will be able to do that. I said in the very beginning that a very large part of that is developing new business models that consumers will access legally and find that experience superior to illegal access. And I think the industry is doing an excellent job of that and will continue to do so,” he added.
When the interviewer compared the RIAA’s anti-piracy operations with those of the the MPAA, Attaway seemed to be offended when the RIAA’s tactics were described as more aggressive. He noted that the two outfits have chosen different paths to pursue their goals, but that they are just as ‘bad’ as their music industry counterpart.
“We are extremely aggressive, certainly equally aggressive as RIAA or any other copyright owner group,” Attaway said. “We have used slightly different tactics than RIAA in part because of the nature of our respective works. There are certainly other reasons as well but MPAA has filed end user lawsuits like RIAA has.”
“However, they are very expensive and we have determined that there are other routes that provide a better return; among them education, working with intermediaries like ISPs to discourage infringing activity, and one, that is probably the most important, is encouraging the development of new business models that provide legitimate alternatives. All of these avenues we are pursuing very aggressively,” he added.
When the subject turned to the role ISPs have in countering copyright infringement, three-strikes policies for repeated infringers were brought up. The MPAA is encouraging these kinds of policies, but stressed that in the United States the decision to terminate the account of an alleged copyright infirnger is made by the Internet provider.
“We encourage ISPs to at least notify subscribers who are engaging in infringing material and advise them that it is illegal and could have consequences. And for repeat infringers we encourage ISPs to terminate service but that is strictly a decision of the ISP and not ours,” Attaway said.
The full interview with the two MPAA executives is available on the Copygrounds website which is part of the introductory course on the production of digital media at the University of Texas.Friday Facts #218 - Import bpy, Export player
Posted by V453000 & Twinsen on 2017-11-24, all posts
Hello dear biters and related species from unexplored planet full of life and natural resources. Recently I have been working on several high resolution graphics for your best friends - the tank and the player character. In this article I would like to show their updated visuals to you, as well as a sneak peek at how they are produced. The following text may contain traces of automation.
High Resolution Tank
Like most biter stories end, this story started with the tank. I just took the 3D scene that Pavel made in 2014. There was quite a bit of work required to make it all render correctly, but eventually I arrived at the desired result.
However there was one thing that really bothered me in the process - making the colour mask look good was rather impossible.
In general this is an issue that we already encountered earlier with the locomotive, cargo wagon and train stop. The cause was the RGBA values set for player colours, so I went ahead and changed all of them, I even added a “default” colour, so you can easily revert back to the single player default colour in 0.16 (which is also "Orange").
The dynamic colour algorithm (we call it tint) works in very weird ways, where if Alpha is set to 1.0, it kind of multiplies the mask by some selected colour. Alpha 0.0 somehow makes the whole mask sprite draw additively while colorized by the selected colour.
Regardless of the technical magic, the final verdict is that unless you are doing something extremely specific, the colour mask values should always be at 0.5 Alpha. You might have already noticed that the train colour sliders only allow you to change RGB values and not Alpha. That makes the colour much more stable - any RGB value you pick is going to work, once you start touching the Alpha it can look wrong and broken.
I would like to take this opportunity to ask modders to keep this in mind, as I have noticed multiple mods using 1.0 Alpha values in colour mask tint. The Alpha is black magic, keep it at 0.5 please.
Player character colours
The tank and the car colours are both much nicer now, but the player character colours seem a bit off...
The whole mask-works-with-0.5-alpha has one big condition - both the mask and the masked area of the sprite under it have to be desaturated. And the player graphics are already made to be orange. This is especially visible in the image above on colours like gray. This was never an issue since the player colours were using 1.0 Alpha, apart from the problem that all of the non-default colours looked horrible.
It might have been possible to do some quick hacks and just desaturate the player sprites where needed, but we found it more appropriate to take the opportunity to bring the player character into high resolution and fix it along the way.
High resolution player character
We were already aware that the player character is a very special task. Just the amount of spritesheets and Blend scenes already screams madness. Basically, the player character was split across many Blend files that Albert produced in 2015, each of them having one animation sequence. I honestly didn’t even ask how much work and time did it take for him to create all of this.
The game currently uses:
Idle player
Idle player with gun in hand
Mining player without axe
Mining player with axe
Running player
Running player with gun in hand
Player corpse
Each of these animations then have a variation for two armor levels, which can be drawn on top of the basic character. In total we are talking about over 4,000 individual sprites, double that number when we also consider high resolution.
From past experience we already know that re-rendering an entity in high resolution is almost never “just make it have more pixels”. Shaders and details start working differently, and it’s always necessary to do some changes. However, editing 21 Blend files at the same time does not sound very appealing or efficient, so our plan was to merge all of the animation into one huge Blend file. The aim is to have:
Blender file with 21 scenes, each rendering one animation.
Everything must render automatically.
All of the meshes linked so if we edit one, the rest automatically update.
All of the meshes use the same materials so we just edit one.
It must be possible to revisit the player character in the future.
Per usual this is much easier said than done, it is possible with the tools that Blender has, but would require an extreme amount of manual work. It would also take way too much time, and would be way too fragile.
Graphics workflow
Making the player character in high resolution would have been utterly insane without the use of scripting. In the following part of the article I will show you a few of the most useful Blender scripts that I wrote and used in the process.
The first task sounds simple - copy-paste the objects from the source Blend file to the new one - until you try to do it. In Blender you can Copy + Paste objects between scenes easily, the catch is that in the destination, they are all pasted to the same layer, depending on which layer is active. However the objects forget which layer they are from in the source scene. This is a big problem, but after short thinking I wrote a new object transferring tool.
It is a set of two scripts, the first one prepares objects in the source scene (it changes their names to have a prefix with layer numbers). The second script processes them in destination by reading the name, moving the object to the appropriate layer(s), and cleaning up the name as if nothing ever happened.
The copy pasting is great, but every new paste creates a set of new unique objects with unique materials. If you do this 21 times, the amount of duplicate data which is supposed to be the same goes up like a rocket. Generally 3D software has a way to create duplicates which are linked so if you edit one, you also edit the other. However once you break the link, it’s not so easy to bring it back, because the program isn’t sure if the two objects are really the same. In Blender this is possible, but doing it one by one would be way too much work so it’s time for another script.
This one reads every object’s vertices one by one, and saves them to giant lists. It then compares it to another object, and if the other object is identical, it makes a link between them - if not, it keeps both of them unique and adds the new one to the list of vertex data to be compared with.
It’s actually surprisingly fast, considering that it filters through about 5 million vertices, but it still takes several minutes to process.
The result seems good except for one problem - some of the objects have identical mesh data, but special materials that we used for rendering shadows, which is solved by running another script, which searches for objects with the shadow maker material and removes them. This has to be done before linking the mesh data to make sure that our mesh data ends up with the correct materials.
The next step is to unify materials. This is already mostly taken care of because the mesh data already carries the used materials in it, but going through all of them and manually checking was required. It wasn’t helping that every object had defined about 20 material slots, even if it was using just a handful of them.
Whenever you have a mesh with multiple materials being used on different polygons, and you remove some polygons, chances are that you aren’t using all of the materials any more.
So I made myself a script which removes the unused material slots so I wouldn’t have to manually check so many of them. It’s not only more work but it’s also much easier to spot errors when you see only what you need to.
With all of the objects correctly linked and materials properly editable, it’s time to figure out how to output this whole thing into sprites. As we already hinted in FFF-146, we are almost always using Render Layers going into Compositor nodes to output many different passes of the same scene.
Since we are keeping the layer structure of the original source, it was possible to set up the rendering system to do the same again. It was still a lot of work because it was not always consistent and many of the scenes required small but hard to spot tweaks.
One thing which helps at least a little bit, is pre-generating all of the render layers with their names and some basic setup, which is consistent between all scenes.
Render Layers aren’t much without a way to save them to the final images - this is handled by the compositor nodes. There is a special case for Ambient Occlusion and Shadow passes, but in general it’s absolutely consistent so scripting this part is great as it removes all need for manual attention to this. The script just reads the Render Layers and generates the nodes to fit them.
To render all this from the 3D scene, we are using a fancy system which allows us to render across multiple computers, as the animations would take over 40 hours to render on a single PC.
The rest is basically the same as with the combinators shown in FFF-194, so I won't go into details here.
Result
After all this, we get the player graphics in high resolution, with colour masks working correctly and also a lot |
working to formulate a long-term policy, it is currently focused on driving the militants out of Iraq back to Syria, where they were originally fighting the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Although the US and Arab states of the Persian Gulf have been sponsoring Assad’s adversaries in one of the bloodiest civil wars in the world of recent times, the Islamists that now form the backbone of the IS fighting force have been unable to finish off Assad’s regime, mostly because of the significant popular support the Syrian leader enjoys.
Last year, with Russia’s assistance, President Obama opted not to get the US involved in Syria militarily.
Obama’s administration now has certain legal hurdles to cross before using the existing 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) against Al-Qaeda Authority for any military action against IS in Syria. Al-Qaeda announced last year that it had split with ISIS (now the Islamic State), citing its brutality towards Muslims and its declaration of an Islamic caliphate across Syria and Iraq.
“If you look back on the president’s speech, he kind of foreshadows going to have additional AUMFs,” the official said. “It may be that this is the first case.”A JUDGE HAS criticised the Child and Family Agency for failing to have out-of-hours procedures in place.
In a sitting of the High Court yesterday, Justice Colm Mac Eochaidh told the Agency’s legal representatives that it had put the court in a “difficult position” over the weekend.
He was referring to a case where a young child was taken off its mother and placed in the care of its father and grandmother, neither of whom were the child’s guardian.
When the case was brought before the court on Saturday, the social worker who had made the decision was not available to explain the process. He was also unavailable to the mother’s legal team during a phone call on Friday.
The judge was asked to decide on an Article 40 application about whether the detention of the child was lawful. Yesterday, the Agency’s counsel said it was not attempting to stand over the lawfulness of the detention as the facts may not stand up to such a claim.
The court heard that the Agency needs to clarify what conversations were held on Friday afternoon to ascertain whether consent was given by the mother for the child to stay with its father and grandmother.
Following the hearing on Saturday and an assessment on Sunday, the child was returned to its mother.
The Agency says it now has no concerns about the welfare of the child.
The decision had initially been taken to place the child with the father and grandmother following allegations that the child had been “inadvertently injured” by the mother during altercations between the parents.
On Friday, both the mother and father had attended a garda station in their locality and the situation was described as “fraught”. The Child and Family Agency were made aware of the issues and the allegations, which at that point, were deemed to be a matter of concern.
During an initial meeting, the father maintained his allegations, while the mother fully denied them.
“In those circumstances, the social worker decided on a practical solution for the weekend because it was not possible to make a determination,” legal counsel for the Child and Family Agency told the Court.
He said that the social worker was familiar with the father’s mother, and therefore believed he was ensuring the child was in the care of an “absolutely safe and responsible person”.
It was with that reasoning he believed it was the “best way to get to Monday” when a determination on the allegations could be made.
However, the Agency also “accepted as a shortcoming” that an opportunity wasn’t taken on Friday afternoon to resolve the situation.
Justice Mac Eochaidh told the court that he was “surprised” there was no handle on out-of-hour procedures.
The social worker was unavailable and it “left the court guessing”, he said, adding that he had “no idea” why certain actions were taken by the Agency.
The Agency’s legal counsel said he would deliver that “clear message” that there should be “procedures in place that a court can find out what is happening outside of hours…and that there is a proper line of communications”.
The judge also advised the parents to do their best “to be good to each other and their baby”.
The Agency settled for the mother’s legal costs and costs for an interpreter.
The family will return to the District Court later this year when the father will seek full custody and to be made guardian. The Agency said it does not want to get involved in family court proceedings.There have been a lot of strange bombshells dropped during the FIFA corruption scandal, but this one might be weirder than Chuck Blazer having an apartment for his cats. Ireland FA chief executive John Delaney says he got paid off to not protest his team getting dumped out of 2010 World Cup qualifying.
John Delaney confirms that FIFA paid FAI €5 million in 2009 after the Thierry Henry handball so they wouldn't proceed with a legal case. — Daniel McDonnell (@McDonnellDan) June 4, 2015
There are a lot of things wrong with this.
First of all, Ireland were really huge babies about what happened. It sucked to lose on not only one bad call, but a series of them -- Thierry Henry was offside, then handballed twice, before assisting France's winning goal in the World Cup qualifying playoff -- but their reaction was insane. They claimed that FIFA had a moral obligation to grant them a replay, as if they were the first team to ever lose a big game due to a terrible error by officials. They'd start a legal case over that? It doesn't make any sense.
So maybe they thought the official had been paid off, and the match was fixed. If that was the case, Martin Hansson -- who has never been seriously accused of any wrongdoing -- would have been the worst match-fixing referee ever. If you're trying to fix a game, you give a penalty on a 50-50 challenge, which legitimate referees screw up on a weekly basis. You don't wait for a handball, after which Henry still had to control the ball and make a pass, and William Gallas still had to finish.
Also, why would Delaney admit this? He's not under investigation for corruption as far as we know, but he might be after admitting this in public. Why would someone who still runs his country's football association admit to taking a bribe in order to stop fighting for what he thought was fair? What is he thinking?
It's also incredible that FIFA would do this considering that the game didn't play out like you would expect if it were fixed, and even if it was, it's unlikely that FIFA executives would do the fixing themselves. They just had so much money and so little time for dissenters that they were willing to write a €5 million check just to get someone to shut up. Oliver Kay summed it up nicely.
That Fifa/FAI compensation story was long rumoured. I never believed it. Didn't think Fifa stupid enough to set that precedent. I was wrong. — Oliver Kay (@OliverKayTimes) June 4, 2015
The lesson: almost everyone who attains a high level position in the world of international soccer is almost as stupid as they are corrupt.Crane Clan Characters
1 Cost Characters
There are two 1 Fate cost characters from the Dynasty deck. The Doji Whisperer and Asahina Artisan have a clear focus on Political conflicts with both able to contribute an impressive 3 Political skill for their relatively low cost. While the Doji Whisperer has it as a base skill the Asahina Artisan has an ability that requires bowing to give another Crane character +3 Political skill. The drawback here is that the Artisan needs another character to target, alone the Artisan is effectively 0 skill. The ability does let the Artisan stay out of conflicts only using the ability when needed. In a scenario where you have two Doji Whisperers and one Asahina Artisan, you can attack politically with one Whisperer and if you don’t need the Artisan’s boost it will be there when your second Whisperer defends. If you don’t use the Artisan’s ability then you will have 2 glory unbowed to contribute for the Imperial favour.
2 Cost Characters
There are five 2 Fate cost characters. Brash Samurai, Daidoji Nerishma, and Cautious Scout provide a Military base missing from the 1 cost characters. Brash Samurai and Savvy Politician demonstrate honoring characters as a focus for the Crane clan, useful in both boosting skill and gaining honour. The Doji Gift Giver provides an extra Courtier and has an ability that bows opponents.
Daidoji Nerishma is above the curve with 3 military and 1 political for 2 fate. He has an excellent dynasty acceleration ability which helps provide options during the dynasty phase and dig for extra copies of uniques for free fate. Notably, his ability should not be used when you have the initiative as the extra action it requires denies you the opportunity to gain a fate from passing first. In those cases, the ability should be used after the Dynasty phase to improve Dynasty card cycling. As broken provinces get discarded anyway, using his ability on a broken province is a risk it might get you a useable holding or you could end up losing a card you were hoping for next turn.
The Brash Samurai is a 2 cost Bushi with 2 military, 1 political, and 2 glory. These are typical skills for a character of this cost. The Brash Samurai sets himself apart by having an ability that honors him when he is your own participating character. This means the Brash Samurai is a 4 military and 3 political character who can take provinces. That he can easily become honored helps power up cards we will see later such as Voice of Honor and Noble Sacrifice.
The Cautious Scout a 2 military, 0 political, 1 glory character. When this character is attacking alone, the province he is attacking is considered blank. This makes him a useful scout to send into a province with minimal risk. At 2 military he can break provinces with a single boost, a Banzai! or Fine Katana for example. He does need to be attacking by himself for his ability to work. This solo hero idea also appears with the Brash Samurai. As both are vulnerable to Assassination you don’t really want to attach lots of cards to them. For Crane, political conflicts are the priority, characters like Cautious Scout and Brash Samurai allow the Crane to use military conflicts to threaten, win rings, and scout ahead of the political conflicts to come.
The Doji Gift Giver has been somewhat divisive with some players loving it and others disliking it. The cost of giving a fate to your opponent is pretty rough, and the target of the bowing is decided by your opponent. Those who do like her point out that the ability, when used at the right time, is very strong and can win a conflict. The mere presence of the Doji Gift Giver on the board forces your opponent to pause before every conflict to account for her.
The Savvy Politician is a 2 cost Courtier with 1 military, 2 political, and 1 glory. When the Politican is honored you can choose another character and honor that character also. This makes her a perfect target for Way of the Crane getting an extra character honored. Although her glory is only 1, this can be considered a free +1/+1 and a free honor. Like the Brash Samurai, this ability helps the Crane keep an honored board to keep Voice of Honor active and to use Noble Sacrifice.
The 1 and 2 cost characters are very defining for a clan. They provide extra characters to fill out the board often only staying in play for a single turn. From the traits, we can see that Courtiers are going to be a primary focus for the Crane clan. For Courtiers we know there is For Shame! and Outwit, both excellent cards. There are two Bushi a trait mainly useful for Rout. There is a 1 cost Shugenja, the Asahina Artisan, with this the Crane clan may be able to run one or two cards such as Cloud the Mind but will be unable to reliably play cards requiring Shugenja.
3 Cost Characters
Kakita Kaezin seems like an excellent card, he has 3 military, 2 political, and 2 glory so he is well rounded. His ability is a duel, which has always been a popular with the Crane. He is an excellent defender. Drop a weapon or honour him to 5 Military and then defend with Kaezin and challenge your opponent. Your opponent does get to pick the defender, but if Kaezin wins, he sends everyone but Kaezin and his opponent home. At worst, Kaezin goes home after losing the duel, if he was unbowed he returns home unbowed ready to assign to a new conflict. Unfortunately his send home does not bow characters, leaving them ready to defend or attack again in another conflict type. This puts Kaezin in a class similar to many of the other Bushi in the Crane clan, solo heroes rather than team players. Kaezin can go into any conflict and with a little setup, turn it into a 1 on 1 battle where hopefully Kaezin has the edge. Unfortunately, there is only so much room for heroes in the Crane clan and often Kaezin is edged out by the Brash Samurai and Cautious Scout for that role.
Kakita Asami has decent stats of 1 military, 2 political, and 2 glory but where she really shines is her ability. If she is in a political conflict and you have more political skill than your opponent, something common for the Crane, she can take one honour from your opponent and give it to you. As this exact effect is one of the options for the ring of air, she is essentially giving you an extra ring benefit. Due to the strength of her ability, it is unlikely you would want to assign her to a military conflict, which does mitigate her low military skill somewhat.
Doji Challenger has a balanced stat line that makes her equally good in military and political conflicts, something which will be enhanced once she is honoured and her 2 glory is added to the skills. The ability is only useable on the attack which is a surprise for the Crane clan. The ability, which drags an opponent into the conflict, is an impressive denial ability as conflict resolution will bow the target preventing it from assigning to another battle. Her ability does not work on characters who have — for the current battle but there should be plenty of other targets. This lets her drag Kisada into political conflicts and drag Shoju into military ones, it forces the Lion’s Pride Brawler into defensive battles and can
In the 4 cost range, Crane has two characters, Guest of Honor and Asahina Storyteller. Both characters are Courtiers and have 4 political skill reaffirming those twin clan focus. Guest of Honor has a quite powerful effect preventing your opponent from playing event cards during conflicts. This significantly limits the options of the opponent and gives the Crane player increased confidence in whether they can win a conflict or not. As many of the ways to deal with a character are actual event cards, the Guest of Honor is incredibly hard to deal with. This action prevention appears to be a Crane clan theme as we will see when we look at the Cranes conflict deck.
The Asahina Storyteller in addition to being a Courtier is also a Shugenja, assisting the Asahina Artisan in opening up some Shugenja specific cards. The Storyteller’s ability generates conflict card draw, a limited commodity for decks choosing to honor run as they are typically bidding 1 during the card draw phase. The ability requires honoured characters, something the Crane are going to have. As a 4 cost character however, the Storyteller is not offering a lot. The 4 political skill is perfect to take provinces with and the dual traits of Courtier and Shugenja is quite flexible, but the ability is somewhat conditional and doesn’t seem to have the impact you would expect from a 4 cost character. The Storyteller will certainly make it into decks which use the Shugenja trait and may be useful in decks looking for card draw, but I would expect the Asahina Storyteller to be a very tempting card to cut.
Doji Hotaru is the first clan champion we have seen and does not disappoint, she is more than the ‘very good’ her father reprimands her with. At 5 cost she has 3 Military Skill and 6 Political skill with 3 Glory. Given the Crane clan’s focus on honoring characters, we expect that 3 Glory will quickly turn into a +3/+3 bonus. Doji Hotaru’s ability is to resolve the ring ability of a ring you claim during a political conflict. This means, if you win on the attack you can trigger the ring ability a second time. Resolving any of the rings twice in one turn is amazing. While it is possible to use her reaction in defense, as the rings are all phrased to benefit the attacker it is unlikely this will be of help.
Like all of the clan champions, she clearly is worth the investment if she appears on turn 1. Although the 5 cost is significant, the unique status of Doji Hotaru is a considerable bonus. If Hotaru is recruited turn 1 with 2 Fate on her, there will be another 15 cards of the Dynasty deck revealed before she finally leaves play giving around a 60% chance of another copy being revealed keeping her around for another turn. Hotaru on the board for four turns should make a powerful impact. It may end up a serious option to mulligan for a clan champion in the hopes of getting it first turn (~50% chance). Then discard aggressively to get an extra copy.
The last two cards from the Dynasty side are the holding Artisan Academy and The Art of Peace which is the Crane unique province. The Academy has a useful card draw ability allowing the top card of your conflict deck to be played in the conflict phase as if it was in your hand. You can choose to use the Artisan Academy’s action before a conflict, within or after a conflict. Activating it before a conflict reveals the card to your opponent and gives them the chance to play around the card. If you reveal it during a conflict, cards which cannot be played in conflicts such as Height of Fashion have to stay on top of your deck until the after the current conflict. Nonetheless, it does provide cards which will be valuable for a deck attempting to run by honor.
The Crane province, The Art of Peace, has a healthy province strength of 4 which is better than average. The ability on it only triggers when the province is broken, so it is no help in defending itself. The benefit is quite strong. Assuming the attackers are 1 glory and the Crane defenders are 2 there will be a massive shift across the board, and it will push the game nearer to a dishonour or honour victory. Getting a good use out of it can be tricky though, it is rare that you could defend with all your Crane characters as it would leave you open for your opponent’s second attack. The characters who were in the conflict will end up bowed, so they will not be useful for the remainder of the turn.If you are a PHP programmer, chances are that you will need to write and parse XML from time to time. You may even consider this a good thing. Chances are though that dealing with XML has caused you to flock to JSON.
But XML has advantages, and sometimes you simply don’t have an option.
I myself have gone through several stages of this. Back in the day everybody used expat because it was fast. I switched to simplexml because it had a friendlier API, and I used the DOM when I needed access to a wider range of XML features. I’ve also simply created XML output by concatenating strings.
But ever since PHP shipped with XMLReader and XMLWriter I’ve wondered if it was a better fit. Early on I was deterted several times due to these objects not being very stable.
The XMLReader and XMLWriter objects are nice, but in order to effectively use them, they need a sort of design pattern. I’ve experimented with this concept off and on since 2009, and finally landed on something I’m reasonably happy with.
A few people have randomly stumbled upon this experiment and I got mostly positive feedback. Today I wanted to show it off to everyone. I’ve iterated on the base concept for several years, and tweaked it every time to get a sort of ‘good enough’ api that behaves reasonably sane in various scenarios.
The library is called sabre/xml, and I hope people are willing to kick its tires and give some feedback.
How it works
sabre/xml extends the XMLReader and XMLWriter class and adds a bunch of functionality that makes it quick to generate and parse xml.
By default it parses from/to PHP arrays, which is great for quick one-shot parsers/writers, but the biggest feature is that it allows you to intuitively map XML to PHP objects and vice-versa.
This gives this XML library a distinct advantage. It’s very easy to get started, but its design pattern still works for more complex XML application.
The one caveat is that reading and writing are single-pass by design. Unlike the DOM, you can’t load in a document, make a small modification and save it again.
Writing XML in a nutshell
<?php $xmlWriter = new Sabre\Xml\Writer (); $xmlWriter -> openMemory (); $xmlWriter -> startDocument (); $xmlWriter -> setIndent ( true ); $xmlWriter -> namespaceMap = [ 'http://example.org' => 'b' ]; $xmlWriter -> write ([ '{http://example.org}book' => [ '{http://example.org}title' => 'Cryptonomicon', '{http://example.org}author' => 'Neil Stephenson', ]]);?>
Output:
<?xml version="1.0"?> <b:book xmlns:b= "http://example.org" > <b:title> Cryptonomicon </b:title> <b:author> Neil Stephenson </b:author> </b:book>
As you can see, you can quickly generate complex xml from simple array structures.
Instead of serializing strings, you can also serialize objects. There’s a Sabre\Xml\XmlSerializable interface included that is meant to work similar to PHP’s JsonSerializable.
Reading XML in a nutshell
This is how you parse an xml document:
<?php $input = <<<XML <article xmlns="http://example.org/"> <title>Hello world</title> <content>Fuzzy Pickles</content> </article> XML; $reader = new Sabre\Xml\Reader (); $reader -> elementMap = [ '{http://example.org/}article' => 'Sabre\Xml\Element\KeyValue', ]; $reader -> xml ( $input ); print_r ( $reader -> parse ());?>
This will output something like:
Array ( [name] => {http://example.org/}article [value] => Array ( [{http://example.org/}title] => Hello world [{http://example.org/}content] => Fuzzy Pickles ) [attributes] => Array ( ) )
The key in the last example, is that we tell the parser to treat the contents of the article XML node as a key-value structure.
This is optional, but by adding this hint the resulting output becomes a lot simpler.
The parser comes with a few parsing strategies for common needs, and you can easily create your own by writing deserializer classes, or just by providing a callback:
<?php $reader -> elementMap = [ '{http://example.org/}article' => function ( Sabre\Xml\Reader $reader ) { // Read the element's contents, and return the result here. } ];?>
Element classes and interfaces
Sabre\Xml\XmlSerializable is used to allow an object to serialize itself.
is used to allow an object to serialize itself. Sabre\Xml\XmlDeserializable turns an object into a factory for parsing and returning a value.
turns an object into a factory for parsing and returning a value. Sabre\Xml\Element is a convenience interface that just extends the previous two.
You can implement these interfaces yourself, but a few standard implementations are included:
Sabre\Xml\Element\Base is the default and turns every element into an array with a name, value, and attributes key.
is the default and turns every element into an array with a,, and key. Sabre\Xml\Element\KeyValue flattens the array, and turns it into a key-value array.
flattens the array, and turns it into a key-value array. Sabre\Xml\Element\Elements discards element values, and gives you a flat array of element names. Useful for ‘enums’.
discards element values, and gives you a flat array of element names. Useful for ‘enums’. Sabre\Xml\Element\CData allows you to easily embed a CDATA structure.
allows you to easily embed a CDATA structure. Sabre\Xml\Element\XmlFragment extracts a subtree from XML and gives you a valid xml fragment, including namespace declarations.
The benefits
This type of design pattern has a number of major advantages. It’s possible for users to create PHP classes that represent specific XML elements.
For complex XML application this is useful, because elements may be re-used in various document types, and now those element classes can be re-used in the same way.
It would also allow someone to publish a set of Element classes for a specific xml format such as Atom on packagist and allow someone else to re-use specific parts of of that format into a new format. I’m hoping to fulfill the promise of XML extensibility by bringing it in PHP, but that might be too bold of a statement.
At the very least I think it will make your XML parsing code simpler, reusable, extensible and more legible. I also found it more fun to work with XML, but I’m biased.
The full docs can be found on http://sabre.io/xml/, the source on GitHub and it may be installed with:The simmering confrontation between the civilian government and the army in Pakistan has spilled into the open after the military warned that remarks this week by the prime minister had "potentially grievous consequences for the country".
The military and the government are at loggerheads over a scandal dubbed memogate, in which the former ambassador to Washington is accused of making a "treacherous" written offer to the US to rein in Pakistan's military in return for American support for the civilian government. The case, aimed squarely against the president, Asif Zardari, is before the supreme court, which appointed a judicial commission that began hearings this week.
The prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, had this week described the affidavits to the court on memogate from the army chief and the head of the military's spy agency as "unconstitutional and illegal", pointedly speaking in an interview with a Chinese newspaper while the army chief was on an official tour in China, Pakistan's closest ally.
The military, in a highly unusual statement, responded, saying that "there can be no allegation more serious" levelled against the army chief, General Ashfaq Kayani, and the director general of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Lieutenant General Ahmed Shuja Pasha.
"This has very serious ramifications with potentially grievous consequences for the country," the military said.
It is thought that the military is manoeuvring to remove the president, hoping the courts will force him from power. But his determination to cling on could result in another coup. There is speculation that, to head off the military's plan, the government will try to sack the army chief.
In their court written testimonies, Kayani and Pasha had pressed the judges to investigate the allegations against the former US envoy, Husain Haqqani, while the government had asked the court to drop the case and leave it to an investigation by a parliamentary committee.
The government was shocked that the military's affidavits had not been cleared by it first. In his affidavit, Pasha said that he had "seen enough corroborative material" to "prove" the allegations against the Washington ambassador, who was forced to resign over the issue.
The military insisted in its statement on Wednesday that it had "followed the book" in responding to the court proceedings.
Ikram Sehgal, an analyst and former brigadier, said the army was "seething with fury" over Gilani's comments.
"The government is trying desperately to ensure that the army tries a coup d'etat, so that they go down as political martyrs," he added.
On Wednesday the government replaced the defence secretary, Naeem Khalid Lodhi, a retired general with close links to the military, with Nargis Sethi, who is loyal to the ruling Pakistan People's party. That fuelled rumours that the government is considering changing the military's leadership, an authority that it legally possesses but which would be a highly risky move.
Attempting to cool tempers, a senior government minister, Khursheed Shah, said: "The army chief will complete his tenure. We don't want a clash of institutions."
The army has staged four coups in the past and democracy was only restored by elections in 2008 after the last period of military rule. Since the 2008 polls, the military and Zardari's government have been in a state of near constant tension.
The memogate case could yet lead to treason charges being filed against Haqqani, who said in an interview with the Guardian this week that he was the victim of a "witch-hunt" against democracy in the country. His accuser, the American businessman Mansoor Ijaz, is due to fly into Pakistan next week to testify before a judicial commission now investigating the issue.
In a separate amnesty case, the supreme court this week called the prime minister "not honest", and ordered the government to revive a corruption investigation against Zardari, relating to alleged money-laundering in Switzerland dating back to the 1990s.
The case is likely to reach a crunch point on Monday – the deadline given by the supreme court for the government to comply with its orders, concerning a presidential legal amnesty that it removed. The court has threatened to disqualify the prime minister or president in the event that the government fails to comply.Charlotte McCourt has some choice words for one particular type of Girl Scout cookie.
"The Toffee-tastic is a bleak, flavorless, gluten-free wasteland," the South Orange scout recently wrote of the confection, which, at $5, costs a dollar more than most other boxes of Girl Scout cookies.
"I'm telling you, it's as flavorless as dirt," the 11-year-old said of the cookie, which has rice and tapioca flours, butter toffee bits and corn syrup listed among its ingredients.
Don't hold back, Charlotte.
Thanks to her honesty, McCourt, whose original goal was to sell 300 boxes, has attracted a boatload of national media and a huge bump in cookie sales.
Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey, McCourt's local scout council, said in a statement that it was "thrilled for Charlotte" and "proud that she exercised her entrepreneurial skills." Her cookie sales now stand at 16,430 boxes.
"Today," "GMA," ABC News, Good Housekeeping and the Huffington Post picked up on the scout's frank assessment of the cookies.
McCourt, who sells the cookies online at her scout website, learned her father had a wealthy friend from high school who lived in Colorado and was interested in buying cookies for troops overseas, a type of purchase she thought had been lacking. So the resourceful scout sat down with her father's laptop and fired off an email to his friend.
She decided to be as transparent as possible when presenting her sales pitch, so she rated most all of the cookies (apart from the new S'mores cookie, which she hadn't yet tried) from 1 to 10.
Her letter (and cookie sales) first took off on Jan. 25 when Mike Rowe, host of the podcast "The Way I Heard It," who works with her father, Sean, a producer of the podcast, read it to his Facebook audience. A video of Rowe reading her letter drew more than 8.3 million views.
"Some of the descriptions, I'm afraid, use false advertising," McCourt wrote of the cookies. She rated the lemon Savannah Smiles a 7, but the Trefoil got a 6.
"Alone, it's kind of boring," she wrote of the classic shortbread cookie.
The peanut butter and oatmeal Do-Si-Do got a dismal 5, "for its unoriginality and its blandness."
The Samoa? A caramel-chocolate-coconut winner, with a 9.
The Tagalong's chocolate-peanut butter combo?
"Inspired," McCourt wrote.
The only boxes that could get a 10, she wrote, were the ones donated to troops. Or, rather, the donations themselves: "It helps strike a spark into the treacherous lives of those men and women protecting our country and keeping America safe," McCourt wrote.
So far, her efforts have netted 7,765 boxes of cookies for the troops.
Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @AmyKup or on Facebook.Donald Trump attacked a college student online in October 2015.
In October 2015, then-18-year-old Lauren Batchelder asked Trump a question at a political forum in New Hampshire. “So, maybe I’m wrong, maybe you can prove me wrong, but I don’t think you’re a friend to women,” she said. Trump defended himself, and Batchelder took the mic again, asking if she’d get equal pay and access to abortion with Trump as president. Trump answered: “You’re going to make the same if you do as good of a job, and I happen to be pro-life, okay?”
Batchelder thought that was the end of it, but when she woke up the next day, she realized that the current president-elect had sent out a series of tweets about her. “The arrogant young woman who questioned me in such a nasty fashion at No Labels yesterday was a Jeb staffer!” he tweeted. (Batchelder is not, and has never been, a staffer for Jeb Bush, though she did volunteer for his campaign.) His followers replied with screenshots of Batchelder and posted her phone number and other personal information online.
The arrogant young woman who questioned me in such a nasty fashion at No Labels yesterday was a Jeb staffer! HOW CAN HE BEAT RUSSIA & CHINA? — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 13, 2015
Within hours, her phone began to ring, and her email inbox and Facebook account filled with threatening messages. “I didn’t really know what anyone was going to do,” Batchelder, now 19, told the Washington Post. “He was only going to tweet about it and that was it, but I didn’t really know what his supporters were going to do, and that to me was the scariest part.”
She said the abuse has continued, prompting one Trump supporter to send her a Facebook message five days before the election that read, “Wishing I could f—ing punch you in the face. id then proceed to stomp your head on the curb and urinate in your bloodied mouth and i know where you live, so watch your f—ing back punk.”
Batchelder’s case illustrates what happens when Trump, who has more than 17 million Twitter followers, goes after a private citizen online. And far from showing restraint as his following has grown, Trump has continued the pattern. On Wednesday he attacked Chuck Jones, a union leader, who wrote in the Washington Post Thursday that his office is now receiving threats, too.
Chuck Jones, who is President of United Steelworkers 1999, has done a terrible job representing workers. No wonder companies flee country! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 8, 2016
“I think I am very restrained, and I talk about important things,” Trump said of his Twitter presence during an appearance on the Today show this week. “I get it out much faster than a press release. I get it out much more honestly than dealing with … dishonest reporters. So many reporters are dishonest.”Authorities in northwest China’s Xinjiang region have launched a racial profiling campaign to assess the security threat posed by non-Han Chinese majority residents of the capital Urumqi, with points automatically docked for members of the mostly Muslim Uyghur ethnic minority, according to a local official.
On July 10, the Western Hebei Road Neighborhood Committee in Urumqi’s Yengisheher (in Chinese, Xinshiqu) district circulated a document listing 13 non-Han residents of the area and grading their individual risk to security based on ten categories.
While the title suggests that all non-Han residents of Western Hebei Road had been graded, subsequent mentions of ethnicity on the document only refer to the “Uyghur” minority, and only Uyghurs were listed on the copy obtained by RFA’s Uyghur Service.
The ruling Chinese Communist Party blames some Uyghurs for a string of violent attacks and clashes in recent years, but critics say the government has exaggerated the threat from the ethnic group, and that repressive domestic policies are responsible for violence that has left hundreds dead since 2009.
According to the document from the Western Hebei Road Neighborhood Committee, each resident is assigned a 100-point value and 10 points are subtracted from that value for each of the 10 categories that applies to them.
The remaining value for each resident is used to determine the security risk they pose to the community, with anyone rated 80 points or higher designated “safe,” anyone rated between 50 and 70 points seen as “average,” and anyone rated below 50 points considered “unsafe.”
The 10 categories on the form consist of: Between Ages of 15 and 55, Ethnic Uyghur, Unemployed, Possesses Passport, Prays Daily, Possesses Religious Knowledge, Visited [one of] 26 [flagged] Countries, Belated Return to China, Has Association With Foreign Country, and Family With Children Who Are Homeschooled.
Additionally, personal information for each resident is listed on the document, including their name, home address, age and number of family members.
In one example, 85-year-old Ibrahim Ismail (Yibulaying Simayi), was rated an “average” security threat based on a 50-point score after 10 points each were subtracted for being a Uyghur, possessing a passport, praying daily, possessing religious knowledge, and visiting a flagged country.
Another resident, 29-year-old Misir Emet (Misaier Aimaiti), was also rated “average” based on a 70-point score after he lost points for being Uyghur, falling within the “risky” age range, and being unemployed.
While the 11 other residents were rated “safe” with scores of |
woman, it will be far from the first time the series has defied the norms of what women in Hyrule, and beyond, can accomplish.The Temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens, also known as the Olympieion, was built over several centuries starting in 174 BCE and only finally completed by Roman emperor Hadrian in 131 CE. Its unusually tall columns and ambitious layout made the temple one of the largest ever built in the ancient world.
Located south-east of Athens’ acropolis near the River Ilissos, the temple would become the city’s largest. The site shows evidence of habitation from the Neolithic period while Pausanias claimed the ancient sanctuary to Zeus was first created at the site by the mythical figure of Deukalion. The earliest archaeological evidence of a temple in the area dates to the 6th century BCE. The tyrant Peisistratos the Younger began to build a new and much bigger Doric temple in 515 BCE. The plans were devised by the architects Antistates, Callaeschrus, and Antimachides but work got no further than the limestone base before Peisistratos was deposed and the project was abandoned.
Hadrian, the great philhellene, finally managed to finish one of the biggest ever ancient temples.
Building work began again in 174 BCE under Antiochos IV Epiphanes, the King of Syria. He employed the skills of the Roman architect Cossutius and by 163 BCE the columns and entablature of the now Corinthian order temple were finally erected. Unfortunately, once again the project fell by the wayside upon the death of Antiochos. Another couple of centuries passed before no less a figure than Hadrian, during his stay in Athens between 124 and 125 CE, took up the construction again. Sulla had actually stolen a few of the columns in 86 BCE for re-use in Rome’s Temple of Jupiter and Augustus had dabbled a little with rebuilding the temple in the early 1st century CE but it was Hadrian, the great philhellene, who finally managed to finish one of the biggest ever ancient temples in 131 CE.
Between 124 and 132 CE a rectangular precinct wall was built around the temple, Roman baths were added to the site, and a monumental arch 18 m high, Hadrian’s Arch, set at the entrance to the new sanctuary area. Also in 131/2 CE, the Temple of Zeus Panhellenios was built to the south of the main temple and in 150 CE the Temple of Kronos and Rhea added nearby. These buildings were then enclosed within the main complex by the Valerian Wall, a fortification built between 256 and 260 CE. In 450 CE the Basilica Olympieion was built along the northern side of the original precinct wall.
Layout & Dimensions
The temple was given extra grandeur by being built in an open space of 250 x 130 m. This area was enclosed by a low poros wall buttressed with regularly spaced Corinthian columns set along the interior face. A propylon gate in Hymettan marble was placed in the north-west corner of the wall. In the centre of this rectangle the massive marble Temple of Zeus measured 110.35 x 43.68 m. The Corinthian columns are unusually tall at 17.25 m and have a diameter of 1.7 m and 20 flutes. The long side presented 20 columns each and the short sides 8 (dipteral octastyle). These were placed in double rows along the length and triple rows at each short side. Thus there were originally 104 columns. The columns are capped by highly decorative Corinthian capitals carved from two massive blocks of marble. Within the cella were gigantic chryselephantine (gold and ivory) statues of Zeus and the temple’s main benefactor Hadrian, who was given equal status to the great Greek god.
The temple suffered over the centuries and much of its material was re-used in other buildings so that today only 15 of the temple’s columns are still standing, 2 in the south-west corner and 13 at the south-east corner. One other column collapsed as recently as 1852 CE in a storm and now lies across the site with its column drums picturesquely spread along a perfect line.Share. He's not a pretty sight. He's not a pretty sight.
With Mother Panic kicking off a new story arc in Issue #4, a new villain named Pretty is making his debut in Gotham City.
We hopped on the phone with series writer Jody Houser and artist Shawn Crystal, who is taking over for initial artist Tommy Lee Edwards. We talked about Mother Panic's first arc as a Gotham City "hero," the design of her intimidating white costume, and who came up with a villain so pretty that he's horrifying to look at.
Mother Panic is one of several DC Comics under the Young Animal imprint resided over by former My Chemical Romance front man Gerard Way. They take place in the DC Universe but set themselves apart with strange ideas, new art styles, and the liberty to use foul language and adult subjects. Mother Panic #4 is out now.
Hear what Houser and Crystal had to say, then let us know your thoughts in the comments.
IGN Comics: The first three issues really set a much different tone than other comics based in Gotham City. Jody, could you talk about how you established Violet Paige and Mother Panic in the first arc and what sets her apart?
Houser: I think we wanted to really give readers an opportunity to get to know Violet a little bit before really delving super deep into her backstory and what shaped her to become who she is. I just wanted everyone to know who she is and where we're starting from, because that's sort of the baseline for what she's going to be moving away from throughout the series. So she's not necessarily a heroic character when we first meet her. She is not necessarily wanting to be one of the good vigilantes saving people from criminals on the street. She's very much focused on her own mission and her quest for revenge. I think we wanted to set that up, and also establish her supporting cast, particularly her mother, who is pretty much the most important person in her life.
IGN: The line that really stuck out and resonated with a lot of people was when she says, “F*** the Bat." It says a lot about her character and her attitude.
Houser: Yeah, I think one of the interesting things about being a non-villain character who still doesn't have any respect for Batman and his people and what they do, is they're a lot of fun to play with. I personally love Batman, but I love writing a character with all the reasons for her dislike of Batman, too. It's a sort of fun way to think that I don't necessarily agree with myself, but as a writer I'm like "f*** the Batman."
IGN: Shaun, can you tell me what brought you to Mother Panic and what it's like drawing the story?
Crystal: Tommy brought me on. Tommy Lee Edwards. I was on Facebook one day and I was finishing up a Marvel project pretty soon. He just asked me what I had going on, he wasn't telling me much. All I needed to know at that point was that Tommy was involved, and I think I knew at that point that Gerard was involved. But Tommy's always been an artist I'm a big fan of when I heard [John Paul] was involved and Tom was involved, that was all I really needed to get into it. Once I started learning about the book I got really really excited. I didn't know about Young Animal at that time, either. It all kind of happened quickly. It was pretty exciting.
It's great to be back in Gotham after doing Arkham Manor. That was a real treat for me, to get to work on that book, and getting to play with Gotham. To get into Gotham now with a new character, building this world from scratch -- Violet's world, not Gotham -- so there's a lot of design work to be done. There's a lot more room to play, a bit more freedom than you'd have in, say, a Batman comic.
IGN: Mother Panic’s costume is both in the same vein as Batman and also wildly different. There’s the cape and pointed ears, but it’s all white with gauntlets with spiked knuckles that look like they really, really hurt. Can you talk about the design and why you’d have someone in such a bright costume stalking around Gotham?
Crystal: When I came on, Tommy had designed her and I just thought this was the coolest design I had seen in a long time in a superhero comic. I don't know the why. Do you know the why, Jody?
Houser: Much of inspiration came from classic anime-type costumes. Even a little bit of Star Wars, that kind of stuff. Heavy on the sci-fi as compared to the noir superhero outfits you usually see in Gotham. I know that was a big point of inspiration for Tommy, but the designs were not entirely finished when I came on board, but they were definitely in progress. Gerard was showing me the art and I'm like "she looks super cool!" I had no part of the design.
In terms of Violet choosing what she looks like, it was revealed at the end of issue #3. The head of Gather House, the school she was at as a kid, was named Mother Patrick. It wasn't quite mentioned in that issue, but Mother Panic was a nickname that the students gave the head of the school. So definitely a bit of the white element is meant to be pulled from the mom-esque habit that Mother Patrick wore. That really is at the core of her mission for vengeance.
Crystal: Just drawing comics over the past decade or so, the old designs are great, they designed really great costumes that were meant to be drawn over and over, title after title, and not get crazy. I feel like in the modern world, comics where realism has become so important, some of the designs are... they work in the real world, but they take forever to draw and they take a lot of the fun out of what a comic can be when you put so much emphasis on "will it work?" or not and look believable. I think Tommy did something incredible where he balanced the two really well. It's a tech-y looking costume but it's not a technical thing to draw, if that makes any sense.
Houser: And Tommy did the helmet design in 3D to make sure that whatever angle you were drawing it from or the reader was seeing it from, it would still look really cool, which I think is a really fun way to do it, and I'm not sure if I've ever heard of that, an artist designing a costume in quite that way. So I thought that was just a really, really cool thing he did, and it showed how committed he was to creating a really cool and enduring character design.
IGN: Let’s talk about Issue #4, which starts a new story arc featuring an original villain named Pretty. He has disturbingly perfect features and has some connections to Violet. Can you talk about the process of creating this character and what he brings to the story?
Jody: Pretty was a concept that Gerard had for a villain who was someone who was so beautiful they were horrifying to look at. That awkward face from the uncanny valley. I just thought that was a really cool concept. He didn't really have any sort of backstory for the character, or even a name. So it was important to me that the villain in the first arc after the introduction was connected to her backstory and her overall mission.
Crystal: I designed Pretty. What Jody just said, to draw someone so pretty they were horrifying. That's intimidating. My art is kind of cartoony, so it was hard for me to try and draw someone who is attractive, but over the line attractive. Jody and I had some good emails back earlier on about some mild influence and stuff we could do. You continue figuring it out drawing the issues. But there are some general staples we've stayed to, and I think the big one you'll see is having one dark eye and one light eye. That gave me something. If I think about if my character is in silhouette, I need them to be recognizable. So just by showing the lights of Pretty's eyes, you can see one dark and one light and you know the character. So having that thing to grab onto gave me something to really focus on and hone in with the design. But yeah, I was figuring out Pretty as we were going. With Mother Panic, it happened immediately. Tommy just nailed it. Pretty took me a little bit.
IGN: We learn a lot about Gather House in this issue. Why is that place so important to Violet?
Houser: Gather House is the school she was sent to primarily by her brother, her older brother after her father died. We saw at the end of Issue #3 that it wasn't clear if her brother knew exactly what Gather House was, but he definitely hoped she would suffer there because he blamed her for their father's death. We see in Issue #4 a little bit of what actually happens to the students at Gather House, and it's not a school you want to send children you like to at all. [laughs] That's possibly a non-spoiler way of saying it. It messes up kids. It's not good. Not accredited. Does not have a good education plan as far as I can tell.
Crystal: My whole approach to the Gather House was, you'll probably see there's a different structure to the page than the rest of the story when I do the flashbacks, especially Gather House. I just try to create these surrealist, horrific glimpses into what was happening, what was going on. It may not be such a literal way of telling that backstory but I'm hoping it's a very emotional way that the reader will get a feeling of what it was.
Houser: I really like that approach because personally I think the fact that this is at the heart of what Violet wants to get revenge for, I think you really need to see how much it messed her up to even understand why she's still dead set on wreaking her terrible vengeance on the people responsible for what happened to her. You have to really understand how bad what happened to her was.
Crystal: One of the movies I think about is From Dusk Till Dawn. There's a scene where George Clooney comes back to the hotel room, where Quentin Tarantino has killed the woman that he'd captured. They never show what he did, but it's just these quick little glimpses, you pretty much just see red, and it looks like blood and stabbing had happened, but you don't know what. That's what I wanted these pages to feel like when we're thinking about Gather House.
Joshua is IGN’s Comics Editor. If Pokemon, Green Lantern, or Game of Thrones are frequently used words in your vocabulary, you’ll want to follow him on Twitter @JoshuaYehl and IGN.Ron Duwell | Gaming Reviews & News by
Square Enix gave its deepest look yet into Dragon Quest XI during the game’s release date presentation last night in Japan. According to the company, the game’s story will last roughly 50 hours, and that doesn’t account for all the extra goodies which could drag it out to 100.
50 hours is quite steep, but given the 100+ hour adventures, even without extras, that both Dragon Quest VII and Dragon Quest VIII provided on the Nintendo 3DS recently, I’ll take this as a sign of reprieve!
Gameplay videos from the presentation also emerged with Square Enix showing off new elements of the game, most noticeably the ability to change the protagonist’s wardrobe and several different looks at the combat system.
A second video also emerged which shows the Nintendo 3DS version switching between the 3D combat and the classic 2D sprite combat.
A full-blown 3D adventure awaits!
It’s hard to believe that the last time Dragon Quest provided a full 3D adventure for players to blast through was way back in 2004 with the release of Dragon Quest VIII. 13 years is a long time to be paddling between retro JRPGs, MMORPGs, and handheld RPGs that try their darndest to look 3D. I’ve always leaned towards the classic style found in Dragon Quest III and V, but I’m ready to give a 3D world a spin again.
Dragon Quest XI promises a huge world, dark dungeons, and brilliant visuals the likes of which the aging series has never seen. We’re about to see how 30 years of tradition holds up in the modern world, and so far, I like what Square Enix has to show.While beer enthusiasts the world over this week may have been decrying the threat of an AB InBev takeover bid of its main rival, SABMiller, a secondary detail to this story seems just as important.
An AB InBev buy of SABMiller, the first and second-largest beer companies in the world, respectively, has been rumored for what feels like years, but it was SABMiller’s attempt to takeover Heineken (#3 in the world) that kicked off this latest round of “will they or won’t they” between AB InBev and SABMiller. As the Wall Street Journal reported, SABMiller wanted Heineken in an attempt to bolster their company’s size and become an even major player globally.
So as people may wonder what will happen between the two biggest Big Beer players of them all, I’m left thinking … why did Heineken spurn the advances of SABMiller?
In recent years, Heineken has fallen on hard times with an American audience, which, in its move toward craft beer, has left the green bottle of the Dutch brewing company behind. Sales of Heineken have continuously fallen in the U.S. over the past decade, with one estimation of a drop of one-third. In addition to problems with the “classic” Heineken brand, Heineken Premium Light is a failed experiment, ranking 17th in light beer dollar sales, and Amstel Light, owned by the company, has fallen off the map so drastically in the last few years it’s not even considered worth tracking in sales analysis.
This is in spite of relative success elsewhere in the world, where the brewer still performs well in Europe and the UK. But in a beer world that is continuously expanding and innovating, America is still a “beacon market” by the company, even if Heineken may be considered a stodgy, European relic trying to be seen as hip and popular to an ever-changing consumer base.
And therein lies the company’s main problem and what’s holding them back from finding a solution.
Instead of reevaluating Heineken’s brand position both in the U.S. and globally, executives are trying to transform their products like the nerdy girl who takes off her glasses, pulls down her hair from a bun and becomes prom queen. What we’re seeing is feign attempts at innovation or simply imitation.
Take, for example, last year’s attempt to boost Heineken Light sales by changing the brand’s packaging and promoting the fact they planned to use Cascade hops in their beer:
“What we see and hear a lot about light beer now is consumers have become tired of the taste—the light brands are a little too watery for them and not a rewarding enough experience,” said Olga Osminkina, senior brand director at Heineken USA. “Cascade hops are not a familiar addition to a light type of beer, so that’s going to put Heineken Light in a different category.”
However, the impact on taste is roughly equivalent of Miller Lite promoting that it’s “triple-hopped brewed.” For a company working to convert consumers from other beer brands that have specific, hoppy taste, there is no change. Instead, it seems clear the attempt is to convince consumers to try out Heineken Light because they might have heard about Cascade hops being important for craft beer, which is “cool” beer, so Heineken Light should be cool, too.
Also consider last year’s Heineken “Ignite” launch – a bottle that lights up according to certain movements or the sound of specific music. If you didn’t think dubstep sounded odd before, now there’s a visual element to it.
Both these aspects – a gimmick with hops and tie-ins to the electronic dance music scene – scream for attention from young consumers. Which is exactly what Heineken is trying to do now.
In marketing to specifically target Millennial drinkers, Heineken has launched a few new products:
Desperados, a “tequila flavored beer” clearly aimed at Corona drinkers.
New Strongbow ciders to capitalize on the huge sales increase of that style of drink, but ones “that stand up to a beer lover’s need for a bright refreshment and a wine lover’s need for complexity and finish.”
Dos-A-Rita, the obvious answer to AB InBev’s $462 million (in 2013) line of Bud Light “Ritas.”
All of this seems like a scatter shot attempt to find success, which the company has only really seen with their Dos Equis brand that was the country’s sixth-largest imported beer in 2012, the latest data I could find.
I get it, through. You launch Desperados because if you already have a successful “Mexican beer” alternative to Corona with Dos Equis, then you have greater chance of stealing market share. You research new ciders because that’s what’s hot. You offer up a “Rita” option because they make boatloads of money.
But what this really tells me is that as a company, Heineken doesn’t have much going on for itself. All these decisions feel slightly desperate and after-the-fact, trying to maximize on the success of others. All the while, Heineken as a global, historic brand seems to be fading.
Like the Ritas Heineken is trying to clone to boost sales, product innovation now feels faked and forced.
Even more puzzling, going “all-in” on product development has given the company strong belief that it will succeed in the beer industry’s new environment. So much so that leaders didn’t want to sell any stake in Heineken to SABMiller. That’s fine – as a business it’s your responsibility to stay true to your principles and mission.
The problem is, I just don’t understand what that is any more.
+Bryan Roth
“Don’t drink to get drunk. Drink to enjoy life.” — Jack Kerouac
AdvertisementsMegan McArdle (@asymmetricinfo) has a smart take on Ron Jonson’s book about social-media shaming:
If I have one complaint about the book, it’s that he doesn’t dive deep enough into what shaming is good for and why we like it so much....
Shame is, after all, a force for good as well as evil....
Shame is one way we enforced good behavior in small groups before there were laws or trading networks. It is a very powerful motivator, and it helps us to come together in large cooperative groups with high degrees of trust and sharing. A hatred of being shamed ourselves and a love of shaming others who have transgressed both literally helped to make us human....
Interrupting here (because I’m a mansplaining misogynist and that’s what we do) to point out that McArdle has correctly situated this in the context of mankind’s tribal nature. It cannot be emphasized enough that our need to feel membership in a larger group is a powerful psychological motivator. Even highly intelligent and well-educated people seldom stop to think why they identify so passionately as a sports fan (“Roll Tide!”) or in any other chosen tribal identity. Our social behavior — in everything from trivial things like online fanfic groups to international terrorist organizations — reflects our instinctive tribalism. And now, having exercised my patriarchal privilege, I yield the floor to Megan McArdle:
But... shame doesn’t just punish wrongdoers; it also turns us into our own moral enforcers. Once we’ve been shamed, we are strongly motivated to avoid doing the things that brought it on. Or at least, most of us are — one of the hallmarks of sociopaths is that they don’t feel shame or remorse. To paraphrase Gordon Gekko, shame is good. Shame is right. Shame works.
Interrupting again, because she’s wrong: Sociopaths do feel shame. They feel it very intensely. The problem is that their damaged ego has erected psychological defense mechanisms that involve the evasion of responsibility through the externalization of blame. Sociopaths rationalize their feelings of shame, lash out at anyone who makes them feel bad about their guilty secrets, and try to play the victim. (“DARVO — Deny, Attack, and Reverse Victim and Offender.”) Understanding this aspect of sociopathic behavior was what enabled me to unlock the riddle of Brett Kimberlin. One you understood Kimberlin’s shameful motive, everything else about his hideous behavior made a lot more sense. And, yes: Shame is good. Shame is right. Shame works. We return to Megan McArdle:
In the small groups we evolved to live in, shame is tempered by love and forgiveness. People are shamed for some transgression, then they are restored to the group. Ultimately, the shamed person is not an enemy; he or she is someone you need and want to get along with. This is how you make up with your spouse after one or both of you has done or said something terrible....
Except, of course, (a) tribal societies shun or murder those who offend their basic code or honor, and (b) many marriages end because people cannot forgive their spouse’s transgressions. Folks, I apologize for my repeated interruptions. I agree with Megan McArdle. I like Megan McArdle. I want her to like me. So why do I keep interrupting her to make all these niggling little points? But never mind. This is not about my glaring personality defects. Megan McArdle continues:
On the Internet, when all the social context is stripped away and you don’t even have to look at the face of the person you’re being mean to, shame loses its social, restorative function. Shame-storming isn’t punishment. It’s a weapon....
Outrages are identified using the least charitable, most literal possible reading of what someone wrote or did, rather than trying... to think of what they could have meant by it, giving them the benefit of the doubt where two readings are possible. Things that were stupid and thoughtless are turned into deliberate outrages that could only be the work of hardened psychopaths...
But forget whether the shaming is excessive. Does it even work?
To be sure, a lot of folks certainly seem terrified by the possibility of being attacked by roving bands of verbal vigilantes. Yet I notice two things about these fears that raise some questions about the tactic’s usefulness. First of all, the fears are strongest among people who are politically allied with the shame-stormers. And second, the people who are afraid don’t fear being found out for their dark transgressions; they fear being unjustly attacked.
Twitter makes it absurdly easy to shame someone. You barely have to take 30 seconds out of your day to make an outraged comment that will please your friends and hurt the person you’ve targeted....
This sort of tactic may buy silence, though it is likely to be the most effective on people who already agree with you and simply said something infelicitous. What it cannot buy is community, beyond the bonds that build between people who are joined in collective hate.
You can and should read the whole thing. It was that phrase — “people who are joined in collective hate” — which caught my eye in McArdle’s piece, for this reason: Most conservatives cannot comprehend the intensity of hatred that motivates and unites the Left. Any attempt to out-hate them is futile. For example: No matter how much you hate Amanda Marcotte, you can never hate her as much as she hates you.
Amanda Marcotte exudes an all-encompassing hatred from every evil cell of her wicked anatomy. She is also compulsively dishonest, because a vile sadist like Marcotte fears nothing so much as she fears the exposure of her despicable hatefulness. Once you understand that, once you have unlocked the hidden shameful motive of Marcotte’s otherwise mystifying madness, everything else makes sense.
Like I say, “Scratch a feminist and a kook bleeds.”
Also, “Bad causes attract bad people.”
Did you ever notice that people who constantly speak of "oppression" and demand "equality" tend to be sadists with a craving for revenge? — Robert Stacy McCain (@rsmccain) April 21, 2015
Can I inspire @asymmetricinfo to write something about mansplaining? Compared and contrasted to femsplaining, perhaps? — Robert Stacy McCain (@rsmccain) April 21, 2015
So I am grateful to Megan McArdle for her essay on shame-storming, and apologize again for my repeated interruptions. Nobody’s fault but mine.
Share this: Share
Twitter
Facebook
Reddit
CommentsThe outrageous whitewash issued Wednesday by the CIA panel John Brennan hand-picked to lead the investigation into his agency’s spying on Senate staffers is being taken seriously by the elite Washington media, which is solemnly reporting that officials have been “cleared” of any “wrongdoing“.
But what the report really does is provide yet more evidence of Brennan’s extraordinary impunity.
The panel concluded that CIA officials acted reasonably by scouring Senate computer drives in early 2014 when faced with a “potential security breach”. (That “breach” had allowed Senate staffers investigating CIA torture to access, more than three years earlier, a handful of documents Brennan didn’t want them to see.)
But the CIA also released a redacted version of the full report of an earlier investigation by the CIA’s somewhat more independent inspector general’s office. And between the two reports, it is now more clear than ever that Brennan was the prime mover behind a hugely inappropriate assault on the constitutional separation of powers, and continues to get away with it.
Most notably, the official who ran the CIA facility where the Senate staffers had been allowed to set up shop wrote in a memo to the inspector general that Brennan, after speaking with White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough about the errant documents, called him and “emphasized that I was to use whatever means necessary to answer the question of how the documents arrived on the SSCI side of the system.”
SSCI – pronounced “sissy”— is how the CIA refers to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. And “whatever means necessary” quickly turned into a foray into the Senate’s private workspace.
And it was Brennan who made the paramount error in judgement here, when he decided that finding out how a series of embarrassing, revelatory CIA documents found their way into the hands of congressional overseers – really not such a bad thing – was somehow more of a threat to national security than respecting the independence of a separate branch of government, recognizing whose job it is to provide oversight over who, or honoring the spirit of an agreement between the agency and the Senate.
The whitewash was very much by design. Brennan stocked the panel with three CIA staffers and two of the most easily manipulated, consummate Washington insiders you could possibly imagine: former senator Evan Bayh, whose reputation as an unprincipled opportunist is legend; and Bob Bauer, whose lifelong mission has been to raise money for Democrats, not take stands. Then, with in-your-face chutzpah, Brennan called it an “accountability board”.
Far from “clearing” anyone of anything, the panel’s report is just the latest element in a long string of cover-ups and deceptions orchestrated by Brennan.
At issue, of course, is the same intrusion into Senate computers that Brennan initially tried to make people think was a figment of then-Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Dianne Feinstein’s warped imagination. “Nothing could be further from the truth,” Brennan said when confronted with Feinstein’s allegations. “That’s just beyond the — you know, the scope of reason in terms of what we would do.”
But he obviously knew that what he called “spurious allegations… wholly unsupported by facts” were largely true. And while could have argued his real position, he chose instead to deceive.
And behind it all, of course, lies the horrible truth neither Brennan nor the CIA want to admit: That they tortured detainees, many of them innocent, and lied to make people think it was worth it.
Indeed, when Brennan made his first public appearance after the Senate torture report came out, he was unbowed – in fact, actually appeared emboldened. (He also validated the worst fears of torture opponents by saying that the return of torture tactics was a matter for “future policymakers”.)
Senator Ron Wyden, the Democrat from Oregon who has led what little push there is in Congress for accountability in the intelligence community, issued a statement in response to the newly released documents yesterday, saying that “Brennan either needs to reprimand the individuals involved or take responsibility himself. So far he has done neither.”
Wyden also addressed the context:
This episode further illustrates the cumulative corrosive effects of the CIA’s torture program. First, agency officers and contractors went far beyond the limits set out even in the Justice Department’s torture memos. Then, top officials spent a decade making inaccurate statements about torture’s effectiveness to Congress, the White House and the American people. Next, instead of acknowledging these years of misrepresentations, the CIA’s current leadership decided to double down on denial. And when CIA officials were worried that the Intelligence Committee had found a document that contradicted their claims, they secretly searched Senate computer files to find out if Senate investigators had obtained it.
The Brennan panel’s report is well worth a read as a prime example of Washington hair-splitting, obfuscation and sucking up.
For instance, the report argues that Senate staffers had to be aware that the system painstakingly set up for their exclusive use was nevertheless “non-inviolable” (great addition to the Washington lexicon, by the way). Why? Because CIA contractors sometimes helped them with tech support; because they had to click on the CIA’s standard disclaimer warning that the system was for authorized use only and was subject to monitoring; and because the CIA had previously (and scandalously) gotten away with unilaterally removing hundreds of documents from the Senate computer drives, after deciding they were released in error.
Brennan’s “accountability” panel respectfully accepted the position, as stated by one official, that the CIA had a “legal duty to search the SSCI side of the RDINet for the presence of Agency documents to which SSCI staff should not have access.” (The RDINet is what they called the special network the CIA insisted be set up for the Senate staffers; RDI stands for rendition, detention and interrogation.)
Indeed, the panel even swallowed the astonishing argument that the sensitivity of the matter made further action essential — rather than, say, deference to constitutionally significant boundaries:
The fact that the potential security breach involved a co-equal branch of the United States Government added substantially to the complexity and sensitivity of the situation. Great certitude was understandably desired before raising it with the Senate and pursuing formal allegations of wrongdoing.
And the panel concluded that any mistakes made were innocent. For instance, it described how a “misunderstanding” between Brennan and an official whose name was redacted “arose because the former did not appreciate what forensic techniques were necessary to answer his question and the latter did not understand the D/CIA’s expectations that no intrusive methods be employed.” (The D/CIA is the director of the CIA.) (And why is the CIA redacting the names of senior CIA officials, anyway? Most of them, like acting general counsel Robert Eatinger, are hardly undercover.)
CIA officials ended up reading five Senate emails CIA, but “none were of any consequence or involving discussions of substantive matters,” the panel concluded.
The panel’s report can also be seen as Brennan’s total assault on David B. Buckley, the CIA inspector general who wrote the first, highly critical report on the incident – and who suddenly resigned a few days ago and is “out this week” according to his office. The report didn’t just bat down the inspector general’s conclusions as “unsupported”; it belittled them. In a recommendation that simply dripped with contempt, the panel concluded that “it would be better” if the inspector general’s office “kept more complete records of interviews.”
Meanwhile, the full (though redacted) inspector general’s report fleshes out a lot of the details of the previously-released executive summary, which generally concluded that the CIA had improperly accessed the Senate computers.
Now we learn that the documents at the heart of the matter — that have been widely referred to as the Panetta Review — were actually a collection of weekly reports written by the CIA officials who were working with the Senate staffers, keeping then-CIA director Leon Panetta apprised of the information they were turning over. The summaries, reflecting the same information upon which the blistering Senate report was ultimately based, evidently didn’t cast the CIA behavior in a good light.
Feinstein has said the documents were first discovered by committee staff using CIA-provided search tools in 2010. But they evidently didn’t become important to the CIA until years later, when the agency was pushing back against the Senate report’s harrowing conclusions, and realized how the documents were, as Feinstein put it, a “unique and interesting… acknowledgement of significant CIA wrongdoing.”
(The reports conclude that the Google search software the CIA installed at the facility initially gave staffers results from network drives they weren’t supposed to be able to see; and that with the file paths listed, the staffers were then able to poke around the directories. Fine operational security.)
One thing both reports expose is the odd inability of Brennan or other top officials to consistently recall exactly what they had done.
“There is some confusion as to who in Senior Leadership authorized what action and when they issued these directives,” Brennan’s panel acknowledged.
The inspector general was somewhat more blunt:
Due to conflicting information obtained by OIG through the course of the investigation, OIG could not determine whether any of D/CIA Brennan’s senior staff, much less the D/CIA himself, approved any of the taskings.
It’s a particularly odd inability to recall given how Brennan and others were obviously aware of the potential widespread interest in what they were about to do.
At one planning meeting, Brennan clearly demonstrated a concern about how it would look. According to a subordinate’s memo, when Brennan found members of his Counterintelligence Center had become part of the team looking into the issue, he “expressed irritation that CIC was involved in the effort, stating that the ‘optic’ of CIC performing the [REDACTED] work was poor. Several attendees attempted to explain that [REDACTED] but the Director continued to focus on the ‘optics’.”
Photo: Andrew Burton/Getty ImageFour Dallas men filed a lawsuit against IHOP and a local |
lifted in the 1970s. Female footballers still face similar problems in some parts of the world.
Establishment of modern codes
English public schools
While football continued to be played in various forms throughout Britain, its public schools (equivalent to private schools in other countries) are widely credited with four key achievements in the creation of modern football codes. First of all, the evidence suggests that they were important in taking football away from its "mob" form and turning it into an organised team sport. Second, many early descriptions of football and references to it were recorded by people who had studied at these schools. Third, it was teachers, students and former students from these schools who first codified football games, to enable matches to be played between schools. Finally, it was at English public schools that the division between "kicking" and "running" (or "carrying") games first became clear.
The earliest evidence that games resembling football were being played at English public schools – mainly attended by boys from the upper, upper-middle and professional classes – comes from the Vulgaria by William Herman in 1519. Herman had been headmaster at Eton and Winchester colleges and his Latin textbook includes a translation exercise with the phrase "We wyll playe with a ball full of wynde".[46]
Richard Mulcaster, a student at Eton College in the early 16th century and later headmaster at other English schools, has been described as "the greatest sixteenth Century advocate of football".[47] Among his contributions are the earliest evidence of organised team football. Mulcaster's writings refer to teams ("sides" and "parties"), positions ("standings"), a referee ("judge over the parties") and a coach "(trayning maister)". Mulcaster's "footeball" had evolved from the disordered and violent forms of traditional football:
[s]ome smaller number with such overlooking, sorted into sides and standings, not meeting with their bodies so boisterously to trie their strength: nor shouldring or shuffing one an other so barbarously... may use footeball for as much good to the body, by the chiefe use of the legges.[48]
In 1633, David Wedderburn, a teacher from Aberdeen, mentioned elements of modern football games in a short Latin textbook called Vocabula. Wedderburn refers to what has been translated into modern English as "keeping goal" and makes an allusion to passing the ball ("strike it here"). There is a reference to "get hold of the ball", suggesting that some handling was allowed. It is clear that the tackles allowed included the charging and holding of opposing players ("drive that man back").[49]
A more detailed description of football is given in Francis Willughby's Book of Games, written in about 1660.[50] Willughby, who had studied at Bishop Vesey's Grammar School, Sutton Coldfield, is the first to describe goals and a distinct playing field: "a close that has a gate at either end. The gates are called Goals." His book includes a diagram illustrating a football field. He also mentions tactics ("leaving some of their best players to guard the goal"); scoring ("they that can strike the ball through their opponents' goal first win") and the way teams were selected ("the players being equally divided according to their strength and nimbleness"). He is the first to describe a "law" of football: "they must not strike [an opponent's leg] higher than the ball".[citation needed]
English public schools were the first to codify football games. In particular, they devised the first offside rules, during the late 18th century.[51] In the earliest manifestations of these rules, players were "off their side" if they simply stood between the ball and the goal which was their objective. Players were not allowed to pass the ball forward, either by foot or by hand. They could only dribble with their feet, or advance the ball in a scrum or similar formation. However, offside laws began to diverge and develop differently at each school, as is shown by the rules of football from Winchester, Rugby, Harrow and Cheltenham, during between 1810 and 1850.[51] The first known codes – in the sense of a set of rules – were those of Eton in 1815 [52] and Aldenham in 1825.[52])
During the early 19th century, most working class people in Britain had to work six days a week, often for over twelve hours a day. They had neither the time nor the inclination to engage in sport for recreation and, at the time, many children were part of the labour force. Feast day football played on the streets was in decline. Public school boys, who enjoyed some freedom from work, became the inventors of organised football games with formal codes of rules.
Football was adopted by a number of public schools as a way of encouraging competitiveness and keeping youths fit. Each school drafted its own rules, which varied widely between different schools and were changed over time with each new intake of pupils. Two schools of thought developed regarding rules. Some schools favoured a game in which the ball could be carried (as at Rugby, Marlborough and Cheltenham), while others preferred a game where kicking and dribbling the ball was promoted (as at Eton, Harrow, Westminster and Charterhouse). The division into these two camps was partly the result of circumstances in which the games were played. For example, Charterhouse and Westminster at the time had restricted playing areas; the boys were confined to playing their ball game within the school cloisters, making it difficult for them to adopt rough and tumble running games.[citation needed]
William Webb Ellis, a pupil at Rugby School, is said to have "with a fine disregard for the rules of football, as played in his time [emphasis added], first took the ball in his arms and ran with it, thus creating the distinctive feature of the rugby game." in 1823. This act is usually said to be the beginning of Rugby football, but there is little evidence that it occurred, and most sports historians believe the story to be apocryphal. The act of 'taking the ball in his arms' is often misinterpreted as 'picking the ball up' as it is widely believed that Webb Ellis' 'crime' was handling the ball, as in modern soccer, however handling the ball at the time was often permitted and in some cases compulsory,[53] the rule for which Webb Ellis showed disregard was running forward with it as the rules of his time only allowed a player to retreat backwards or kick forwards.
The boom in rail transport in Britain during the 1840s meant that people were able to travel further and with less inconvenience than they ever had before. Inter-school sporting competitions became possible. However, it was difficult for schools to play each other at football, as each school played by its own rules. The solution to this problem was usually that the match be divided into two halves, one half played by the rules of the host "home" school, and the other half by the visiting "away" school.
The modern rules of many football codes were formulated during the mid- or late- 19th century. This also applies to other sports such as lawn bowls, lawn tennis, etc. The major impetus for this was the patenting of the world's first lawnmower in 1830. This allowed for the preparation of modern ovals, playing fields, pitches, grass courts, etc.[54]
Apart from Rugby football, the public school codes have barely been played beyond the confines of each school's playing fields. However, many of them are still played at the schools which created them (see Surviving UK school games below).
Public schools' dominance of sports in the UK began to wane after the Factory Act of 1850, which significantly increased the recreation time available to working class children. Before 1850, many British children had to work six days a week, for more than twelve hours a day. From 1850, they could not work before 6 a.m. (7 a.m. in winter) or after 6 p.m. on weekdays (7 p.m. in winter); on Saturdays they had to cease work at 2 p.m. These changes meant that working class children had more time for games, including various forms of football.
Firsts
Clubs
Sports clubs dedicated to playing football began in the 18th century, for example London's Gymnastic Society which was founded in the mid-18th century and ceased playing matches in 1796.[55][56]
The first documented club to bear in the title a reference to being a 'football club' were called "The Foot-Ball Club" who were located in Edinburgh, Scotland, during the period 1824–41.[57][58] The club forbade tripping but allowed pushing and holding and the picking up of the ball.[58]
In 1845, three boys at Rugby school were tasked with codifying the rules then being used at the school. These were the first set of written rules (or code) for any form of football.[59] This further assisted the spread of the Rugby game.
Competitions
One of the longest running football fixture is the Cordner-Eggleston Cup, contested between Melbourne Grammar School and Scotch College, Melbourne every year since 1858. It is believed by many to also be the first match of Australian rules football, although it was played under experimental rules in its first year. The first football trophy tournament was the Caledonian Challenge Cup, donated by the Royal Caledonian Society of Melbourne, played in 1861 under the Melbourne Rules.[60] The oldest football league is a rugby football competition, the United Hospitals Challenge Cup (1874), while the oldest rugby trophy is the Yorkshire Cup, contested since 1878. The South Australian Football Association (30 April 1877) is the oldest surviving Australian rules football competition. The oldest surviving soccer trophy is the Youdan Cup (1867) and the oldest national football competition is the English FA Cup (1871). The Football League (1888) is recognised as the longest running Association Football league. The first ever international football match took place between sides representing England and Scotland on March 5, 1870 at the Oval under the authority of the FA. The first Rugby international took place in 1871.
Modern balls
Richard Lindon (seen in 1880) is believed to have invented the first footballs with rubber bladders.
In Europe, early footballs were made out of animal bladders, more specifically pig's bladders, which were inflated. Later leather coverings were introduced to allow the balls to keep their shape.[61] However, in 1851, Richard Lindon and William Gilbert, both shoemakers from the town of Rugby (near the school), exhibited both round and oval-shaped balls at the Great Exhibition in London. Richard Lindon's wife is said to have died of lung disease caused by blowing up pig's bladders.[62] Lindon also won medals for the invention of the "Rubber inflatable Bladder" and the "Brass Hand Pump".
In 1855, the U.S. inventor Charles Goodyear – who had patented vulcanised rubber – exhibited a spherical football, with an exterior of vulcanised rubber panels, at the Paris Exhibition Universelle. The ball was to prove popular in early forms of football in the U.S.A.[63]
The iconic ball with a regular pattern of hexagons and pentagons (see truncated icosahedron) did not become popular until the 1960s, and was first used in the World Cup in 1970.
Modern ball passing tactics
The earliest reference to a game of football involving players passing the ball and attempting to score past a goalkeeper was written in 1633 by David Wedderburn, a poet and teacher in Aberdeen, Scotland.[64] Nevertheless, the original text does not state whether the allusion to passing as 'kick the ball back' ('Repercute pilam') was in a forward or backward direction or between members of the same opposing teams (as was usual at this time)[65]
"Scientific" football is first recorded in 1839 from Lancashire[66] and in the modern game in Rugby football from 1862[67] and from Sheffield FC as early as 1865.[68][69] The first side to play a passing combination game was the Royal Engineers AFC in 1869/70[70][71] By 1869 they were "work[ing] well together", "backing up" and benefiting from "cooperation".[72] By 1870 the Engineers were passing the ball: "Lieut. Creswell, who having brought the ball up the side then kicked it into the middle to another of his side, who kicked it through the posts the minute before time was called"[73] Passing was a regular feature of their style[74] By early 1872 the Engineers were the first football team renowned for "play[ing] beautifully together"[75] A double pass is first reported from Derby school against Nottingham Forest in March 1872, the first of which is irrefutably a short pass: "Mr Absey dribbling the ball half the length of the field delivered it to Wallis, who kicking it cleverly in front of the goal, sent it to the captain who drove it at once between the Nottingham posts"[76] The first side to have perfected the modern formation was Cambridge University AFC[77][78][79] and introduced the 2–3–5 "pyramid" formation.[80][81]
Cambridge rules
In 1848, at Cambridge University, Mr. H. de Winton and Mr. J. C. Thring, who were both formerly at Shrewsbury School, called a meeting at Trinity College, Cambridge, with 12 other representatives from Eton, Harrow, Rugby, Winchester and Shrewsbury. An eight-hour meeting produced what amounted to the first set of modern rules, known as the Cambridge rules. No copy of these rules now exists, but a revised version from circa 1856 is held in the library of Shrewsbury School.[82] The rules clearly favour the kicking game. Handling was only allowed when a player catches the ball directly from the foot entitling them to a free kick and there was a primitive offside rule, disallowing players from "loitering" around the opponents' goal. The Cambridge rules were not widely adopted outside English public schools and universities (but it was arguably the most significant influence on the Football Association committee members responsible for formulating the rules of Association football).
Sheffield rules
By the late 1850s, many football clubs had been formed throughout the English-speaking world, to play various codes of football. Sheffield Football Club, founded in 1857 in the English city of Sheffield by Nathaniel Creswick and William Prest, was later recognised as the world's oldest club playing association football. However, the club initially played its own code of football: the Sheffield rules. The code was largely independent of the public school rules, the most significant difference being the lack of an offside rule.
The code was responsible for many innovations that later spread to association football. These included free kicks, corner kicks, handball, throw-ins and the crossbar.[84] By the 1870s they became the dominant code in the north and midlands of England. At this time a series of rule changes by both the London and Sheffield FAs gradually eroded the differences between the two games until the adoption of a common code in 1877.
Australian rules
There is archival evidence of "foot-ball" games being played in various parts of Australia throughout the first half of the 19th century. The origins of an organised game of football known today as Australian rules football can be traced back to 1858 in Melbourne, the capital city of Victoria.
In July 1858, Tom Wills, an Australian-born cricketer educated at Rugby School in England, wrote a letter to Bell's Life in Victoria & Sporting Chronicle, calling for a "foot-ball club" with a "code of laws" to keep cricketers fit during winter.[85] This is considered by historians to be a defining moment in the creation of Australian rules football. Through publicity and personal contacts Wills was able to co-ordinate football matches in Melbourne that experimented with various rules,[86] the first of which was played on July 31, 1858. One week later, Wills umpired a schoolboys match between Melbourne Grammar School and Scotch College. Following these matches, organised football in Melbourne rapidly increased in popularity.
Wood engraving of an Australian rules football match at the Richmond Paddock Melbourne, 1866
Wills and others involved in these early matches formed the Melbourne Football Club (the oldest surviving Australian football club) on May 14, 1859. Club members Wills, William Hammersley, J. B. Thompson and Thomas H. Smith met with the intention of forming a set of rules that would be widely adopted by other clubs. The committee debated rules used in English public school games; Wills pushed for various rugby football rules he learnt during his schooling. The first rules share similarities with these games, and were shaped to suit to Australian conditions. H. C. A. Harrison, a seminal figure in Australian football, recalled that his cousin Wills wanted "a game of our own".[87] The code was distinctive in the prevalence of the mark, free kick, tackling, lack of an offside rule and that players were specifically penalised for throwing the ball.
The Melbourne football rules were widely distributed and gradually adopted by the other Victorian clubs. The rules were updated several times during the 1860s to accommodate the rules of other influential Victorian football clubs. A significant redraft in 1866 by H. C. A. Harrison's committee accommodated the Geelong Football Club's rules, making the game then known as "Victorian Rules" increasingly distinct from other codes. It soon adopted cricket fields and an oval ball, used specialised goal and behind posts, and featured bouncing the ball while running and spectacular high marking. The game spread quickly to other Australian colonies. Outside its heartland in southern Australia, the code experienced a significant period of decline following World War I but has since grown throughout Australia and in other parts of the world, and the Australian Football League emerged as the dominant professional competition.
During the early 1860s, there were increasing attempts in England to unify and reconcile the various public school games. In 1862, J. C. Thring, who had been one of the driving forces behind the original Cambridge Rules, was a master at Uppingham School and he issued his own rules of what he called "The Simplest Game" (these are also known as the Uppingham Rules). In early October 1863 another new revised version of the Cambridge Rules was drawn up by a seven member committee representing former pupils from Harrow, Shrewsbury, Eton, Rugby, Marlborough and Westminster.
At the Freemasons' Tavern, Great Queen Street, London on the evening of October 26, 1863, representatives of several football clubs in the London Metropolitan area met for the inaugural meeting of The Football Association (FA). The aim of the Association was to establish a single unifying code and regulate the playing of the game among its members. Following the first meeting, the public schools were invited to join the association. All of them declined, except Charterhouse and Uppingham. In total, six meetings of the FA were held between October and December 1863. After the third meeting, a draft set of rules were published. However, at the beginning of the fourth meeting, attention was drawn to the recently published Cambridge Rules of 1863. The Cambridge rules differed from the draft FA rules in two significant areas; namely running with (carrying) the ball and hacking (kicking opposing players in the shins). The two contentious FA rules were as follows:
IX. A player shall be entitled to run with the ball towards his adversaries' goal if he makes a fair catch, or catches the ball on the first bound; but in case of a fair catch, if he makes his mark he shall not run.
X. If any player shall run with the ball towards his adversaries' goal, any player on the opposite side shall be at liberty to charge, hold, trip or hack him, or to wrest the ball from him, but no player shall be held and hacked at the same time.[88]
At the fifth meeting it was proposed that these two rules be removed. Most of the delegates supported this, but F. M. Campbell, the representative from Blackheath and the first FA treasurer, objected. He said: "hacking is the true football". However, the motion to ban running with the ball in hand and hacking was carried and Blackheath withdrew from the FA. After the final meeting on 8 December, the FA published the "Laws of Football", the first comprehensive set of rules for the game later known as Association Football. The term "soccer", in use since the late 19th century, derives from an Oxford University abbreviation of "Association".[89]
The first FA rules still contained elements that are no longer part of association football, but which are still recognisable in other games (such as Australian football and rugby football): for instance, a player could make a fair catch and claim a mark, which entitled him to a free kick; and if a player touched the ball behind the opponents' goal line, his side was entitled to a free kick at goal, from 15 yards (13.5 metres) in front of the goal line.
A rugby scrum in 1871
In Britain, by 1870, there were about 75 clubs playing variations of the Rugby school game. There were also "rugby" clubs in Ireland, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. However, there was no generally accepted set of rules for rugby until 1871, when 21 clubs from London came together to form the Rugby Football Union (RFU). The first official RFU rules were adopted in June 1871. These rules allowed passing the ball. They also included the try, where touching the ball over the line allowed an attempt at goal, though drop-goals from marks and general play, and penalty conversions were still the main form of contest.
As was the case in Britain, by the early 19th century, North American schools and universities played their own local games, between sides made up of students. For example, students at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire played a game called Old division football, a variant of the association football codes, as early as the 1820s.[90] They remained largely "mob football" style games, with huge numbers of players attempting to advance the ball into a goal area, often by any means necessary. Rules were simple, violence and injury were common.[91] The violence of these mob-style games led to widespread protests and a decision to abandon them. Yale University, under pressure from the city of New Haven, banned the play of all forms of football in 1860, while Harvard University followed suit in 1861.[91] In its place, two general types of football evolved: "kicking" games and "running" (or "carrying") games. A hybrid of the two, known as the "Boston game", was played by a group known as the Oneida Football Club. The club, considered by some historians as the first formal football club in the United States, was formed in 1862 by schoolboys who played the "Boston game" on Boston Common.[91][92] The game began to return to American college campuses by the late 1860s. The universities of Yale, Princeton (then known as the College of New Jersey), Rutgers, and Brown all began playing "kicking" games during this time. In 1867, Princeton used rules based on those of the English Football Association.[91]
In Canada, the first documented football match was a practice game played on November 9, 1861, at University College, University of Toronto (approximately 400 yards west of Queen's Park). One of the participants in the game involving University of Toronto students was (Sir) William Mulock, later Chancellor of the school.[94] In 1864, at Trinity College, Toronto, F. Barlow Cumberland, Frederick A. Bethune, and Christopher Gwynn, one of the founders of Milton, Massachusetts, devised rules based on rugby football.[94] A "running game", resembling rugby football, was then taken up by the Montreal Football Club in Canada in 1868.
On November 6, 1869, Rutgers faced Princeton in a game that was played with a round ball and, like all early games, used improvised rules. It is usually regarded as the first game of American intercollegiate football.[91][96]
Modern North American football grew out of a match between McGill University of Montreal and Harvard University in 1874. During the game, the two teams alternated between the rugby-based rules used by McGill and the Boston Game rules used by Harvard.[97][98][99] Within a few years, Harvard had both adopted McGill's rules and had persuaded other U.S. university teams to do the same. On November 23, 1876, representatives from Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Columbia met at the Massasoit Convention in Springfield, Massachusetts, agreeing to adopt most of the Rugby Football Union rules, with some variations.[100]
Rutgers College Football Team, 1882
In 1880, Yale coach Walter Camp, who had become a fixture at the Massasoit House conventions where the rules were debated and changed, devised a number of major innovations. Camp's two most important rule changes that diverged the American game from rugby were replacing the scrummage with the line of scrimmage and the establishment of the down-and-distance rules.[100] American football still however remained a violent sport where collisions often led to serious injuries and sometimes even death.[101] This led U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt to hold a meeting with football representatives from Harvard, Yale, and Princeton on October 9, 1905, urging them to make drastic changes.[102] One rule change introduced in 1906, devised to open up the game and reduce injury, was the introduction of the legal forward pass. Though it was underutilised for years, this proved to be one of the most important rule changes in the establishment of the modern game.[103]
Over the years, Canada absorbed some of the developments in American football in an effort to distinguish it from a more rugby-oriented game. In 1903, the Ontario Rugby Football Union adopted the Burnside rules, which implemented the line of scrimmage and down-and-distance system from American football, among others.[104] Canadian football then implemented the legal forward pass in 1929.[105] American and Canadian football remain different codes, stemming from rule changes that the American side of the border adopted but the Canadian side has not.
In the mid-19th century, various traditional football games, referred to collectively as caid, remained popular in Ireland, especially in County Kerry. One observer, Father W. Ferris, described two main forms of caid during this period: the "field game" in which the object was to put the ball through arch-like goals, formed from the boughs of two trees; and the epic "cross-country game" which took up most of the daylight hours of a Sunday on which it was played, and was won by one team taking the ball across a parish boundary. "Wrestling", "holding" opposing players, and carrying the ball were all allowed.
By the 1870s, Rugby and Association football had started to become popular in Ireland. Trinity College, Dublin was an early stronghold of Rugby (see the Developments in the 1850s section, above). The rules of the English FA were being distributed widely. Traditional forms of caid had begun to give way to a "rough-and-tumble game" which allowed tripping.
There was no serious attempt to unify and codify Irish varieties of football, until the establishment of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) in 1884. The GAA sought to promote traditional Irish sports, such as hurling and to reject imported games like Rugby and Association football. The first Gaelic football rules were drawn up by Maurice Davin and published in the United Ireland magazine on February 7, 1887. Davin's rules showed the influence of games such as hurling and a desire to formalise a distinctly Irish code of football. The prime example of this differentiation was the lack of an offside rule (an attribute which, for many years, was shared only by other Irish games like hurling, and by Australian rules football).
An English cartoon from the 1890s lampooning the divide in rugby football which led to the formation of rugby league. The caricatures are of Rev. Frank Marshall, an arch-opponent of player payments, and James Miller, a long-time opponent of Marshall. The caption reads: Marshall: "Oh, fie, go away naughty boy, I don't play with boys who can’t afford to take a holiday for football any day they like!" Miller: "Yes, that's just you to a T; you’d make it so that no lad whose father wasn’t a millionaire could play at all in a really good team. For my part I see no reason why the men who make the money shouldn’t have a share in the spending of it."
The International Rugby Football Board (IRFB) was founded in 1886, but rifts were beginning to emerge in the code. Professionalism had already begun to creep into the various codes of football.
In England, by the 1890s, a long-standing Rugby Football Union ban on professional players was causing regional tensions within rugby football, as many players in northern England were working class and could not afford to take time off to train, travel, play and recover from injuries. This was not very different from what had occurred ten years earlier in soccer in Northern England but the authorities reacted very differently in the RFU, attempting to alienate the working class support in Northern England. In 1895, following a dispute about a player being paid broken time payments, which replaced wages lost as a result of playing rugby, representatives of the northern clubs met in Huddersfield to form the Northern Rugby Football Union (NRFU). The new body initially permitted only various types of player wage replacements. However, within two years, NRFU players could be paid, but they were required to have a job outside sport.
The demands of a professional league dictated that rugby had to become a better "spectator" sport. Within a few years the NRFU rules had started to diverge from the RFU, most notably with the abolition of the line-out. This was followed by the replacement of the ruck with the "play-the-ball ruck", which allowed a two-player ruck contest between the tackler at marker and the player tackled. Mauls were stopped once the ball carrier was held, being replaced by a play-the ball-ruck. The separate Lancashire and Yorkshire competitions of the NRFU merged in 1901, forming the Northern Rugby League, the first time the name rugby league was used officially in England.
Over time, the RFU form of rugby, played by clubs which remained members of national federations affiliated to the IRFB, became known as rugby union.
The need for a single body to oversee association football had become apparent by the beginning of the 20th century, with the increasing popularity of international fixtures. The English Football Association had chaired many discussions on setting up an international body, but was perceived as making no progress. It fell to associations from seven other European countries: France, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland, to form an international association. The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) was founded in Paris on May 21, 1904. Its first president was Robert Guérin. The French name and acronym has remained, even outside French-speaking countries.
Further divergence of the two rugby codes
Rugby league rules diverged significantly from rugby union in 1906, with the reduction of the team from 15 to 13 players. In 1907, a New Zealand professional rugby team toured Australia and Britain, receiving an enthusiastic response, and professional rugby leagues were launched in Australia the following year. However, the rules of professional games varied from one country to another, and negotiations between various national bodies were required to fix the exact rules for each international match. This situation endured until 1948, when at the instigation of the French league, the Rugby League International Federation (RLIF) was formed at a meeting in Bordeaux.
During the second half of the 20th century, the rules changed further. In 1966, rugby league officials borrowed the American football concept of downs: a team was allowed to retain possession of the ball for four tackles (rugby union retains the original rule that a player who is tackled and brought to the ground must release the ball immediately). The maximum number of tackles was later increased to six (in 1971), and in rugby league this became known as the six tackle rule.
With the advent of full-time professionals in the early 1990s, and the consequent speeding up of the game, the five metre off-side distance between the two teams became 10 metres, and the replacement rule was superseded by various interchange rules, among other changes.
The laws of rugby union also changed during the 20th century, although less significantly than those of rugby league. In particular, goals from marks were abolished, kicks directly into touch from outside the 22 metre line were penalised, new laws were put in place to determine who had possession following an inconclusive ruck or maul, and the lifting of players in line-outs was legalised.
In 1995, rugby union became an "open" game, that is one which allowed professional players.[106] Although the original dispute between the two codes has now disappeared – and despite the fact that officials from both forms of rugby football have sometimes mentioned the possibility of re-unification – the rules of both codes and their culture have diverged to such an extent that such an event is unlikely in the foreseeable future.
The word football, when used in reference to a specific game can mean any one of those described above. Because of this, much friendly controversy has occurred over the term football, primarily because it is used in different ways in different parts of the English-speaking world. Most often, the word "football" is used to refer to the code of football that is considered dominant within a particular region. So, effectively, what the word "football" means usually depends on where one says it.
Heading from The Sportsman (London) front page of 25 November 1910, illustrating the continued use of the word "football" to encompass both association football and rugby
In each of the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada, one football code is known solely as "football", while the others generally require a qualifier. In New Zealand, "football" historically referred to rugby union, but more recently may be used unqualified to refer to association football. The sport meant by the word "football" in Australia is either Australian rules football or rugby league, depending on local popularity (which largely conforms to the Barassi Line). In francophone Quebec, where Canadian football is more popular, the Canadian code is known as le football while American football is known as le football américain and association football is known as le soccer.[107] Of the 45 national FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) affiliates in which English is an official or primary language, most currently use Football in their organisations' official names; the FIFA affiliates in Canada and the United States use Soccer in their names. A few FIFA affiliates have recently "normalised" to using "Football", including:
Popularity
Several of the football codes are the most popular team sports in the world.[10] Globally, association football is played by over 250 million players in over 200 nations,[112] and has the highest television audience in sport,[113] making it the most popular in the world,[114] American football, with 1.1 million high school football players and nearly 70,000 college football players, is the most popular sport in the United States,[115][116] with the annual Super Bowl game accounting for nine of the top ten of the most watched broadcasts in U.S. television history.[117] Australian rules football has the highest spectator attendance of all sports in Australia.[118][119] Similarly, Gaelic football is the most popular sport in Ireland in terms of match attendance,[120] and the All-Ireland Football Final is the most watched event of that nation's sporting year.[121]
Present day codes and families
An indoor soccer game at an open-air venue in Mexico. The referee has just awarded the red team a free kick.
Street football, Venice (1960)
These codes have in common the prohibition of the use of hands (by all players except the goalkeeper), unlike other codes where carrying or handling the ball is allowed
The hockey game bandy has rules partly based on the association football rules and is sometimes nicknamed as 'winter football'.
There are also motorsport variations of the game.
These codes have in common the ability of players to carry the ball with their hands, and to throw it to teammates, unlike association football where the use of hands is prohibited by anyone except the goal keeper. They also feature various methods of scoring based upon whether the ball is carried into the goal area, or kicked through a target.
Irish and Australian varieties
These codes have in common the absence of an offside rule, the prohibition of continuous carrying of the ball (requiring a periodic bounce or solo (toe-kick), depending on the code) while running, handpassing by punching or tapping the ball rather than throwing it, and other traditions.
Surviving medieval ball games
Inside the UK
Outside the UK
Calcio Fiorentino – a modern revival of Renaissance football from 16th century Florence.
– a modern revival of Renaissance football from 16th century Florence. la Soule – a modern revival of French medieval football
– a modern revival of French medieval football lelo burti – a Georgian traditional football game
Surviving UK school games
Games still played at UK public (independent) schools:
Recent inventions and hybrid games
Keepie uppie (keep up) – the art of juggling with a football using the feet, knees, chest, shoulders, and head. Footbag – several variations using a small bean bag or sand bag as a ball, the trade marked term hacky sack is sometimes used as a generic synonym. Freestyle football – participants are graded for their entertainment value and expression of skill.
Based on FA rules
Based on rugby
Force ’em backs a.k.a. forcing back, forcemanback
Hybrid games
Note: although similar to football and volleyball in some aspects, Sepak takraw has ancient origins and cannot be considered a hybrid game.
Tabletop games, video games and other recreations
See also
Notes
ReferencesThe Obama administration has put forward a plan to allow oil and natural gas drilling off the Atlantic Coast for the first time.
The administration's proposal, released by the Interior Department Tuesday morning, would make a drilling lease available for federally-owned |
an interview with NPR's Michel Martin last month, Hawkins stood by her statement, saying, first of all, it was primarily an expression of solidarity — not an attempt to challenge any theology.
LISTEN: Hawkins On 'Weekends On All Things Considered' Listen · 4:55 4:55
But she also said that saying Christians and Muslims are people of the book, with a shared God, doesn't contradict evangelical faith.
She was never denying differences between the two faiths, she says.
"They're two different religions. And we diverge on questions of salvation, soteriology — how do you get to God? — and also on questions of Christology — who is Christ?" Hawkins said.
"I can't intuit... how they deem me inconsistent with the statement of faith... when Wheaton College['s] president and provost and an adjunct faculty member in 2007 signed a statement saying exactly what I said — that Muslims and Christians are people of the book, we worship the God of Abraham."
(As NPR's Tom Gjelten reported in December, the Catholic Church and most mainstream Muslims agree that Christians and Muslims share the same God. But evangelicals are divided on the question.)
In her interview with Michel Martin, Hawkins said she wanted to remain at Wheaton.
"I have spent most of my adult career committed to being a professor, a scholar and doing so in a Christian context, where I can live out my beliefs but continue to push my students towards rigorous scholarship in this evangelical environment," Hawkins told Martin. "And so I'm known on campus for challenging people to think outside of the box, and presumably that's why Wheaton wanted me."
She was originally scheduled for a hearing late next week to determine whether she would be terminated.
Instead, on Saturday night the professor and the college released a joint statement saying they have "found a mutual place of resolution and reconciliation" and "reached a confidential agreement under which they will part ways."The image is bleak — a polar bear has its throat circled by bloody wounds from what appears to be a too-tight radio collar around its neck.
The photo was taken in Kaktovik in eastern Alaska, along the coast of the southern Beaufort Sea, said Susan Adie, a naturalist and guide who forwarded a copy of the image making the rounds on social media.
The photographer wishes to remain anonymous out of concern for her local guide's ability to work with U.S. Fish and Wildlife, Adie said, but the person told Adie it's not the first time a bear has been seen in such a plight.
"The photographer has travelled to this place many times," Adie wrote in an email. "The report back to me is that they have seen examples of these collars that are too tight on bears every time they have been to Kaktovik [over four years].
"Each year, the local people complain about the collars. However, the people who organize these photo opportunities are afraid to speak up for fear of losing their licence to operate."
Collar injuries rare
Geoff York, senior director of conservation for Polar Bears International, said he knows about the bear in the photo and has reached out to the U.S. Geological Service and the University of Alberta to see who might have led work on the animals in that area.
"My guess is that a crew is probably waiting to go up there and remove the collar," he said from Churchill, Man.
"Having worked for the USGS for 12 years doing polar bear research in the North, these sorts of injuries are rare, which is not to say it's OK. We want to see this issue resolved soon."
The people who placed the collar, not the manufacturer, should be blamed for the bear's plight, said Vince Crichton, a Winnipeg wildlife biologist who worked for the wildlife protection branch of Manitoba Conservation for 40 years.
"It's the individuals that put it on," he said. "Just looking at how tight that collar is, it would appear they didn't recognize that there would be an increase in the neck circumference of this male polar bear."
Neck grows during the fall
Male animals, including moose, deer, elk and caribou, have necks that grow in circumference during the fall breeding season, Crichton explained.
When he was doing caribou research, a bull caribou in eastern Manitoba added 30 centimetres to its neck circumference in 45 days, he said.
Wildlife biologist Paul Paquet admitted he's attached radio collars that have ended up injuring animals.
"There is no doubt that the capture and handling of wild animals has an effect on their behaviour and physiology," he wrote in an email.
"Most studies now abide by established rules that were instituted in response to scientific misconduct by governments and academics. They stipulate that an independent ethics committee must review research involving animals before the start of any experiment.... Non-invasive methods of conducting wildlife research are now gaining prominence."LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 18: Actor Patton Oswalt arrives to the Los Angeles Premiere of 'Nature Calls' held at the Downtown Independent Theatre on October 18, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Paul A. Hebert/FilmMagic)
Patton Oswalt posted this message to his Facebook page yesterday and it instantly went viral. With his kind permission, it is reprinted in full here.
Boston. Fucking horrible.
I remember, when 9/11 went down, my reaction was, "Well, I've had it with humanity."
But I was wrong. I don't know what's going to be revealed to be behind all of this mayhem -- one human insect or a poisonous mass of broken sociopaths.
But here's what I DO know. If it's one person or a HUNDRED people, that number is not even a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a percent of the population on this planet. You watch the videos of the carnage and there are people running TOWARDS the destruction to help out. (Thanks FAKE Gallery founder and owner Paul Kozlowski for pointing this out to me). This is a giant planet and we're lucky to live on it but there are prices and penalties incurred for the daily miracle of existence. One of them is, every once in a while, the wiring of a tiny sliver of the species gets snarled and they're pointed towards darkness.
But the vast majority stands against that darkness and, like white blood cells attacking a virus, they dilute and weaken and eventually wash away the evildoers and, more importantly, the damage they wreak. This is beyond religion or creed or nation. We would not be here if humanity were inherently evil. We'd have eaten ourselves alive long ago.Stan Herd is an exceptional artist from America. Over the last thirty years, he did not create a single picture using paints and brush. While creating his masterpieces, he uses only seedlings of various plants and agricultural tools. It helps him to transform this field into a masterpiece of art. To see these creations you will have to climb higher and preferably up to a height of bird flight, but believe these efforts will reward you.
The author calls his paintings "earthworks". The works of Stan Herd are very diverse; you can find the landscape, portrait, and still life paintings. The pictures are so tight-knit and consist of a large number of parts. It is difficult to imagine how much work and time he spent to create it. Not every author can create so elegant and beautiful even on paper. It is attractive that Stan has never repeated any work for over thirty years of creating! To our pleasure he does not have any plans to stop!The National AIDS Trust (NAT) is calling on the NHS to allow people with HIV to start treatment early in order to protect their sexual partners after two leading HIV clinical bodies – the British HIV Association (BHIVA) and the Expert Advisory Group on AIDS (EAGA) – authoritatively set out the scientific basis for HIV treatment as prevention.
In a statement on Tuesday, BHIVA and EAGA stated how treatment as prevention reduces HIV transmissions. By using HIV drugs to reduce the levels of the virus in their system people with HIV can become virtually non-infectious.
Deborah Jack, chief executive of NAT said: “A number of people with HIV want to start treatment early to lessen the chances of passing the virus on, meaning less worry for them but also fewer HIV transmissions, saving the NHS many hundreds of thousands of pounds.
“NAT approached BHIVA and EAGA to investigate the scientific basis for treatment as prevention. It’s great to see this work come to fruition and to see these respected medical bodies endorse treatment as a way to tackle the rising numbers of people living with HIV in the UK.
Ms Jack added: “We now call on the NHS Commissioning Board to accept these respected agencies’ recommendations and provide HIV treatment early to all those who wish to start it. This will provide important reassurance for many people living with HIV. It also highlights the need for society’s understanding of HIV to change and keep up with medical developments.”
Ms Jack concluded: “As a matter of urgency we need to reduce undiagnosed HIV and maximise the proportion of people with HIV who are tested, and accessing good quality treatment and care. At a time of such massive change within the NHS it is imperative that the newly created Public Health England ensures we don’t lose ground on HIV testing but rather make further and significant progress in getting everyone with HIV diagnosed and into treatment and care.”
According to the most recent figures from the Health Protection Agency, 3,010 gay and bisexual men tested positive for HIV in 2011, the highest ever number of HIV diagnoses among the group.This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: We’re on the road in Vienna, Austria, broadcasting from the studios of Okto TV. That’s Okto Community Television. As the movie Citizenfour about National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden opens in theaters today in the United States, we look at the impact of Snowden’s leaks on the debate over online privacy here in Europe.
The Austrian newspaper Der Standard reports that Vienna, which has a Cold War reputation as the spying capital of the world, may now be home to a major surveillance operation by the NSA. The paper cites documents released by Snowden that suggest the NSA tapped networks run by the company Telecom Austria and the University of Vienna in order to access nearly 70 percent of telecommunications in the Austrian capital, which is home to thousands of diplomats from around the world. Earlier this year, Germany ordered the [removal of a] top U.S. intelligence official in the country after leaks from Snowden showed the United States was monitoring the communications of millions of Germans and tapping Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cellphone. The German government also ended its contract with Verizon for cooperating with the NSA in spying on Germans.
Meanwhile, in a victory for digital privacy, in April, the European Court of Justice struck down a rule that required telecommunication companies to store the communications data of European Union citizens for up to two years. The ruling happened on the same day Edward Snowden addressed the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe via video link from Russia. This is a clip.
EDWARD SNOWDEN: Mass surveillance, where we place everybody under constant monitoring, where we watch communications, we watch what books you buy, we watch the purchases you make, we watch your travels, we watch your associations, we watch who you love, and we watch who you are, we watch you develop as a person—these are not the values of Western societies. These are not the values of liberal societies. And I do not believe that America, as a nation, or the West, as a culture, would allow them to continue.
AMY GOODMAN: That’s Edward Snowden addressing the European Court of Justice in April—on the same day a court struck down a rule requiring telecommunication companies to store the communications data of European Union citizens for up to two years.
To talk more about online privacy rights in Europe after Snowden, we’re joined by Andreas Krisch, president of European Digital Rights.
Welcome to Democracy Now!, Andreas.
ANDREAS KRISCH: Thank you.
AMY GOODMAN: Talk about the whole issue today.
ANDREAS KRISCH: Well, we live in a world of mass surveillance. We have to understand that every piece of communication that we do—is it online, is it via telephone or whatever—is going to be stored and analyzed by somebody. It is, on the one hand, the U.S., the NSA, but also European intelligence agencies like the GCHQ in U.K. or the German BND and a lot of others. And this is something that we need to stop. This is something that we need to work to re-establish our fundamental rights to privacy and for secret communication. And the court case in Luxembourg on mandatory data retention of telecommunication data was one of the big victories we had recently on this quest.
AMY GOODMAN: What was that victory? And explain for laypeople, who may not even—who have trouble even, you know, on a computer or haven’t been on a computer.
ANDREAS KRISCH: Yeah. Well, basically, in 2006, the European Union introduced a law that required telecommunication providers—so, mobile phone providers, fixed-line phone providers, Internet service providers—to record every communication between people, so who is talking to whom, not the contents of the communication, but the fact—
AMY GOODMAN: The metadata.
ANDREAS KRISCH: —that person A is communicating with person B, and how long this lasts and so on. And this information, this metadata, had to be stored for up to two years, between six months and two years. And we fought that from the very beginning and have been quite unsuccessful for some years. But finally, when it was introduced in Austria, because every member state of the European Union has to transfer—to implement this piece of legislation into their own jurisdiction, and when this was done in Austria, we started a constitution court case on that. And together with 11,138 others, we made a complaint, and this was referred to the European Court of Justice, who then ruled that this is in violation of our fundamental rights that are enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, therefore the European piece of legislation was annulled. This is the first time in history that a European legislation was annulled entirely and not only in pieces. And following that, also the Austrian Constitutional Court ruled that the Austrian implementation of this law is invalid and is also in violation of fundamental rights of Austrian citizens.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about the significance of Edward Snowden’s revelations and how they’ve impacted this debate? In the United States, President Obama has said—you know, well, of course, Edward Snowden has been charged and wanted in the United States to face charges, but he has said this discussion would be happening without Snowden. Is that true?
ANDREAS KRISCH: Well, I think that the main thing that Edward Snowden did to the world is to provide evidence on things that we were suspicious about previously that they might happen, and now we do know it. We do have the facts from the documents from the NSA, from the GCHQ and other organizations, and therefore we know what we are talking about, that every piece of communication is being monitored. And this is the thing that needs to be addressed, and I think there is no other way than to have a democratic debate about how much of surveillance we are able and willing to accept in our societies and how far we can do such things in democracies, because it goes to the heart of democracy, if you are no longer able to communicate freely to say what you think and do that without having the fear of being monitored and having this being held against you. And I think this is the important discussion that we need to lead, and this was started by Edward Snowden, and this is a huge thing that he did to the world and to the society, I think.
AMY GOODMAN: And can you talk about the documents that were released around what’s happened here, the Austrian newspaper Der Standard reporting that Vienna, who has the reputation of being the spy capital of the world, may now be home to a major surveillance operation by the NSA, talking about tapping networks run by the company Telecom Austria and the University of Vienna, accessing what, some 70 percent of telecommunications in the Austrian capital?
ANDREAS KRISCH: Well, there is no fixed proof of that, as far as I know, but we do have the suspicion, and it is clear from the NSA documents that Austria plays a major role in this network of surveillance. Austria is named the [inaudible] partner of the U.S. in these operations, and so we do know that there is something going on. And I think the main question is: What is the role of Austrian companies in this, and also what is the role of U.S. companies in this? Because networks are not only provided by Austrian companies, but there are also companies from third countries involved in networking, and so we need to see what their role is and if there is maybe a leak.
AMY GOODMAN: What message do you have, as president of European Digital Rights, to people in the United States around this debate?
ANDREAS KRISCH: I think what we need to do globally—in the U.S. and in Europe and elsewhere—is to stand up for our rights, our rights to privacy, our fundamental rights of freedom of communication, freedom of expression. And I think that we need an informed debate about what intelligence agencies are doing now and where the limits to their activities are. And we need to be very clear about that. And as far as the relation between the European Union and the U.S. is concerned, I think that we first need to agree that fundamental rights, as they are recognized in the European Union in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, need to be accepted and agreed on by the U.S. before we can talk about any exchange of data and about any replacements or improvements of the Safe Harbor agreement that covers data protection in data transfers between the EU and U.S. So, there is a lot of work ahead, and there is really a massive problem with trust in the relationships now.
AMY GOODMAN: Andreas Krisch, I want to thank you for being with us, president of European Digital Rights, obviously a discussion we will continue.Credit: WWE.com
Long before he walked out to the ring in front of thousands of WWE fans through smoke bathed in blue light with a wide-brimmed hat obscuring his face, Undertaker was Mark Calaway, a redheaded powerhouse in the paint.
Calaway drained bank shots and protected the rim for Texas Wesleyan University. When a European scout offered him a shot to play professional basketball in France, he instead chose to chase a career in the squared circle. Calaway pursued pro wrestling over hoops, a move that surprised his coach and teammates.
There were signs during his days as a basketball big man, though, that he was born to be a wrestler.
First of all, at 6'9", Calaway had the size to join the grappling gang. There was a presence beyond that which foreshadowed the path he ultimately took. A cold stare or a beastly sneer from the young man was enough to inspire one to back away.
In 1983, Calaway graduated from Houston's Waltrip High School, where he played well enough to attract attention from Angelina College in Lufkin, Texas.
Calaway would then play for Tommy Collins at St. Thomas in Houston. That school, however, dropped its hoops program before the 1985-86 season. Collins told scouts and coaches to come see his kids play.
Texas Wesleyan coach Richard Hoogendoorn accepted the invitation.
Hoogendoorn needed a post man, and Calaway's strength, physique and touch on the ball impressed him enough to recruit the kid. Calaway started for the NCAA Division II school, wearing No. 33 as he patrolled the paint.
Big Man Running
Before every season, Coach Hoogendoorn had his players undergo a conditioning test. The rules were simple: Complete a two-mile run in 12 minutes or less.
Calaway and some of his fellow post men couldn't pull off that time. As athletic as he was, Calaway was carrying a 6'9" frame that was ideal for plugging up the paint, but not for running.
As Hoogendoorn described him, Calaway was simply "a large human being."
The price for failing the test was to wake up before the sun rose, running in front of the coach's car at a local park. Headlights pointed at Calaway as he jogged, the vehicle urging him along. Coach Hoogendoorn remembered that Calaway wasn't the least bit happy about this arrangement.
"He was not a morning person," Hoogendoorn said.
Calaway worked and worked until he sufficiently trimmed down his time. His coach at TWU remembers he was a hard worker overall. When he wasn't running laps at dawn, he was putting in the work to collect rebounds or shake off defenders.
He was no statue down by the basket.
Teammate Dan Mikals recalled him as "very athletic." Victor Spencer, a guard for the Rams during Calaway's year at the school, noted that Calaway was quick to get the ball out after each possession. Strong footwork, good coordination and power helped him make an impact on the court.
Working against the other Division II forwards and centers, Calaway often had his way in the middle.
Courtesy of Texas Wesleyan University
He would later bulk up plenty for his stint as a wrestler but was working out often at this age, already a beefy, solid mass who was hard to move from his spot.
Mikals said the team's enforcer was a "giant among boys out there."
Calaway was an intimidating presence and, in Spencer's words, "a hell of a power player." This was about more than his build. The toughness that would later serve him well in his next career helped him in basketball. "He didn't back down from anybody," Mikals said.
The man who would become the Deadman could shoot too.
Coach Hoogendoorn remembered he had a nice touch on the ball. Calaway was more of a forward than a back-to-the-basket center, relying on a bank shot and a consistent 15-footer.
Even when he broke a finger on his dominant hand, he continued to make buckets. The injury forced him to use his left hand more. He ended up being more productive as a result.
As Spencer put it, "That just made him even better."
Calaway endeared himself to his teammates through his work in the post. Off the court, he was a jokester. That could either mean issuing witty one-liners or smacking someone in the back of the head. He was a key part of what Spencer called a "tight-knit, family-type team."
Hearing that, it's not surprising to learn Calaway sometimes got in trouble with the coaches.
In February of 1986, the Rams waited at a hotel, preparing to face Wayland Baptist University in Plainview, Texas, the next day. Snow smothered the ground outside. Coach Hoogendoorn set what he described as a "reasonable" curfew.
When he went to check on his boys, however, he found Calaway's room empty. The big man was quickly discovered fully clothed hiding behind a shower curtain in the bathroom.
The team was in the midst of a state tournament, with a berth in the national tourney on the line. Still, Coach Hoogendoorn decided to teach Calaway a lesson.
In a flashback to the beginning of the season, No. 33 was out running in the early morning again.
This time, his feet stabbed freshly fallen snow. The coach waited in the hotel lobby, watching his player circle the building after each lap.
The night clerk noticed Calaway and his fellow curfew-breakers. She went up to the coach and, as he recalls, said to him, "Your kids are so dedicated. They played last night, and here two of them are running in the snow."
Flashes of Ferocity
During practice one day, Calaway collided with another player in the trenches. The crowded paint brought the Rams center and Nick Lackovich uncomfortably close to each other. An errant elbow nailed Lackovich.
Spencer recalled the blow angered Lackovich to the point that he struck Calaway. His courage quickly dissipated, however, as the smaller player then darted away.
To protect himself, Lackovich picked up a folding chair. Every time Calaway drew near, Lackovich would hold up the chair, as if to signal he wasn't afraid to wield it as a weapon.
A No Disqualification match was about to break out on the hardwood.
But nothing came of it. These kinds of scuffles happened from time to time, but they didn't turn into much.
"Everybody had their own moment with him," Spencer said.
Coach Hoogendoorn remembered one such moment, one that ended in a striking image of Calaway pinning prey to the floor. The forwards and centers worked at one end of the court while the coach instructed the guards at the other.
Hoogendoorn heard a commotion at one point and turned around to see Calaway atop another post player, one 6'9" beast towering over another. Calaway stood over his fellow big man with his foot pressed to his teammate's neck. The coaches pulled the young men off each other before it escalated further.
Coach Hoogendoorn didn't remember what the catalyst for that explosion was, but he can't shake that picture from his memory, even 30-plus years later.
For Mikals, his own story of Calaway's aggressive side came off the court.
The two friends were traveling together, Mikals driving Calaway's car down a country road. The right turn signal wasn't working, but Mikals didn't realize that when he tried to signal a move into the right lane.
As a result, the man in the car behind him swerved off the road. In the aftermath of the near-accident, the driver emerged from his vehicle enraged. His cursing quickly died down, though.
Calaway stepped out of the car, stared him down and, as Mikals remembered it, said something to the effect of, "Buddy, you better get back in your car." The man hurriedly did as he was told. He scurried away in an instant.
Not every Calaway story is one where he scares the hell out of somebody.
By all accounts, he was a fun-loving guy. He danced at nightclubs with friends. He chatted with girls on the beach.
When the team briefly traveled to Hawaii, finding women to talk to wasn't hard. Coach Hoogendoorn said, "Everywhere he went, the girls were just all over him."
In quieter times, he and Mikals went fishing together. The two friends took a momentary break from college life, having a great time on the water.
The fishing rod was tiny in Calaway's hands. Manufacturers don't have men his size in mind when crafting them. Calaway managed to reel in a fish anyway.
"He would get so tickled just catching a small little perch," Mikals said.
They didn't talk about wrestling out there, even though Calaway had it in his mind to do that for a living. Little did Mikals know, his teammate had dreams of strapping on a pair of wrestling boots and entertaining an arena full of fans.
Wrestling Fan to Wrestling School to Wrestling Legend
Matches filled the TV screen in the dormitory game room. Spencer would join Calaway there to catch the action.
A fan of Hulk Hogan and the Von Erichs, Spencer had long been an admirer of the art. He wasn't nearly as invested as Calaway, though.
The big man didn't just watch the wrestling; he tried to recreate it. Spencer remembered his teammate flopping to the ground to mimic the falls they saw on TV. He would mirror many of the moves the wrestlers performed.
To anyone unlucky enough to be within reach, that meant suffering an amateur headlock or armbar as Calaway applied holds on his buddies. He once knocked the wind out of Spencer with an overzealous recreation of a wrestling bout.
"He could beat all of us up," Spencer said.
Calaway talked about doing what the Hulkster and Roddy Piper and the Iron Sheik did for a living.
But Spencer didn't take him seriously. "Never thought he would take it to that level," he said. Calaway did—even when an offer to play pro ball came his way.
A European scout contacted Coach Hoogendoorn about signing Calaway to play for a team in France. They worked out a deal and, as Hoogendoorn put it, "basically had him a contract" for $80,000 a year.
When the coach approached his post player with the news, Calaway countered with something entirely unexpected: The young man had his mind set on going to wrestling school.
"I thought he was crazy," Hoogendoorn said.
Wrestling wasn't the global enterprise it is today. WrestleMania was in its infancy. Vince McMahon had yet to take his company public.
To enter that world rather than take an offer to make good money in Europe was certainly an off-the-beaten-path move. Hoogendoorn tried to convince Calaway to change his mind.
He couldn't understand what Calaway was thinking. "I didn't even know what wrestling school was," the coach said.
When word of Calaway's decision made the rounds, it surprised Mikals. Looking back, though, it made sense. Mikals said Calaway "never shied away from the spotlight."
Calaway's junior year was his last. He dove headfirst into the world of wrestling.
He spent his early years with the Dallas-based World Class Championship Wrestling promotion before moving on to the United States Wrestling Association in Tennessee, competing as the Master of Pain. A brief stint in World Championship Wrestling followed.
Each time, he stepped into a more high-profile situation. His exposure increased. Buzz began to build. In 1990, that translated to signing with the sports entertainment giant that is WWE.
Gone were his old gimmicks of Mean Mark Callous and the Punisher. He now donned a long, black coat and purple gloves that stretched up his forearms.
Calaway had transformed into an undead, cold-eyed predator of the ring—Undertaker.
After just one year with the company, he knocked off Hulk Hogan for the world title. This was an emphatic announcement of his arrival. WWE thrust him into the spotlight. That would become a familiar place for Calaway.
He has since competed at 23 WrestleManias, a testament to his longevity as a performer and a character.
The Hall of Fame awaits him when he finally decides to officially retire. He has been a champion, a centerpiece of the company and an icon. The discussion of the greatest pro wrestler ever inevitably includes his name.
No one could have seen all that coming.
Calaway was a talented basketball player, but legendary status on the hardwood wasn't in his destiny. As Coach Hoogendoorn pointed out, "He obviously made the right choice."
Calaway's teammates watched in awe as he rose up the wrestling ranks. Here was the man who once toiled in the trenches for rebounds with them, who stood behind them in layup lines, morphing into a larger-than-life figure.
That journey impressed Spencer. "He believed in his dream, and I admired him for that," he said of Calaway. Mikals shared a similar sentiment, saying he was "happy to see someone make it."
Luckily for wrestling fans, Calaway dreamed of climbing between the ropes and mystifying an audience. That dream won out over aspirations of playing basketball.
It's hard to imagine how different the WWE timeline would have been had Calaway never become the Deadman—if he had traveled to France to do his battles at the basket rather than on the mat.
Ryan Dilbert is the WWE Lead Writer for Bleacher Report. All quotes were obtained firsthand.
Special thanks to Victor Spencer, Dan Mikals and Richard Hoogendoorn for sharing their memories of Mark Calaway.Print
Actions Print Author Topic: Viper Theorycraft & Discussion (Read 3821 times) GMan129 Writer
Veteran
Extra info Extra info Viper Theorycraft & Discussion
It's also worth noting that this is the first Omnimech which has been introduced in the one-off mech pricing system, and it costs $20. So, while the merits of the one-off packs in general is certainly open for debate, at least PGI isn't using omnimech status as an excuse to jack up the prices. Welcome news indeed.
The Viper also represents the first Clan Hero mech in the game, which is a Big Deal. Historically, PGI has avoided this because the concept of swappable Hero omnipods really opens up a potential P2W debacle. But, bear with me now, they might have done a decent job of it. On first glance, it looks absolutely broken because it increases the maximum energy hardpoint number to a whopping 11, from 9 without the Hero omnipods. But if you fill all of those up with the smallest useful weapon, you're going to be looking at an 11xcERSL build (woah devestating!) with 13 double heat sinks (oh). Which is obviously way too hot to be anything but a gimmick, unless it comes with something like a 25% energy heat gen quirk. In fact, the only two potentially useful things this will allow you to do will be to boat all your guns in your arms (useful, but requires tonnage sacrifices and I wouldn't call it OP) or boat 9 of a particular weapon (and again we have that heat issue, and you could do 8 without the omnipods). Without actually seeing the mech I can not make a final verdict, but right now it's looking to be not pay-to-win.
But now it's time to talk about builds. Since it's an omnimech, I can't really break down my theorycraftiness on a per-variant basis, as there are only 2 unique CT configurations (one with no hardpoints, one with one energy, and I guess one with an AMS). They may have unique CT quirks that justify using various CTs, like the Ice Ferret, but I can't really...predict those accurately... So instead, I'm going to highlight a few builds, and present the different options based on which level of the pack you buy (with or without the hero and reinforcements add-ons).
Also since it's an omnimech, all builds will have the same upgrades (cEndo and cFerro thank god) and engine (cXL 320 which moves you at 139.32 after speed tweak), as well as 8 hard-locked jumpjets (damnit).
Build 1: Small Pulse
This is definitely going to be one of the go-to builds for the Viper. Fortunately, you don't need the CT energy hardpoint, or the extra arm energy hardpoints of the Hero or Reinforcements to pull it off!
Max armor everywhere but LA at 0 and Head at 17
2xcSPL per ST and RA (6 total)
13xDHS
Having the Hero and Reinforcement packs will allow you a bit more freedom when it comes to placing weapons and perhaps optimizing omnipod loadouts for quirks. I can see a few advantages to this (having one laser CT, two in a side torso and 3 in the opposite arm would allow for more flexibility and sustainability), but nothing game-breaking as of yet.
Build 2: ER Medium
This is the other big build we're likely to see. Of course, you could run it identically to the cSPL if you like (it could even be run full asym which would help), but I suspect most people will find it too hot with only 13 DHS. So I'm also looking at...
Max armor everywhere but Head at 17 and each arm at 12
2xcERML per ST and 1xcERML in CT (5 total)
14xDHS
Now, this build essentially drops one cERML for one DHS, which I almost always think is bad, but...it lets you use your arms as shields and it takes advantage of some mounts which are pretty awesomely high & tight. The downside? This particular configuration can only be run if you get the reinforcement variants. Sorry.
Build 3: SRMs
This will almost certainly be used much less than the other builds, but it looks like a real option.
Max armor everywhere but Head at 17 and RA at 0
1xcSRM4 in each ST and LA, 1xcERML in CT
12xDHS
The CT laser can be swapped out for a cSPL, or you could drop a heat sink to load up on 3 cERSLs (or 4 if you drop a half ton of ammo), but that might get a bit hot. Or maybe it won't, we'll have to see! This build requires the reinforcement pack for the RT missile hardpoint, and hero for the LT. But on the bright side, it will almost certainly be one of the weaker Viper options.
Build 4:...Ballistics?
Here's the thing. if you try to slap a UAC/10 on this thing - with the arms stripped of armor and the Head at 3 - you'll get a whopping ZERO tons of ammo. And a single UAC/5 isn't exactly a dream build. So I don't think ballistics will truly be an option...with the exception of Machine Guns.
Max armor everywhere but Head at 12
2xcMG in each ST (4 total) with 1.5 tons of ammo
3xcERSL in each arm (6 total)
13xDHS
This build can obviously only be run if you own the Hero, and pretty much all permutations of it work best using Hero omnipods in one place or another. Though, you need the Reinforcement pack for the LT ballistics, and I suppose you could do 5xERSL with those omnipods, though it'll be less nice.
And all the rest...
It's an omnimech with a 6 unique variants, so I'm not going to go over every possible configuration. But there are other options like 2 ER Meds and an ER PPC, or 2 ER Meds and 2 ER Large, or 3-4 ER Meds and a Large Pulse, or 8 ER Smalls, or...the list goes on. But we'll have to wait until the mech's released to see how good any of those actually are! For now, I'll just leave you with some
Closing Thoughts
I've got some issues. As I said at the top, they did the Hero mech as well as I could hope for to prevent P2W complaints. But the reinforcement mechs are a bit too optimal for my taste. The Viper VPR-C is the only variant with a CT energy hardpoint, which is a huge deal for pretty much any of builds that you'd run on this mech. The only way you wouldn't always use that hardpoint is if the CTs of other mechs came with ridiculously good quirks. Which is something they |
time estimates for CLEC loop activation based on the Commission’s time reductions to the loop activation activity for ILEC orders. No evidence that there should be a difference between CLEC and ILEC time estimates for this activity, except for the additional time required to interface with the National Portability Administration Centre.
IV. What monthly recurring rates and service charge rates are just and reasonable?
70. The Bell companies submitted that if the NBV costing approach were used in the cost studies associated with the monthly recurring rates, the 15 percent markup should apply to the copper cable NBVs.
71. In Telecom Decision 2008-17, the Commission determined that the unbundled loop service would continue to be priced based on prospective incremental costs plus a 15 percent markup. The Commission notes that in this decision, it has determined that the copper cable NBVs will provide appropriate estimates of the prospective incremental costs associated with the Bell companies’ use of their existing copper cable plant for the unbundled loop service.
72. Accordingly, the Commission determines that it is appropriate to apply the 15 percent markup to the copper cable NBVs in determining the final monthly recurring rates.
73. Having determined the appropriate costs for each of the monthly recurring and service charge rates, the Commission determines that the rates set out in Appendices 1 and 2 to this decision, which reflect prospective incremental costs plus a 15 percent markup, are just and reasonable.
74. In light of the above, the Commission approves on a final basis the revised monthly recurring rates for Type A unbundled loops set out in Appendix 1 to this decision and the revised service charge rates for Type A and Type B unbundled local loops set out in Appendix 2.
V. Should the revised rates be applied on a retroactive basis?
75. Competitors generally submitted that they could not return to their retail customers to recover any retroactive increases in these rates and that the financial burden on competitors could be great. They submitted that, therefore, final monthly recurring rates and service charge rates should not be approved on a retroactive basis.
76. Primus submitted that in past decisions and orders, the Commission had retroactively applied final rates only when those rates had been set at a lower level than the interim rates. Primus submitted that should the final approved rates be higher than the existing rates, the final rates should be applied on a prospective basis only.
77. MTS Allstream submitted that if the Commission were to approve loop rates that were higher than the existing rates, it would be appropriate to apply them from the date that comparable increases were reflected in the retail market and in the subsidy requirement.
78. The Bell companies submitted that competitors could have provisioned for the potential effect of retroactive rate adjustments in their respective budgets since the Commission issued Telecom Order 2009-775. They also submitted that whether the revised rates would result in an increase or decrease relative to the rates made interim should have no bearing on the issue of whether the revised rates should be applied retroactively. They further submitted that the determination to retroactively apply the final rate adjustments should not depend on reflecting adjustments in retail rates and/or the subsidy requirement.
79. The Commission notes that the rates approved in this decision reflect the service’s current costs. In the circumstances of this case, the Commission determines that the revised rates are effective as of 14 December 2009, the date that the existing rates were made interim.
80. The Commission directs the Bell companies to issue revised tariff pages that are consistent with the determinations in this decision within 30 days of the date of this decision.
VI. Are the Commission’s determinations consistent with the Policy Direction?
81. The Commission considers that its determinations in this decision advance the telecommunications policy objectives set out in paragraphs 7(b), 7(c), and 7(f) of the Telecommunications Act.[38] The Commission also considers that its determinations are consistent with the Policy Direction requirements that (a) the measures in question be efficient and proportionate to their purpose and interfere with competitive market forces to the minimum extent necessary to meet the above policy objectives, and (b) the measures neither deter economically efficient competitive entry into the market nor promote economically inefficient entry.
Secretary General
Related documentsBharati Singh, a woman cop in uniform says she was asked by her superior officer to slap several women at an Aligarh police station in Uttar Pradesh. On camera, Ms Singh is seen raining blows on the women, who had gathered to demand the release of their children detained in a case of theft.Ms Singh, a Sub-Inspector, says the women were thrashed because they had stormed the police station. Her brutality, captured on camera, has just reinforced the perception that the police in Akhilesh Yadav's UP is an unbridled, unchecked force that perpetrates khaki terror.This latest incident happened after seven children and teenagers, aged between 12 and 17, were detained by the Kwarsi police for allegedly stealing jewellery and gas cylinders. Their mothers gathered other local women and stormed the police station to demand their release.The cops allege that the women abused them and tried to force the release of their children and that is when Bharati Singh assaulted them.No action has been taken yet against Ms Singh or her superior, Station Officer Satinder Kumar Singh, though an inquiry has been ordered by the Aligarh district Senior Superintendent of Police.Last month, the Supreme Court sought an explanation for why a 10-year-old girl was locked up by women constables in Bulandshahr in the state after her mother said the child had been sexually assaulted.The Austrian President Heinz Fischer has just wound up his visit to Moscow (April 5-6). He made it clear Austria stands for lifting anti-Russian sanctions. In case of Vienna economic interests top the foreign policy priorities list.
Later on Wednesday, April 6, Fischer told his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, that Austria could help remove sanctions if Russia ensures complete fulfillment of the Ukraine ceasefire deal.
“Those who are interested in the development of good economic relations between Europe and Russia are not contented with the existence of sanctions and would like to lift them,” Fischer said.
“But,” he added, “I would like to note that Austria is a loyal member of the EU and, as a loyal EU member – which it would like to remain – should adhere to decisions adopted regarding Russia.”
The Russian President noted that bilateral trade had fallen by about 25 per cent because of the sanctions, “though Russian exports to Austria, surprising as it might seem, actually increased slightly over the previous year,” according to a Kremlin statement.
“No side wins from the sanctions introduced by the European Union against Russia, it is necessary to find a way that would lead to the removal of most of them,” Heinz Fischer said meeting Sergei Naryshkin, the speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament. “Our position in these [EU] discussions [on anti-Russia sanctions] includes that it is necessary to consider all the possibilities of relationship development between Russia and the European Union. The most important part is that it is necessary to find such a path, a common way for all of us, to develop it, which would result in the soon removal of most of the sanctions,” Fisher pointed out.
The Austrian President said he hoped the Austrian chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in 2017 will contribute to the resolution of Ukraine related problems.
Kremlin press-secretary Dmitry Peskov said Austria sticks to neutrality and does not support the sanctions. It broadens the agenda for the bilateral talks.
The Austrian President informed that Austria wanted to conclude a bilateral agreement for cooperation in fighting terrorism with Russia.
“It is necessary to promote struggle against terrorism but, naturally, it is also necessary to observe human rights and legislation,” Fischer noted.
“We believe that a new agreement for cooperation between the Interior Ministries of Russia and Austria should be concluded in the near future. We hope that we are going to achieve this goal,” the Austrian President emphasized.
In his turn, Vladimir Putin reminded that 2018 will mark the 50th anniversary of the start of Soviet gas deliveries to Austria. “Austria was our first Western European partner in this area. Over this time, we have supplied more than 190 billion cubic metres of natural gas. Russia has been a reliable energy supplier throughout these years,” the Russian President emphasized.
Putin also pointed to the importance of the agreement reached last year between Gazprom and OMV Group about participation in the Nord Stream 2 project, and the conclusion of an agreement on joint development of the Urengoi oil and gas field.
The companies signed a number of new agreements on April 1 this year, in St. Petersburg. They include agreements on oil supplies and scientific-technical cooperation. Another symbolic project was the construction, with help from Gazpromexport, of an underground gas storage facility in Austria. This is Europe’s second-biggest gas storage facility in terms of active gas volumes in storage.
The Russia-Austria dialogue was not limited to the agenda addressed by the two presidents. On April 5, Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz, who had traveled on to Moscow directly after his meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry in Washington, met the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for dinner before joining the delegation headed by the Federal President due to arrive in Moscow in the evening. The Minister represents the younger generation of European politicians, he is only 29. In his remarks, Kurz called for maintain contacts with Moscow through the Russia-EU dialogue. Vienna is ready to make its contribution into the process. According to him, a dialogue is especially important when hard times come.
Austrian Chief of General Staff Lieutenant-General Othmar Commenda visited Moscow as a member of the presidential team. He met Chief of the Russian General Staff and First Deputy Defense Minister General Valery Gerasimov. During the talks he made some very candid remarks. For instance, he specifically mentioned that Austria has been unable to invite the Russian General for a visit because of the “developments in Europe” and was expecting his Russian counterpart to visit Vienna in the near future.. “Austria and Russia have a long history of mutual relations and, unfortunately, due to the developments in Europe in recent years we have had no possibility to invite Herr General [Gerasimov] to Austria. We are sorry for that. I hope very much that the situation will be improved with our help and your visit will take place in the following years,” Commenda told Gerasimov.
He said that one of the reasons for his visit to Moscow was the unwillingness to follow the diktat of some countries. “I’m not going to follow the directions and obey someone’s orders with whom I should communicate and with whom I shouldn’t. For this reason I wanted to visit you,” the Austrian Chief of Defense Staff said. According to him, only by joint efforts countries can settle the global problems. “Russia is much closer to Austria than other great powers of our world. Thus we are ready within the scope of our possibilities to work together wherever it is reasonable,” Commenda said. The General emphasized the importance of cooperation on the problems related to the situation in the Middle East.
Gerasimov proposed that he and his Austrian counterpart “exchange assessments of international terrorism threats as part of the migration crisis” and discuss the issues of bilateral military cooperation. He shared the information on the results of the Russian Space Forces’ operation in Syria.
There is some progress in developing economic ties. On April 6, Austria asked Rosselkhoznadzor (the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance) to inspect the enterprises interested in exporting livestock and animal products to the Russian Federation. Austria already plans to start the supply of the goods as soon as the sanctions are lifted, said in a statement Dr. Dietmar Fellner, Commercial Counsellor at the Austrian Embassy.
A few days ago Austrian business leader Christoph Leitl criticized anti-Russian sanctions, saying they had proved unsuccessful.
Leitl said Russia with its raw materials and Europe with its expertise would complement each other perfectly. The top Austrian business leader has criticized anti-Russian sanctions. Christoph Leitl, who heads the Federal Economic Chamber, says they have been unsuccessful for two years, and like a good doctor the EU should reconsider the treatment. Leitl intends to use a trip to Russia to discuss with President Vladimir Putin a free trade area across the continent from Lisbon to Vladivostok in the Russia’s Far East.
During the Austrian President’s visit Austrian Minister of Agriculture Andrae Rupprechter said Vienna was interested in mending bridges with Moscow because Austrian agricultural exports had dropped by 50 percent since the introduction of the Russian food embargo, imposed as a countermeasure to the EU sanctions against Russia.
At the moment, there’s no unity among the European Union concerning the automatic prolongation of economic sanctions against Russia that expire on July 31 this year. While Italy and Hungary have said that things can’t be taken for granted at this stage, some EU member states, such as Britain, the Baltic republics and Poland say the sanctions should continue.
The visit was an important event. Austria, one of EU leading members, has sent a clear signal it is tired of sanctions and wants them lifted. The delegation demonstrated the Austrian government strives for better relations and more intensive cooperation with Russia. Vienna is not alone here, its stance mirrors a strong trend, which is gradually picking up momentum and can hardly be reversed.There are countless times when I’ve seen or heard someone says, “Well that’s awkward.”
It’s one of the most unfortunate things of this generation.
When people reinforce that doing something out of the ordinary is awkward, the subjective emotion towards that particular action is negative. When you continually pound it into people’s brains that doing certain things is awkward or wrong, then they will be less likely to do it.
People learn from making mistakes. If you’re less likely to do something because it’s awkward, then you’re subconsciously making it tougher to change: whether that’s your habits, your patterns of thinking, or your social anxiety. It makes it more difficult to accept feeling weird.
So how can you come to peace with the concept of awkwardness?
Let’s define awkward.
I’ll take the 3rd meaning from Dictionary.com: lacking social graces or manners.
When you lack social manners, people look at you weird. People think that you’re making a big mistake. Even you know what you’re doing is uncomfortable for some reason.
The funny thing is that no matter how careful you are, you will mess up and lack social grace anyways. So why not embrace it?
I came to peace with awkwardness by embracing it. I told myself that no amount of awkwardness would hinder me from learning how to socialize and interact with people. I gave myself the allowance and tolerance to feel comfortably awkward.
Other ways to become comfortable with awkward:
– When you notice you’re in an awkward situation, take a deep breath and frame it as a new experience.
– Don’t label uncomfortable situations, let it be.
– Understand that normality will soon arrive.
– Most of the time, it’s only awkward because of society’s perceived idea that it is; don’t mindlessly follow that perceived idea.
– Find comfort in knowing you’re still alive after many awkward situations.
Allowing the silence to pass instead of labeling it awkward
For example, I went up to two girls to chat with them about their choice of Starbucks drinks a few days ago.
I told them, “Hey I really think you’re the two most interesting looking people here. I mean you even have an interesting choice of drinks there.”
At this point, I ran out of things to say. I could feel that this was going to be uncomfortable but I presented an aura of calmness in my lack of certainty. I decided to tell them, “See, awkwardness isn’t so bad when you allow it to happen as it is without judging it as awkward.” They smiled and nodded. I basked in the awkwardness comfortably and told them that it was nice meeting them. I had to get going.
The type of energy you project out towards others will determine how they feel also. When you give off a calm energy, others will be more likely to remain calm as well. I didn’t notice too many nerves because my mind allowed failure and that “lack of social grace”.
Give yourself some slack and find comfort in your awkward actions.Abbas said the UN bid was a last resort after the PA had "exhausted all other options" [EPA]
Gaza City — With one week to go before the United Nations General Assembly convenes, there is a flurry of diplomatic activity in Jerusalem and Ramallah, much of it aimed at the Palestinian Authority's plan to seek enhanced membership at the UN.
A delegation from the United States, led by White House advisers Dennis Ross and David Hale, arrived in Jerusalem on Tuesday to meet with Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Hale is scheduled to meet on Wednesday with Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas.
In Ramallah, meanwhile, Abbas met with former British prime minister Tony Blair, the envoy from the so-called "Quartet," composed of the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and Russia.
The US meetings, according to the State Department, were aimed at "finding a formula" to restart long-stalled negotiations between Israel and the PA.
Talks broke down last September over Israel's refusal to halt construction in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank. Abbas has said he will only return to the table if Israel freezes new construction, and agrees to use 1967 borders as a basis for negotiation.
A spokesperson for the US embassy in Tel Aviv would not comment about Ross and Hale's trip, and the embassy has not released any statement on the meeting with Netanyahu.
The meeting comes at a slightly awkward time for US-Israel relations: Journalist Jeffrey Goldberg reported on Tuesday that Robert Gates, the recently-departed US secretary of defence, described Netanyahu as an "ungrateful" ally.
'There will not be a retreat'
Blair said this week that he was "optimistic" about bringing both sides back to negotiations. Abbas' office has not released any details of their meeting in Ramallah.
Saeb Erekat, the PA's chief negotiator, said in Amman on Tuesday that the UN bid will go forward regardless of Israel's actions.
"The Palestinian decision is to head to the UN Security Council," Erekat said. "And there will not be a retreat even if Israel proposed any initiatives."
Erekat also complained about American threats, saying that the US has pushed the PA to drop its bid without offering any concessions in return. US officials and members of Congress have repeatedly threatened to slash aid to the PA if it goes to the United Nations.
Meanwhile, the diplomatic frenzy does not register much here in Gaza, where few people have expressed much interest in the bid. "It's just politics," said Abu Omar, gesturing around his small shop, which was temporarily darkened by one of Gaza's regular power cuts. "I need electricity."
Hamas has said little about the planned vote, which is purely a Fatah initiative. A Hamas official told Al Jazeera that the movement has not decided whether or not to call for demonstrations in Gaza.
"There's still plenty of time before we decide what we will do," Ahmed Yousef, the Hamas deputy foreign minister, said in an interview. "Somebody from Fatah approached me recently about what we might do... we could decide in the near future."
Abbas plans to submit the PA's bid for statehood around September 20. But Palestine cannot be admitted as a state without the Security Council's approval, and the Obama administration has already said it would veto such a move.
The US veto leaves Palestinian officials with the option to pursue "non-member observer status," a step below full recognition which requires only a two-thirds vote in the General Assembly. Only one other state, the Vatican, currently holds such a status at the UN.The first beta release of the SQLAlchemy 0.8 series, 0.8.0b1, is released for developer evaluation.
0.8 represents the latest series of refinements to the SQLAlchemy Core and ORM libraries and features over 100 individual changes, consisting of major new features, bug fixes, and other enhancements. There are also major refactorings present in both the library and the test suite intended to improve maintainability, performance, and compability with future enhancements and external projects.
The purpose of the beta releases is to give a wide range of developers a chance to evaluate the new version against existing applications, and to alert the SQLAlchemy team of any regressions or major upgrade issues being experienced. Each major release of SQLAlchemy includes a wide array of planned but backwards-incompatible changes, including the removal of deprecated features, as well as bug fixes which change behaviors that some applications may have been relying upon.
Among many changes include improvements to the documentation system. The changelog and migration guides for SQLAlchemy are now integrated with the Sphinx documentation, where they can refer to each other as well as the rest of the SQLAlchemy documentation.
Users should start by reading the What's New in 0.8 document, which introduces major new features as well as areas where applications may experience a behavioral change. The 0.8.0b1 Changelog will enumerate most changes in detail.
Download SQLAlchemy 0.8.0b1 on the download page.Attorney-General George Brandis has been contradicted by his own department, with the agency admitting data retention may be used to investigate more than what the government has previously indicated.
"The mandatory data-retention regime applies only to the most serious crime. Only to crime, and only to the highest levels of crimes," Brandis said on ABC's Q&A program on Monday night.
The legislation before parliament would require telecommunications companies to retain an as-yet-undefined set of customer data such as assigned IP addresses, billing information, call logs and other data for two years. This data can then be accessed by a limited number of law enforcement agencies under the legislation for the investigation of serious criminal activity such as terrorism or child exploitation.
However, while both Brandis and Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull have said that the legislation aims to protect privacy by limiting the number of agencies that have access to the data and the circumstances under which they can access the data, the legislation does leave scope for additional agencies to get access to the data for a variety of reasons.
On pages 23 to 25 of the legislation, there is the option for the government to allow agencies tasked with enforcing not only criminal law, but also laws with pecuniary penalty, or those protecting public revenue to get access to "prospective data" from telcos under the legislation.
This would potentially mean that agencies such as Centrelink would also be able to access prospective data.
When questioned about this section of the legislation, Brandis' office passed on the questions to the Attorney-General's Department. A spokesperson for the department confirmed that a number of agencies could apply to access the data for issues outside of those outlined by the government.
"The Bill allows the Attorney-General to consider applications from agencies that may have a legitimate need to access telecommunications data or stored communications," the spokesperson said.
"It would be inappropriate to speculate about whether a particular agency may be declared. As a general statement, there are a number of Commonwealth, state and territory agencies that have specialist law enforcement responsibilities.".
The spokesperson said that the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) could seek access to the data for investigating corporate offences, while the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's passport office could also seek access for investigating passport fraud.
The spokesperson said that the Attorney-General will need to consider each request on its merits, and the declaration would be able to be reviewed by the parliament.
"The Bill requires the Attorney-General to consider a detailed range of factors, including whether the agency actually requires access to these types of information, and whether they are subject to a binding privacy scheme," the spokesperson said.
"The Bill allows the Attorney-General to make conditions on such declarations, including conditions that limit the use of those powers. Importantly, these declarations are 'legislative instruments', which allows parliament to review the declarations."Data reporting
No statistical methods were used to predetermine sample size. The experiments were not randomized and investigators were not blinded to allocation during experiments and outcome assessment.
Derivation of the probability of possessing k hits after n cell divisions for one cell
On the basis of the theory of the clonal stem-cell origin of cancer, in a given tissue the stem cell would first go through m rounds of symmetric divisions (for each division, each stem cell would divide into two daughter stem cells) to reach a total of S stem cells (S = 2m) at the steady state. Subsequently, these S stem cells would go through a rounds of asymmetric divisions (for each division, each stem cell would yield only one daughter stem cell) throughout the lifetime of the tissue. This means that the total rounds of lifetime stem-cell divisions per generation is n = m + a. Information on the total rounds of symmetric and asymmetric divisions as well as the total number of stem cells in the steady state for various tissues discussed in this work has been extracted from supplementary table 1 of Tomasetti & Vogelstein5. With k hits (mutations of k predetermined driver genes) on a stem cell required for cancer onset, the number of possible cell states of a given stem-cell generation would be k + 1, including a zero state with no hit. If we assume that once a hit occurs it cannot be reversed and therefore be carried to all progeny cells, then a cell state may only transition from lower to higher or equal levels from generation to generation. In Extended Data Fig. 4, we demonstrate with k = 3 the state transitions of accumulating driver gene mutations. Let X g denote the number of driver gene mutations accumulated at generation g, and r be the intrinsic driver gene mutation rate due to random errors during DNA replication; the transition probabilities to generation g + 1 with i mutations from the previous generation g with j ≤ i mutations are derived as follows:
In particular, for the emission state i = 0:
For the absorbing state i = k:
Based on these, the computing algorithm is derived as follows:
Set the initial cell state at generation 0:
For g = 1,…, n and 0 ≤ i ≤ k, we compute the following probabilities iteratively:
where n is the total number of divisions that one stem cell may experience during its lifetime.
Derivation of the theoretical lifetime intrinsic risk (tLIR) of cancer for a given tissue
As mentioned previously, we assume stem cells in a specific tissue undergo two phases of divisions (Extended Data Fig. 5): (1) a total of m symmetric divisions before full tissue development, and (2) a total of a asymmetric divisions for normal tissue turnovers. So in a fully developed tissue, there is a total of S = 2m stem cells. For each stem cell, the probability of possessing all k hits for cancer onset after n = m + a rounds of divisions is P(X n = k), which can be calculated from the previous part. Therefore, the theoretical lifetime intrinsic risk (tLIR) of developing cancer—that is, the probability of at least one stem cell containing k hits during its lifetime—can be expressed as:
Estimating cancer risk for different tissues
The rounds of symmetric and asymmetric divisions for different tissues were adopted from supplementary table 1 of Tomasetti & Vogelstein5. In particular, the rounds of symmetric divisions, m, is equal to the integer part of log 2 S, where S is the number of normal stem cells in the tissue of origin (data from ref. 5), and the rounds of asymmetric divisions a was the column labelled ‘d’ in supplementary table 1 of ref. 5. Sensitivity analyses have been conducted for scenarios with a broad range of mutation rates, from 1 × 10−10 to 1 × 10−6, and several required hits (k = 1, 2, 3, 4).
Lower-bound estimates of extrinsic risks with the SEER data
As a program of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program) is a source of information on cancer incidence and survival in the USA (http://seer.cancer.gov/). The age-adjusted cancer incidences were extracted from the database ‘SEER 9 Regs Research Data, Nov 2014 Sub (1973–2012) <Katrina/Rita Population Adjustment>’ using the SEER*Stat 8.2.1 (ref. 28). For several cancers, it has been observed that their incidence rates have increased markedly during the past 40 years (Extended Data Fig. 1). For these cancers, it is reasonable to assume that anything above the historical minimum incidence should be attributed to some environmental/extrinsic factors. Therefore, we can establish the following inequality:
Extrinsic risk > (1 − historical minimum incidence rate/incidence rate in 2012).
Correspondingly, the lower bounds of contributions by extrinsic factors for these cancers can be calculated. As shown in Extended Data Fig. 1, some cancers show substantial contributions from extrinsic factors.
Data and statistical analysisI suppose you run Windows?1. go to File/Backup wallet and do the backup2. exit current wallet3. download new wallet4. copy new wallet over old wallet5. start new wallet6. wait for data to synchronize7. if you wan you can delete the backup
do i need to delete old wallet or do i just update it sorry not real tech savvy so i havent got a clue. can someone talk me thru it or where do i go to find help.
Thanks for the info guys the version i have at the moment is 1.1.0.0 is that not the same as 1.1 is that right feel like a dope sorry bout this.
Thanks for the info guys the version i have at the moment is 1.1.0.0 is that not the same as 1.1 is that right feel like a dope sorry bout this.
Hello everyone, after a great post by YesCrypto! ( http://blackcoin.yescrypto.com/ ) and a good discussion in the IRC channel, BlackCast will be reborn.This cast will take place at 4PM EST, 10PM EU time and it will cover:- Plans for the new blackcast- Chicago recapIt will be hosted by CryptoKenzi ( @CryptoKenzi https://twitter.com/cryptokenzi ) - yes that's right, a female host! - and Eric (chnchapters), David (dzimbeck), Jon (CryptoCouponGuy), Eugene (TheDoge) and Jon (StGNU) will be invited as guests.Any question you would like to ask (regarding BlackCast or Chicago conf.), please post them in this thread or on Reddit!
Hello everyone, after a great post by YesCrypto! ( http://blackcoin.yescrypto.com/ ) and a good discussion in the IRC channel, BlackCast will be reborn.This cast will take place at 4PM EST, 10PM EU time and it will cover:- Plans for the new blackcast- Chicago recapIt will be hosted by CryptoKenzi ( @CryptoKenzi https://twitter.com/cryptokenzi ) - yes that's right, a female host! - and Eric (chnchapters), David (dzimbeck), Jon (CryptoCouponGuy), Eugene (TheDoge) and Jon (StGNU) will be invited as guests.Any question you would like to ask (regarding BlackCast or Chicago conf.), please post them in this thread or on Reddit!
There has been issues regarding security attacks and scam coins which provide the opportunity to show something different. I see an opportunity to hype BlackHalo as a security fortress and when combined with best POS coin we have a good hype to catch the eye of new people. BlackHalo wallet seems like an amazing security fortress that is not being hyped as such; it has 2 keys, 2fa, individual passwords, two step spend, joint accounts and soon cold staking. Why not release beta 2 with this in mind and as a more advanced wallet for those looking have enhanced security? The other features are a bonus for those who wish to enter in smart contracts, but the basic operation of the wallet and its security features could make this a new enhanced a killer more advanced wallet for BlackCoin.
There has been issues regarding security attacks and scam coins which provide the opportunity to show something different. I see an opportunity to hype BlackHalo as a security fortress and when combined with best POS coin we have a good hype to catch the eye of new people. BlackHalo wallet seems like an amazing security fortress that is not being hyped as such; it has 2 keys, 2fa, individual passwords, two step spend, joint accounts and soon cold staking. Why not release beta 2 with this in mind and as a more advanced wallet for those looking have enhanced security? The other features are a bonus for those who wish to enter in smart contracts, but the basic operation of the wallet and its security features could make this a new enhanced a killer more advanced wallet for BlackCoin.
There has been issues regarding security attacks and scam coins which provide the opportunity to show something different. I see an opportunity to hype BlackHalo as a security fortress and when combined with best POS coin we have a good hype to catch the eye of new people. BlackHalo wallet seems like an amazing security fortress that is not being hyped as such; it has 2 keys, 2fa, individual passwords, two step spend, joint accounts and soon cold staking. Why not release beta 2 with this in mind and as a more advanced wallet for those looking have enhanced security? The other features are a bonus for those who wish to enter in smart contracts, but the basic operation of the wallet and its security features could make this a new enhanced a killer more advanced wallet for BlackCoin.0 Police charge homeowner who shot community'menace'
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - A man accused of terrorizing a south Charlotte neighborhood was shot by a homeowner carrying a shotgun on Wednesday.
The homeowner, Robert Leroy Campbell, 55, was arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon to inflict serious injury.
The shooting happened on Stacy Boulevard off Woodlawn Avenue around 7 a.m.
Neighbors said the man who was shot was not a victim, but a menace to the community.
"That's who he is. He likes to threaten people and scare people," a neighbor said.
The neighbor spoke on condition of anonymity because he's afraid of Bimanbu Tchendo.
Neighbors said Tchendo has roamed their streets, terrifying their neighborhood for 13 years.
Neighbors didn’t want to be identified, but were calling the man who shot him their hero.
"He made death threats and stealing packages allegedly off peoples' porches and bicycles and lawnmowers and things," another neighbor said.
Tchendo was arrested on Sunday after a homeowner told police the 42-year-old threatened to kill him.
Tchendo
Neighbors said Tchendo was angry because the homeowner told him he couldn't use his property to work on bikes anymore.
When Tchendo came back to the homeowner's house on Wednesday morning, neighbors said the man shot him twice with a shotgun.
"He got what was coming to him, that's the way I look at it," a neighbor said.
Channel 9 dug through court records and discovered Tchendo has been arrested four times from 2015 to 2017.
He's faced charges, ranging from trespassing to damaging property, to stealing.
When he was shot on Wednesday, there was a warrant out for his arrest in another theft case.
"The general consensus is people are relieved he's gone," a neighbor said.
Officials told Channel 9 that Tchendo was undergoing surgery but should be OK.
Neighbors hope the shooting that put him in the hospital will finally put an end to the crime.
Channel 9 is asking police if the homeowner is facing any charges.
Neighbors hope it will be cleared as self-defense because they say it happened on the man's property.
Read more top trending stories on wsoctv.com:
© 2019 Cox Media Group.Dipping Gore
Foliar application of fertilizer, insecticide, and fungicide is common practice in both indoor and outdoor marijuana gardens. Fertilizer products are absorbed through the leaf stoma and enter the plant’s system directly. Most pesticides and anti-fungal products are intended simply to coat the plant surface. Some products contain both a contact killer and a systemic component that will continue to treat and protect your plants from the inside.
Foliar products are commonly applied via pump sprayer or better yet through an Hudson Atomizer. Atomizers use electric motors to create a powerful jet of fine mist suitable for applying large volumes of foliar product. Atomizers work great for outdoor foliar jobs, but may also be used indoors with proper precautions. I love atomizers. They make large spray jobs small.
My favorite method of applying foliar products is dipping. Dipping is best suited for small plants and clones, like those shown in the video, and works best before you pot your plants in soil. You may still be able to dip Marijuana plants after transplanting them into soil; but you risk contaminating your dipping solution with soil or medium. You can mitigate this by using a stiff cardboard disk to cover the soil or medium. Simply punch a hole in the center of the disk a little larger than the diameter of the base of the stem, and cut a slit from the center hole to the outside edge to slide the stalk through.
Proper dipping assures complete product coverage; but surface tension can prevent water from thoroughly wetting the leaves and stems. To reduce surface tension, add a surfactant to your foliar dip. There are several surfactants available. Some contain mysterious chemicals, while others are naturally derived from yucca tree extract. My favorite surfactant is Dawn brand dish detergent. I use the original formula, not the antibacterial or scented versions. In fact, I am so fond of Dawn I often use it in my fertilizer reservoir solutions as well, at the rate of 1 tsp/50 gallons.
Happy Dipping
VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
please wait… Rating: 4.8/5 (4 votes cast)
, 4.8 out of 5 based on 4 ratingsGUWAHATI: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday kicked off his two-day Assam visit with a meeting with representatives of nine tribal councils. He backed their demand for powers to administer themselves.The tribals constitute about 13% of the state's population and form the second largest vote bloc after the minorities (about 30%). Over the years, Congress's support among the tribals has been dwindling.Various tribal groups, who met Rahul at Diphu in Karbi Anglong autonomous district, separately demanded more powers to councils and separate states.The Bodos, Karbis and Dimasas, who have been holding discussions with the central and state governments on separate states for themselves, presented Rahul with memorandums with the same demands."Unless we involve people, nothing in this country will move. We want to give more power to the people to deal with their problems because you understand your problem better then we who live in New Delhi," Rahul said. "What the people want is power. When people think that they are not getting the power they deserve, grievances are born.''He said there are two types of leaders in the country — one who give power to the people and another who take it away from them. "I am the |
bass cuts, deep grooved soul, mind melting acidcore, sunshine rhythms and brand new beats.
There's a taste from Mala's new album 'Mirrors' - inspired by his time travelling in Peru, bubblegum bass trips from Brainfeeder's Iglooghost, ragga scats from DRS and Flowdan, dub from New Delhi, sticky soul from Harleighblu and loOoOoOoads more.
Badda BOOM. Turn it up!
See you on the other side...
For more info: kimzero.com
Follow me at twitter.com/kimhillyard
Kim xIT has been an accepted "truth" over recent years that ruthless men have been trafficking helpless female sex-slaves into Ireland for prostitution. Why, even I believed it; and it's been a while since I was last invited into the feminist shower to share the soap.
IT has been an accepted "truth" over recent years that ruthless men have been trafficking helpless female sex-slaves into Ireland for prostitution. Why, even I believed it; and it's been a while since I was last invited into the feminist shower to share the soap.
But a recent analysis of a nationwide police operation in Britain against sex-trafficking failed to find a single woman who had been forced into prostitution. Moreover, this absence of any suitable victims was effectively concealed in order to confirm the fiction of wholesale forcible trafficking. And the newspaper which revealed this was none other than the 'Guardian', which is not exactly famed for its Readers' Wives page.
The British operation against sex traffickers, Operation Pentameter Two in which 528 people were arrested, was hailed by police and politicians as a great success. "Months of planning and intelligence-gathering from all the stakeholders involved" had, it was claimed, led to the break-up of major trafficking cartels: though anyone who could use "stakeholder" in such a context must be so deluded by the jargon of process and ideology as to utter any old rubbish. Which, as we now know, was the case.
So of the 528 "arrests", 122 didn't happen. Someone either lied or got carried away. Moreover, nearly one-fifth of the 55 police forces participating in the British investigation arrested no one. Over half of the 406 arrests, 230, were of women -- so much for the ruthless male caricature -- and 106 of the 406 were released without charge. Some 200 of the 406 were cautioned or charged in connection with irrelevant, non-trafficking offences. Another 67 people were charged "in connection with trafficking", whatever that might mean: optics, probably. But even then, most of those charges simply vanished without trace in the bureaucratic maw. So, finally, 22 people were prosecuted -- including two women who had originally been "rescued" by police as victims of trafficking. Seven were acquitted. Of the 15 actually found guilty of bringing women into Britain to work as prostitutes, not one -- NOT ONE -- is known to have coerced anyone into selling sex. In other words, the imported girls chose to work as prostitutes. But thanks largely to the ideologically tainted data resulting from Operation Pentameter Two, the British parliament is passing a bill which will make it a criminal offence for a man to have sex with a prostitute who is "controlled for gain" even if he is ignorant of her condition. So if a man wants paid sex with a woman he will probably seek the services of a street walker, rather than a girl in a massage parlour. This could flush working girls on to the street, where they are more vulnerable to pimps and to violent sex offenders. But of course, the physical vulnerability of working girls is seldom high amongst the moral priorities of "reformers".
The Irish support group for prostitutes, Ruhama, recently reported that more women in Ireland are working as prostitutes and blames the economic crisis. Which means, of course, that some women are choosing to make money through sex. Despite this, Ruhama wants men who use prostitutes to be criminalised -- which is rather like the Busworkers' Union demanding that passengers who pay bus fares should face imprisonment.
Has Ruhama conducted a poll amongst the sex workers of Ireland about its policies?
I suspect the girls would prefer the fuzz just left their punters alone.
Simon Coveney TD put himself firmly on the side of the angels when he recently repeated the Rumaha demand. (Well, there's nothing really like imprisoning people and ruining their lives to make our self-appointed governesses feel better about themselves).
HE declared that in Sweden the criminalisation of men who paid for sex had driven down the amount of prostitution. Where does that oft-repeated claim come from? If the sex trade has gone underground, how can the Sisters of Sweden confidently know how much illegal sex is going on? And might not the Mayor of Chicago have made the same claim about liquor in 1926? All gone; booze is history! Unsurprisingly, the National Women's Council here has never sought to defend the welfare and legal position of working girls, as working girls. For the feminist position on prostitution is predicated on a series of conjoined but contradictory intellectual principles, a fairly common phenomenon -- dare I say it -- within the female mind. One is that a) women are intrinsically victims, and b) women are intrinsically equal. Another bipolar twinset is that a) women's bodies are solely their own business, and b) women may not use their bodies for whatever purposes that feminists consider "degrading".
There's nowhere you can logically go with that cerebral porridge so cut to the real agenda, the one that gives feminists goose-bumps of pleasure, and try to punish men instead. Needless to say, the heresy that adults should be allowed to decide how, as free individuals, they're going to behave is excluded a priori.
And perhaps this is in its own way "normal", for the punishment-scolding instincts of the nanny are probably as widespread amongst humans as are the wanton ways of the harlot. Just give me the non-judgmental company of harlots any day.
[email protected]
Irish IndependentBy Alex Stevenson, Peter Wozniak and Ian Dunt
The tuition fees vote has prompted fresh outbursts of violence among student protesters in Parliament Square and beyond.
After an afternoon and evening of clashes between riot police and protesters in Parliament Square, fighting started to break out throughout the centre of the capital.
In Trafalgar Square demonstrators managed to set fire to the main Christmas tree, but the fire was quickly extinguished, the Metropolitan police said.
Prince Charles' car came under attack as he and Camilla travelled to a variety performance.
"It is clear that a minority of protestors came determined to provoke violence, attack the police and cause as much damage to property as possible," the prime minister said in a statement.
"They must face the full force of the law. The police have confronted considerable danger, and a number have been injured as they sought to uphold the right to peaceful protest.
"It is shocking and regrettable that the car carrying the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall was caught up and attacked."
A handful of masked troublemakers smashed windows at the supreme court building and police were deployed on Oxford Street after reports of broken windows emerged.
The Metropolitan police condemned the "wanton violence", adding: "This is why we use containment as a tactic."
Close to parliament, riot police were forced to defend the Treasury after it briefly looked as if demonstrators could infiltrate the key government department.
Officers briefly resorted to blocking an opened window with shields in a bid to prevent demonstrators entering the building.
It followed protesters using rocks to smash open the window at the Treasury, in an angry reaction to the news from parliament that the coalition had won its tuition fees vote by a majority of 21.
But a line of riot police in front of the Treasury managed to push the protesters back, ending the likelihood of a full-scale breach.
Demonstrators chanted'shame on you' and booed as the result of the vote filtered through in Parliament Square.
Police began the controversial kettling tactic at around 15:40 GMT. Officers promised to let peaceful protestors out and be careful of vulnerable people and children, insisting those groups could leave the Square from the Whitehall end. Eyewitnesses said that it was almost impossible for people to leave the area once the violence broke out, however.
Twenty-two people have been arrested so far, the Met said - including three arrests for assault on police, one on drunk and disorderly charges, nine for violent disorder, two for arson and four for burglary.
Twenty-two protesters and nine officers are believed to have been injured. Six of the injured police required hospital treatment.
"Officers came to work today to facilitate peaceful protest but have come under continued and violent attacks from protestors," the Met said in a statement.
"Officers have had to face a significant level of violence including fences, missiles and flares being thrown at them."
The statement added: "The Metropolitan Police Service is extremely disappointed with the actions of many protestors who from a very early stage deviated from the agreed route."
It followed earlier attempts to break through police lines in Parliament Square, after riot police deployed to defend the Commons.
The area nearest Westminster Abbey saw riot police come under sustained pressure in mid-afternoon from demonstrators, who forced the entire line back about ten yards. Officers responded by sending in reinforcements, tripling police ranks in a bid to stabilise the situation.
One officer sustained a serious neck injury after being knocked unconscious, the Met said, in one of the first injuries.
He was rushed to hospital, as was a mounted branch officer who sustained leg injuries.
Commenting on reports that police horses had charged protestors, the Met added: "The mounted branch have been used legitimately to provide essential re-enforcement to police officers who were coming under attack."
After dark fell fireworks began to be set off at regular intervals and music by the Beatles and Bob Dylan was played on loudspeakers.
Earlier demonstrators tore down sections of the wire fences which had closed Parliament Square off to pedestrians, passing sections of the fence over their heads towards the police - who were forced to quickly clear them.
Missiles were thrown into the secure area of parliament shortly before student protestors made their breakthrough.
They had been contained in an area close to the Treasury, but broke through and quickly massed from Whitehall to Westminster Abbey.
The violence came as the culmination of weeks of student protests, as activists from across the country gathered in the capital on the day of the tuition fees vote.
The demonstration appears to be the biggest since the nascent student movement began.
As the December sun shone on the activists, who included lecturers and members of the public as well as students, motorists beeped their horns in support. There were some earlier isolated scenes of panic as groups of demonstrators ran down side streets following rumours of 'kettling', but the early stages of the protest were peaceful and good natured.
A small number of students attempted to disrupt the debate inside the Commons from the strangers' gallery, but were quickly bundled out by doorkeepers. Other students watching the debate applauded loudly but, because of the glass screen separating the gallery from the Commons chamber, few MPs noticed.
Protesters have previously complained of recent police tactics, which saw teenage girls 'kettled' in London in the freezing cold well into the evening, police violence and the use of horse charges.
Even before the march began, activists were planning another day of action for next Monday - this time to save the Educational Maintenance Allowance (EMA).The Pokémon Company and Tecmo Koei recently collaborated to make a strategy RPG crossover called Pokémon Conquest that took the Nobunaga's Ambition style of gameplay and threw in a flurry of Pokémon to do the battling.
Even though the 3DS had been out a while at the time of the game's release, it was actually made available for the DS and the reason for this was it was being developed way before the 3DS ever existed, according to an Inside-Games report.
Pokémon Conquest took three years to develop and therefore was being worked on before Pokémon Black and White 2 was released. That meant the new'mon found in those games sadly weren't available in Pokémon Conquest.
That didn't stop it from being well received though, so naturally fans of the game have been wondering if a sequel would be appearing on the horizon anytime soon, perhaps on the 3DS.
Well it's certainly not out of the question as Tecmo Koei’s Executive Vice President Hisashi Koinuma recently answered a fan's question on Twitter regarding a possible Pokémon Conquest sequel:
Well, there was a lot of unfinished material for Pokémon Conquest…
Inside-games has reason to believe the president and CEO of The Pokémon Company Tsunekazu Ishihara is a big fan of the Nobunaga’s Ambition series and would be open to the possibility of developing a sequel if people demanded it enough.
It's unlikely we'll see a sequel appear anytime soon, but it's nice to know there's a possibility of one in the future. We enjoyed the game a lot, as we explained in our Pokémon Conquest review.
Would you like to see a sequel to Pokémon Conquest? Let us know in the comment section below.- Posted by: Ornette
This is something you don’t see every day. Over at Adagio Teas, Kelly Rodgers has created a blend inspired by Evangelion’s Mari Illustrious Makinami called “The Beast“. It looks like it’s a blend of Earl Grey, with some chocolate chips and hazelnut.
From the description of the tea:
Sweet and tangy and just a little nutty. A little intense at times, but that’s just how people like her. Inspired by the Evangelion character Mari Illustrious Makinami.
You can purchase some of this tea over at the Blend’s page for $10 for a 3 ounce pouch or $24 for a tin.
Update (2/26/2013): They’ve now got an Asuka inspired tea called “Thermal Expansion”. Description: “Strong, intense and spicy. Try it straight, or add some sugar if you prefer her sweeter side.”We speak to Charlie Donnelly the National Secretary of the National Union of Workers on union issues in Australia. Charlie gives USi an update on the NUW’s major campaigns including the growing problem of casualisation in the labour market in the logis …
We speak to Charlie Donnelly the National Secretary of the National Union of Workers on union issues in Australia. Charlie gives USi an update on the NUW’s major campaigns including the growing problem of casualisation in the labour market in the logistics sector. In response to this issue the union has launched a brilliant campaign called ‘Jobs you can count on’ which you can read more about here.
We also discuss leverage campaigns national unions co-operate on to pressure global companies in partnership with the International Union of Foodworkers including Nestle and the impending Australian federal elections with the looming prospect of a Conservative return to power.
Listen to our conversation with Charlie:
[powerpress url=http://archive.org/download/CharlieDonnellyNUW/charlie%20donnelly%20NUW.mp3]
Download
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial LicenseWelcome to the second installment of our Kubernetes API Server deep dive series. Last time we, Stefan and Michael, had a look at what the API Server is, introduced the terminology, and discussed how the request flow works. This time around we’ll focus on a topic we only mentioned in passing: Where and how the state of Kubernetes objects is managed in a reliable and persistent way. As you might remember, the API Server itself is stateless and the only component that directly talks with the distributed storage component: etcd.
A Quick etcd Intro
From your *nix operating system you know that /etc is used to store config data and, in fact, the name etcd is inspired by this, adding the “d” for distributed. Any distributed system will likely need something like etcd to store data about the state of the system, enabling it to retrieve the state in a consistent and reliable fashion. To coordinate the data access in a distributed setup, etcd uses the Raft protocol. Conceptually, the data model etcd supports is that of key-value store. In etcd2 the keys formed a hierarchy and with the introduction of etcd3 this has turned into a flat model, while maintaining backwards compatibility concerning hierarchical keys:
Using a containerized version of etcd, we can create the above tree and then retrieve it as follows:
$ docker run --rm -d -p 2379:2379 \ --name test-etcd3 quay.io/coreos/etcd:v3.1.0 /usr/local/bin/etcd \ --advertise-client-urls http://0.0.0.0:2379 --listen-client-urls http://0.0.0.0:2379 $ curl localhost:2379/v2/keys/foo -XPUT -d value="some value" $ curl localhost:2379/v2/keys/bar/this -XPUT -d value=42 $ curl localhost:2379/v2/keys/bar/that -XPUT -d value=take $ http localhost:2379/v2/keys/?recursive=true HTTP/1.1 200 OK Content-Length: 327 Content-Type: application/json Date: Tue, 06 Jun 2017 12:28:28 GMT X-Etcd-Cluster-Id: 10e5e39849dab251 X-Etcd-Index: 6 X-Raft-Index: 7 X-Raft-Term: 2 { "action": "get", "node": { "dir": true, "nodes": [ { "createdIndex": 4, "key": "/foo", "modifiedIndex": 4, "value": "some value" }, { "createdIndex": 5, "dir": true, "key": "/bar", "modifiedIndex": 5, "nodes": [ { "createdIndex": 5, "key": "/bar/this", "modifiedIndex": 5, "value": "42" }, { "createdIndex": 6, "key": "/bar/that", "modifiedIndex": 6, "value": "take" } ] } ] } }
Now that we’ve established how etcd works in principle, let’s move on to the subject of how etcd is used in Kubernetes.
Cluster state in etcd
In Kubernetes, etcd is an independent component of the control plane. Up to Kubernetes 1.5.2, we used etcd2 and from then on switched to etcd3. Note that in Kubernetes 1.5.x etcd3 is still used in v2 API mode and going forward this is changing to the v3 API, including the data model used. From a developer’s point of view this doesn’t have direct implications, because the API Server takes care of abstracting the interactions away—compare the storage backend implementation for v2 vs. v3. However, from a cluster admin’s perspective, it’s relevant to know which etcd version is used, as maintenance tasks such as backup and restore need to be handled differently.
You can influence the way the API Server is using etcd via a number of options at start-up time; also, note that the output below was edited to highlight the most important bits:
$ kube-apiserver -h... --etcd-cafile string SSL Certificate Authority file used to secure etcd communication. --etcd-certfile string SSL certification file used to secure etcd communication. --etcd-keyfile string SSL key file used to secure etcd communication.... --etcd-quorum-read If true, enable quorum read. --etcd-servers List of etcd servers to connect with (scheme://ip:port) …...
Kubernetes stores its objects in etcd either as a JSON string or in Protocol Buffers (“protobuf” for short) format. Let’s have a look at a concrete example: We launch a pod webserver in namespace apiserver-sandbox using an OpenShift v3.5.0 cluster. Then, using the etcdctl tool, we inspect etcd (which is in version 3.1.0, in our environment):
$ cat pod.yaml apiVersion: v1 kind: Pod metadata: name: webserver spec: containers: - name: nginx image: tomaskral/nonroot-nginx ports: - containerPort: 80 $ kubectl create -f pod.yaml $ etcdctl ls / /kubernetes.io /openshift.io $ etcdctl get /kubernetes.io/pods/apiserver-sandbox/webserver { "kind": "Pod", "apiVersion": "v1", "metadata": { "name": "webserver",...
So, how does the object payload end up in etcd, starting from kubectl create -f pod.yaml?
The following diagram depicts the overview flow:
A client such as kubectl provides an desired object state, for example, YAML in version v1. kubectl converts the YAML into JSON to send it over the wire. Between different versions of the same kind, the API server can perform a lossless conversion leveraging annotations to store information that cannot be expressed in older API versions. The API Server turns the input object state into a canonical storage version, depending on the API Server version itself, usually the newest stable one, for example, v1. Last but not least comes actual storage process in etcd, at a certain key, into a value with the encoding to JSON or protobuf.
You can configure the kube-apiserver with the preferred serialization using --storage-media-type option which defaults to application/vnd.kubernetes.protobuf as well as on a per-group basis the default storage version with the --storage-versions option.
Let’s now have a look how the lossless conversion works in practice. We will use a Kubernetes object of type Horizontal Pod Autoscaling (HPA), which as the name suggests, has a controller attached to it that is supervising and updating a ReplicationController, depending on utilization metrics.
We start with proxying the Kubernetes API (so that we can later directly access it from the local machine), launch a ReplicationController, and an HPA along with it:
$ kubectl proxy --port=8080 & $ kubectl create -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mhausenblas/kbe/master/specs/rcs/rc.yaml kubectl autoscale rc rcex --min=2 --max=5 --cpu-percent=80 kubectl get hpa/rcex -o yaml
Now, using httpie—but you can also use curl if you want—we ask the API server for the HPA object in the current stable version ( autoscaling/v1 ) as well as in the previous one ( extensions/v1beta1 ) and finally compare the two versions:
$ http localhost:8080/apis/extensions/v1beta1/namespaces/api-server-deepdive/horizontalpodautoscalers/rcex > hpa-v1beta1.json $ http localhost:8080/apis/autoscaling/v1/namespaces/api-server-deepdive/horizontalpodautoscalers/rcex > hpa-v1.json $ diff -u hpa-v1beta1.json hpa-v1.json { "kind": "HorizontalPodAutoscaler", - "apiVersion": "extensions/v1beta1", + "apiVersion": "autoscaling/v1", "metadata": { "name": "rcex", "namespace": "api-server-deepdive", - "selfLink": "/apis/extensions/v1beta1/namespaces/api-server-deepdive/horizontalpodautoscalers/rcex", + "selfLink": "/apis/autoscaling/v1/namespaces/api-server-deepdive/horizontalpodautoscalers/rcex", "uid": "ad7efe42-50ed-11e7-9882-5254009543f6", "resourceVersion": "267762", "creationTimestamp": "2017-06-14T10:39:00Z" }, "spec": { - "scaleRef": { + "scaleTargetRef": { "kind": "ReplicationController", "name": "rcex", - "apiVersion": "v1", - "subresource": "scale" + "apiVersion": "v1" }, "minReplicas": 2, "maxReplicas": 5, - "cpuUtilization": { - "targetPercentage": 80 - } + "targetCPUUtilizationPercentage": 80
You can see that the schema for a HorizontalPodAutoscaler changed from v1beta1 to v1. The API server is able to losslessly convert between those versions, independent of which version actually stored in etcd.
With the basics of the storage flow out of the way, we now focus on the details of how the API server encodes and decodes payload as well as stores it in either JSON or protobuf, also taking the etcd version used into account.
Serialization of State Flow in Detail
The API Server keeps all known Kubernetes object kinds in a Go type registry called Scheme. In this registry, each version of kinds are defined along with how they can be converted, how new objects can be created, and how objects can be encoded and decoded to JSON or protobuf.
When the API server receives an object, for example, from kubectl, it will know from the HTTP path which version to expect. It creates a matching empty object using the Scheme in the right version and converts the HTTP payload using a JSON or protobuf decoder. The decoder converts the binary payload into the created object.
The decoded object is now in one of the supported versions for the given type. For some types there are a handful of versions throughout its development. To avoid problems with that, the API server has to know how to convert between each pair of those versions (for example, v1 ⇔ v1alpha1, v1 ⇔ v1beta1, v1beta1 ⇔ v1alpha1 ), the API server uses one special “internal” version for each type. This internal version of a type is a kind of superset of all supported versions for the type with all their features. It converts the incoming object to this internal version first and then to the storage version:
v1beta1 ⇒ internal ⇒ v1
During the first step of this conversion it will also set defaults for certain fields if they have been omitted by the user. Imagine v1beta1 does not have a certain mandatory field which was added in v1. In this case, the user cannot even fill in a value for that field. Then the conversion step will set the default value for this field in order to create a valid internal object.
Validation and Admission
There are two more important steps next to conversion. The actual flow looks like this:
v1beta1 ⇒ internal ⇒ | ⇒ | ⇒ v1 ⇒ json/yaml ⇒ etcd admission validation
The admission and validation steps are gating creation and updates of objects before they are written to etcd. Here are their roles:
Admission checks that an object can be created or updated by verifying cluster global constraints and might set defaults depending on the cluster configuration.
There are a number of them in Kubernetes, and many more in a multi-tenant capable Kubernetes like OpenShift. Some of them are: NamespaceLifecycle – rejects all incoming requests in a namespace context if the namespace does not exist.
– rejects all incoming requests in a namespace context if the namespace does not exist. LimitRanger – enforces usage limits on a per resource basis in the namespace.
– enforces usage limits on a per resource basis in the namespace. ServiceAccount – creates a service account for a pod.
– creates a service account for a pod. DefaultStorageClass – sets the default value of a PersistentVolumeClaim s storage class, in case the user did not provide a value.
– sets the default value of a s storage class, in case the user did not provide a value. ResourceQuota – enforces quota constraints for the current user on the cluster and might reject requests if the quota is not enough. Validation checks that an incoming object (during creation and updates) is well-formed in the sense that it only has valid values, for example: It checks that all mandatory fields are set.
It checks that all strings have a valid format (for example, only include lowercase characters).
It checks that no contradicting fields are set (for example, two containers with the same name).
Validation does not look at other instances of the type or even of other types. In other words, validation is local, static checks for each object, independent from any API server configuration.
Admission plugins can be enabled/disabled using the --admission-control=<plugins> flags. Most of them can also be configured by the cluster admin. Moreover, in Kubernetes 1.7 there is a webhook mechanism to extend the admission mechanism and an initializer concept to implement custom admission for new objects using a controller.
Migration of Storage Objects
A final note on the migration of storage objects: When upgrading Kubernetes to a newer version it is increasingly important to back up your cluster state and to follow the documented migration steps for each release. This stems from the move from etcd2 to etcd3 and also the continuous development of the Kubernetes kinds and their versions.
In etcd each object is stored in the preferred storage version for its kind. But, as this changes over time it might be that you have objects in your etcd storage in a very old version. If this version is deprecated and eventually removed from the API server, you won’t be able to decode its protobuf or JSON anymore. For that reason, migration procedures exist to rewrite those objects before the cluster is upgraded.
The following resources can help you to tackle this challenge:
See the Kubernetes Cluster Management Guide for Version 1.6 as well as the Upgrading to a different API version section in the cluster management docs.
In the OpenShift docs, see the Performing Manual In-place Cluster Upgrades.
If you want a tool—as CLI tool or Web app—to assist you with the process, check out ReShifter, which is capable of backup/restore and migration for both vanilla Kubernetes clusters as well as OpenShift clusters.
Next time, in the third installment of the API Server series, we will discuss how you can extend the Kubernetes API, using Custom Resource Definitions and User API Servers.
Also, we’d like to give Sergiusz Urbaniak kudos for etcd-related support.Juve to make Lamela move?
By Football Italia staff
Juventus could make a sensational move for Roma forward Erik Lamela, according to reports in the Italian Press.
Tuttosport have revealed this afternoon that the Bianconeri are interested in signing the Argentine youngster and may make a bid at the end of the season.
Antonio Conte's side have been linked with a host of attackers in recent months, with Gonzalo Higuain, Karim Benzema and Alessandro Diamanti all rumoured to be moving to the Old Lady.
But the Turin-based newspaper has claimed today that the League winners are hoping to add the 21-year-old to their squad during the off-season.
A bid of around €30m could force Roma's hand, but it is understood that the capital club are reticent to sell to one of their rivals.
Lamela has been impressive this term, scoring 15 goals in 32 games.Image copyright Thinkstock
Jockeys in the UK have been advised to move their money out of High Street banks following a string of frauds.
The Professional Jockeys Association issued the warning after saying an estimated £200,000 had been stolen from about 30 jockeys since 2014.
The money had been withdrawn over the counter from cashiers, possibly using fraudulent documents, the body added.
West Midlands Police said a 38-year-old man was under investigation and inquiries were still ongoing.
The force is overseeing the investigation into the thefts.
The PJA said the crimes dated back to 2014, when about £50,000 was reportedly stolen from the bank accounts of several riders.
'Unwilling and incapable'
The body - which represents British jockeys - said there had been another spate of the crimes later that year, and that frauds had been committed "on and off" since then.
It said banks were "unwilling and incapable" of preventing the frauds.
It did not name any of the jockeys involved but said they included some high-profile riders and that some horseracing trainers have also fallen victim.
The advice has been backed by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), the sport's governing body, it added.
PJA chief executive Paul Struthers told the BBC that in all the cases money - often starting at about £800 - had been withdrawn by someone walking into a branch of a High Street bank and managing to take out cash over the counter.
He said the frauds had been committed in most of the major banks - often a long way from the home of the jockey - and in a number of different locations.
Mr Struthers said the body was at a loss to understand how the fraudsters were managing to get the personal details of the jockeys.
He said he suspected details had been leaked "from somewhere", but did not know where.
He said jockeys had been given the stolen money back, but criticised the banks for failing to prevent the frauds in the first place.
'Perplexing'
As a result, the PJA's latest newsletter told jockeys the "only way to prevent the frauds from continuing is to move their current account banking off the High Street".
Mr Struthers said: "The question we are struggling to understand is how they know where each of the jockeys bank and how they are getting access to the account.
"That is what is perplexing us."
He added: "It has just got to the stage now where between us and the BHA we have realised that a combination of the incompetence or the unwillingness of the banks to deal with it means the only advice we can give jockeys is to get off the High Street."
Financial Fraud Action UK - which represents banks, credit, debit and charge card issuers - said it appeared those responsible may have used stolen or fake documents to take out money.
"The spate of crimes targeting jockeys suggests fraudsters may have gained access to data relating to these victims," a spokesman said.
He said it was important that "any organisations holding personal data take steps to ensure it is safeguarded", but said banks did have systems in place to prevent the use of fraudulent documents.In a recent speech to a group of conservatives, I made what I thought was a relatively uncontroversial point about the commonalities between Trump supporters and Black Lives Matter activists. I thought this was a simple idea, but the criticism was immediate and sharp: How dare I try to understand the “other side”?
But as people, wouldn’t we all benefit from trying to empathize with people we disagree with?
I consider myself a “classical liberal” — a.k.a. “constitutional conservative” — and I believe the greatness of our country lies in our founders’ creation of a system that allows and encourages all voices to be heard. The only way for our society to work is for each of us to respect the views of others, and even try to understand and empathize with one another. I have always tried to work toward this goal, even though I have often been guilty of conflating the individual with the whole.
My point about empathy is especially pressing today, since these movements and others — the Tea Party, the Bernie Sanders campaign, Occupy Wall Street — share similar grievances: In their own ways, they say: “I am not being heard,” “I don’t feel like I belong anymore,” “I have no control over my future.” I am not placing all of these movements on the same footing in terms of my personal position, nor am I suggesting that, because I find them to be analogous, they are equal. But there are, in my opinion, strong commonalities, both good and bad.
Each movement is made up of at least three factions: believers, political insiders and instigators. I saw these divides emerge in the Tea Party, where self-serving “leaders” — but really just insiders — tried to take control of the movement to their own benefit. Not surprisingly, we have seen the same thing happen with the Occupy Wall Street movement, and the activists who gathered in Ferguson, Mo. (be it as insiders or as instigators).CLEVELAND -- Isaiah Crowell’s journey to the National Football League was anything but smooth, and the same can be said for the time since the former Alabama State rusher joined the Cleveland Browns as an undrafted free agent prior to the 2014 season.
However, now that Crowell is in the midst of his third season with the Browns, he is showing speed and the kind of skill that give the coaches confidence he can be a major player on offense.
“He’s very explosive,” said Browns running backs coach Kirby Wilson. “He’s got all of the tools. He’s going to be a special player this year. Along with that, he’s got a great work ethic. We’re really pleased at how he’s working at his trade. Every day, it’s an interview for him, and he’s going out and doing a fabulous job for us right now.”
The 5-foot-11, 225-pound Crowell, who accounted for 706 yards and four scores on 185 carries during his sophomore season in the NFL, one in which he was used sparingly and just once eclipsed the 100-yard mark, when he ran for 145 yards in a 24-10 win over San Francisco on December 13, 2015.
Sign up for the daily Top 3 Newsletter Thank you Something went wrong. This email will be delivered to your inbox once a day in the morning. Thank you for signing up for The Top 3 Newsletter Please try again later.
Submit
During the offseason workouts, Crowell stated his desire to be a consistent contributor for a successful team, something that Wilson believes will be possible if his young rusher carries his effort from training camp into the final two games of the preseason.
“There were things on film that you saw that you think you can help him as far as identification, how you read certain concepts and certain fronts and where you’re placing the football at,” Wilson said. “It’s all about a read, a decision, and then, ball placement. Those three things go together and we talk about that and set that situation up for him every day.
“He’s doing a lot better because he understands now that the defense is a puzzle. Like any puzzle, the pieces fit certain places, and he’s starting to get an idea and understanding of that concept.”
Before Crowell started showing signs of improvement in the run game, he had to deal with an off-the-field issue that had many fans and media members calling for him to be cut from the Browns and suspended by the NFL.
In the wake of the police-involved shooting of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Crowell posted the image of a mysterious figure dressed in black with an American flag-themed scarf and an ankh necklace, the Egyptian symbol of life, cutting the neck of a police officer.
In the text portion of the post, Crowell wrote, “ |
e-mail account.
And finally: phishing links. Users are free to click around the Web until they encounter a link to a phishing website. Then everyone wants to know how to train the user not to click on suspicious links. But you can't train users not to click on links when you've spent the past two decades teaching them that links are there to be clicked.
We must stop trying to fix the user to achieve security. We'll never get there, and research toward those goals just obscures the real problems. Usable security does not mean "getting people to do what we want." It means creating security that works, given (or despite) what people do. It means security solutions that deliver on users' security goals without -- as the 19th-century Dutch cryptographer Auguste Kerckhoffs aptly put it -- "stress of mind, or knowledge of a long series of rules."
I've been saying this for years. Security usability guru (and one of the guest editors of this issue) M. Angela Sasse has been saying it even longer. People -- and developers -- are finally starting to listen. Many security updates happen automatically so users don't have to remember to manually update their systems. Opening a Word or Excel document inside Google Docs isolates it from the user's system so they don't have to worry about embedded malware. And programs can run in sandboxes that don't compromise the entire computer. We've come a long way, but we have a lot further to go.
"Blame the victim" thinking is older than the Internet, of course. But that doesn't make it right. We owe it to our users to make the Information Age a safe place for everyone -- not just those with "security awareness."
This essay previously appeared in the Sep/Oct issue of IEEE Security & Privacy.
EDITED TO ADD (10/13): Commentary.
Posted on October 3, 2016 at 6:12 AM • 115 CommentsEamon Dunphy announced at a press gathering today that he intends to build the ‘Wes Hoolahan school for kids who can’t pass good’. The RTE pundit said that he was taking “extreme measures” to ensure that we’re not relying on “Glenn bloody Whelans” in the future. Dunphy’s optimistic plans include an opening date for the school in late-2018. Wes Hoolahan’s extend of involvement in the project is currently unconfirmed but Dunphy is looking at the school’s potential for positive change:
Football is beauty. The game has the power to bring us all together in celebration of admiring wonderful football played in the right way. Martin O’Neill has brought our national team to its knees and I feel it’s my obligation to step in and secure our footballing future with this school
“Just give the ball to Wes”
After Ireland’s World Cup qualifying campaign ended in a 5-1 home defeat to Denmark, many fans have questioned our rudimentary style of football. “Long balls and players not looking to receive a pass” are major problems, according to Dunphy. When asked why he chose the name ‘the Wes Hoolahan school for kids who can’t pass good’, Dunphy’s response was emphatic:
Irish children grow up worshiping their footballing idols in green. They then try to recreate what they see on the television. While kids in Portugal are practising stepovers and wee niños in Spain are trying tika-taka, our young lads are hoofing balls from one end of a park to the other. Wes Hoolohan is the Irish Xavi. We need more players like Wes. I chose the name as a symbol of footballing hope.
The Norwich playmaker was unavailable for comment but is understood to be perplexed at this development. While Hoolahan (35) is nearing the end of his playing time, it’s unclear whether he will play any part in the school in the future. Dunphy will be hoping that he can convince his favourite passer of the ball to pass his talents on to the next generation of playmakers.
Main Image: RTEMelinda Beck for The Chronicle Review
When I was awaiting my first round of student evaluations, a female colleague warned me, "To students, you’re either a mother or a bitch." That is, you’re either nice, nurturing, and helpful, or arrogant, dismissive, and unavailable. Although I ended up receiving many substantive comments from students, there was no doubt that my personality (for good or ill) was often a central matter of discussion.
Decades of research back up my colleague’s warning. A 1999 study of women’s emotional labor in academe found that "students expect female professors to be nicer than male professors and judge them more harshly when they are not." More recently, the history professor Benjamin M. Schmidt, at Northeastern University, found that male professors were more likely to be called "geniuses," while female professors were more often judged on their personalities. Many women say that their students frequently treat them like counselors or social workers. Female academics — like their peers in other professions — are made to perform the bulk of the emotional labor, with both colleagues and students.
Pressures like these might explain why so many academic women I know were immediately intrigued by the premise of Deborah Nelson’s new book, Tough Enough (University of Chicago Press), which explores the work of women intellectuals, writers, and artists known for their stoical, even "heartless," dispositions. When I explained the concept to female friends across the academy (and for that matter, beyond it) they all saw something liberating in the notion of the intentionally cold woman intellectual; perhaps it could serve as a model for their own escape from the pressures of obligatory emotional labor.
Alamy Mary McCarthy Nelson examines a group of thinkers (Diane Arbus, Hannah Arendt, Joan Didion, Mary McCarthy, Susan Sontag, and Simone Weil) who cultivated a cool, unsentimental disposition. Unsurprisingly, this attitude frequently inspired the disdain of their male colleagues, who saw them as "pitiless," "icy," "clinical," "cold," and "impersonal." Several of these women also became notorious among the broader public for adopting an unsentimental tone at exactly the moments when sentiment seemed most necessary. Arendt criticized what she saw as the overly emotional language of the Israeli prosecutors at the trial of Adolf Eichmann; Didion satirized the smug good intentions of the New Left; Sontag, less than two weeks after 9/11, chastised U.S. officials and the media for their "sanctimonious, reality-concealing rhetoric."
Nelson’s central goal in Tough Enough is to push beyond both the public outrage and the male condescension in order to better understand what these women hoped to achieve with their (often scandalously) unsentimental attitudes. Nelson argues that their coldness was neither a mere defect of personality nor simply a way to defy stereotypes about female emotion. Instead, she describes it as a deliberate ethical, aesthetic, and political strategy. For Nelson, writers like Arendt and Sontag were members of a distinct postwar intellectual tradition, built around the core insight that the best way to reckon with any social crisis was to dwell in the cold, painful light of reality.
These women shared an inclination toward stoicism at a moment when expressions of extreme emotion were more common.
The events of the mid-20th century — Auschwitz, Hiroshima, gulags, refugee camps — placed a new focus on the experience of trauma and on the expression of sympathy. These women made such events a central focus of their writing, but they sought to examine those events unsentimentally. Although they participated in widely divergent artistic and intellectual traditions — theology, literary criticism, and photography, to name a few — they shared an inclination toward stoicism at a moment when expressions of extreme emotion were more common.
Tough Enough is an explicitly feminist book in that it demands that we take these women seriously as intellectuals and see past the many misogynistic critiques of their "icy" personalities. Yet all these thinkers were themselves "ambivalent or outright hostile to the feminist movements of their days." Second-wave feminism, for Arendt, McCarthy, and the others, was just another form of misguided emotional politics.
Alamy Susan Sontag This fact should give pause to readers, like my friends and I, who hoped to find feminist role models in Nelson’s subjects. While an unsentimental disposition might liberate women intellectuals from certain demands for emotional labor, the politics of such a stance are fraught. Arbus, Arendt, Didion, McCarthy, Sontag, and Weil saw stoicism as a politically useful strategy precisely because it evaded expressions of empathy and solidarity. Yet such expressions, as onerous as they might sometimes feel, are also necessary to many feminist projects, including feminist pedagogy. What do we gain, and what do we lose, when we aspire to unsentimentality?
Nelson demonstrates that an unsentimental approach is most helpful in allowing writers and thinkers to resist socially obligatory forms of emotional expression. At times of crisis, intellectuals (like everyone else) are often called to relinquish their critical reflection and judgment in favor of expressions of allegiance to a particular group or cause. Those on the left will see unsentimentality as a useful strategy for resisting nationalism and tribalism — for stepping back from the demand to perform patriotic belonging (as in Sontag’s bracing critique of post-9/11 rhetoric). Meanwhile, those on the right will be — as many of these women were — similarly resistant to calls for identification with a historically victimized class. We can already see, then, how unsentimental style might attract practitioners across the political spectrum; if certain forms of affiliation already make you queasy, you will readily perceive the value of standing apart from their emotional excesses.
Advertisement
The more difficult question is whether such dispassion is useful in approaching issues, ideas, or groups that one does hope to support. Nelson cites a passage from Arendt’s On Revolution (1963) that offers an intriguing argument against political emotions of all kinds. Arendt argues that "the human heart" is a "place of darkness," best left out of the sphere of politics: "However deeply heartfelt a motive may be, once it is brought out and exposed for public inspection it becomes an object of suspicion rather than insight." In other words, once you make a political event about your emotional reaction, you deflect from the issue itself and introduce speculation about the depth or shallowness of your own feeling. When opinions exchanged on social media or in the classroom are accompanied by profound emotional expressions, those who observe them may become preoccupied with evaluating the sincerity of the speaker’s feelings instead of what inspired them. For Arendt, we serve the political causes we support best when we approach them calmly and coolly.
This is one of the more interesting accounts of unsentimentality offered in Tough Enough, but it is crucial to note that such "heartlessness" can go spectacularly wrong, too. To see just how wrong, we need look no further than Arendt’s "Reflections on Little Rock."
Alamy Hannah Arendt In that infamous 1957 essay, Arendt criticized the NAACP for its fight against school segregation, which she saw as a misguided political goal, pursued with insufficient "caution and moderation." She agreed with efforts to desegregate public services, but — in a perplexing line of reasoning — argued that schools were not fully public, because they concerned children and thus were in the sacrosanct private sphere of the family. She also suggested that African-American parents were neglecting more-pressing forms of discrimination because they saw school integration as a mode of social advancement.
In defending her criticism of the NAACP in a later preface, Arendt wrote that "oppressed minorities were never the best judges on the order of priorities in such matters and there are many instances when they preferred to fight for social opportunity rather than for basic human or political rights." Here her famously unsentimental tone slips into imperiousness and insult. Rather than express the appropriate degree of sympathy or humility considering her (confessed) ignorance of the topic, she maintains the cold, dismissive tone that was more successful in her other writings. That characteristic heartless style quickly becomes inappropriate when it is not supported by any evidence of a real commitment to, or empathy for, the cause in question.
If heartlessness promises to banish illusion and well-intentioned hyperbole, and to bring us face to face with "the facts," then its success as an ethical posture depends entirely on a correct judgment about what the facts are. If heartlessness comes to mistake its own piercing style for accurate perception, then it is left with neither good intentions nor good insights. In short, it is an extraordinarily risky intellectual approach for its practitioners, and especially for those subject to its gaze. Nelson writes, "When unsentimentality succeeds, its descriptors are ‘lucid,’ ‘clear-eyed,’ ‘precise,’ ‘restrained,’ and ‘penetrating,’ to name a few. When it fails, unsentimentality veers into coldness, tactlessness, aggression, and even cruelty." Arendt’s "Reflections on Little Rock" is an example of the radical failure of "heartlessness."
Arbus, Arendt, Didion, McCarthy, Sontag, and Weil all urge us to be vigilant about political postures that make us feel good — that console, comfort, or distract, or that privilege our self-image as caring, compassionate, suffering martyrs. But we might add heartlessness itself to that list of tempting illusions. It can provide the false feeling that we, unlike the hysterical rest, are capable of rational, accurate, unsentimental perception.
Alamy Joan Didion Of these six thinkers, Nelson believes that only Joan Didion significantly revised her relationship to emotion. In the memoirs Didion wrote following the deaths of her husband and her daughter, The Year of Magical Thinking (Knopf, 2005) and Blue Nights (Knopf, 2011), she was forced to come to terms with the unavoidability of self-pity. Didion had critiqued others for dwelling on their own suffering and urged a self-reliant "moral toughness." But she gradually came to see that attitude as unrealistic, even perverse. She realized that she had only deluded herself into believing that she was beyond self-delusion. As Nelson writes: "Didion has discovered that in her tough-minded, unsentimental, and undeluded moralism, she had cowered from painful feeling and recast herself in the guise of stalwart realist"; she had engaged in "emotional self-indulgence disguised as stoicism."
Women academics today are caught between the pressure to be unsentimentally analytical in their research and the pressure to perform burdensome emotional labor in the classroom or in faculty meetings. It is no surprise, then, that they might be attracted to the work of women like Sontag or Didion, who cultivated unassailably cool demeanors. But Nelson strives to show that this characteristic "toughness" was not only a demeanor but also a vital postwar intellectual tradition. Far from offering a set of role models for women thinkers, her book charts a fraught set of political, ethical, and aesthetic philosophies unified by a commitment to stoicism and to a direct confrontation with pain and suffering.
Along the way, Tough Enough prompts us to question the value and limitations of "heartlessness" as an ethical posture. We should resist coerced sentimentality, but we must be careful not to overvalue stoicism. Although we need to shift the burden of emotional labor, we cannot — as tempting as it may be — unburden ourselves of empathy.
Katie Fitzpatrick is a Ph.D. candidate in English at Brown University.by Nicole Revels
A classic leftwing argument device that justifiably annoys conservatives is the blanket indictment of Republicans as being “heartless,” equating opposition to entitlement spending increases with taking perverse pleasure in the prospect of individuals freezing and starving on the streets. This tactic is meant to “guilt” the public into equating higher taxes and spending with being ‘good’, and opposition to handing over hard-earned money to big brother with being ‘bad’.
Amazingly, the military industrial complex Republicans seem to now be taking notes from the welfare state Democrats.
It appears that they have begun using the liberals’ appeal-to-emotion tactic with their latest campaign to shame Americans into calling for an expansion of military spending. Within the past 24 hours, I have received emails from Republican groups, read articles from NBC news, and even heard a personal appeal during my county Republican club meeting – all conveying a heartbreaking story of military members’ requests made to a nonprofit organization called TroopsDirect.
TroopsDirect is a civilian organization, described as “a nonprofit with one full-time employee and a small squadron of corporate backers,” which takes orders directly from military units for items that they would like to receive in order to make their service time in Afghanistan more comfortable, and the organization then works to supply the items directly to the units. In essence, a more effective means of “sending troop boxes.”
While the organization had generally been receiving requests for items such as socks, toothpaste, flea collars, etc., it was now said that TroopsDirect has been receiving requests instead for basic survival necessities – necessities that the military should have been providing to the troops already.
NBC News reports, “An Army unit slated to deploy to Afghanistan to clear roadside bombs has asked … for 30 special vests designed to carry armored plates because, according to the unit’s commanding officer, the Army will only outfit half of his 60 members with those vests.” The article goes on to maintain that cuts to the defense budget are preventing the military from supplying the troops with the protective vests.
A tear-jerking email received from the National Federation of Republican Women goes even further. It states that, “Last month, TroopsDirect heard from the commander of an Army mortar unit outside of Kandahar, Afghanistan, who had been issued such worn-out ear protection that troops were having their eardrums blown out by weapons percussions and were bleeding from their ears. … Defense Department budget constraints are the reason cited for the failure to supply all troops with necessary equipment.”
Though it is truly a sad story, these anecdotes do not move me to push for increases to the Department of Defense budget. Is it because I am a heartless human being who wants our military members to have their eardrums blown out & go into battle without basic protective gear? No. It’s because the US taxpayers cannot afford our already-overblown defense budget, and the Department of Defense has placed a higher priority on funding wasteful spending that has absolutely nothing to do with defense. After all, why cut other pet programs in order to buy equipment for troops in the field, when instead you can appeal to emotion in order to get increases in funding and not make any hard choices?
In a November 2012 report, Republican Senator Tom Coburn outlines billions of dollars being spent on wasteful or redundant projects coming out of the Department of Defense – projects which have little or nothing to do with the actual defense of the nation.
The report claims that over 67 billion dollars could be saved by the reduction recommendations outlined without cutting any Navy combat ships, Army brigade combat teams, or Air Force fighter squadrons. Here are a few examples of Department of Defense spending outlined in the report as being wasteful or redundant:
“Even though “improving global health is not one of its core objectives,” the Pentagon will spend at least $580 million this year on global health activities, more than either the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the National Institutes of Health. … each year Congress redirects funding within the Pentagon budget for non-military specific research into the very same diseases already being studied by NIH.”
“the Navy recently funded research examining what the behavior of fish can teach us about democracy while also developing an app to alert iPhone users when the best time is to take a coffee break.”
“Both the Navy and the Air Force funded a study that concluded people in New York use different jargon on Twitter than those living in California.”
“The Department of Defense launched more than 100 renewable energy-related initiatives in 2010, more than any other federal agency including the Department of Energy. Many of these DOD renewable energy projects were so poorly planned, they failed to be cost effective or even produce power, wasting millions of national security dollars.”
Coburn’s report asks the question that we should all now be considering, “As we borrow trillions of dollars from potentially hostile foreign governments and our nation faces a $16 trillion debt, why are these priorities being funded and other priorities being ignored?”
Rather than allocating more tax dollars to the Department of Defense, we should direct that the DOD make cuts in other areas, in order to provide our military members with their basic survival necessities.The dictionary and Donald Trump. Together they represent the bedrocks of our modern communication; without them, we would literally have nothing to say to each other, besides a bunch of primal grunts about how much we’re enjoying life. And yet, somehow the two cannot seem to get along. Trump and his associates misuse or misspell a word, and suddenly Merriam-Webster is right there, attempting to diminish their authority by pedantically insisting that words are spelled a certain way and mean things. It’s a feud that shows no signs of stopping, unless Trump adopts a policy of limiting his social media usage to just those messages that are screened by staff members for potential errors, and given the weight and consideration expected of an official missive from the President of the United States, or Rupert Murdoch finally buys the dictionary, whichever happens first. Until then, we have to watch as our two most prolific sources of words spar online—this time over whether Trump may or may not have invented the phrase “priming the pump.”
Trump made the claim in a recent interview with The Economist, in which he discussed how his tax plan will increase the deficit, but how this is okay because it’s merely “priming the pump.” It’s an eloquent turn of phrase—pithy, evocative, beautiful in its earthy simplicity. All the things you naturally associate with Donald Trump, because he came up with it:
ECONOMIST: Beyond that, it’s okay if the tax plan increases the deficit? TRUMP: It is okay, because it won’t increase it for long. You may have two years where you’ll … you understand the expression “prime the pump”? ECONOMIST: Yes. TRUMP: We have to prime the pump. ECONOMIST: It’s very Keynesian. TRUMP: We’re the highest-taxed nation in the world. Have you heard that expression before, for this particular type of an event? ECONOMIST: Priming the pump? TRUMP: Yeah, have you heard it? ECONOMIST: Yes. TRUMP: Have you heard that expression used before? Because I haven’t heard it. I mean, I just … I came up with it a couple of days ago and I thought it was good. It’s what you have to do.
Advertisement
Unfortunately, the George Soros-funded dictionary was right there to cry, in its usual butthurt way, that “prime the pump” has existed as a phrase since “the early 19th century,” and has been used specifically to “refer to government investment expenditures since at least 1933.” A nasty, nasty lexicographical product, that one.
In an attempt to foster peace between these two bitter rivals, we’re left to consider whether Trump’s claim was born of some sort of unfathomable narcissism that completely disregards all historical evidence and conventional wisdom in favor of a reckless faith in his own superiority, no matter how demonstrably ludicrous it is, or that maybe he was just joking.
Advertisement
The Washington Post, for one, is willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, pointing out that Trump has used “prime the pump” at least a few times before, suggesting this exchange might have been the sort of winking, deadpan humor where you just repeat an obvious lie a few times using the same words, each iteration funnier than the last. But others remain skeptical, suspecting that Donald Trump might enjoy taking things other people have done and just stamping his name on them.
Regardless, it seems the war between the dictionary and Donald Trump continues, a conflagration that, at the very least, we can’t all die in.If you are what you tweet, a lot of Americans are very, very jittery. A new study looked at nearly 80 million tweets and found that coffee was the most tweeted-about consumable in the U.S. and Starbucks was by far the most tweeted fast-food restaurant.
The study, published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research Public Health and Surveillance, used Twitter as a way to gain insight into the health of people in neighborhoods across the U.S. “Increasingly we’re seeing more and more studies looking at health beyond just disease, incorporating indicators of wellbeing,” says Quynh Nguyen, lead author of the study and an assistant professor at the University of Utah College of Health. She and her team zoomed in on geolocated tweets about food, physical activity and happiness, and compared them to census data and health surveys.
In just 140 characters, tweets about these three things said a lot about people in certain parts of the country.
Nearly 5% of the tweets, randomly collected from 2015-2016, mentioned food. The most-tweeted edibles were coffee, beer, pizza, wine, chicken, BBQ, ice cream and tacos. When researchers sorted these tweets by healthfulness, 16% were about healthy foods, and 9% mentioned fast food.
The team designed algorithms to determine food and exercise mentions as well as emotion, but they weren’t perfect. Researchers were baffled by the immense popularity of curry before realizing that Twitter was crazy for basketball star Stephen Curry, not the spicy dish.
The most popular fast-food restaurant was Starbucks—which took up nearly half of all such mentions—followed by Chipotle, Taco Bell and Buffalo Wild Wings.
Tweets from poorer neighborhoods were less likely to mention healthy foods, and areas with more healthy-food tweets had fewer deaths and lower rates of chronic disease.
TIME Health Newsletter Get the latest health and science news, plus: burning questions and expert tips. View Sample Sign Up Now
Tweets about exercise also had stories to tell. The most-tweeted kinds of physical activity were walking, dancing, running, workouts, golf, swimming, hiking, yoga and bowling. And tweets about physical activity tended to come from places with lower rates of obesity and fewer deaths.
“What was kind of nice, from a health and emotion perspective, was that tweets that mentioned food were actually happier than tweets that did not mention food, and tweets that mention healthy foods were the happiest,” Nguyen says. “Healthy food and physical activity were the happiest kind of tweets.”
Nguyen believes that with more refinement, messages from social media like Twitter can provide untapped insights into our health. “So far, we are finding that they do predict area-level health outcomes at various levels: zip code, census tract, county and state,” she says. “Our next set of analyses examine whether these social environment variables predict individual-level health outcomes.”
You can see an in-progress map of their results here.
Write to Mandy Oaklander at [email protected] City of New Westminster is focused on protecting neighbourhoods from traffic impacts related to lane closures on the Pattullo Bridge.
TransLink began work on the $10-million deck rehabilitation project on the weekend. Until Sept. 30, the bridge will have a single lane of traffic in each direction.
article continues below
“Our focus is on neighbourhoods,” said Lisa Leblanc, the city’s transportation manager. “The idea is to start with information and a soft approach, reinforce the existing restrictions that we have got in place to protect neighbourhoods. If that is not working, we will ramp it up and increase enforcement or put some hard closures in so people can’t get into those neighbourhoods to do the wrong thing.”
Mayor Jonathan Cote said the city is hopeful that drivers will start to find alternative routes to the Pattullo Bridge or to use transit. He said the Port Mann Bridge has a lot of excess capacity, so it will be interesting to see if traffic volumes on that tolled route start to rise.
TransLink did some transportation modelling to indicate where long queues could appear when the bridge capacity was reduced from four to two travel lanes.
“Based on that, we had a consultant develop a neighbourhood monitoring and mitigation program to identify all the spots that might be vulnerable to people shortcutting through neighbourhoods,” Leblanc said. “Our focus has really been on protecting neighbourhoods. If people are choosing to drive, that’s their choice, but we are not going to make it easier for them by degrading our neighbourhoods.”
Representatives from two companies hired by the city to address the traffic issues have been out in the field monitoring traffic and recommending actions to nip problems in the bud. The city has also met with police, whose top priority is to protect the city’s most vulnerable areas - schools, parks and areas where seniors might be in larger numbers.
“There will still be motor vehicles on streets in New West. We want to make sure those vehicles are on streets they should be on, which are the bigger roads, and that they are not finding ways to bleed through the neighbourhoods and disrupt our residential areas. That’s really important to me,” Leblanc said. “That’s why we are out there directing traffic and trying to mitigate for that and nipping it in the bud as early as possible."
According to TransLink, there were 51,000 crossings on the Pattullo Bridge on Monday, compared to 82,000 the previous Monday. With a 50 per cent drop in lane capacity, that means about 31,000 trips (38 per cent) were redistributed to other routes.
On Tuesday, there were 53,706 crossings on the Pattullo Bridge, a slight increase from the day before. TransLink anticipates it will be a week or two before drivers settle into a new commuting pattern that works for them.Director Rian Johnson released a goldmine of info regarding the upcoming Mondo vinyl release, which features his film, Looper. You can see the photos of the packaging below, but the artwork (by Jay Shaw) highlights those gold bars that appear when a looper kills himself (just watch the movie), and the gatefold has the two versions of “Joe” on each side. The gatefold package is then placed inside of a “handmade burlap sack slip cover” with a hole blown in the center.
There’s also a limited edition 7″ that features “a solo piano version of the theme” and Kid Koala’s song from the club scene. Nathan Johnson composed the score for Looper.
You can see photos of the awesome package, below. We’ll let you know when sale details are announced for these.
Submitted by Robert
Tags: MondoDuring tonight’s presidential debate, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney attacked President Barack Obama over what Romney said was President Obama’s failure to call the September 11, 2012 attack on our embassy in Benghazi, Libya an “act of terror” for fourteen days following the attack.
Here’s the exchange in question between Mitt Romney and President Obama (emphasis added):
GOVERNOR ROMNEY: I think it’s interesting the President just said something which is that on the day after the attack he went to the Rose Garden and said this was an act of terror. PRESIDENT OBAMA: That’s what I said. GOVERNOR ROMNEY: You said in the Rose Garden the day after the attack it was an attack of terror. It was not a spontaneous demonstration? PRESIDENT OBAMA: Please proceed. GOVERNOR ROMNEY: I want to make sure we get that for the record. Because it took the President 14 days before he called it an attack of terror.
While I understand Mitt Romney will say just about anything to get elected, including telling blatant lies, I find the ease with which he tells lies to be more than a little disconcerting. Here’s President Obama calling the September 11 attack on our embassy in Benghazi an act of terror the morning after the attack.
Yet again Mitt Romney has proven no lie is too great for him to tell.Nearly three miles under water -- deeper than the Titanic -- lies El Faro, a cargo ship that sunk in the Bermuda Triangle last October when it fell victim to Hurricane Joaquin along with its 33 crewmembers. On 60 Minutes this week, viewers are taken inside the investigation being conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board, and get a rare look at the shipwreck itself thanks to a remotely piloted vehicle, known as CURV.
"It's amazing technology," 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley tells Overtime editor Ann Silvio in the video above. "The ship, of course, is at a depth that no diver could ever reach. So they go down with the CURV."
CURV stands for "Cable-controlled Underwater Recovery Vehicle," and U.S. Navy Captain Gregg Baumann, the Navy's supervisor of salvage and diving, shows Scott Pelley how it is aiding the search for El Faro's black box. "At the end of the day what it is that you really want to do is bring answers back, help bring closure to the families," Baumann explains in the story, which was produced by Patricia Shevlin and Miles Doran.
CURV has robotic arms and an attached basket that could transport the ship's black box, or "voyage data recorder," back to the surface, Baumann says. It is also equipped with a pan-and-tilt camera and lights bright enough to penetrate the total darkness of ocean depths. Tom Roth-Roffy, the National Transportation Safety Board's lead investigator on the case, shows Pelley clear images of the ship's equipment and cargo transmitted by CURV - a microwave, a printer and a car, all littering the seabed. But the voyage data recorder has yet to be found.
CURV, in its earlier incarnations, has been used by the Navy since the 1960s. Equipped with a claw, it once picked up a hydrogen bomb from the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea, Pelley tells Silvio. And it rescued two men trapped in a mini-submarine in 1973. "They were running out of oxygen and the CURV went down there and grabbed their mini-submarine and brought it up to where it could be lifted to the surface and save those men's lives," Pelley explains.
In the case of El Faro, CURV revealed that the "house" -- the large structure at the rear of the ship where the crew lives and works -- had been stripped of its two upper decks, which were found only later. Roth-Roffy tells Pelley he found the discovery "moving and difficult," because one of the separated decks was the ship's bridge, where Captain Michael Davidson and others were likely fighting the storm. "It was a very big surprise to us to see that," Roth-Roffy says. "Just to see the violence of the sea and the winds that would have had to occur to cause that kind of an event."
Pelley, too, was struck by CURV's images. "One of the most haunting pictures is where you see the name of the ship on the stern, El Faro, there which translated means 'The Lighthouse,'" he says. In this case, however, it was CURV that provided a beacon in the darkness, offering some desperately needed answers about El Faro's murky fate.
Editor's note: In April, El Faro's voyage data recorder was located about a quarter of a mile away from the main wreckage. In July, the NTSB and the Navy will embark on another mission to retrieve it.
This video was originally published Jan. 3, 2016. It was produced by Sarah Shafer Prediger and Ann Silvio, and edited by Sarah Shafer Prediger.
Stock footage supplied by Periscope Film LLCVillagers in Karo, Indonesia, ride a motorbike as Mount Sinabung spews volcanic smoke on Sunday. ((Binsar Bakkara/Associated Press) )
About 10,000 people have fled their homes in western Indonesia, where a volcano has erupted for the first time in 400 years.
The eruption started Saturday night on Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra province. Smoke and ash shot into the air, and lava could be seen pouring down the mountain.
One man says he ran for his life when he saw the lava coming towards him.
Local officials say there's no major damage and the eruption has mostly stopped.
The government distributed 7,000 masks to refugees and set up public kitchens so people can cook food, said Priyadi Kardono, spokesman for the National Disaster Management Agency.
Mount Sinabung is part of the Pacific ocean's "Ring of Fire," which has more than 100 active volcanoes.
An alert will remain in force for at least a week in the area. Even though volcanic activity has decreased, experts say Mount Sinabung remains unpredictable.×
New Sad Affleck Video Arises From 'Justice League'
A new Sad Affleck meme has been born, this time from an interview in promotion of Justice League.
In the video above, Affleck sits beside Cyborg actor Ray Fisher as they discuss the Warner Bros. ensemble film. It doesn't seem to be as fitting as the original Sad Affleck meme, which was pulled from an interview in which Henry Cavill addressed the poor reviews for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
In the new video, it appears Affleck is simply thinking and listening to what Fisher has to say, but ends up paired with the song "I Need Some Sleep" by Eels and a slow zoom in on his black and white face. It might not become the Internet sensation which the original Sad Affleck did but great memes never die.
Whether or not Affleck's role as Batman will continue is still quite unclear. Despite Affleck stating how eager he was to continue the role at San Diego Comic Con, more recent reports claim Affleck will appear as Bruce Wayne in the Flashpoint movie before a new actor is cast for the Matt Reeves-directed trilogy.
Justice League is now playing in theaters.It may or may not surprise you, but the top 10 most expensive cities in buy gas in North America are all in B.C.
According to statistics released and compiled by gasbuddy.com, all 10 communities are in the Lower Mainland.
The data, compiled on August 8, paints a rather depressing picture of how much it costs to drive a vehicle in B.C.
Coming in at number one was Delta, with prices at 143.6 a litre.
Co-founder of gasbuddy.com, Jason Toews, said these results do not surprise him at all. “I would have been surprised if B.C. wasn’t at the top of the list,” he said.
The results are compiled from data submitted by users of the website, sharing the price of gas in their communities. While some areas in the province may have higher gas prices, gasbuddy only tracks communities with more than five gas stations so as to look at the bigger |
to 2006 while (sugar) sweetened beverages decreased by 10 per cent."
But quizzed about how this claim could be made when the paper's own charts showed Australians were drinking 30 per cent more sugary soft drinks, Professor Brand-Miller conceded there may have been errors.
"It might be that a key word came out... a key word has come out, OK?"
Professor Brand-Miller said she meant to say "the amount of sugar that went into those soft drinks declined by 10 per cent".
But the correction makes clear the "inadvertent error" did not refer to a decline in the amount of sugar in soft drinks, but referred to a 10 per cent decline in market share by sugary soft drinks.
Nutrients informed its readers that "some words were missing".
It said the amended paper now reads: "Food industry data indicate that per capita sales of low calorie (non-nutritively sweetened) beverages doubled from 1994 to 2006 while market share of nutritively sweetened beverages decreased by 10 percentage points."
10 per cent drop in consumption 'nonsense'
Former Reserve Bank economist Rory Robertson said the claim that per capita consumption of sugary drinks had declined by 10 per cent was "nonsense".
"They seem to have got themselves tangled up in issues of absolute levels of sugary soft drink consumption and market shares of sugary soft drink consumption," he said.
"One of their charts highlights the fact that there has been a big increase in diet drink sales in Australia.
"What they meant to say was that sugary soft drinks sales increased by 30 per cent but the market share of sugary soft drinks dropped by 10 percentage points.
"One is relevant to the issue of whether sugar consumption went up or down and one is a furphy."
The ABC also reported other contentious data cited by The Australian Paradox, including Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) datasets showing sugar consumption had declined.
Those datasets were later discontinued because the ABS could no longer reliably count sugar consumption as so much of it was embedded in food and drink.
Professor Brand-Miller has stood by the claim that sugar consumption in Australia had declined.
"If children have reduced their intake of soft drinks, then it's probably likely that they've reduced their intake of added sugar in total from 1995 to 2007," she said.
But Mr Robertson says the paper is "a menace to public health".
"There is no Australian paradox; sugar consumption is up, not down," he said.
The journal Nutrients disagrees.
"These changes have no material impact on the conclusions of our paper," it said in the correction. "We apologise to our readers."
Topics: research, science-and-technology, medical-research, health, diet-and-nutrition, obesity, diabetes, australia
First postedMore than a decade ago, during my annual physical, I happened to have a conversation with my general practitioner about Bill Readings's instant classic, The University in Ruins (1997). I rehearsed the argument of the book and then received a surprising response. "The university is in great shape," my doctor told me. He elaborated, saying that his position as a member of Ohio State University's medical-school faculty afforded him flexible hours and a good salary, his private practice supplemented that, and most central, his studies in hypertension, sponsored by the giant drug company Pfizer, were quite lucrative.
The conversation, and the revelation that my fellow faculty member saw the university mainly as the means by which he could consult for a major corporation, had a lasting effect on my thinking and subsequent writing about higher education. I came away with the suspicion, one that I still hold today, that humanists all too often use "the humanities" and "the university" as equivalent terms. The university is no more in ruins now than when Readings published his book.
Yet the equation is ubiquitous: Witness the recent initiative, the Academy in Hard Times, announced by Rosemary Feal, executive director of the Modern Language Association. Feal said, "You don't need me to tell you that the academy is going through one of the most difficult periods in its history." A spokesperson for several major fields in the humanities, Feal simply seems to assume that "the academy" and "the humanities" are synonyms; as such, both are in need of protection in today's economy.
In fact, the humanities and the university are not the same. Since the 1970s, all disciplines in the humanities have suffered from budgetary shortfalls and the absence of a job market. But that's just the humanities. Ohio State recently completely remodeled its library and built a state-of-the-art recreation facility (it now seems that no university is legitimate without a climbing wall) as well as a lavish student union. Salaries for business and law professors reflect the university's valuation of its faculty members: Full professors in business make an average annual salary of $208,000; full professors of law, $180,000; and full professors in arts and humanities earn an average of $108,000. Other universities can tell similar stories: Indiana University of Pennsylvania recently built the largest dormitory in the country. The good times are rolling in higher education.
What has happened is that the center of gravity at almost all universities has shifted so far away from the humanities that the most pertinent answer to the question "Will the humanities survive in the 21st century?" is not "yes" or "no," but "Who cares?"
We need to start by asking, "If the humanities and the university are not one and the same, what are the consequences for the humanities?" If my conversation with my physician is any indication, the consequences for the humanities aren't good, and that should prompt us to ask additional questions. Most important, we need to inspect our disciplines in the context of a much longer institutional history than we typically do. For students of academe in 1910, the question—"Will the humanities survive the 20th century?"—would have been answerable. Almost everyone would have replied, "Of course." Andrew Carnegie, who famously declared that liberal-arts education fitted a college graduate for "life on another planet," would most likely have added, "Yes, but what a shame." I can only think of one person, Thorstein Veblen, who would not automatically have said, "Yes, of course." Fast-forward 100 years: No one is at all certain about the survival of the humanities.
To assess the future of the humanities, consider first the curriculum. Astonishingly (to me at least), the curriculum of 1910, while much changed, is still recognizable today. The classics are all but gone. Once Harvard and Yale eliminated Greek as a requirement in the late 19th century, student interest quickly drifted away from it. In 1907, 98 percent of students entering Yale had a prior knowledge of Greek. In 1921, just 14 years later, 50 percent of all entering students had prior knowledge, and, once at Yale, only 8 percent decided to continue to study it. The fact is that the standard curriculum remained fairly prescriptive throughout the 20th century, but as more colleges offered electives and introduced the concept of the academic major, students gradually elected not to study the humanities.
Thus the emphasis has changed significantly. A fascinating study published by Stanford University Press in 2006, tracking trends in faculty hiring in the British Commonwealth throughout the 20th century, confirms that in overwhelming terms. The study showed that between 1915 and 1995, the total number of faculty jobs in the humanities declined by 41 percent, while the total number of faculty jobs in the social sciences increased by 222 percent. The natural sciences declined by 12 percent. If shifts like that in the United States are even vaguely comparable (and I believe they are), then the humanities' share of the university pie has been shrinking for nearly a century.
The shifting social mission of the university will also contribute to the shrinkage of the humanities as we move forward. The colleges of 1910 served a tiny population—only the children of the elite. College was, in most cases, either free or relatively inexpensive, but it served no purpose in the lives of the vast majority of everyday workers. Now, a college credential of some kind is all but mandatory for any job that pays a living wage. Roughly 18 million students are enrolled, with those numbers projected to continue going up. At first glance, that might seem to bode well for the humanities, but in fact, the opposite is true. The credentials that the influx of students seek, and the colleges that grant them, would have been unforeseeable in 1910.
It would be hard to imagine a major research university being built from scratch today. More pertinent, it's becoming prohibitively expensive to attend four-year universities and liberal-arts colleges. As a result, the second half of the 20th century witnessed an explosion in the number of two-year colleges, which remain inexpensive (average annual tuition is $2,544 per year), and which ask for a much briefer time commitment from students. Community colleges are booming. In 2009, Lone Star College, a network of two-year institutions in Houston, purchased a large office building from Hewlett-Packard to accommodate its staff and some 62,000 students and growing. Columbus State Community College, in Ohio, this year reached the limits of its downtown campus and had to lease classrooms from nearby Franklin University.
Advertisement
The phenomenon of community colleges barely able to keep pace with growing enrollments has paved the way for the for-profit university. Although for-profits are consistently more expensive than community colleges (average annual tuition is $14,174), they have become experts at using the national financial-aid system to recruit poor students (with median family incomes of $36,000 in 2004, compared with $53,000 for community-college students). The vast majority of for-profit students attend college without paying any money out of pocket. Taxpayers subsidize them, in what continues to prove a very successful boondoggle.
These thriving new institutions have virtually no commitment to the humanities, but instead usually focus on occupation-oriented missions. Let me offer a frightening example: In 2001 the entire for-profit, postsecondary industry graduated a little more than 28,000 students with associate and bachelor's degrees in business and management, a little more than 10,000 A.A.'s and B.A.'s in the health sciences, and not a single English major. Despite the progressive expansion of the general student population, the humanities stand to lose ground steadily. The last year in which 50 percent of students graduated with B.A.'s in traditional liberal-arts subjects—English, history, languages, philosophy—was 1970, and that was higher than it had been in a while.
Let me return now to my doctor's comments about Pfizer. They speak volumes about the material base of the new university. In the economic climate of the last 40 years, traditional universities—not just for-profits—are becoming both research-and-development labs and vending sites for multinational corporations. The state of affairs bears most directly on universities in the public sector, as documented in Gaye Tuchman's meticulous and depressing ethnographic study, Wannabe U: Inside the Corporate University (University of Chicago Press, 2009). Since the 1970s, public higher education has ceased to be considered a civic responsibility and has become another kind of entity. James Duderstadt, president of the University of Michigan from 1988 to 1996, acerbically characterized the trend during his tenure: "We used to be state-supported, then state-assisted, and now we are state-located." He's right. Today the University of Michigan receives about 8 percent of its operating budget from the state.
Thus universities have had no choice but to function increasingly as corporations and to form partnerships with corporations, and this turn of events fundamentally alters their institutional dynamic. Research was the first to feel the effects. The Bayh-Dole Act in 1980 stipulated that federally financed research done by faculty members that results in patents belongs not to the professors but to the universities that employ them. Of course, the legislation is only relevant to applied sciences—areas like hypertension studies, for example. But the prospect of marketable products (patents) makes universities an appealing investment for corporations, in particular, because those corporations now have to negotiate only with upper-level administrators, and not with an assortment of free-agent faculty members.
More generally, Bayh-Dole also inaugurated the era of earmarked corporate donations. That, in turn, is important because such sources of revenue are all that's keeping state universities afloat. Ohio State, for example, ranks third in the country in bringing in corporate donations. Elite private universities, by contrast, rely much more heavily on alumni donations. Top recipients of those funds were Washington and Lee University, Bowdoin College, Princeton University, and Cornell University.
The shift in the material base of the university leaves the humanities entirely out in the cold. Corporations don't earmark donations for the humanities because our research culture is both self-contained and absurd. Essentially, we give the copyrights of our scholarly articles and monographs to university presses, and then buy them back, or demand that our libraries buy them back, at exorbitant markups. And then no one reads them. The current tenure system obliges us all to be producers of those things, but there are no consumers.
So, will the humanities survive the 21st century? My guess may surprise you, in light of the trends I've just rehearsed: Yes.
Intelligent popular novels continue to be written; the nonfiction of humanists who defy disciplinary affiliation (Thomas Friedman, Malcolm Gladwell, and Garry Wills, among others) will still make best-seller lists; and brilliant independent films (like Slumdog Millionaire) will occasionally capture large popular audiences.
The survival of the humanities in academe, however, is a different story. The humanities will have a home somewhere in 2110, but it won't be in universities. We need at least to entertain the possibility that the humanities don't need academic institutions to survive, but actually do quite well on their own.
Some people may argue that, even if the humanities flourish outside academe, some group will have to train the new generation of public humanists how to read and write. Perhaps, but I see no compelling reason that those trainers must be college professors. There were many great poets, playwrights, and novelists in the United States long before 1922, when the University of Iowa became the first university in the country to accept creative projects as theses for advanced degrees. Russell Jacoby, in The Last Intellectuals, persuasively charted the migration of humanists from the world of literary magazines to academe. As working conditions in the humanities wing of the university continue to erode, what's to stop those humanists from migrating again?
When we claim to wonder whether the humanities will survive the 21st century, we're really asking, "Will the humanities have a place in the standard higher-education curriculum in the United States?" That's not really an intellectual question but a self-interested professional one, because we humanists would like to see ourselves as stewards of the curriculum. In reality, though, we are not, nor have we been for the last two generations. Curricula change over time, and the humanities simply don't have a place in the emergent curriculum of the 21st century.I don’t know any of this for a fact, but I would imagine that if you were to administer a spelling bee to a given middle-school classroom, there would be a fairly significant correlation between success at the bee and overall writing ability. I’d further imagine that this correlation begins to fall apart the closer you get to a country-wide scale, like the Scripps National Spelling Bee. (Perhaps I’m being ungenerous there, but I don’t see too many future Hemingways in that crowd.)
The reason I’d wager that these propositions are true is that good spelling is wrapped up with wide reading, which is the font of a whole host of verbal proficiencies. And so I think if you foisted an impromptu spelling contest on some group of unsuspecting eigth-graders, it’d be likely to shake out that the ones who did well in it know their way around a book. And that they could on the whole write sentences with more clarity and grace than their lower-scoring counterparts.
But the national spelling bee is a different animal altogether. Success at that level doesn’t mean you’re an “avid reader” or the kind of student who writes little short stories and poems in her spare time. It doesn’t mean you’ve necessarily got a knack for pleasant turns of phrase. Not at all. What it means is that you’ve got a freakishly capacious memory. And reliable recall under pressure, too. It means you’re willing to forego in large measure normal childhood entertainments. It means you’re willing to grind out hour after hour of tedious rote learning, inscribing obscure etymologies and variant spellings and all manner of curious linguistic fauna in careful runes upon your young heart.
I’m not saying this latter set of skills isn’t impressive in its own right, or that it’s never worth cultivating. (Years of spelling-bee prep strikes me as somewhat of a misspent youth. But then again I logged more than my fair share of hours on the Nintendo, so who am I to throw stones?) I’m just pointing out out that the people who succeed at trial like this in its native environment and the people who succeed once it’s been elevated to the status of a major contest are two different groups of people. And also that, as the bee makes that journey from afternoon diversion to national competition, the corpus of abilities it tests transforms radically.
Now like I said at the onset: I haven’t researched every last particular of my speculation here. I’ll admit it. If there are Scripps champions who went on to produce works of timeless literature, be sure to list them (and include a note on how to pronounce their name as well). But you can observe the same sort of phenomenon all over the place. Once a basic tool of training or assessment becomes incentivized heavily enough, it tends to lose all relationship to the qualities it was originally meant to train or assess. Look at Crossfit. The pull up is a staple of strength training. Classic. Respectable. And it’s a fair enough measure (taking bodyweight into account) of whether you or your lifting buddy have the stronger upper back.
But once you elevate that means of strength training to an end all of its own, once you elevate the pull up to the status of contest, well, you end up with something else entirely. Not classic. Not especially respectable. Just a bizarre arms race of ever-specializing techniques that people innovate because they’re more interested in winning than in maintaining the movement’s place in a larger scheme of physical improvement. In other words: once something becomes worth gaming, it will be gamed. And it will lose almost all of its former virtue in the gaming process.
There’s a lot of mileage to be had from this observation, which needless to say isn’t original to me. One of the largest, most thorough failures of modern educational policy (besides mandatory public schooling, of course) was occasioned by an oversight of this simple fact of human nature. No Child Left Behind, a law that was perhaps as well-intentioned as the name would have you believe, wanted to cut through all the nonsense and politics and unevenness of different school districts and “hold them all accountable” to “higher standards” of educational success. NCLB mandated that schoolchildren all over the nation would take tests throughout the year, and the schools they attended would be judged by the amount of progress they made in raising their scores on those tests. Schools that didn’t post steady progress would suffer interventions of various sorts. Schools that did would be spared.
As you can imagine, though, this set of incentives transformed the nature of classroom education. Once those test numbers were imbued with such a terrible significance, educators and administrators found all sorts of ways (both legal and non) to game them. Blatant cheating aside, teachers started teaching “to the test.” Practice tests became the order of the day. And the drive to perfect the science of Scantron bubbling crowded out more meaningful pedagogical practices, not to mention the sort of teachers who engaged in such practices in the first place.
The artificial leveling of “outcomes” (educational or otherwise) is a major preoccupation of liberals. It’s a positively evil preoccupation—especially when taken to the extremes in vogue today. The capable are punished. The incapable are patronized. And any ideal worth the name of justice gets sacrificed to our precious conviction that life really ought to be fair after all.
Sometimes, however, we on the Right tend to adopt the opposing position too vigorously for our own good. When they say “beatify the halt and the lame,” we say “let the devil take the hindmost.” When they offer social Utopianism, we counter with social Darwinism. Their positions are worth opposing. Yes. But not at any cost. In fact, that concept of “meritocracy,” so near and dear to many an honest conservative’s heart, brings its own set of ills, some just as serious as those that communism of outcomes does. And the larger the scale on which meritocracy is applied, the more prone to abuse it is, as in the case of Scripps or NCLB. The truth is almost any assessment of “merit” is gameable at that level. And so the nature of what is being assessed will differ dramatically from the nature what was intended to be assessed. And bad faith actors will operate at a decided advantage.
Within a single classroom or gym, it would be feasible for someone familiar with all of the faces involved to spot the bad faith actors. But if you include a whole nation of classrooms and gyms, those sort of judgment calls become impossible, and the grinders, the grifters, the unscrupulous rule the day. So it’s unwise, I think, to charge too far into the territory of meritocratic competition, even if that presents itself as an answer to the injustices of enforced equality. Our solutions need more nuance than that.ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The commander of the Tal Afar operation has said that they have made no deal to transfer ISIS militants from Tal Afar or elsewhere since they launched the Mosul offensive last October. Meanwhile the Lebanese Hezbollah militia claimed that more than 1,000 ISIS militants fled Tal Afar and sought refuge in Kurdish areas north of Iraq.“No terrorist handed himself to our units, nor was there any act, deal or talks with any of the terrorists during the operation,” Iraqi Lt. Gen. Abdulamir Rashid Yaralla said at a press conference Saturday about the operation in Tal Afar that lasted for 10 days.He said the orders they received from the Iraqi Prime Minister and commander-in-chief of the armed forces Haider al-Abadi has been very clear since the beginning of the war against ISIS.“The enemy has two options: either they will surrender or be killed. There is no word for ‘deal with terrorists’ in the dictionary of units of the Iraqi Army, the Federal [Police], the Counter-Terrorism Service, or the Hashd,” Yaralla added.The claims and counterclaims between the Iraqis and Hezbollah comes as the latter together with the Syrian army struck a deal to transfer more than 300 ISIS militants from Syria’s east on the border area with Lebanon to its west bordering Iraq.The US-led Coalition, the Kurdistan Region and Iraq all oppose the Hezbollah-ISIS deal. The Coalition has since carried out airstrikes to block the convoy to reach its targeted areas in Syria’s eastern province of Deir ez-Zor, largely under ISIS control.Hezbollah said Saturday that six out of the 17 buses left territories controlled by the Syrian regime; therefore, they and the Syrian army had followed through on their part of the deal with the ISIS convoy.The Lebanese militia warned that the US-led coalition should bear responsibility for any harm that may be inflicted on the remaining convoy since they refused to allow the transfer to go ahead as planned.It then accused the Coalition of having helped the ISIS militants to flee the once-ISIS held town of Tal Afar, west of Mosul to Kurdish-controlled areas north of Iraq.“For them to say they are serious in their fight against ISIS is entirely contradicted when these past days they have helped more than 1,000 ISIS fighters, especially foreigners, to flee Tal Afar and seek refuge to the Kurdish areas north of Iraq,” the statement by Hezbollah read, saying that there are many documents to prove that there was such a deal.
The Coalition denied aiding ISIS and tweeted that it was not providing "food or water to ISIS" and their mission was to "defeat" the extremist group on Sunday.
Kurdish officials and the Coalition have said that the Peshmerga have killed more than 100 ISIS militants fleeing Tal Afar.
The Peshmerga however said that they have detained dozens of women and children of ISIS fighters, mostly foreigners as they handed in themselves in to the Kurdish fighters.
Jamal Saado, a Peshmerga commander, told Rudaw English Saturday that they arrested many such ISIS families, about 50 of them in three days.
He said that they will refer the ISIS families to a camp in Hammam al-Alil, south of Mosul, and that some may be tried in Iraqi courts.
Lt. Gen. Yarallah, from the Iraqi army, also said that the Iraqi forces, including the Hashd, lost 115 fighters, and 679 were injured during the 10-day operation for Tal Afar.
It was the first time Iraqis released figures for their casualties since the operation to oust ISIS from Mosul city began late last year.
He said this shows that they liberated Tal Afar after a “difficult” fight, not as a result of some sort of deal with ISIS militants.
He said that they will not negotiate with ISIS in the operations to come to liberate Hawija, south of Kirkuk, or elsewhere in Iraq.
Asked by Rudaw on Saturday, the spokesperson for the Coalition that backed the Iraqi operation in Tal Afar said they are not aware of any deal that may have been made between the Iraqi forces and the ISIS militants.
“I don’t know of any deal. I know that ISIS was defeated. They have lost yet another stronghold, yet another town and that has happened over the course of the last three years. Iraqi security forces have been victorious in Tikrit, Ramadi, Fallujah, Mosul, Tal Afar and we will see that victory continue in Hawija,” US Army Col. Ryan Dillon told Rudaw TV.An eight-year-old girl has been killed after insurgents used her in a bomb attack on police in southern Afghanistan, the government has said.
The interior ministry said insurgents gave the girl a package and told her to take it to a police vehicle, detonating it as she approached.
No-one else was killed in the explosion, in Uruzgan province.
The incident came a day after an attack on a hospital which killed at least 38 people in the east of the country.
Dozens were injured. Elderly people, pregnant women and children were said to be among the casualties.
'No respect'
A statement by the ministry described the Uruzgan incident as a "crime and a shameful act".
The area where the alleged incident happened is very remote, and it was not possible to independently verify the reports.
"The child, pure-hearted and in good faith, took the bag and moved towards the police vehicle," it said.
"As she got close to the police vehicle, the enemy detonated the bomb by remote control, killing the innocent child."
The governor of Char Cheno district, where the attack took place, told the BBC the girl was from the nearest village.
She was told nothing would happen to her, he said, adding that the perpetrators had "no boundary, no respect for anything".
Correspondents say insurgents have recruited both adult women and recently male children to carry out suicide attacks, though the Taliban denies recruiting children.As Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonREAD: Cohen testimony alleges Trump knew Stone talked with WikiLeaks about DNC emails County GOP in Minnesota shares image comparing Sanders to Hitler Holder: 'Time to make the Electoral College a vestige of the past' MORE builds what her campaign calls an “insurmountable” lead in the Democratic presidential primary, she is increasingly setting her sights on the GOP and the general election.
In a speech in Seattle Tuesday night, for example, Clinton’s only reference to the race against Bernie Sanders Bernard (Bernie) SandersSenate Dems seek to turn tables on GOP in climate change fight Bernie Sanders Town Hall finishes third in cable news race, draws 1.4 million viewers Woman to undecided Biden: 'Just say yes' to 2020 bid MORE was to mention her victory in Arizona’s primary.
ADVERTISEMENT
But even as Clinton pivots to the general election and her likely opponent, Donald Trump Donald John TrumpREAD: Cohen testimony alleges Trump knew Stone talked with WikiLeaks about DNC emails Trump urges North Korea to denuclearize ahead of summit Venezuela's Maduro says he fears 'bad' people around Trump MORE, Democrats caution Clinton to not turn her back on the Vermont senator too soon.
Sanders supporters, particularly young voters, will be crucial in the general election, Democrats say, and Clinton risks alienating them if she acts like the race is over — especially since Sanders continues to win states, including Idaho and Utah this week.
“They have to approach this with kid gloves,” said Democratic strategist Jim Manley, who has endorsed Clinton.
“She and her team have to be very, very careful that they don't unduly antagonize Sen. Sanders or, more importantly, Sen. Sanders’s supporters.”
Another ally close to Clinton agreed, adding she “can’t take the primary for granted. She has to avoid being presumptuous at all costs in order for the party to come together.”
Team Clinton expects Sanders to pick up more states as the Democratic primary enters its next phase. Her aides maintain that she is focused on winning every possible delegate and will be competitive in the states left on the calendar.
One aide pointed out that while Clinton gave a speech Monday at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s (AIPAC) annual policy conference in Washington — where she took shots at Trump — she also attended an organizing event in Arizona later in the day.
And while Clinton gave an overarching speech on terrorism at Stanford on Thursday, she used the trip to stump in California, the biggest delegate prize of all.
In interviews, Clinton has brushed off talk that she has nearly sealed the nomination.
“I’m not yet the nominee,” she said on CNN earlier this week. “I hope to be the nominee.”
Sanders, meanwhile, insists the race is far from over.
“The path forward is a pretty good path for us,” he said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
In a fundraising email to supporters on Wednesday, Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver said that while the Clintons reached their “high water mark” with their sweep of states last week, “now it’s our turn to start winning in many of the remaining states until we take the pledged delegate lead on June 7.”
But with Clinton leading the total delegate count 1,681 to 927, the road ahead for Sanders is daunting. Given her lead, some political observers argue Clinton could take the liberty of not agreeing to further debates with Sanders.
“If circumstances change, if he over-performs, or if there’s some other tactical reason, then the Clinton campaign should pay attention to the facts on the ground, but right now, I don’t see it in her interest to take part in debates,” said Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University. “It’s decreasingly beneficial to her.”
Instead, Clinton can respond to Sanders in speeches and other platforms, allies say.
“… She can continue to engaged on the ‘field of ideas,’ talking about topics of interest to his backers, as well as hers, so that she can begin to build the foundation of post-primary unity, which will be important going into the fall,” said one longtime Clinton adviser, who added that Sanders “cannot be ignored.”
Still, the adviser continued, “That does not mean she has to be preoccupied with him or worry about spending too much time attacking his positions.”
Other longtime allies agree, saying Clinton — who they say is just shy of clinching the nomination — should plow forward and focus on Trump in what will inarguably be a grueling general election battle.
“Look, there is some recognition that Sanders has added important issues to the debate, but at the same time, the longer we spend money and have to act as though there’s a primary while the other side is killing themselves, it’s wasted time for us,” one friend of the Clintons said.
Democratic strategist Christy Setzer said Clinton is doing exactly what she needs to do.
“I’m not convinced she does need to keep a foot in the primary,” Setzer said, adding that Clinton played the most recent set of Western states “exactly right.”
Team Clinton, she said, spent “minimally in Arizona” and won while “not spending a dime in Utah and Idaho and letting Sanders gain a few delegates in small states that won’t matter in the general.”
“The message seemed to be ‘Sanders may very well win more delegates, but this thing is over, baby, over,’” she said.AP / Las Vegas Sun, Steve Marcus Police rope off the scene of a shooting and car accident on the Las Vegas Strip
The Las Vegas Strip is embedded in national lore — intrepid gamblers hoping to leave with pockets full of cash and tireless partiers looking to escape their lives for a brief moment. It’s the city’s main drag on which life is lived as much outside as it is inside the casinos and bars. But in recent months, the Strip has been the scene of tourists’ greatest fear: violent crime.
On Thursday, three people were killed in a shooting and crash after an altercation at the nearby Aria Resort and Casino spilled out onto the street. A Maserati, driven by 27-year-old aspiring rapper Kenny Cherry — who went by the hip-hop moniker Kenny Clutch — was fired on by people in a Range Rover SUV. Police say he was shot dead, causing him to crash into a taxicab driven by Michael Boldon, 62. The impact caused an explosion that killed Boldon and an unidentified passenger at the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Flamingo Road, one of the city’s best-known intersections, leaving it closed temporarily while police investigated.
(MORE: The Billionaire Who Wants to Remake Downtown Las Vegas)
Although it shocked those still out on the Strip at 4 a.m., a time not uncommon for the partiers of Sin City, it is the latest in a series of homicides stretching back to at least December. Police have been careful not to call it a trend, instead insisting that crime is on the decline in the area, but such violent shootings certainly spark fear in tourists, who presume they’ll be safe among the Nevada city’s dazzling lights and endless entertainment.
“What happened on the Strip today will not be tolerated,” said Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie. “There are no absolutes when people’s behavior is in question.” But his statement is perhaps dulled after several other fatal Strip shootings recently.
On Dec. 14, Edward Brandt, a 31-year-old Illinois man, shot and killed his ex-girlfriend Jessica Kenny, 30, in the lobby of the Excalibur Hotel and Casino before shooting himself to death, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. Police said Brandt still harbored negative feelings about his and Kenny’s breakup, which happened more than two years ago. While the shooting was an isolated incident, hundreds of people were in the hotel lobby at the time, leading many to run screaming when the shooting broke out.
Just a week later, on Dec. 21, at the Bellagio, blackjack dealer Joyce Rhone, 44, suffered serious wounds to her face from razor blades allegedly wielded by Brenda Stokes Wilson, 50, who sought out the casino worker because she believed she was involved with her ex-fiancé. She even told police that she would have killed the woman if she hadn’t been stopped. She was later charged with kidnapping and murdering her ex-fiancé’s 10-year-old daughter.
(PHOTOS: The Last Nights at the Western)
On Feb. 6, a gunman thought to be jealous of 18-year-old Jeremy Miller’s relationship with a woman, ambushed and shot him in a parking-garage elevator at the United Artists Theatre. He survived but was left paralyzed. Two of Miller’s friends were also wounded. Police arrested Devante Jeffers, 18, on attempted-murder charges, and a 21-year-old man who is suspected of pulling the trigger is still at large, according to KLAS-TV.
Finally, on Feb. 18, Trent Wilcox, 25, and Carlos Heredia-Avalos, 23, were arrested after Eric Miller was stabbed in an elevator inside the Hotel at Mandalay Bay. After an altercation, the two restrained Miller and stabbed him 10 times, police say. Miller’s wife, who was also in the elevator, pressed the emergency button to summon hotel security. Miller was hospitalized with wounds to his arm and chest, KTNV-TV reported.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority released a statement quoting police statistics that showed violent crime on the Strip was down about 13% in 2012 and 11% so far in 2013. The organization called the incidents “isolated” and said Las Vegas continues to be safe.Ben Barba helped Cronulla to their first NRL Grand Final last year, but tested positive for cocaine just days later
Ben Barba will serve the remainder of a 12-game drugs ban imposed by Australia's NRL after Super League club St Helens lost their appeal.
An independent panel upheld the decision to suspend Barba at Wednesday's operational rules tribunal.
The 28-year-old full-back, who tested positive for cocaine while still a Cronulla player last year, will not be eligible to play until late August.
Barba joined Saints on 24 May after a stint playing rugby union in France.
His cross-code move to France proved a contentious one, as it meant he escaped being sanctioned because the ban only applied to rugby league.
On Barba's return to rugby league with Saints, the RFL - who govern the Super League - sought clarity from the NRL about whether the ban was applicable outside the southern hemisphere competition.
St Helens signed Barba, who was the NRL's player of the year in 2012 and is contracted until 2019, with knowledge of his possible ban, and chairman Eamonn McManus last week criticised the time taken for their appeal to be heard.
He has already served five matches of his 12-game ban and will be available for selection as of Monday, 28 August.Microsoft Pakistan announces its two Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives in a press conference at their Karachi Office. The event attendees included Leila Surhan, General Manager of Microsoft NEPA region and Mr. Nadeem Malik Country Manager of Microsoft Pakistan. The executive body of Microsoft officially launched two social development ventures with a strong emphasis on the upcoming employability portal.
Rozgar is being launched as the Microsoft Employability Portal in order to deliver a wide array of online facilities for a targeted audience. The idea is to facilitate local human |
provide a tactical advantage, and impress the others in a way that enhanced his prestige. Also, Draco's research into the Slytherin conspiracy against him had stalled, and this revelation would make people take sides publicly. Revealing his Patronus served several purposes. Revealing other important spells he knew didn't.
Draco considered what other charms he could use, out in the forest.
They were walking towards the eastern edge of the forest. "I don't see why everyone's so surprised. I was a General. Didn't I personally dispatch you in our 3rd battle last year Anthony? And that was a hell of a shot, and not a first year spell, either. So the one time it takes me longer than other people you just naturally assume I can't cast a Patronus." Draco put on a hurt look. "I'm not angry, just disappointed."
"You can quit with the act," said Seamus, motioning to the canopy above. "Let me have a look."
Draco nodded. Wingardium Leviosa. Draco lifted Seamus up besides a tree, keeping an eye out. The other four spread out, facing outwards.
"I see a few brooms, ah crap, they see – " Draco lowered Seamus as several red and green bolts snipped through the canopy, sending leaves floating gently down. Draco sighed and carefully placed Seamus' limp body to the ground. He could hear feet from the east. A lot of feet.
"Attack?" he asked.
"Sonorus!" said Vincent, wand pointing at his feet. (They'd learned you could amplify sounds other than your voice, thanks to some pre-battle experiments). He rushed forward, screaming, and the sounds of his feet echoed. Draco followed suit, charging slightly to the right. Maybe they'd make Basilisk think they were fighting the entire Chaos Legion.
Padma, Hannah and Anthony followed quietly between them, looking for ambush positions.
"Remember," Anthony whispered, "Retreat in two minutes. Tops." Draco spotted movement ahead and fired a breaking drill hex wildly in that direction. He spotted four, no five more shapes in his area. It was the whole Basilisk army. Draco figured he'd get two of them, maybe three. Assuming Gregory didn't spot him first.
He'd have to attack hard, to really sell the ambush when he retreated.
Draco smiled. He hadn't realized how much fun it was, having the odds against you, worrying only about the moment.
It removed the pressure. A bit. Draco saw Theodore Nott and aimed, mumbling "Got you."Posted September 18, 2015 at 1:01 am
Representation really does matter. I want to elaborate on that, but I'm finding it difficult to put into words that I'm satisfied with. For now, I'll just say that writing EGS has resulted in me receiving a lot of feedback on the matter that has greatly emphasized just how important it is.
On a lighter note, and before anyone throws a tomato at me for making another letter comic, this is the last of these easy to create letter comic dealies. I had only planned the one, but then I thought of two more, so here we are. Even if I think of another one before Monday, I'm going to move on before vegetables get flung at me.
That also means this is the last comic in which I'll be shamelessly giving out codes for levels I've made (links are to preview images from my Miiverse posts page).
How To Train Your Bowser 2 49D5-0000-0043-06FA - Training bowser has FAILED, and it's time for Mario to make use of throwable / wearable spiny shells and Bowser himself to clear a path and escape.
Spelunkery 1FDF-0000-0047-0C02 - Mario Maker finally got me to make an 8-bit level due to me needing to keep Mario one size while still giving him power ups. On the plus side, this means Mystery Mushrooms.Britain has all the hallmarks of a full-employment economy. The employment rate is at a record level, unemployment is at its lowest in more than a decade, and the percentage of women working is at its highest since modern records began.
The one thing missing from this picture is an increase in wages. Full-employment economies are normally good for workers because they take advantage of labour shortages to strike better deals with employers.
Yet this is not happening in the UK. The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show that employment was up in the final three months of 2016 but the rate of growth in earnings slipped back. The fact that the slowdown occurred while rising inflation was eroding the purchasing power of consumers makes the disparity between jobs and wages even more curious.
The obvious conclusion is that Britain is not actually operating at full employment because if it were, earnings would be rising, not falling. Although the unemployment rate is 4.8%, it can come down further without wage inflation starting to rise.
As the ONS has pointed out, the proportion of part-time workers who cannot find full-time jobs is markedly above the long-term average. The ONS thinks that this fact, along with the increase in the number of part-timers working in the economy, suggests there is a pool of labour that can be tapped by employers if they are looking to raise output.
There has also been a shift towards self-employment in the UK, a rise of almost 300,000 in the past two years. It is a reasonable assumption that many of the 4.8 million people working for themselves are not doing so voluntarily but because they cannot find better paid full-time work.
Employers have also been able to find workers from overseas. Between the final three months of 2015 and the final three months of 2016, the number of people employed rose by just over 300,000. Of those, 70,000 were UK nationals and 230,000 were non-UK nationals. The increase in the supply of labour has helped to keep the lid on wage increases.
Finally, demand for labour has been tapering off. To be sure, the number of people working was up by 37,000 in the final three months of 2016, but this followed increases of 172,000 in the second quarter and 49,000 in the third. The Bank of England’s regional agents have detected evidence of a lower rate of hiring, and this might be already having an impact on wages.
Whatever the explanation, the evidence suggests that there is still spare capacity in the labour market. There is no immediate prospect of the depreciation of sterling triggering the price-wage spiral feared by the Bank of England, which is why interest rates will remain at their current rock-bottom levels.
Cheap money, an improving global economy and the impact of the weaker pound on exports will prevent unemployment from rising very much from its current low level. That’s the good news. The bad news is that it won’t be too long before prices start rising more quickly than wages. Get ready for real incomes to fall and living standards to be hit.
Fatty fivers and the Indian Mutiny
Not since the Indian Mutiny of 1857 has there been as much fuss about tallow. Back then, Hindu sepoys rebelled because their rifle cartridges were greased with cow fat. This time, the Bank of England has copped it from vegans and religious groups because the new polymer £5 notes contain traces of animal-derived products.
With hindsight, Threadneedle Street probably regrets that it did not more carefully check what was used to make the fatty fivers. But more than half the £5 notes in circulation are now made of polymer, and production is well under way for the next generation of £10 notes in preparation for them to be issued in September.
The Bank has looked at whether to recall and destroy all the polymer notes, but decided not to do so. That’s the correct decision, because the costs of making the change – £70m for pulping the notes, higher business costs, potential environmental damage from using palm or coconut oil as an alternative to tallow – are greater than the benefits.
Public funds are not unlimited, and it would be much better value for money to get diesel cars rather than £5 notes out of circulation. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders has reported that sales of secondhand diesel cars rose by 11% last year, more than twice as fast as purchases of petrol models.
The reason for that is simple: Gordon Brown as chancellor provided tax incentives for buying diesel cars as a way of tackling global warming before the health hazards became clear. Philip Hammond needs to put that right in next month’s budget through a generous scrappage scheme coupled with higher vehicle excise duty on diesel vehicles. Fatty fivers don’t actually kill people. Diesel cars do.The UFC’s featherweight division is getting a little closer to becoming whole again.
UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo will meet interim champion Max Holloway in a title unification bout at UFC 212 on June 3 in Rio de Janeiro, the UFC announced officially Sunday morning.
Combate reported on the bout Friday and UFC president Dana White mentioned it to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto on a podcast. Presumably Aldo vs. Holloway will be the UFC 212 main event.
Aldo (26-2), who held the UFC/WEC featherweight title from 2009 to 2015, won the interim belt by beating Frankie Edgar by unanimous decision at UFC 200 last July. A few weeks after Conor McGregor, who beat Aldo via knockout at UFC 194 in December 2015, won the lightweight title back in November, the UFC stripped McGregor of the featherweight title and gave it to Aldo.
Holloway (17-3), who has won 10 straight fights, won the interim title by beating Anthony Pettis by third-round TKO at UFC 206 in December. McGregor still considers himself to be the undisputed featherweight champion, since he has beaten both Aldo and Holloway. However, he never defended the title, instead fighting Nate Diaz twice and Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight title last year.
Aldo, 30, was a dominant featherweight champion during his run and regarded as the best titleholder the division has ever had. The Brazilian is a future UFC Hall of Famer and is an all-time great. Holloway, 25, is still coming into his own and is one of the most promising young fighters in the sport. He was only 21 years old when he lost to McGregor in 2013.
The title fight is the only bout currently announced for UFC 212.Middle-class families should stop buying large fridges in order to save energy and tackle climate change, a government-commissioned report has suggested.
Families could save up to £36 a year on their electricity bills by replacing large fridge-freezers or televisions with smaller appliances, according to a study published by the Department for Energy and Climate Change.
The report found that the average family fridge had grown in volume by two fifths since 1985, amid a fashion for large American-style appliances, while the average television had grown by more than seven inches since 2004. It warned that the trend undermined attempts to cut carbon emissions.
The study, by researchers at Loughborough University and Cambridge Architectural Research, found that energy-efficient technology was not enough to offset the increase in the size of appliances. For example, a 52in television with an A+ energy rating still uses more electricity than a 42in model with an A rating.
Nicola Terry, a co-author of the study, said: “Why do we need a bigger TV, and why do we need a bigger fridge? I don’t understand the case, but when people go to the shop they think, that’s bigger it must be better.”
The survey looked at the behaviour and opinions of 250 households in 2010-11. Notably, it found differences in energy use among social classes.
Affluent families stood to save the most by buying a smaller fridge or freezer, while poorer social classes – classified as “claimant culture” or “ex-council estate” – would save more by buying smaller televisions. The report also suggested drying clothes outside between April and October, rather than using a tumble dryer.
Several Tory MPs were critical of the dossier, saying it was “impertinent” for Whitehall to tell families how big their household appliances should be.
A DECC spokesperson said: “Every household has its own needs and will buy what suits them best. Newer, less power-hungry appliances are coming out all the time – which means running costs are going to keep falling, saving people even more money.
“Our analysis has also found that the cost of running like-for-like models of TVs, fridges and washing machines has dropped dramatically compared to the equivalent you could buy ten years ago, thanks to tougher energy efficiency standards.”
- Expert answers: Can I save by turning off my fridge at night?SEOUL, South Korea — Prosecutors on Wednesday summoned former President Park Geun-hye of South Korea for questioning in a corruption scandal, only days after she was removed from office in a historic court ruling.
Ms. Park’s presidency formally ended last Friday, when the Constitutional Court approved the National Assembly’s vote to impeach her in December.
She was the first South Korean leader ousted under popular pressure since the country’s founding president, Syngman Rhee, fled into exile in Hawaii in 1960.
Although prosecutors have identified Ms. Park as a criminal suspect accused of bribery, extortion and abuse of power in recent months, they could not indict her or even summon her by force while she was president. But now that she has become an ordinary citizen, prosecutors moved swiftly.Adam Jones is one of the biggest loudmouths in the NFL and he just could not help himself coming into a weekend where his Cincinnati Bengals take on the Minnesota Vikings.
The Bengals cornerback responded to a tweet from Zone Coverage's Sam Ekstrom on Adam Thielen's history with the team the Vikings play this weekend by calling the wide receiver "soft" in the process.
Lmao soft — ADAm Pacman Jones (@REALPACMAN24) December 15, 2017
Jones and Thielen have a bit of a history after the two got into it during joint practices prior to last season. Jones and his teammate, Dre Kirkpatrick, refused to matchup with Thielen and sent the backups in during drills between the two teams.
“We want to go against some dawgs. This team has no dawgs,” they said, via the Star Tribune.
Since then, all Thielen has done is become one of the best wide receivers in the league, while Jones is on injured reserve and Kirkpatrick's status is up in the air for Sunday. Do not think for a second that will not be a factor in Sunday's game.The Atlanta Hawks saw their banner season fizzle out in dispiriting fashion in the Eastern Conference Finals, but will that be enough to send the team's impending free agents scuttling out of town - to the soul-flushing suckhole that is the New York Knicks, no less?
It's not entirely out of the question, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post, who reports a source close to DeMarre Carroll claims the Hawks small forward has a desire to play for the Knicks and head coach Derek Fisher - a former workout partner from early in Carroll's career.
Knicks president Phil Jackson is reportedly enamored of Carroll. And why wouldn't he be? The 28-year-old swingman has emerged as a versatile two-way force, cresting with a breakout playoff performance that saw him average 14.6 points and 6.1 rebounds, shooting 48.6 percent from the field and 40.3 percent from deep, all while consistently guarding the opposing team's best wing.
"I’ve been getting a million calls and emails," Carroll said of his upcoming summer. "This might be the biggest contract of my life. But at the end of the day, this game isn’t promised to you. So whenever you’ve got an opportunity to play basketball, a lot of people say it’s bigger than money and it feels like that to me."
The Knicks aren't in a position to discount any free agent that might be remotely interested in joining their 17-win roster, least of all one who brings as much to the table as Carroll. They desperately need help on both sides of the ball, coming off a season in which they finished 29th in offense and 28th in defense.
Carroll has improved his jumper by leaps and bounds over the past two years, evolving into a prototypical modern 3-and-D wing. He's expected to command a contract in the vicinity of four years and $50 million, though with the cap set to explode in 2016, nobody is quite sure what this summer's market is going to look like.There are 26 Special Forces soldiers in Iraq until at least October 5 acting as military advisors to the Iraqi military. I have worked with the Special Forces on two separate occasions and have friends that are members of this elite group of men and women. CSOR and JTF are some of the most trained forces on the planet and watching them work was among some of the highlights of my career. As I think back to being deployed to Afghanistan and times I spent working for these organizations, I am reminded of time when my platoon was fortunate enough to do a convoy dropping off supplies to the JTF. I can still remember dismounting and being told to go get a hot lunch at the mess. As I walked in the oppressive August heat I remember seeing the most built man I have ever seen riding a stationary bike in the sun. His beard down to his chest and the rapid pace he was pedaling did not match how easily he was breathing.
After lunch we were invited to partake in a tutorial in a range and one of the special forces operatives was gracious enough to let me use his rifle because I was carrying a C9 machine gun and would not have been able to part take had he not lent me his rifle. Any soldier that knows anything about being a soldier can tell you that letting another man use your rifle is not something that one does. You zero that rifle to your eyesight and a minor jolt can ruin the sights.
It was a week later that I was shot, I was convinced that I was going to die going in and out of consciousness, and as I was being carried to a casualty collection point I looked up to see who was carrying me. It was the JTF soldier that let me use his rifle, and I asked him if he remembered me. He said he did not and I don't blame him because at the time we met I still had a head that was not blown apart. I told him that he lent me his rifle and I thanked him for it, he realized who I was and said to me that I will be shooting before I know it. I must have lost consciousness again and lost track of him because that was the last time I remember seeing him. I had not thought of that story for years but as I hear the news about our special forces deploying to Iraq I can't help but think that some of the men I worked with could be part of that contingent.
Unfortunately my injuries prevented his prophesy to come true, and it is what has happened to me since my release that I hope no soldiers deploying in the name of this country has to endure. The department of veteran's affairs is not working, so making more injured veterans will only exacerbate the problem. A recent report released by the veterans ombudsman states that "nearly half of the country's most severely disabled ex-soldiers are not receiving a government allowance intended to compensate them for their physical and mental wounds."
There is a reason that the tactics of Veterans Affairs has often been described as callous. The No Go policy where, if denied enough times, the injured soldier will get fed up and go away is practiced widely in Veterans Affairs Offices across the country. Here is one example of thousands; a World War II veteran, a man I know, that fought in Canada's famous Devils Brigade (our first JTF), was injured in 1944 in Italy when he was hit with shrapnel from Nazi artillery. He was hit in his back and was put on light duties for the remainder of the war. When he returned home in 1946, he applied for a pension. Although initially ignored, He continued to apply for his pension into the 1950's, until eventually life got in the way, and he stopped his pursuit. He had been told "no" so many times, that he made the decision to focus on his family and life after war, rather than stay stuck in a time warp with Veterans Affairs. Fast forward to 2010 when his health began to deteriorate. He turned to Veterans Affairs once again. And low and behold, he again faces the triple D policy; the department will Delay you long enough and Deny you enough times, until you Die. Think about this man's 70-year struggle with Veterans Affairs Canada. In the same 70-year time span, there have been 11 Prime Ministers who received their life long pensions, while this 92-year-old Canadian Veteran has been delayed, and essentially, denied his.
For a more contemporary example, we can look to the Equitas lawsuit out of British Columbia in which seven plaintiffs are arguing that the New Veterans Charter infringes on Sections 7 and 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms by violating the Crown's social covenant to provide adequate care for injured veterans and their dependents. The federal government will have this tied up in the courts for years to come, appealing and delaying as long as possible. One of the plaintiffs who was injured in Afghanistan ended up losing a kidney, his spleen, and part of his pancreas. Under the New Veterans Charter, this injured hero was awarded a $41,000 lump sum payment.
"To put that in perspective, if this lump sum was to be made into an annuity every month, the pension awarded to him would work out to roughly $140 per month."
The Canadian Forces situation is dire. Our compensation system woefully decrepit. Our government spends 1 per cent of the GDP on defense on par with Lithuania and Latvia. The Army, Navy, and Airforce were told that they will need to slash an additional 4 per cent from their budget, something that only the navy says they can feasibly do. Our infantry units are lucky if they get to the range twice a year. It was reported that technicians working on a Canadian military aircraft were so strapped for spare parts that they yanked some still-working pieces out of an ancient plane on display at the National Air Force Museum.
The equipment that soldiers use is in such a poor state that the probability of sustaining casualties is much higher. Casualties that veterans affairs can't possibly handle given the current state the department is in. The truth of the matter is Canada is about as ready for another war as the Hapsburgs were in 1914. I implore upon those deploying to Iraq to take care. I understand how much you want to deploy. You must understand that the current government support to you are hollow promises and even though you have given a blank cheque for this country the feeling is far from mutual if you return home missing pieces.
Bruce Moncur is running for the federal NDP nomination for the riding of Windsor-Tecumseh.
ALSO ON HUFFPOST:Seven months after public outcry derailed a plan to spray a pesticide on the oyster beds of southwest Washington, a group of shellfish growers has rekindled pursuit of a proposal to control pesky burrowing shrimp that harm oyster production.
Celebrity chefs bemoaned it, two major shellfish producers backed out of it, and ultimately, a group of oyster farmers withdrew from it amid a fervor of bad publicity.
But seven months after public outcry derailed a plan to spray a neurotoxic pesticide on the celebrated oyster beds of southwest Washington, a group of shellfish growers has rekindled pursuit of a proposal to control pesky burrowing shrimp that harm oyster production.
Earlier this month, the Willapa Bay-Grays Harbor Oyster Growers Association submitted paperwork to the Washington Department of Ecology that seeks to reinstate a previously approved permit — or, if that’s not possible, apply for a new one — so that 12 local shellfish farms can spray the pesticide imidacloprid in coastal estuaries.
The shellfish growers want to use the pesticide to control native ghost shrimp and mud shrimp, which burrow into tide flats and turn firm oyster beds into gooey quicksand that can swallow and suffocate their valued shellfish.
Last April — following several millions of dollars and years of research, and after a lengthy state review process — a larger group of shellfish growers had won a five-year permit to spray the pesticide on their commercial oyster beds in Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor.
Then came an uprising by local chefs and other shellfish buyers, who threatened to cancel orders. Members of the public took to social media to spread outrage over the use of pesticides in pristine estuaries. The backlash led shellfish growers to request the state to withdraw the permit.
Dave Nisbet, owner of the Nisbet Oyster Company, said last week the oyster farmers were “taken aback” by the bad press last year and so sought to have Ecology temporarily withdraw the permit.
“But the permit got totally pulled, to our surprise,” he said.
Now, the smaller group of applicants made up of family-run shellfish farms says their future depends on the pest-management plan, which they hope to start as soon as June. They contend the pesticide plan is safe, and that controlling shrimp populations not only helps oyster production but enhances the overall health of Washington’s estuaries.
“We really have to have a control in place for this summer,” Nisbet said. “If we can’t, we’ll lose our oyster beds or a portion of them. There’s an economic loss right away, and the secondary effect is damage to the biodiversity of the estuaries.”
Absent from the group’s application this time are two of the largest shellfish companies — Taylor Shellfish Farms and Coast Seafoods. Both firms, which unlike the other applicants also grow shellfish in other areas, backed out of last year’s plan; Taylor cited the public controversy.
Nisbet and some of the remaining dozen shellfish growers said that going forward, they’ll seek to treat only as needed about 500 acres of tideflats — one-third the area approved for spraying last year — under a five-year permit.
Imidacloprid would be applied only by hand, using boats and ATVs to access the tideflats, they said. The farmers wouldn’t use helicopters, limiting aerial drift of the chemical, they said.
The formal application still lists aerial application as a possibility, however.
Ecology Department spokesman Chase Gallagher said agency officials are now reviewing the growers’ paperwork, which was filed Jan. 8. Because the state canceled the initial permit after receiving the withdrawal letter in May, the applicants likely will need to go through another full review, he added.
“Our attorneys are looking at everything, but the basic understanding is that once you cancel a permit, you can’t bring it back,” Gallagher said.
A new application would trigger a State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) review, which would include public comment periods and likely take several months, Gallagher said.
For decades, Washington’s oyster farmers used a different pesticide called carbaryl to control burrowing shrimp. In 2002, the industry agreed to phase out its use over 10 years after environmental groups sued over the issue.
Kim Patten, who heads the tiny Washington State University research station on Willapa Bay, has since tested various alternatives while searching for an effective replacement. He believed he found one with the widely-used imidacloprid (ee-mid-uh-cloe-prid), which can paralyze shrimp so they suffocate in their muddy holes.
Patten’s field-testing found imidacloprid was effective at reducing burrowing shrimp while not having major detrimental impacts on other aquatic life.
“It’s 1,000 times more benign than carbaryl, in terms of impacts to organisms,” Patten said.
Because the pesticide is applied to the tideflats — and oysters are seeded months later — residue from imidacloprid doesn’t get into the shellfish that people will eat, he added.
Not all science says the pesticide is environmentally safe, however.
Earlier this month, the federal Environmental Protection Agency announced new findings of a preliminary risk assessment showing imidacloprid’s use on crops that attract bees, such as citrus and cotton, “potentially poses risk to hives.”
The EPA plans to release another assessment of the pesticide’s impacts on aquatic life in December.
Patten and Erik Johansen, who coordinates the Washington Department of Agriculture’s pesticide registration program, separately said applying imidacloprid to estuaries shouldn’t harm bees.
“You’re applying it to shellfish beds, where there aren’t any bees,” Johansen said.
Oyster farmers also would need the state agriculture department’s approval to register imidacloprid. The agency previously granted them registration of the pesticide with the conditions that growers provided further research showing it didn’t have adverse environmental effects. That registration expired in December, and the shellfish growers have yet to submit a renewal application, Johansen said last week.
The National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also have raised concerns that imidacloprid could be harmful if introduced to aquatic environments.
Some other Willapa Bay oyster growers also oppose the plan.
Fritzi Cohen, longtime owner of the Moby Dick Hotel and Oyster Farm, said she stopped harvesting oysters in 2007 after she detected chemicals used by other growers had drifted into her beds. Cohen, who promotes organic oystering, has fought the use of chemicals in Willapa Bay for 20 years.
“Pesticides in general are not benign,” Cohen said. “Pesticides kill, that’s what they do. These growers, they’re just doing what they do best: employing bad science to promote their own goals to the detriment of everyone else.”
But the shellfish farmers seeking to apply imidacloprid in southwest Washington, which produces about one-quarter of the nation’s oysters, say they’re convinced its use is safe.
“Some of our families have been in these communities, farming, for 140 years,” said Kathleen Moncy, of Nisbet Oyster Company. “To suggest we’d do anything that would be harmful to the environment is very hurtful to us.”A Syriac Catholic and two Syriac Orthodox prelates demand again a protected area for Christians in northern Iraq, with administrative autonomy and international protection. This position does not represent the view of Patriarch Sako. Chaldeans and the Iraqi Church call for upholding Iraq’s territorial unity against the ghetto trap.
Baghdad (AsiaNews) – The Chaldean Church has taken a clear stand without any room for misunderstanding against a proposal made by three Syriac (Catholic and Orthodox) prelates in Mosul and the Nineveh Plain to set up an area for Iraq’s Christian minority to protect itself from attacks and violence.
For Chaldean leaders, such an idea does not represent the views of the Chaldean Patriarchate and the Iraqi Church, which stand strongly behind the country’s unity and territorial integrity against the notion of a Christian enclave in northern Iraq, as the patriarch himself had told AsiaNews not long ago.
In a statement, Mgr Shlemon Warduni, auxiliary bishop of the Patriarchate of Babylon of the Chaldean Catholic Church, points out that the recent statements "do not represent our vision" and "do not reflect our position". Chaldeans, the prelate added, "are committed" to supporting the country’s unity as reiterated recently by Mar Sako "on the official patriarchal website".
A few days ago, three bishops in northern Iraq – a Syriac Catholic and two Syriac Orthodox – issued a statement calling for the creation of a protected area for Christians on the Nineveh plain. Such area should be placed under international protection, under the aegis of the United Nations, to provide security for Iraq’s Christian minority from religious persecution and violence.
The prelates behind the proposal are the Syriac Catholic bishop of Mosul Boutros Moshe, Syriac Orthodox Bishop Mar Nicodemus Daud Matti Sharaf and Mar Timotheos Musa al-Shamany, Syriac Orthodox Archbishop of Bartellah.
For the three prelates, setting up a "protected" area is essential to protect the rights of Christians and avoid a repeat of what happened in the summer of 2014 when the Iraqi government and the Iraqi army allowed the Islamic State (IS) group to seize quickly Mosul and much of Nineveh Plain.
IS chased Christians from their homes and killed those who opposed them. Hundreds of thousands of people abandoned their property to the “Caliphate" forces, finding refuge in Iraqi Kurdistan or salvation abroad. The flight further reduced the Christian presence in Iraq, already halved by the 2003 US invasion.
Nearly three years later, Iraqi and Kurdish forces, supported by US air strikes, appear to be on the eve of regaining control of the area, but the threat of jihadi groups remains.
For the three Syriac bishops The demand to turn the Nineveh Plain into a Christian enclave includes the right to administrative autonomy. However, the Iraqi Church and the Chaldean Patriarchate led by Louis Raphael Sako are decidedly against the proposal.
When he was archbishop of Kirkuk, the patriarch opposed to the "illusion" of a "Christian ghetto". Back in 2007, the Chaldean primate, like the Vatican, described the idea of a Christian enclave as a trap, calling it a risky proposition. For him, Iraq’s problem was fundamentalism, not any clash of civilisations.International airport in New York, United States
John F. Kennedy International Airport (IATA: JFK, ICAO: KJFK, FAA LID: JFK) (colloquially referred to as Kennedy Airport, JFK Airport, New York-JFK, or simply JFK or Kennedy) is the primary international airport serving New York City. It is the busiest international air passenger gateway into North America,[4] the 22nd-busiest airport in the world, the sixth-busiest airport in the United States, and the busiest airport in the New York airport system; it handled just over 59 million passengers in 2017.[5] Over ninety airlines operate from the airport, with nonstop or direct flights to destinations in all six inhabited continents.[6][7]
JFK is located in the neighborhood of Jamaica in the New York City borough of Queens, 16 miles (30 km) southeast of Midtown Manhattan. The airport features six passenger terminals and four runways. It serves as a hub for both American Airlines and Delta Air Lines, and it is the primary operating base for JetBlue Airways. JFK was also formerly a hub for Pan Am, TWA, Eastern, National, and Tower Air.
Opened as New York International Airport in 1948,[8][9] it was commonly known as Idlewild Airport[10] before being renamed in 1963 as a tribute to John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, following his assassination.[11][12][13]
History [ edit ]
Map showing New York City and the locations of JFK (1), LaGuardia (2), and Newark (3) airports
Construction and early operations [ edit ]
John F. Kennedy International Airport was originally called Idlewild Airport (IATA: IDL, ICAO: KIDL, FAA LID: IDL) after the Idlewild Beach Golf Course that it displaced. It was built to relieve LaGuardia Airport, which had become overcrowded after its 1939 opening. Construction began in 1943,[14] and about US$60 million was initially spent with governmental funding, but only 1,000 acres (400 ha) of the Idlewild Golf Course site were earmarked for use.[15]
In 1943, the project was renamed Major General Alexander E. Anderson Airport, after a Queens resident who had commanded a Federalized National Guard unit in the southern United States and died in late 1942. In March 1948, the New York City Council changed the name to New York International Airport, Anderson Field, but the common name was "Idlewild" until the end of 1963.[12][16]
The Port of New York Authority (now the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey) leased the Idlewild property from the City of New York in 1947 and maintains this lease today.[1] The first flight from Idlewild was on July 1, 1948; the opening ceremony was attended by then U.S. President Harry S. Truman.[15][17] The Port Authority canceled foreign airlines' permits to use LaGuardia, forcing them to move to Idlewild during the next couple of years.[18]
Idlewild opened with six runways and a seventh under construction;[19] runways 1L and 7L were held in reserve and never came into use as runways. Runway 31R (originally 8,000 ft or 2,438 m) is still in use; runway 31L (originally 9,500 ft or 2,896 m) opened soon after the rest of the airport and is still in use; runway 1R closed in 1957 and runway 7R closed around 1966. Runway 4 (originally 8,000 ft, now runway 4L) opened June 1949 and runway 4R was added ten years later. A smaller runway 14/32 was built after runway 7R closed and was used until 1990[20] by general aviation, STOL, and smaller commuter flights.
The Avro Jetliner was the first jet airliner to land at Idlewild on April 16, 1950. A Sud Aviation Caravelle prototype was the next airliner to land at Idlewild, on May 2, 1957. Later in 1957, the USSR sought approval for two Tupolev Tu-104 flights carrying diplomats to Idlewild; the Port Authority did not allow them, saying noise tests had to be done first. (The Caravelle had been tested at Paris.) The airport was renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport on December 24, 1963, a month and two days after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy;[21] Mayor Robert F. Wagner, Jr. proposed the renaming to JFK.[22] The IDL and KIDL codes have since been reassigned to Indianola Municipal Airport in Mississippi.[23]
Development [ edit ]
The Port of New York Authority originally planned a single 55-gate terminal, but the major airlines did not agree with this plan, arguing that the terminal would be far too small for future traffic.[24] Architect Wallace Harrison then designed a plan for each major airline at the airport to be given its own space to develop its own terminal.[25] This scheme made construction more practical, made terminals more navigable, and introduced incentives for airlines to compete |
Yes it was a Hamstring. He looks to be out for 2-3 weeks but i’m an Arsenal fan and 2-3 weeks can go up to 3 months. If Dempsey is, according to the Jurgen, likely to be back for GW5, I for one wouldn’t think he will start as you would want to ease a player into a game after he has just come back from a hamstring injury. I exactly know what I’m doing with Dempsey in my MLS Fantasy team…
AdvertisementsIn his first hours of freedom following a two-month stint behind bars, a North Carolina man didn't even make it past the jail grounds before getting thrown back in.
Rockingham County Sheriff's Offi Rodney Dwayne Valentine faces 75 more days in jail for trespassing after refusing to leave.
Rodney Dwayne Valentine, 37, who has no permanent address, had been in Rockingham County jail since May 22 for injury to personal property, Rockingham County Sheriff's Office Deputy Kevin Suthard said.
He was released last Saturday around 8 a.m. but stuck around for five hours arguing with officers, insisting they drive him to a motel. They refused.
"We can't transport everybody that gets out of jail," Suthard told NBC News.
Valentine was charged with second-degree trespassing and is being held on $500 bail. He could face up to 75 more days in jail and a fine.
"It takes all kinds. That's the reason why our job is never boring in law enforcement," Suthard said.
More content from NBCNews.com:
Follow US News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook'Friends' suffers the worst opening of all time for a Hollywood studio title going out in 2,000 or more theaters; Christian drama 'War Room' rejoices in opening to $11 million from only 1,135 theaters to place No. 2.
The dog days of August saw Universal's box-office champ Straight Outta Compton remain No. 1 for the third straight weekend with $13.2 million from 3,142 theaters, while Christian drama War Room did far better than expected in earning $11 million from a small footprint of 1,135 locations to come in second.
Elsewhere, Zac Efron's electronic dance music drama We Are Your Friends forged few friendships, debuting to a dismal $1.8 million from 2,333 locations, the worst opening of all time for a new major studio offering opening in 2,000 or more theaters, not accounting for inflation.
If there's any solace, it is that Warner Bros. paid a modest $2 million to distribute the film in North America on behalf of Working Title Films and StudioCanal (still, it's the latest in a string of summer titles from the studio to disappoint). We Are Your Friends, directed by Max Joseph (Catfish: The TV Series), placed No. 13 or No. 14.
We Are Your Friends stars Efron as a young DJ trying to break into the EDM scene and become a music producer. Wes Bentley and Emily Ratajkowski also star in the film, which earned middling reviews and a C+ CinemaScore from audiences. Tracking had suggested We Are Your Friends would open to at least $8 million.
"This was a passion project for Zac Efron, and we believe in him," said Warners exec VP for domestic distribution Jeff Goldstein. "Yes, the result was disappointing, but this was a small film."
The only titles opening in 2,000 to 2,500 theaters that did less than We Are Your Friends were two films from independent distributors, Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure ($443,901) and Delgo ($511,920), and the rerelease of Saw on its 10th anniversary in 2014 ($650,051).
Straight Outta Compton finished Sunday with a domestic total of $134.1 million in the latest victory for Universal, which is enjoying the biggest year in history of any Hollywood studio at the global box office. Overseas, Compton opened to No. 1 in the U.K. and Germany with $3.9 million and $2.2 million, respectively. All told, the biopic of gangsta rap group N.W.A earned $6.5 million from eight markets for a worldwide cume of $140.9 million.
However, it was Terminator: Genisys that won the weekend overseas thanks to a late run in China, where it grossed $23.4 million for an eight-day cume of $82.8 million. The film has jumped the $300 million mark internationally for a foreign total of $320.1 million and global cume of $409.5 million.
Paramount's Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation also jumped the $300 million mark overseas, earning $15.3 million from 64 markets for a foreign cume of $309 million and a global total of $479.9 million. Paramount partnered with Skydance on both Mission: Impossible and Terminator: Genisys.
In North America, War Room proved a needed win for Sony. It's also the top debut for a faith-based title since Heaven Is for Real ($22.5 million) in April 2014. Sony released the movie via its faith-based TriStar/Affirm label.
War Room, nabbing an A+ CinemaScore and costing a mere $3 million to make, is the fifth collaboration from brothers Alex and Stephen Kendrick, the directing and producing team behind such Christian films as Fireproof and Courageous. The film, featuring an African-American cast, tells the story of a struggling family who searches for a solution through prayer. T.C. Stallings, Elizabeth Becka and Noel Baker star.
"We've had a lot of success with the Kendrick brothers, and this is their biggest opening yet," Rory Bruer, Sony's worldwide distribution president, said. "They are visionaries in this genre."
Among the weekend's other new entires, The Weinstein Co.'s political action-thriller No Escape, earning a B+ CinemaScore, grossed $8.3 million from 3,355 locations, tying with Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation for the No. 3 spot.
No Escape, starring Owen Wilson, Lake Bell and Pierce Brosnan, posted a five-day debut of $10.3 million after opening Wednesday to get a jump on the competition. The film appealed to an older adults, with 80 percent of ticket buyers over the age of 25, including 40 percent over the age of 45.
"We are positioned well for Labor Day weekend and beyond," said TWC distribution chief Erik Lomis, whose company paid $5 million for the movie.
Focus Features' Sinister 2, tumbling 56 percent in its second weekend to $4.7 million for a total $18.5 million, rounded out the top five.The Man from U.N.C.L.E. followed with $4.4 million in its third outing for a muted domestic total of $34.1 million.
Hitman: Agent 47 fell 54 percent in its second frame, grossing $3.9 million for a disappointing 10-day total of $15.3 million for Fox.
Hoping to catch up with Titanic in North America, Jurassic World rolled out again in 350 Imax locations over the weekend, taking in $3.1 million. That puts the blockbuster's domestic total at roughly $643.1 million, still short of the $658.7 million earned by Titanic, the No. 2 film of all time behind Avatar ($760.5 million).
Jurassic World essentially found itself in a three-way tie with Disney and Marvel Studios' Ant-Man and STX's The Gift, both of which also took in roughly $3.1 million (the actual order will be determined Monday when final numbers are tallied). Through Sunday, Ant-Man has earned $169.2 million domestically and $369 million globally. The Gift has has now earned $36 million domestically, a strong showing.
The specialty box office saw the debut of Craig Zobel's film adaptation of Robert C. O'Brien's dystopian novel Z for Zachariah, starring Chiwetel Eijofor, Chris Pine and Margot Robbie. Roadside Attractions opted for a day-and-date release in 31 theaters and on VOD, reporting theatrical grosses of roughly $56,000 (the movie is No. 6 on iTunes).UK pop-punk heroes Neck Deep have just dropped a new video for their latest single ‘Parachute’. The single is taken from their recent full-length album “The Peace and The Panic”, released back in August 2017.
The colourful video plays to the band’s strengths: energetic verses with bouncy drum and guitar patterns, and vocalist Ben Barlow’s catchy vocal melodies. Barlow’s vocals provide an unforgettable chorus you’re sure to be humming to yourself hours after listening. The contrast in lighting between the verse and chorus builds on the band’s artistic vision for the album, with the walls closing in on them towards the end of the video. The energy the Neck Deep puts out in the video is reminiscent of their animated live show, and the video utilizes artful transitions between the chaotic use of lighting in the chorus back and the calmer, brighter daytime lighting throughout the verses. The level of thought that Neck Deep continue to put into their music and videos just further cements that this album, and its latest single, won’t be forgotten anytime soon.
Check out the official video for ‘Parachute’ below!
The debut of the video also saw the release of some new ‘Parachute’ inspired T-shirts on their online merch store, which you can check out here.
Prior to its release, “The Peace and The Panic” was included by Alternative Press on their list of most anticipated albums of the year, and after its release hit #1 on the UK Independent Albums Charts and #8 on the ARIA Charts. The band was recently announced as part of the line-up for Australia’s very own Download Festival, held at Melbourne’s Flemington Racecourse on Saturday the 24th of March 2018. Despite the mixed reception Download’s Australian line-up has received so far, fans are eager to see Neck Deep’s return Down Under.In Virtual Reality, 'The New York Times' Will Help Viewers 'Bear Witness' To Stories
The New York Times announced a new virtual reality initiative saying they will distribute more than a million "Google Cardboard" viewers, and start releasing 360-degree documentary virtual reality films. NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with Jake Silverstein, editor in chief of The New York Times Magazine, who is working on the effort, about what it means to do journalism in this new space.
ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
You might soon experience a migrant's journey in virtual reality. Today, The New York Times announced that it will send out more than a million of the virtual reality headsets called Google Cardboard to Times subscribers. The Times will then produce short virtual reality films that people can watch. You just plug your smartphone into the headset. Jake Silverstein is editor in chief of The New York Times Magazine, and he's one of the leaders of this effort. Welcome to the program.
JAKE SILVERSTEIN: Good to be here.
SHAPIRO: The Times has tried a lot of different efforts to bring people into a story, whether it's photographic walks or short films or other multimedia. Why virtual reality?
SILVERSTEIN: Well, in terms of bringing readers or viewers into a story, there is really nothing that compares to this emerging technology of virtual reality. I mean, literally you can look all the way around in a circle. You can look up, you can look down, you can feel completely immersed in an environment. And what it does is it gives a viewer a sense of empathic connection to the people and the places in a way frankly that no other media I've experienced can do.
SHAPIRO: I think a lot of people imagine virtual reality as, like, experience an alien planet or a haunted house. There's a real entertainment value.
SILVERSTEIN: Right, right.
SHAPIRO: Well, what's the journalism value to this?
SILVERSTEIN: A lot of what - particularly in the realm of foreign reporting, what we do and what other journalistic institutions do is bear witness. And this is a way in which we can help put our leaders in a position in which they can kind of bear witness too. They can have that experience.
SHAPIRO: VCIE News has tried something similar.
SILVERSTEIN: Yep.
SHAPIRO: I just watched a short film of theirs on this Google Cardboard headset. And it took me into a village where people had survived Ebola. You hear the waves crashing. You hear the chopping of wood.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: I hear, again, a sound of men walking and children playing. We are surviving.
SHAPIRO: Is what The New York Times plans to do similar to that or are you taking this in a different direction?
SILVERSTEIN: No, it's similar to that. I mean, our film, I think, is different because we brought a different sensibility to bear on the project. It's a little bit more complicated of an effort. And then the other thing I would say is that what The New York Times is able to do is that we're able to distribute the Cardboard to our home delivery subscribers, which suddenly solves this fundamental problem of scale and distribution, which is a problem that all emerging technologies have. We are able to get over that hurdle because we have - it's funny. It's like we have through the legacy print operation the means to distribute this brand-new media - form of new media out to people through our delivery systems.
SHAPIRO: Well, tell us about the first film that you're producing on this platform. It's called "The Displaced."
SILVERSTEIN: That's right. It's called "The Displaced." What we were interested in was telling the story about the global refugee crisis but through the eyes of children, that there are 60 million people in the world who have been displaced by war and persecution right now - more than in any time since World War II - and fully half of them are children. And so what we wanted to do is pick three of those kids and try to give readers a sense of what their lives were like. There's a kid from eastern Ukraine. He's 11 years old. He's been able to return to his village after the fighting moved on, but his village has been destroyed. There's a girl, a Syrian refugee who's now in a refugee camp in Lebanon. And then there's a boy who's been internally displaced within South Sudan by violence.
SHAPIRO: And how much of a commitment is this? How many of these do you expect to do a year?
SILVERSTEIN: So we've already made one that was kind of like our - sticking our toe in the VR waters. It's a wonderful behind-the-scenes portrait of the artist JR. Then we'll have this new film "The Displaced" in the app. We'll be following up a month later with another film in December. So let me say to all of The New York Times subscribers out there, hold on to your Cardboard.
(LAUGHTER)
SILVERSTEIN: And then in 2016, we'll have a fourth film. And by that time we expect to have really figured out what our longer term slate of VR might look like and hopefully we'll be able to begin that longer term slate at that point.
SHAPIRO: That's Jake Silverstein, editor and chief of The New York Times Magazine who's helping to lead the effort to create virtual reality films at The New York Times. Thanks, Jake.
SILVERSTEIN: Thank you.
Copyright © 2015 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.Bangladesh Evades Reform; Haagen-Dazs Blueberry Pickers Strike; Temp Worker Calls Out Amazon CEO
Garment workers walk to work in Bangladesh. According to recent reports, the garment industry has been exempted from some labor reforms in Bangladesh. (Jankie / Flickr / Creative Commons)
Bangladeshi reporter Emran Hossain has a tour-de-force article detailing how the government has paid only lip service to protecting workers rights in the wake of a deadly factory collapse. From The Huffington Post:
In the wake of the Rana Plaza building collapse that claimed 1,129 lives, the Bangladeshi government announced earlier this month that it had made dozens of amendments to national labor law in an effort to better protect workers. While those changes have been hailed in the media as pro-worker and stronger than earlier law, in reality those amendments barely improve safeguards for impoverished garment-sector workers, and in some cases they undermine existing ones. Legal experts and labor rights activists in Bangladesh explained to The Huffington Post how a number of the amendments will ultimately benefit business interests, rather than the employees they were intended to serve.
Jim Yardley, reporting from Dhaka, Bangladesh, also has a powerful story on how the garment industry continues to work its way around the law. From the New York Times:
Bangladesh is working to restore the garment industry’s credibility after last month’s decision by the Obama administration to suspend a special trade preference for the country. The European Union is also considering penalties. Bangladesh has responded by passing new labor laws and pledging to inspect the structural safety and legal compliance of the nation’s 5,000 garment factories. In both instances, the garment group’s interests were well represented. It has hired a team of engineers and is helping oversee the post-Rana Plaza factory inspections — even as the High Court cited the group for a litany of violations on its own headquarters. Meanwhile, the trade group brought its influence to bear in a lobbying campaign as Parliament amended the labor laws this month.
Bangladeshi officials promised to overhaul their labor laws, which fall short of standards defined by the International Labor Organization and tend to suppress unions, contributing to safety problems, labor advocates say. But the results of the overhaul were less significant, especially for the garment industry.
A strike of 270 blueberry workers employed for a supplier of Häagen-Dazs Ice Cream in Washington state has heated up. From the Seattle Times:
Early morning talks over wages between the 270 workers and Sakuma Bros. Farms apparently broke down after the two sides could not come to an agreement over what they should be paid per pound for the blueberries they pick. The striking farm workers, mostly indigenous Mixteco and Trique Mexicans who migrate each year from California, had made repeated demands over wages, working conditions and other issues. But at the core of their angst is the pending arrival early next month of some 160 guest workers from Mexico to prop up the farm’s existing workforce.
An Amazon temporary contract employee has penned a compelling letter to CEO Jeff Bezos detailing how temporary contract employee status actually hurt Amazon production over the long run and hurts employees. From the letter published originally at Geekwire:
Why should anyone care if X-Ray succeeds or fails? If X-Ray becomes the biggest program on the planet and puts another several million dollars in your bank account, people in my position will still be sent packing at the end of eleven months. There will always be an endless supply of replacements, and they will be paid less since the pay rate of the team decreased with every new batch of hires. My replacement will probably work really hard for about six months, and then realize that they are cruising towards a dead end. They might start caring a little less.
Arthur Delaney has an impressive piece on how black unemployment continues to be a key driver of the current economic recession. From The Huffington Post:Erdoğan has left Germany in a hurry right after the G-20 Summit in Hamburg. The Turkish President was not allowed to attend any other event outside of the summit, an official ceremony wasn’t held for his departure and he didn’t participate in the G-20 family photograph.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was greeted by “Welcome Dictator” signs in Hamburg where he attended the G-20 Leaders Summit on Friday and Saturday and he returned to Turkey immediately after the summit.
When the events they wanted to hold for Erdoğan’s visit in various cities throughout Germany were not given permits, the Turkish President wanted to visit the Turkish Consulate in Hamburg but German authorities did not allow that either. Erdoğan ended up going back and forth between his hotel and the expo center the summit was held in.
ERDOĞAN ADMITS TO BANS
Erdoğan held one last press conference the previous night before he returned to Turkey and spoke in anger about the German government. He said the German government didn’t allow him to hold indoor meetings and talked about the bans imposed on him:
“They couldn’t tolerate me holding indoor meetings. Those who don’t allow the President of the Republic of Turkey to speak in Germany can’t talk about freedom, no offense. This will return to hit them like a boomerang. They didn’t allow me to talk to my countrymen here via videoconferencing, let alone indoor meetings.”
DIDN’T PARTICIPATE IN THE FAMILY PHOTO
A family photograph was taken with the G-20 leaders and their spouses following the summit hosted by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, but Erdoğan and his wife did not participate in it.
Erdoğan also chose not to attend the the classical music concert and the leaders dinner in the G-20 Summit. When the Erdoğans didn’t attend the Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 Concert, two seats in the front row were left emtpy. Erdoğan and the Turkish delegation spent that time in the hotel with strict security precautions.
MERKEL: TENSION WITH ERDOĞAN CONTINUES
In the press conference she held at the closing of the G-20 Leaders Summit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel also spoke of the ongoing tensions between Germany and the Erdoğan regime. Merkel said they held a one on one meeting by Erdoğan’s demand and said: “This meeting has made it clear that there are deep divides between us, and these are not differences that can be swept under the rug.”
Merkel gave the arrests in Turkey in the last year and the German MPs not being allowed to visit the İncirlik Base as examples and implied that the tensions may continue into the near future.
ERDOĞAN GONE, LEFT A LAW IN HIS WAKE
The Turkish President visited Germany for the first time since the April 16 referendum and left a new law in his wake - the “Erdoğan Act”. By early July, The Federal Government passed a law restricting rallies foreign leaders can hold in Germany. The law was dubbed the “Erdoğan Act” among the German populace and was passed just before the G-20 Summit.
Then the AKP supporters started to organize events for Erdoğan to attend in Turkish consulates in Germany. The events were planned for the anniversary of the July 15 coup attempt and as political shows for Erdoğan on Germany’s soil.
But Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Martin Schäfer said Erdoğan could only speak in Turkish consulates with permission from the Federal Government. Schäfer said the Turkish government has to appeal to the German Foreign Ministry beforehand and warned that their “government may decide to allow it after the appeal is assessed.”
Erdoğan had given his most recent speech as the President in May 2015 in Karlsruhe. In a July 2016 AKP rally in Cologne, Erdoğan was not allowed to connect via videoconferencing. When Germany didn’t give permission to AKP rallies in Germany before the April 16 referendum, Erdoğan had likened the German government to the Nazi regime and issued many more insults.Nikko Jenkins is led by deputies at the Douglas County Courthouse in Omaha, Neb., Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2014. Jenkins, charged with killing four people in the weeks after he was released from prison last summer, appeared in court for a hearing to determine if he is competent to stand trial. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
A man found guilty of killing four people in Nebraska allegedly attempted to carve the number “666” into his forehead, but ended up botching the job.
According to the Omaha World-Herald, 28-year-old Nikko Jenkins told Douglas County District Judge Peter Bataillon during a recent telephone hearing that he “self-mutilated” by trying to carve the symbolic number -- known as the “number of the beast” in the Biblical book of Revelation -- into his forehead.
Jenkins did this “because he is not receiving treatment for his purported mental illness.”
Jenkins then reportedly told the judge that he made a mistake in his carving. He apparently got confused as he was looking into a mirror and ended up cutting the 6s backwards, leaving him with three upside-down 9s.
Jenkins pleaded no contest to four counts of first-degree murder and eight weapons charges. Last April, he was found guilty of fatally shooting four people in Omaha, Nebraska, over a 10-day period in 2013.
Jenkins is scheduled to face a death penalty hearing in July. Sentencing was initially delayed because of questions over Jenkins’ mental health, KETV reported.
Doctors are reportedly split over whether or not Jenkins has schizophrenia. Jenkins has said that he receives orders from a “serpent god,” but prosecutors maintain that the man is faking in an attempt to escape punishment.Kim Jong Un in Hiding – Fears Osama Style Assassination Operation by US
US student Otto Warmbier, formerly held captive by North Korea that was released last week in a coma state, passed away today, according to his family.
Otto was 22 years old.
Since his death was announced North Korean tyrant Kim Jong Un fears the US is planning an Osama bin Laden assassination operation against him.
Kim Jong Un FEARS an Osama Bin Laden style assassination. Otto Warmbier's DEATH will NOT help. N KOREA needs to PAY!https://t.co/3a7MPrvHTv pic.twitter.com/ke70vLolGp — Bradley Scott 🇺🇸 (@bradcrain) June 19, 2017
The North Korean leader has gone into hiding since Warmbier’s death was announced.
Via Express.co:
NORTH Korea’s Kim Jong-un has gone into hiding over fears of a strike from the US decapitation squad after the death of American student Otto Warmbier. The 22-year-old’s grieving family have blamed his death on “torturous” mistreatment at the hands of the dictator’s vicious regime during his 17-month detention in the hermit state. Mr Warmbier was held in North Korea after attempting to steal a propaganda poster from a hotel and eventually returned home to Cincinnati in a coma, not able to understand language and had severe brain damage. And now, South Korea intelligence reports suggest Kim Jong-un has gone into hiding after the announcement of Mr Warmbier’s death on Monday.October 20, 2017
Lawrence: 'Stunned' by John Kelly's attack on Rep. Wilson
First. Serving as one of many Civilian Aides to the Secretary of the Army for ten years (1995-2005) was an incredible honor. I learned a lot about the Army and military ethos. I attended services of many kinds and visited with wounded warriors at Walter Reed and other places. As a child, the mechanics of patriotism came very comfortably to me. I love the American Flag. I love the National Anthem. My emotions are almost too available when I walk among the stones in Arlington or when I ran in the Marine Corps Marathon or in countless places where my love for my country finds me. On a lighter note, I have a collection of over 50 so called "Challenge Coins" put in my hands by many officers, of many ranks, as well as civilian leaders and others from across the United States Armed Forces commands and posts. I've visited with many soldiers and their families, in good times and in bad. Civilian Aide was a volunteer position that carried a civilian protocol ranking of three stars. Our mission was to report to the Secretary, matters of significance in our communities that might be meaningful and to go out into the world and "tell the Army story." I was very young. While I enjoyed studying some military history, I had no practical military knowledge or military skills of any kind. If I was able to contribute anything as a Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army, it was to bring some joy to soldiers when I travelled to their bases, because they may have liked a movie I was in. I was the youngest CASA (our abbreviation), probably still. But, one thing I brought to our yearly conferences at the Pentagon and wherever I went on official Army business, was an earnest desire to understand what I was seeing, to care about the people I was meeting and a deep respect for all of those who were dedicating some part or all of their professional life to our Nation in uniform.
Read MoreRescue workers retrieve the body of one of the miners who was killed in a explosion sparked by methane gas inside a coal mine in Surran range, some 35 km (22 miles) east of Quetta, located in REUTERS/Stringer
QUETTA, Pakistan (Reuters) - The death toll from Sunday’s methane gas explosions in a coal mine in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Baluchistan rose to 45 on Monday, government officials said, as hopes faded there would be any survivors from the disaster.
More than 50 miners were in the mine when three big explosions triggered by methane gas ripped through the caverns.
“Forty-five miners have died. We have retrieved 25 bodies so far,” Aslam Bizenjo, provincial irrigation minister, told the provincial assembly.
Officials said the chances of finding the trapped workers alive were very slim because of a fire, which had consumed all the oxygen. Witnesses said the bodies had severe burns from the huge fire.
The mine, some 35 km (22 miles) from the provincial capital, Quetta, is owned by the state-run Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation and was leased to a contractor.
Mohammad Iftikhar, chief inspector of mines in the region, said the contactor had been asked to shut down the mine two weeks ago because of an excessive accumulation of methane gas.
Such explosions are not uncommon in coal mines in Pakistan, most of which are located in Baluchistan and neighbouring Sindh, where safety measures can be lax.
The country has huge coal reserves estimated at more than 184 billion tonnes. It produces 4 million tonnes of coal annually, most of which is consumed by brick-making kilns.Looking for news you can trust?
Subscribe to our free newsletters.
At 13, Patrick started shooting heroin. When I met him on a sunny Tuesday last August, he was a homeless 46-year-old with a chiseled face and close-cropped hair, sitting in the examination room of a pioneering opioid addiction treatment clinic in SOMA—a San Francisco neighborhood known lately for both homelessness and tech companies. Outside, needles and broken glass littered the sidewalks. Twitter’s headquarters were two blocks away.
Clinic manager Dina Cehand asked why Patrick had come to the clinic that morning, walking from the squat house where he lived with a crew of homeless people, and he put his head in his hands. “I don’t want to use opiates no more,” he pleaded, shaking. “I don’t want to do Oxy. I don’t want that.”
Patrick is one of 2.5 million Americans who are addicted to opioids, from prescription painkillers like OxyContin or Vicodin to heroin and fentanyl. Their options for addiction treatment are few: abstinence, in which they give up the drugs altogether, or medication. Abstinence-based programs have abysmal success rates, with some studies showing that as many as 90 percent of those who complete them relapse within a year. Of the go-to medications, there’s methadone, which has been around for decades but requires daily visits to a methadone clinic—many of which have long waiting lists.
And then there’s buprenorphine—which Patrick was just starting. Like methadone, buprenorphine serves as an opioid replacement, curbing the cravings for heroin or painkillers. It’s more difficult to abuse than methadone, and, critically, you don’t need to go to clinic each day—ideally, a doctor can prescribe the medication, which comes in pill or film form, like any other drug.
But buprenorphine, which was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2002, is still not available to most drug users looking for help. That’s partly because only a fraction of primary care doctors have taken the required eight-hour training to prescribe the drug, and partly because getting started on it typically requires a bit of hand-holding. Patients—particularly those with a long history of drug abuse—need to be watched carefully to make sure they’re getting the right dose, not using drugs with dangerous conflicts, and not smuggling it to sell on the street. (The pills sell for about $10 a pop.) Daily or weekly visits are typically in order for a few weeks.
All of which contributes to a so-called “treatment gap”: Though drug overdoses now kill more Americans than guns or cars, upwards of 80 percent of those in need of opioid addiction treatment don’t have access to it. Getting effective treatment to someone like Patrick—jobless, homeless, no insurance—is the exception to the rule.
But Patrick is attending one of a handful of programs around the country that provides buprenorphine to “safety net” residents—those without private insurance. The program, called Office-Based Buprenorphine Induction clinic, or OBIC, does the hand-holding that the drug requires at the beginning—watching patients take the medication, testing for other drugs the patient is using, and providing counseling. After patients are stable for a few weeks or months—off heroin or painkillers and onto the right dose of buprenorphine—the clinic transfers the patient to a nearby primary care provider. The program, which treats about 200 new patients per year, has become a model for clinics across the country. Public health officials from across the world, from Portland to New York to Japan, regularly come to observe.
When it comes to making opioid treatment available, “San Francisco probably does it better than anybody,” says David Kan, an addiction psychiatrist and president of the California Society of Addiction Medicine.
Inside the nondescript SOMA building are exam rooms and a modest waiting room decorated with ivy. “No pee, no see—that’s our philosophy,” said Dina Cehand, the program manager, gesturing to a pink bin for urine samples. The samples have a temperature gauge to make sure the urine is warm. “You can buy urine from the mom and pop shops,” she explained. “They come in, try to heat it up in the sink, run the jar under hot water. Our patients are really creative.”
In a light-filled office next to the exam rooms, the four OBIC clinicians discussed the patients on the day’s schedule. (All patient names have been changed to protect their privacy.)
There was Vicki, the 35-year-old Cambodian woman who was on buprenorphine but, like many patients, was also addicted to meth. The day before, she had hobbled in, legs swollen, red, and shiny. It was cellulitis, a bacterial skin infection common among meth users. “I kept trying to explain to her that it was related to the meth—that it was because her heart is giving out, but I don’t know if she got it,” said Mike Silva, a genial psychiatric nurse, in a worried voice. He put her in a cab and directed it to a nearby hospital.
There was the 37-year-old regular who was sometimes so high and paranoid on meth that he hid behind the cars on Howard Street. They left him granola bars at the front desk in hopes of bringing him in.
There was a tall, shy man named Nathan, who was addicted to opioids on and off for twelve years before coming to OBIC. He hadn’t used since, and he was about to “graduate” to another clinic. The staff, knowing he was nervous about the transition, would personally walk him to his first appointment.
“Homeless people, sometimes, they lose track of time. We get out there and we don’t give a fuck about anything except getting high and getting our next fucking fix,” said Patrick. “Now, I give a shit.”
And there was Patrick—who, to a casual observer, faced so many long-term, interwoven, seemingly insurmountable barriers that any attempt of treatment seemed futile. He started using regularly at 15, when he was living on his own and working in lumber yards in Northern California’s Humboldt County. He’d been homeless on and off for years, living under bridges and in abandoned homes. In addition to heroin, he used meth, and he made money to pay for the drugs by stealing bikes and selling weed.
He spoke quickly during his appointment, explaining he had fallen asleep on the train the night before and woken up nearly 40 miles away before being kicked off. To give himself a boost in the morning, he used speed.
Cehand later told me matter-of-factly that Patrick was “pretty likely to drop out.” When I asked if this made her work seem futile, she looked affronted. “Even if someone shows up for just one or two days and they feel good, they remember that,” she said. “Then the next time it’s four or five days, and then maybe longer.”
At it’s best, the program is life-changing. One former patient took to Yelp to spread the word, writing, “Oh my god, I can write a review for the place that saved my life?!” Another recently left this voicemail: “I’m not sure if you remember me, but I came to your place to get help,” she said in a timid tone. “I just wanted to say hello. I’ve been clean for a number of years now. I have a child—our child is four years old. I just wanted to say thank you.”
Former patients often continue using the clinic’s on-site pharmacy because it’s so unlike a typical Walgreens or CVS. When patients are first getting started on buprenorphine, they’ll come in daily for observed dosing—a pharmacist watches the patient put the buprenorphine film or pill under their tongue and keep it there for five minutes. Pharmacists reach out to patients before their prescriptions have run out so there’s no break between doses. If a patient comes in for a dose and looks high or drunk, the pharmacy will send them up to the clinic.
Three months after my first OBIC visit, I gave Patrick a call. Against the odds, |
PRODUCTION FOR THE SAKE OF PRODUCTION
If linked: [French] [German] [Italian] [Spanish]
Content:
The abolition of wage labour means the abolition of production for the sake of production
[top] [content] [end]
The Marxist critique of bourgeois society is essentially the critique of wage labour. The Marxist condemnation of capitalism is essentially the condemnation of production for the sake of production. Bourgeois prejudice and Stalinist lies have corroded minds so severely that these points are generally not understood. Consequently it is constantly necessary for Marxists to bring attention to them and explain what they mean.
«Capital does not consist in accumulated labour serving living labour as a means for new production. It consists in living labour serving accumulated labour as a means for maintaining and multiplying the exchange value of the latter. Thus capital presupposes wage labour; wage labour presupposes capital. They reciprocally condition the existence of each other; they reciprocally bring forth each other» (Wage Labour and Capital).
In the historical as well as the logical perspective, wage labour, in its generalised form, and production for the sake of production are inseparably connected. Wage labour can only be generalised if the majority of the population has no means of production and, in general, no property at its disposal. In these circumstances the vast majority of mankind is obliged to sell its life - more precisely, its labour power - to an alien force in exchange for money. This «alien force» as everyone knows, is the social class that owns the means of production. Like all previous ruling classes in history, this class endeavours to appropriate the means to enjoy its existence without itself taking part in social production, without submitting to the obligation to work.
This would lead one to believe that the object of capitalist production lies in the satisfaction of the ruling class' needs and that the lives of the vast majority of mankind are subordinated to this object. In reality things are not quite so simple. If it were exclusively a question of supporting a handful of capitalists, then even if they had colossal appetites it would not be necessary for millions upon millions of humans to work themselves to death daily in the mad frenzy of production. The consumption needs of the financial and industrial and financial oligarchy as well as the state bureaucracy are totally out of proportion to the billions of hours of work contributed annually by the wage earning population in all the advanced industrial countries. Everyone knows that a business which paid its wage labourers too much would run a greater risk than if it only paid out an insufficient dividend in the eyes of its shareholders. Such a business would be ship-wrecked, bankrupt. And any state that did business in the same way would go bankrupt, too. Only in the absence of the prejudices of bourgeois political economy, and only in the light of the facts of tangible reality, is it possible to understand that capitalist economy, far from corresponding to the personal needs of the members of the bourgeoisie (much less the needs of the wage labourers), obeys the impersonal laws of capital which force themselves even upon the ruling class!
As we have been told ad nauseam, these laws require the reduction of production costs. This command rings out from the factories, where the productive workers are employed, to all other firms and all private and public administrations, and consequently to the entire wage earning population. The dictatorship of the market provides the explanation for the following paradoxical fact: the more wealth mankind produces or can produce, the more feverishly it must work, the more strictly must it hold its needs in check, the worse it lives in the final analysis - if, contrary to the capitalists, we do not take «live well» to mean «buy more».
Then it has to be admitted that the object of production is not social consumption, but production itself! In present day decadent capitalism even the most insipid intellect is shocked by this absurdity, and innumerable people can be found who ask with real or feigned naïveté:
Why economic growth? This is gratifying to know because the most commonplace reality forces millions of humans who have never read a learned book called Capital by Karl Marx to recognise a truth that has been proclaimed for over a century: the standpoint of capitalism is production for the sake of production and not for the satisfaction of the needs of society. This is the case because capitalism produces commodities, and not use values.
Under these circumstances, what is the character of a social revolution that transforms the whole basis of production? It is this: the class which possesses no means of production or means of existence and which is consequently condemned to wage labour appropriates every-thing it needs for the assurance of its collective existence. The collective appropriation of social products for the satisfaction of collectively deter-mined needs means the abolition of values as an «objective quality» possessed by these products.
The standpoint of the class of wage labourers cannot be «the reduction of production costs», for in the last analysis what capitalism refers to as production costs is human life itself, which it has reduced to a fairly wretched thing! Simply formulated, the proletarian standpoint lies in «increasing production costs»! Therefore the class of wage labourers should be preoccupied not with working more intensively as the productivity of labour increases, but just the opposite, with utilising increased productivity to free itself from the ancient yoke of labour. Anyone who isn't a hypocritical born-again holy-roller, a blood sucking bourgeois, or an opportunist pimp can comprehend this easily.
As long as there existed alongside capitalism a wide range of small commodity production whose effective social yield was exceedingly scanty and which condemned the producers to a purely private, isolated, and hence more barbarous existence than the life of the proletarians, this standpoint of the class of wage labourers could not yet appear as the interest of society as a whole. For the same reason it could not yet become a reality. But ever since capitalism prevailed over more backward modes of production the interest of society as a whole has been identical with the interest of the class of wage labourers. All particular interests must be mercilessly subordinated to this interest; the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat presupposes the victory of this interest. The capitalist norm of free enterprise will be sup-pressed completely, both in the «democratic» West and in the allegedly «socialist» East. In Russia and China its operation has only been restricted rather than eliminated (moreover it is being extended again today under the pressure of the market) as is the case with a single factory of a large enterprise vis á vis the head office or with a state industry in the West (eg. the post office) vis á vis the state. «The modern State, no matter what its form, is essentially a capitalist machine, the state of the capitalists, the ideal personification of the total national capital» (Socialism, Utopian and Scientific: our emphasis).
Whether the entrepreneur appears as a private individual or the State, «free enterprise» represents nothing other than a particular interest. It acts as if it were the centre of the universe. It lays hold of as much means of production and raw materials and employs as many workers as its capital and its sales prospects enable it to, without asking itself if these means of production and this labour power might not be more useful in another field of activity. It produces as many of its particular commodity as it can dispose of on the market without asking itself if other goods might not be more useful for society. And it is even prepared to go as far as to wage a «psychological war» against the whole population in order to convince it that it has a need for this particular commodity.
Both private management and state management lead to the same result, and the enterprise as the navel of the world leads to such absurdities that it becomes increasingly intolerable. The principle that will be introduced with the replacement of the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie by the dictatorship of the proletariat can only be the direct determination of production by the whole of society. This presupposes that the previous individual enterprises have been fused to g ether into a harmonious, cohesive whole, which is only possible if the distribution of workers among different branches of production and spheres of activity in general, today transpiring as a result of economic speculation and competition, is centrally administered and proceeds from the needs of society. Only in this way will society avoid having too much steel (and weapons!) and too little food; too much transportation and too little living space; or too many films, recordings, and books, and too few educational and health services. In place of the anarchy of capitalist production, communists «demand the strictest control, by society and the state, of the quantity of labour and the quantity of consumption; only this control must start with the expropriation of the capitalists, with the control of the workers over the capitalists, and must be carried out, not by a state of bureaucrats, but by a state of armed workers» (State and Revolution: our emphasis).
It is peculiar that, on the one hand, to the extent the capitalist yoke becomes increasingly suffocating, the whole world understands better and better the necessity of a centrally planned economy. But on the other hand - and the action of opportunism is responsible for this - very few people understand that a harmonious, cohesive form of social economy can only replace free enterprise when goods are no longer produced as commodities, that is, as values that fetch a price in money, as exchange values! Nevertheless, within a present-day factory the different departments do not «exchange» their products. The assembly department, for example, receives its parts from another department without having to «buy» them. Within the factory the labour time expended on every step is accurately calculated in order to avoid small-scale waste, whereas on the level of the whole society large-scale waste is the rule! These quantities of labour do not assume the form of values. Only when the product is finished and about to «leave» the factory does it acquire a price in money.
Each product must compulsorily «leave» the factory because the factory boundaries are too narrow and because on the broader frontier of social production, considered on the scale of a country, a continent, or even the whole world, innumerable individual factories move around like confused molecules. When the narrow boundaries of the factory have been extended to embrace the social production of a country, of a continent, and finally of the whole world - in other words, when within the total economy the factory occupies the place of the present-day department within a factory (this is the precise meaning of socialisation of the means of production) - then it will no longer be necessary for products to acquire a price. Furthermore, this will be completely impossible because value and price can only arise on the boundary of the system. They will disappear completely as soon as this system includes the whole world. Capitalist commodity production will yield to the extent that the socialist revolution gains ground. This does not mean that capitalism will survive as long as the revolution has not taken hold of the whole world, but that it will disappear only where the proletariat has already seized power. Still, in the words of the Manifesto: «United action, of the leading civilised countries at least, is one of the first conditions for the emancipation of the proletariat».
Now the abolition of commodity production necessarily means the abolition of wage labour itself. Wages are never anything other than the price of a particular commodity: labour power. Besides the market in general, wage labour presupposes the labour market, that is, anarchy in the allocation of labour power. If products no longer represent values, and if the allocation of labour power is no longer subject to the accidental laws of the market, then it is also impossible to consider labour power itself as an exchange value and to give it a market price. The members of society, henceforth undertaking collectively social labour, which meanwhile has been simplified enormously, will no longer be «payed» for their real or alleged «services». The part of the social product destined for consumption is available to each individual as his share.
This is what is meant by the abolition of wage labour, which has always been a synonym for communism, to Marx and three or four generations of revolutionaries. One need not be a great theoretician to understand that there is nothing «utopian» or «impracticable» about it. And finally, it expresses something that all wage labourers who have not been turned completely into vegetables by opportunism already know in their hearts: Men should work in order to live, instead of living in order to work!
Our party is devoted to the cause that will make this historical necessity a reality, the communist revolution!
Source: «Communist Program», no.6, p.62 (September 1980)Conservative commentator Ann Coulter said it's on law enforcement to protect her when she visits the University of California, Berkeley on Thursday.
"I'm showing up this Thursday," Coulter said Saturday evening on "Justice with Judge Jeanine." "Its up to the police to keep me safe."
The University cancelled Coulter's original appearance on April 27 after police said in a news conference on Thursday that they had received multiple threats that according to University Chancellor Nicholas Dirks, "could pose a grave danger to the speaker."
UC Berkeley later reversed its decusion and offered May 2 as alternative date. Lawyers from the conservative Young America's Foundation in a letter condemned the university's "insincere" offer during a "dead week," the LA Times reported. Though UC Berkeley responded that it doesn't have a "protectable" venue on April 27, Coulter says she will appear on campus on the day she originally intended.
Conservative author @AnnCoulter joined me on 'Justice' to discuss about the left silencing the right. Take a look! pic.twitter.com/aLlEN4qwL9— Jeanine Pirro (@JudgeJeanine) April 23, 2017
The author also pointed out that the University California President Janet Napolitano formerly served as the secretary of homeland security under former President Barack Obama.
"She had to keep the entire nation safe. I think she can keep a college campus safe," Coulter said in reference to her upcoming speech.New indicator would be monitored by independent officials and would have equal status with GDP figures
Ed Miliband will set up a national Living Standards Index monitored by independent officials if he becomes prime minister. It will aim to gauge whether future governments are helping working people improve their lives.
The Labour leader will say on Sunday that the new LSI measure – which will be accorded equal status to gross domestic product (GDP) figures – will help to ensure that economic policy is geared to the everyday needs of families rather than to meeting growth targets on graphs.
Under the plan, the independent Office for Budget Responsibility would be expected to monitor standards of living and issue forecasts in the same way it does for GDP.
In a letter to Sir Andrew Dilnot, chairman of the UK Statistics Authority, Miliband has asked for preparations to be made for the new index ahead of the general election on 7 May. Miliband told Dilnot: “Policymakers too often fail to understand and respond to changes in living standards, and so we now need a better measure.”
He added: “A future Labour government would use this indicator as the key measure by which we would expect our success to be measured.”
Labour has chosen five key policy areas to focus on during its general election campaign: living standards, the deficit, immigration, the NHS and young people.
Although opinion polls show Miliband and Ed Balls lagging well behind David Cameron and George Osborne on key questions of economic credibility, Labour believes it can counter Tory boasts about economic recovery and strong growth with a message that living standards have fallen for the vast majority of families over the course of this parliament.
Labour maintains that despite a rise in employment, working people have on average seen their wages fall in real terms by more than £1,600 a year since 2010, while full-time workers have seen real pay fall by more than £2,000 a year. The coalition parties counter by saying wages have begun to rise faster than inflation, and that the jobless rate fell to 6% – its lowest in six years – in the third quarter of last year.
Miliband told the Observer that the way current statistics are compiled – often from out-of-date figures – means politicians can create the impression that all is well when the vast majority of workers are actually becoming worse off because of the nature of the jobs being created.
He added: “The experience of everyday families too often does not make its way into the minds of policymakers because current measures are flawed: the wage index ignores the growing number of self-employed; income data is a year out of date; and there is disagreement on which out of a myriad different indicators on price should be used.”
He will call for the new index to be based on data that is not more than six months old and for it to take into account the impact on people’s incomes of wages and prices, as well as taxes and benefits.
After becoming Conservative leader in 2005, Cameron said gauging people’s wellbeing was one of the “central political issues of our time”. And while in opposition he talked of wanting to measure people’s sense of “general wellbeing”, because there was “more to life than money”.
Once he became prime minister, Cameron asked the ONS to examine how happiness could be gauged but although some figures were produced, the project has since disappeared from the government’s priority list.Much of the world seems to be on edge. The West’s relationship with Russia, the future of Nato (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), the Syrian civil war and refugees, rising right-wing populism, the impact of automation, and the UK’s impending departure from the European Union: All these topics—and more—have roiled public debate worldwide. But one issue—one might say the most significant of them all—is being ignored or pushed aside: the environment.
That was the case at this year’s annual meeting of the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland. Beyond a mention of the Paris climate agreement by Chinese President Xi Jinping, topics like climate change and sustainable development didn’t even make it to the main stage. Instead, they were relegated to side meetings that rarely seemed to intersect with current political and economic events.
ALSO READ | Climate change is real, so are its costs
Allowing environmental issues to fall by the wayside at this time of geopolitical and social instability is a mistake, and not just because this happens to be a critical moment in the fight to manage climate change. Environmental degradation and natural-resource insecurity are undermining our ability to tackle some of the biggest global issues we face.
Environmental insecurity is a major, though often underestimated, contributor to global instability. The UN High Commission on Refugees reports that natural disasters have displaced more than 26 million people per year since 2008—almost a third of the total number of forcibly displaced people in this time period.
Even the current refugee crisis has an environmental element. In the years leading up to the war, Syria experienced its most extreme drought in recorded history. That drought, together with unsustainable agricultural practices and poor resource management, contributed to the internal displacement of 1.5 million Syrians and catalysed political unrest ahead of the 2011 uprising.
Allowing environmental issues to fall by the wayside at this time of geopolitical and social instability is a mistake, and not just because this happens to be a critical moment in the fight to manage climate change
The link between environmental and agricultural pressures extends far beyond Syria. Over-reliance on specific geographies for agriculture means that food production can exacerbate environmental problems, or even create new ones. This can pit global consumer interests against local citizen interests, as it has along the Mississippi river, where fertilizer run-off from one of the world’s breadbaskets is contributing to concerns about water quality.
The connection goes both ways, with environmental conditions also shaping agricultural production—and, in turn, the prices of agricultural commodities, which represent about 10% of traded goods worldwide. For example, rising temperatures and altered precipitation patterns are already driving up the price of coffee. With the global land area suitable for growing coffee set to contract by up to half by 2050, price pressures will only intensify.
A sudden shift towards trade protectionism could drive up agricultural commodity prices further. Such an increase would affect farm-level household income, favouring some farmers while harming others. End consumers, particularly the poor and vulnerable, would also suffer.
Environmental conditions are shaping agricultural production—and, in turn, the prices of agricultural commodities, which represent about 10% of traded goods worldwide
Another reason why the environment should be at the centre of economic debates is its role as the world’s single largest employer. Almost a billion people, just under 20% of the world’s labour force, are formally employed in agriculture. Another billion or so are engaged in subsistence farming, and therefore don’t register in formal wage statistics.
Any initiatives to support economic development must support this population’s transition towards higher-productivity activities. This is particularly important at a time when increasingly sophisticated and integrated technology threatens to leapfrog an entire generation of workers in some countries. Efforts to benefit this huge population must focus not only on training and education, but also on new models that allow countries to capitalize on their natural capital—the landscapes, watersheds and seascapes—without depleting it.
ALSO READ | The next big climate change battle starts in India
Just as natural-resource insecurity can cause displacement and vulnerability, effective natural-resource management can support conflict resolution and sustainable economic development. On this front, efforts to achieve environmental remediation, to boost the resilience of rural communities, to advance sustainable agricultural production, and to support community-based environmental stewardship have all shown promising results.
Consider the Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT), an organization focused on creating community conservancies to enable sustainable and equitable land-use in Kenya. The NRT has helped pastoralist communities establish effective governance mechanisms for the environment on which they depend, reducing conflict over grazing rights, especially in times of drought.
For many communities, members’ relationship with the landscape in which they live is an integral part of their identity. With effective governance and planning, open dialogue, resource-sharing frameworks and sufficient investment, including in skills training, these communities can translate this relationship into effective environmental stewardship—and build healthier and more secure societies.
ALSO READ | The tipping point for climate change is nigh upon us
The crises engulfing the modern world are complex. But one thing is clear: The environment is connected to all of them. Solutions will mean little without a healthy world in which to implement them.
Giulio Boccaletti is chief strategy officer at The Nature Conservatory.
Comments are welcome at [email protected] upon Norse mythology, Sweden’s Naglfar named themselves for the ship made from the nails of the dead that was foretold to carry the hordes of Hel across the waters, bringing them into battle with the gods of Asgard during the cataclysmic events of Ragnarök. The band released their first demo, Stellae Trajectio, in 1994 and their first album (Vittra) in 1995. On March 26, Century Media will release Naglfar’s sixth album, Téras, and today we’re privileged to stream the North American premiere of its fifth track, “An Extension of His Arm and Will”.
In addition to appearing on the album, the song will be released on Monday (Feb. 27) as a limited-edition 7″ single that will also include a non-album b-side song, “As Long As They Fear.” A white vinyl version will be limited to 100 copies exclusively for U.S. customers, and both black and transparent red vinyl versions will be shipped in the EU, also in limited quantities. They can be ordered through CM Distro via these links: http://bit.ly/zk8eeq (EU) and http://bit.ly/yA7P3k (US).
Naglfar now features a line-up consisting of vocalist Kristoffer W. Olivius (the band’s original bass player, who become lead vocalist following the 2005 departure of Jens Rydén), guitarist Andreas Nilsson (who has been with the band since its inception), and guitarist Marcus E. Norman (who joined in 2000). The drums for Téras were recorded by Dirk Verbeuren (Soilwork, Scarve).
Téras will be Naglfar’s first album in almost five years. One song from Téras — “Pale Horse” — has already debuted, and we featured it here on the day before Christmas. The new song that we’re premiering today confirms that Téras will be well worth the wait.
“An Extension of His Arm and Will” roars from the start with an ice storm of black metal ferocity, anchored by Verbeuren’s double-bass artillery attack. But before long Naglfar do what they have always done so distinctively and successfully, and that’s meld the soul-ripping force of black metal to the hook-laden melodies and galloping rhythms of Scandinavian melodic death metal. This is a song that’s immediately memorable, but thanks in large part to Olivious’ caustic vocals, doesn’t lose its obsidian edge.
Naglfar already have a loyal international following, but based on “Pale Horse” and this song, I have a feeling Téras is going to expand their numbers dramatically. Have at it, and while you listen to the song, gaze upon the album’s killer cover art by Niklas Sundin (guitarist for Dark Tranquillity), who also made the cover for Naglfar’s 2003 album, Sheol.
“AN EXTENSION OF HIS ARM AND WILL”
[audio:https://www.nocleansinging.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/05-An-Extension-Of-His-Arm-And-Will.mp3|titles=Naglfar – An Extension Of His Arm And Will]
We understand that Niklas Sundin’s album cover shows only part of a larger tableau, which will be revealed in its entirety when the CD is released in March. While we’re on the subject of alluring Naglfar album covers, we collected all of them in a post earlier this month, which you can access via this link.
Here’s the track list for Téras:A poll conducted in Peterborough for a group that advocates for public broadcasting suggests the Conservatives are about to lose the bellwether riding previously held by the prime minister’s former parliamentary secretary, Dean Del Mastro.
The Friends of Canadian Broadcasting hired Nanos Reasearch to poll in Peterborough about attitudes towards the CBC and its local affiliate, CHEX-TV. In addition to questions about the perceived independence of the CBC (falling, the survey found) and the role of CHEX in the community, Nanos also asked respondents about voting intentions.
It found 41 per cent of decided voters ranked the Liberals as their first choice, compared to 29 per cent who support the Conservatives, with the NDP a not-too-distant third at 27 per cent.
The sample size is a mere 300 respondents, and not all respondents were necessarily in the main urban riding of Peterborough – Kawartha, but still good news for Liberal candidate Maryam Monsef and less so for Conservative Michael Skinner, who carries the colours in a riding that Del Mastro held since 2006.
The riding was vacated earlier this year when Del Mastro was convicted and sent to jail for 30 days for overspending in his 2008 campaign and attempting to conceal it. He launched an appeal after spending one night the Lindsay jail and is free on bail while it the case is still before the court.
In every general election save one since 1957, voters in Peterborough have elected MPs whose parties went on to win the election.
There is more Del Mastro legal action to come. In addition to his appeal, his cousin David Del Mastro goes on trial in the new year on allegations he illegally channeled $22,000 in donation to Dean Del Mastro’s 2008 campaign through employees of his Mississauga electrical company.
More from The Gargoyle’s Election 2015 NotebookWITNESS ACCOUNT: INDEFATIGABLE KAMIKAZE ATTACK, APRIL 1
. Lt Ivor Morgan, Seafire pilot of 894 squadron
"Group of four-plus aircraft - bearing 315 - range 26 miles, closing".
As usual, the contacts were followed until, at 16 miles, they disappeared off the screen.
We shook our heads sadly. Finger trouble again, we thought.
Only this time they had got it terribly right.
The first inkling I had of trouble was the sound of aerial firing and, looking upwards, saw two aircraft in the tail chase about 2000 feet above the ship. At first I thought they were two of ours and it had only just registered that the leading machine had a radial engine, whereas our Seafires had in-lines, when it turned on its back and I distinctly saw the 'Rising Sun' roundels on its wings as the pilot commenced a power dive directly at the spot where I was standing.
By this time all hell had broken loose. All of our guns, from 5.25's (sic, he means 4.5's) to pom-poms and additions, had opened fire, people were yelling. The Captain gave a helm order, I rushed on to the main bridge, closed the armoured door behind me—and flung myself down full length on the deck, together with everyone else. We waited. The engine roar got louder and louder. There was no escape. This was it, this was how it was going to end.
Pity, I thought, life is so enjoyable on the whole. I felt no fear, only a vague disappointment that the curtains were about to be drawn. And then another thought struck me. I'd like to be there, as some sort of disembodied spirit, when my father opened the telegram. He was a dogmatic person, who would never entertain any arguments but his own, some of which were quite preposterous, nor would he ever admit to being in the wrong' I suppose to hearten me he would always say, "They couldn't get me at Ypres, they won't get you either". The sheer illogic of this used to annoy me intensely. Well, at last, he'd be proved wrong. Yes, I did so hope that there was some way in which I could be a fly on the wall when he learned that I had been killed.
Then came the crash, followed immediately by flame and a searing heat. I choked. I could not draw breath. I believe I lost consciousness. I next remember opening my eyes to see all the recumbent forms near me. All immobile. All dead, I thought I must be dead too. I tried to raise my shoulders and found that I was able to move although no one else followed suit. Oh well, if this was being dead it wasn't so bad after all. Interesting to find that there was indeed a life hereafter a fact in which I had never had much faith.
‘Port fifteen'.
The Captain's voice brought us to our senses and we shambled rather sheepishly to our feet. He above all, in his 'ice cream' suit, had remained erect and in command. This was the moment for which he had trained since joining the navy as a thirteen year old cadet in 1914. And he did not fail.
From then on things moved fast. With certain communication lines out of action I was ordered below to assess damage and casualties, for we could now see that the kamikaze had crashed into the bottom of the island at flight deck level. Flames engulfed both forward and after bridge ladders so I swarmed down the thick, knotted manilla rope which had been rigged for just such an emergency.
As I made my descent I saw Lt. Cdr. Pat Chambers, RN, Lt. Cdr. (Flying), staggering aft, his back covered with blood. Someone ran forward and guided him to safety. An Avenger, in the process of being taxied forward, had collided with the superstructure, engine and cockpit blown to smithereens. Of the pilot there was no sign.
The Damage Control Party was already hosing the flames and I could now see a gaping hole where the island sick bay had been. Being of small stature I was able to crawl through the wreckage and there they were my comrades At Vaughan and Bill Gibson, showing no sign of injury but both killed by the blast, which had removed most of their clothing. In the passage between the sick bay and the Fighter Ready Room lay Lt. Leonard Teff, RNVR, Air Engineer Officer, also killed by the blast which, miraculously, had left untouched the man on either side of him. Looking upwards I realized that the bridge mess was no more.
Oh Lord, what has happened to 'Wings'?
On regaining the bridge I was relieved to see Pat Humphries on the flight deck. A last minute dash to his cabin for some forgotten article had undoubtedly saved his life, in the same way as a faulty CSU had cost Gibson his.
Lt. Cdr. (E) 'Sandy' Sanderson RN, Flight Deck Engineer, and his party were already rigging a replacement for No. 3 barrier which had been destroyed. Twenty minutes later we were landing-on, S.Lt.(A) Dick Reynolds RNVR (894 Sqdn.) holding aloft a gloved hand to indicate two victories.
As soon as I was relieved, I went below to the hangar where maintenance crews were working with every sign of normality. They had thought their last moment had come when, unable to see what was happening, a terrible explosion occurred right above their heads. Flaming petrol ran down the hangar bulkhead, presumably through a fissure in the flight deck, threatening to engulf men and machines alike. Under the leadership of CPO 'jimmy Green, Senior Air Artificer, the fire was brought under control without having to resort to sprinklers.
"Right lads. Show's over. Back to work".
The Jimmy Greens of this world are worth their weight in gold. I proceeded to the sick bay, where the PMO, Surg. Cdr, Yates, RNVR, and his team—Surg. Lt. Cdr. Henry Towers RN, and Surg. Lt. Musgrave RI\IVR, together with their 'tiffies'—had been working non-stop since the kamikaze struck at 07.30. With over forty casualties dead, dying and/or seriously wounded, accommodation was hopelessly inadequate and the adjoining messdeck had been pressed into service as an auxiliary ward. There, upon mess tables, lay men too badly injured to survive. A steward with a hole in his head the size of a cricket ball, loosely plugged with cotton wool, a man with both legs missing. Between them were other casualties—men unrecognizable due to the burn dressings which covered head and body alike—and even as I looked for any of my own chaps, some were quietly slipping away into eternity. I did find one, however, Able Seaman Gay, 894's squadron messenger, who was well into his forties when he joined up. Quiet, polite, conscientious, he was popular and respected by all. He sat, staring at nothing, in an advanced state of shock. "I'm afraid his mind's gone, Sir," said the Chief SBA, "I've seen them before like this. They never make a complete recovery." If it had been the captain's moment, so had it been for the PM0. After fifteen hours at the operating table, he was ordered by his superior to take some rest. His reply was to order Captain Graham out of the Sick Bay in which, as a non-medical man, he had no authority. Only when, at 2300, it was obvious that he could do no more, did this 55 year old man consent to turn in. The final toll of eleven dead and thirty-two injured but surviving, was in large measure due to his skill and leadership. The subsequent award to him of the DSC was richly deserved and widely acclaimed…
Finally, 'Guns' (Tony Davis) requested over the Tannoy system that any bomb fragments he brought to him for identification in order that he might have some information on the type of missile being used by the enemy for this sort of attack. Among the pieces which were offered was the nose cone—in fact, that of a Royal Navy 15" shell, almost certainly captured at Singapore several years earlier!Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb’s (AQIM) fledgling branch in Tunisia, the Uqba bin Nafi Battalion, claimed credit for Monday’s ambush on Tunisian soldiers in the Mount Chaambi region of Kasserine Governorate. Yesterday’s statement is just the second claimed attack by the branch this year. The claim was released by AQIM’s Ifriqiyah Muslimah channel, which has released statements for the battalion in the past.
The jihadist statement claimed that members of the Uqba bin Nafi Battalion detonated an improvised explosive devices (IEDs) on aTunisian Armed Forces military vehicle as they were on patrol in the Mount Chaambi region. It also claimed credit for killing and wounding six soldiers, figures that largely correspond with what was reported by local media.
According to those reports, one soldier was killed in the ambush, while another six were injured. Following the ambush, Tunisian forces responded by shelling the region with artillery and launching airstrikes against militant positions.
The last claim from the al Qaeda wing came in April. In that ambush, the Uqba bin Nafi Battalion claimed to wound two soldiers in the Mount Ouargha region of Kef Governorate. Between that IED and Monday’s ambush, the group has faced some serious setbacks. In August, a Tunisian military operation killed the group’s overall leader, Mourad Chaieb, and others were arrested. The group’s media releases independent of other AQIM channels slowed to trickle.
Uqba bin Nafi has claimed several other assaults in the area over the last three years. In Dec. 2014, the jihadist group claimed two attacks on Tunisian forces in the Mount Chaambi region, posting photos from the raids days later. Just two months later, it took credit for killing four soldiers in an operation in Kasserine In Aug. 2015, it killed a customs agent in Bouchebka. In the initial claim of responsibility released for the Aug. 24 strike, the jihadist group said that it ambushed a number of customs agents, “killing a group of them.” It also said that it took three weapons, identified as Steyr AUG’s in photos released from the attack. In Aug. 2016, it claimed a deadly ambush in the Mount Sammama area of Kasserine Governorate. That assault left three Tunisian soldiers dead and seven others wounded. A month earlier, the jihadist group claimed targeting the military with two landmines, killing one soldier in the Mount Sammama area.
Its most deadly ambush on the Tunisian military occurred in the Mount Chaambi region in July 2014, an incident that left 15 soldiers dead and 20 others wounded.
While Tunisia has been relatively stable, it faces a residual jihadist threat. This is largely from the Uqba bin Nafi battalion, which continues to target Tunisian security forces and harass the local population. However, Tunisia also faces a threat from the Islamic |
currency manipulation will be key topics at the G20 meeting of leading nations in South Korea on Thursday and Friday.
Some US lawmakers are pressing for tariffs on Chinese imports to the US if Beijing fails to act.
Critics say China's currency controls keep the yuan undervalued by up to 40% against the US dollar, making its exports cheaper.
According to the Chinese data, October exports rose to $135.9bn, while imports were $108.8bn.
It came despite China's economic expansion cooling to 9.6% in the three months to the end of September from 10.3% in the previous quarter.
Chinese authorities are also continuing efforts to control inflation, which is near a two-year high.
In the latest anti-inflationary move, China's central bank has increased the level of funds that the country's lenders must keep in reserve by 0.5% to 18%, an all-time high.
Such a decision by the People's Bank of China reduces the amount of money in the country's economy.
It comes after the annual rate of inflation in China rose to 3.6% in September, a 23-month high.Russian helicopter shot down in Syria as battle rages over Aleppo
By Alex Lantier
2 August 2016
Five Russian servicemen were killed Monday when US-backed Islamist opposition militias shot down a helicopter in northwestern Syria's Idlib province. The downing of the helicopter took place as fighting raged in Aleppo between US-backed opposition militias and Russian and Syrian government forces.
The helicopter was shot down near Saraqeb, halfway between Aleppo and Khmeimim air base, where many Russian aircraft operating in Syria are housed. It was the single biggest Russian loss of life in Syria since Moscow launched a military intervention to back the Syrian regime in September of last year.
Russian Defense Ministry official Sergey Rudskoi said, “Today there has been a terrorist attack that resulted in the loss of a Russian military transport helicopter Mi-8, which was returning to base after completing a humanitarian mission to deliver food and medical supplies to Aleppo residents. It carried a crew of three and two officers from the Russian center for the reconciliation of warring factions in Syria. The helicopter was gunned down over territory controlled by the al-Nusra Front terrorist group and related groups of the so-called ‘moderate opposition.’”
The French daily Le Monde confirmed that “the wreck’s identification number indeed corresponds to that of a helicopter that is armed but used for research and medical evacuation purposes.” The pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the helicopter had indeed delivered humanitarian aid to Shia villages near Aleppo surrounded by Sunni Islamist opposition forces.
While it remains unclear how the helicopter was shot down, there is a very real danger that this event could escalate into an all-out diplomatic or even military confrontation between Russia and the United States. There are multiple reports that the embattled Islamist forces in the area, which are linked to Al Qaeda, might have shot down the Russian helicopter with a missile provided by the US government.
“I’ve heard some local sources where the helicopter was downed speaking of the possibility of MANPADs—shoulder-mounted surface-to-air missiles—being used in that context,” freelance journalist Alaa Ibrahim told Russian state-owned Russia Today.
The Reuters news agency wrote that there was a “prospect—which could cause a major diplomatic incident—of the helicopter having been brought down by a US-supplied weapon.” It continued: “The United States has equipped some rebel groups with TOW anti-tank missiles, which can also be used against helicopters.”
It is quite possible that Washington provided such weapons to the Islamist opposition for use against Russian and Syrian government forces. The US is growing increasingly desperate as the situation facing its Islamist proxies, whom it has supported for five years in a bloody war for regime-change against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, grows darker by the day.
The military situation appears to be turning decisively against the Islamist opposition militias. The noose around east Aleppo has been tightening ever since July 7, when Syrian regime forces cut the Castello road going north from Aleppo to Turkey.
Decimated by Russian air power, the anti-Assad forces were stunned by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s announcement earlier this month that he would seek better relations with the Syrian regime. They now fear that Turkey may permanently cut off their supply lines.
The opposition faces being crushed across the entire north of Syria and is mounting a desperate last-ditch offensive to try to break the encirclement of its forces in Aleppo.
US-backed forces are attacking Aleppo from the southwest of the city, trying to rescue opposition forces who find themselves encircled by Syrian government forces in the east of Aleppo. That city, which has been devastated by four years of fighting and looting by Islamist militias, is now being plunged into some of the most violent fighting it has seen.
The Islamist counterattack is being mounted by two militias, the al-Nusra Front, until last week Al Qaeda's affiliate in Syria, which has renamed itself Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (Front for the Conquest of Syria), and Ahrar al-Sham. The areas of Aleppo held by the US-backed forces have long been critical to the Islamist opposition, giving it a foothold in what was once Syria's economic capital, near key supply bases in Turkey from which the NATO powers have supported it.
Russian sources said 42 civilians had been killed and 98 wounded as opposition militias shelled areas of Aleppo held by Syrian government forces.
They claimed that the opposition forces had suffered a major defeat after they launched an offensive with four suicide attacks by al-Nusra fighters in armored vehicles rigged with explosives. Syrian regime forces counterattacked, with air support from Russian strategic bombers. Rudskoi stated, “More than 800 militants were killed during the fighting; 14 tanks, 10 infantry fighting vehicles, more than 60 vehicles with mounted guns were destroyed.”
A humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding in Aleppo. Areas of the city controlled by the opposition are home to an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 people. There are mounting reports of shortages of food and other basic supplies. Russian officials claim they have gathered 14 tons of humanitarian supplies, of which 2.5 tons have been delivered by helicopter or other means of transport, and they are appealing to residents to leave via “humanitarian corridors” set up around the city.
Virtually the entire population remains trapped in horrific conditions, however. Russian military sources themselves claim that only 169 people managed to flee through the “humanitarian corridors” this weekend. They also reported that opposition militias had executed four people whom they caught trying to flee through the corridors.
US, European and United Nations sources are charging Russian and Syrian government forces with carrying out war crimes in Aleppo. UNICEF claimed that four hospitals and a blood bank had been hit by air strikes, and US Secretary of State John Kerry attacked the Russian “humanitarian corridor” strategy for potentially being a “ruse.”
However, the attempts of Washington and its NATO allies to posture as humanitarians, shocked by the violence of the forces led by Moscow and Damascus, are shot through with hypocrisy. It was they who launched the proxy war that has now cost an estimated 400,000 lives. Airstrikes by US war planes in northern Syria have killed more than 200 civilians in just the last two weeks.
Washington and its allies have worked closely and openly with “rebel” forces such as al-Nusra that are linked to the Al Qaeda terrorist group that carried out the September 11 attacks in the US. They continue to shield them as part of their drive to topple Assad and deprive Russia of a key ally.
Whatever embarrassment al-Nusra's ties to Al Qaeda may cause in Washington, powerful sections of the US ruling elite are signaling that they will continue backing the opposition. There is a grave danger that, in order to rescue its Islamist proxies from defeat, the US government will launch a broader intervention in Syria and the Middle East that could provoke an all-out military collision with Russia.
Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.Police in Indian city of Bangalore have been placed on alert following a massive exodus from India's technological hub of workers originating from the country's northeastern states, sparked by rumours of an imminent attack on their ethnic group.
"Special forces and commandos are being deployed in areas where north-easterners are concentrated," senior Bangalore police official Vincent D'Souza, said on Saturday.
At least 20,000 natives from the north-east, who have faced discrimination and harassment in the past, have now fled India's southern cities of Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune.
Five people have already been arrested and the police are hunting for four others believed to have spread the rumours via mobile phone text messages and social networks, the IBN Live news channel reported, quoting Karnataka Chief Minister Jagdish Shettar.
The text messages reportedly warned that people from the northeast living in Bangalore would be attacked in retaliation for the killing of Muslims during ethnic violence between Bodo tribals and Muslim settlers in the northeastern state of Assam in late July.
At least 74 people were killed and more than 400,000 fled to government-run relief camps as a result of the violence.
Violent protests by Muslim groups in Mumbai in August have added to the sense of insecurity of the north-easterners.
Top intelligence officials suspect that the rumours, as well as doctored video clips portraying violence against Muslims in Assam, could be an attempt to spark communal tension.
"I was in Bangalore for nine months. I won't go back, even if I don't get work in Assam," an unnamed youth at the Guwahati railway station told NDTV news channel.The Expected Value of Eternal Masters
by SaffronOlive // May 30, 2016 Tweet
eternal masters finance Expected Value
As you probably know by now, every time a new set is released, we publish an expected value article breaking down just how much value you can expect to open if you decide to crack a box. One of the reasons I do this is because the rule of thumb that you should never open a box doesn't always hold true. There are situations where cracking a box is a smart financial move or, at the very least, a fun experience that isn't going to lose you a ton of value. Of course, other times, cracking a box is roughly the equivalent of throwing your money into a Sinkhole and hoping against hope that you get lucky. If you haven't already done so, make sure you check out the full spoilers for Eternal Masters to get an idea of what is in the set.
Masters sets are a little bit different than regular expert-level expansions for a bunch of reasons. For one thing, because the supply is limited, it's much easier for a box to have positive EV. Boxes from normal sets will always end up being a losing proposition (on average), because if there's ever a time when it's profitable to open a box, people will do it, increasing supply and driving down the prices of the cards in the set. Well, this can't happen with Eternal Masters because there isn't an unlimited supply of boxes. Even if the set is profitable to open, it's not like you can just walk into your local gaming store at any point over the next six months and pick up a box at MSRP (and maybe not even at all).
The other big difference in Masters sets is that there's a foil in every pack, so while I usually (mostly) ignore foils when calculating the expected value of an expert expansion, for Masters sets, they really need to be included to get a fair look at the value of the box, so we'll be spending a bit more time on shiny cards than normal. The downside of this focus on foils is that we don't have very good prices for Eternal Masters foils. None of the major sites are taking preorders, and info on TCGplayer and eBay are scarce. As such, we'll have to do a bit more guessing than I'd like, which is unfortunately unavoidable.
I also want to try something new in this expected value article, and that is calculating the EV on Magic Online as well as in the paper world. While we won't go as in-depth as we will for paper, if you're interested in how much value you can expect in a Magic Online Eternal Masters draft, I've included a section at the end of the article. Anyway, let's get to it!
What is Expected Value?
While many of you are familiar with the concept of expected value, here's a brief refresher. Expected value tells us just how much value we can expect to open in a booster box. To calculate EV, we first determine the odds of opening a specific card in any given box (this is the "multiplier" you'll see throughout the article). Next, we calculate the value of each card. Then, we multiply the odds of opening a card by the card's value, which tells us how much value we expect that card to add to the box. Finally, we simply add up the total and determine how much a box is actually worth.
Pricing
Typically, when it comes to expected value, I like to use eBay completed listings minus 15% for shipping and fees as the baseline price because I feel this is the best approximation of what a regular player can get for their cards. Unfortunately, with Masters sets, eBay listings are fairly scattered and not always that representative. So, for Eternal Masters, we are going to be using Star City Games presale prices minus a 30% spread. Knocking 30% off of retail is usually a fairly good representation of buylist prices and usually pretty comparable to what you'll get on eBay, should you choose to go that route. It's also worth mentioning that all of these prices are for the Eternal Masters edition of the card—what the price was previously isn't relevant to our expected value breakdown.
Methodology Notes
Commons (except in very rare cases) are considered bulk, which I value at $5.00 per thousand. An entire booster box worth of Commons adds $1.25 to the expected value of the box. Most Uncommons are also worthless for the purpose of calculating EV, even in a set like Eternal Masters. If an Uncommon isn't worth at least $1.00, it goes into the bulk pile along with the Commons. On the other hand, chase Uncommons (i.e., those worth more than $1.00) will get their own section in our EV breakdown. Foils are tricky for the reasons I mentioned in the intro, plus I'm not 100% sure of the distribution, so we'll be running on the same assumption we did for Modern Masters. The best I can figure is that you'll get maybe two (actually closer to 1.5) Rares (which could be replaced by a Mythic), six or seven Uncommons, and 14 or 15 Commons. Calculating EV is not a predictive exercise—it is a snapshot of value at a specific point in time. Mana Crypt could spike to $150 over the next couple months or drop to $30, and it wouldn't make this EV calculation any more or less true because the one and only thing we are concerned with is the current value of the cards in the set. I expect the prices on some of these cards to decrease over the summer. This is especially true of the Uncommons and Commons, but also for Rares and some of the Mythics as well. This means the prices used in my EV calculation might not be good next week, let alone next month. Another reminder: You don't actually make a profit until you sell the card. Just cracking boxes on release weekend isn't enough; you need take the next step and actually list the cards on eBay/TCGplayer or sell them to a buylist. Finally, be aware of variance. These numbers will be accurate if you open enough packs. But like most aspects of Magic, variance can have a huge impact on small samples. In theory, a booster box could contain zero Mythics and all bulk Rares, or it could contain a complete set of foil Mythics. The more packs you crack, the more accurate the EV becomes because you smooth out these outliers.
Eternal Masters: Mythics
$ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00
All in all, the Mythic slot adds $67.47 to the value of an Eternal Masters box, but the Mythics of Eternal Masters are quite top-heavy, which is going to lead to a lot of variance in box opening. If you manage to hit one of the big four Mythics (Karakas, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Mana Crypt, or Force of Will), your box will very likely be a winner. On the other hand, if you miss on a chase Mythic, you're pretty much left hoping you win the flottery (foil lottery) to have any chance of your box being worth MSRP (or more). The good news is that Eternal Masters has four chase Mythics (unlike a set like Modern Masters 2015, which is close to Tarmogoyf or bust), so your odds of opening one in any given box aren't actually that bad. So what excatly are your odds of getting one of the four big Mythics from your Eternal Masters box?
First off, the stated odds of getting a Mythic is one in every eight packs, so as a baseline, we are expecting three Mythics per box. Second, the odds of opening any individual Mythic is 0.2 (which is why 0.2 is the multipler used for calculating the expected value), but we don't really care about Worldgorger Dragon; we want to know the odds of opening something good. Well, the good news is your odds of opening any one of Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Karakas, Mana Crypt, or Force of Will in your box is nearly a coin flip, with 48.35% of Eternal Masters boxes containing one of these cards. But what if you're hoping to get really lucky and open two of these cards in the same box? Here, your odds drop significantly—down to 14.5%—but this still means more than one in every ten boxes will get you two of the four chase Mythics. Or, what about the god box, with all three Mythics being one of the four most valuable? Don't hold your breath on this one; only 0.008% of boxes will contain three of the four, making it less than 1 in 1,000!
Eternal Masters: Rares
$ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00
First off, the Rares from a box of Eternal Masters add about $76 to the price of a box, which isn't great for a "Masters" set. Only a handful of Rares will pay for a pack (six, which means only 11% of packs without Mythics will contain a Rare worth MSRP), and the "bulk" Rare rate (Rares worth less than one-half of MSRP) is quite high, in the 70% range, similar to Modern Masters 2015. However, a lot of this is the result of price decreases attributable to the Eternal Masters reprinting, with many Rares starting off at half of their before-spoiling price, which is actually a good thing for players because it means you'll be able to pick up eternal and Commander staples at a steep discount. So, while the value of the Rares in Eternal Masters isn't great for people looking to crack a box, there's a good reason behind that: powerful cards are getting less expensive. So, just how many bulk Rares should you expect to open in a box of Eternal Masters? Let's see!
The chart above shows the distribution of bulk Rares in a box of Eternal Masters. Altogether, 36 Rares are currently worth less than $5 (which I'm counting as bulk in a $10 pack—the same as a $2 rare in a $4 pack). As you can see, your odds of getting less than 10 bulk Rares or more than 18 bulk Rares are insignificant. While the most likely outcome is that your box of Eternal Masters will contain 14 bulk Rares (leaving you with seven Rares worth more than $5), over 98% of boxes will contain somewhere between 12 and 17 bulk Rares.
Eternal Masters—Uncommons/Commons
$ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00
Let's start by giving Wizards some major props on the lower rarities in Eternal Masters. One of the biggest problems with Modern Masters 2015 was the complete and total lack of value at Common and Uncommon, which lead to a ton of packs with literally no value at all. In fact, I just looked back over my Modern Masters 2015 EV article, and altogether Commons and Uncommons added about $12 to the value of a box. Well, it looks like Wizards heard the complaint that opening a $10 pack and ending up with nothing in return felt extremely bad and fixed the problem. The value of Commons and Uncommons is up 150% from Modern Masters 2015, with Eternal Masters coming in with an expected value of $28 from the Uncommon and Common slots.
This is great news for anyone planning on opening sealed product, whether it be an entire box or just a draft, because it means you're likely to go home with something. Sure, maybe you got a Call the Skybreaker in your Rare slot, but if you have a Price of Progress or Cabal Therapy at Uncommon, it doesn't hurt quite as bad. Think of it this way: my grandmother loves to play scratch-off lottery tickets. No matter how many times I try to explain that she is literally incinerating her retirement money, she still buys them because she enjoys the thrill of the game. One thing the makers of lottery tickets love to do is give people a token prize of $1. No one buys a lottery ticket hoping to win $1. Actually, $1 is almost an insult when you compare it to the grand prize of millions. The thing is, my grandmother loves winning that dollar. She can spend $20 on lottery tickets, win $1 on a few of them, and feel like a winner. Because she likes this feeling (even though she's actually losing money), she goes back and buys more lottery tickets.
Putting value in the Common and Uncommon slots has this same effect. Yes, no one buys a pack of Eternal Masters hoping their best card is Young Pyromancer, but opening a Young Pyromancer is just enough of a "win" to keep the player happy and (hopefully, from Wizards' perspective) coming back for more. So, not only is an uptick in value at Uncommon and Common good for players, but it's good for Wizards as well. Let's say you are sitting down to an Eternal Masters draft (meaning you'll open three packs); just how many money Uncommons will you open? Let's look at the distribution.
What this chart shows is that you'll whiff on a valuable Uncommon about one in every ten drafts, which is roughly the same probability of opening four money Uncommons in the same three-pack sample. About half of the time, you'll get either one or two money Uncommons in a draft, and almost 30% of the time, you'll luck out and get three or four!
Foils
As I mentioned in the intro, coming up with good prices for Eternal Masters foils, especially for eternal playables that are being printed in foil for the first time, is nearly impossible. None of the big vendors are listing presales, and even on TCGplayer, there's a single person listing presales for some but not all cards (and there's really no way of knowing if their prices are fair, since no one seems to be buying them).
Typically, the easiest way to account for foils is by using a multiplier, where the foil version of a card is worth roughly two times the non-foil, but this doesn't always hold true with eternal playables. More important to Eternal Masters, cards like Pyroblast and Hydroblast are getting their first foil printing, which means they will likely be significantly more expensive than their non-foil prices would suggest. As a result, the prices I've used are based on the x2 multiplier (which should be about right for many cards), but then adjusted to account for specific cards that throw the numbers out of whack.
Eternal Masters—Foils Rarity # Per Box Average Value EV Added Mythic 0.166 $75.90 $12.60 Rare 1.6 $9.12 $14.59 Uncommons 6.2 $1.17 $7.25 Commons 16 $0.15 $2.40 Totals Foil Value Added to Box $26.84
There's really more guesswork than I like in the foil value breakdown, but unfortunately this is unavoidable. That said, foils, especially Rares and Mythics, are scarce enough that "missing" on the value doesn't have a huge impact on the value of a box. Seriously, every foil Mythic could be worth double the value I used for the calculation and it would shift the box value by $12, which might sound like a lot, but for a $240 MSRP product, $12 one way or another isn't much of anything.
What I'm trying to say is, I'm not 100% confident in my foil prices, but this really should not matter. Even if I'm way, way off, it isn't going to change the overall conclusion of the EV article, because even in a "foil-in-every-pack" Masters set, foils are the least meaningful cards when it comes to determining expected value.
Putting it All Together
Eternal Masters—EV Summary Rarity Average Price Number Value Added Mythic $22.49 15 $67.43 Rare $3.65 53 $76.55 Non-Bulk Uncommons $1.37 17 $23.40 Non-Bulk Commons $0.50 4 $4.72 Bulk $5 / Thousand 300 $1.30 Foils $26.84 TOTAL BOX EV $200.24 PACK EV $8.34 Draft EV $25.03
So, there you have it. If you buy a booster box of Eternal Masters, you can expect to get back about $200 in value at an approximation of "buylist" prices. If you go with full-on SCG retail prices, the number jumps up to about $260, which is slightly above MSRP, but not by much. In fact, the expected value of Eternal Masters is almost exactly the same as that of Modern Masters (which was $253 at SCG retail prices and just below $200 at buylist prices).
Slight rant: it's pretty absurd that people are being forced to pay $300+ for a box of Eternal Masters when Modern Masters 2015, which contained almost exactly the same amount of value, was readily available at (or even below) MSRP for months. Now, I understand why this is happening—the spoilers on Monday and Tuesday were insane and made it appear that a box of Eternal Masters was going to be massively plus-EV. The thing is, this happens every time. The best and most valuable cards always get spoiled first, so I think the lesson here is to not get taken in by the early spoilers. The bulk will come; it always does.
Magic Online Expected Value
Unfortunately, Eternal Masters is a complete bust for Magic Online players for two reasons. For one thing, a lot of the chase cards in the set were just reprinted in Vintage Masters, which crushed their prices to such an extent that they still haven't recovered. Second, Wizards didn't seem to make an effort to include "important-for-Magic-Online" reprints like Misdirection or Rishadan Port in the set. Perhaps there's another Vintage Masters on the way and Wizards is holding these cards back. Anyway, I promised an Magic Online EV breakdown, so an Magic Online EV breakdown we will have.
First, there are a couple things worth mentioning, with the foremost being that the Magic Online prices are for older versions, since preorders do not exist on Magic Online. This means, if anything, that this EV breakdown likely overstates the value of the Eternal Masters versions of the cards, since prices will likely drop more while drafts are firing. Also, I'm not going to break down each card individually like I did in paper because it feels like overkill, so instead I've just calculated the average value of the cards at each rarity. Finally, it's important to remember that on Magic Online, Eternal Masters boosters have an MSRP of $7 rather than $10, which helps (slightly) to alleviate the problem with lower prices.
Magic Online Eternal Masters EV Rarity Average Value Odds of Opening in Pack EV Added Mythic 4.32 tix 0.125 0.54 Rare 2.48 tix 0.875 2.17 Uncommon 0.30 tix 3.00 0.89 Total 3.6 tix per pack 10.8 tix per draft
Conclusion
So, is it worth buying a box of Eternal Masters? If the goal is to make a profit, then not especially. The variance is just too high, and the typical box is going to be a loser. If you can get a box for near MSRP, it's much more justifiable—sure, you might not come out ahead right away, but you're not going to come out that far behind—but paying $300 for a box is pretty crazy, since the expected value simply doesn't justify the price.
On the other hand, if you're playing a draft in the paper world, you shouldn't lose too much at current prices, and if you can win a prize pack or two, you should at least break even and maybe even come out a little bit ahead. Plus, regardless of anything else, there's no doubt that Eternal Masters has been a success in dropping the prices of some very expensive cards like Karakas and Mana Crypt, not to mention a bunch of lower-value Rares and a ton of playable Uncommons.
Anyway, what are your thoughts? Are you happy with Eternal Masters overall? Are you planning on purchasing a box (or have you already)? As always, leave your thoughts, ideas, opinions, and suggestions in the comments, and you can reach me on Twitter @SaffronOlive, or at [email protected] relieves officer accused of groping woman during arrest
Houston Police Chief Charles McClelland relieved from duty a veteran HPD officer accused of groping a woman after arresting her and launched an investigation into the matter.
McClelland said Sgt. O.J. Latin was relieved of duty with pay after HPD became aware on Wednesday of serious allegations made against the officer by the woman, who told authorities the incident occurred in March.
"The investigation was initiated yesterday, so clearly we haven't had any time to gather any facts or evidence in that case," he said during a media availability session Thursday afternoon.
McClelland also announced that Angela Horton, an officer who punched a handcuffed robbery suspect in the face last month, has been terminated by the department.
Houston attorney Tyler Flood, who is representing the woman bringing the allegations against Latin, said the officer arrested her in early March for allegedly driving while intoxicated on Washington Avenue.
She said Latin pulled up her shirt and groped her while she was still handcuffed in the back of his patrol car. Another woman who was in the back seat was a witness, Flood said.
The other woman in the car doesn't live in the Houston area, but Flood said they were able to track her down.
"She told us everything, and it pretty much matched up with what my client said happened," Flood said.
The inventory sheet listing the items his client had with her at the time of the arrest also seemed to bolster her claim that something out of the ordinary happened in the HPD patrol car, Flood said.
"He wrote his name and cellphone number on the back of that and said, 'call,' " Flood said.
Flood said the officer sent text messages and photographs to the woman after the arrest.
"He made some comments to her like, 'I can help you with your case,' " Flood said.
7 complaints on file
He said his primary concern now is what the allegations against the officer mean for his client's original DWI case. He has been speaking with the Harris County District Attorney's Office but hasn't heard anything about a possible dismissal.
Bob Armbruster, staff attorney for Houston Police Officers' Union, said the organization has no comment on the incident at this time.
Along with an internal affairs investigation of the allegations, the department will look into any criminal misconduct, McClelland said.
An HPD database of internal affairs complaints shows that Latin has had seven complaints sustained against him since late 1994. The complaints include two accidents in police vehicles Latin caused, three instances of improper police procedure, one complaint of improper conduct and behavior, and an instance of losing police property.
NAACP told police
The department learned of the recent allegations against Latin after receiving information from the Houston chapter of the NAACP, where the woman went Wednesday to make the complaints, McClelland said.
"And I can clearly state, from everything that I've been told till this point, it was the first time that the Houston Police Department had knowledge of this allegation," he said. "So that's why we took swift and prompt action of relieving officer Latin of duty until we can conduct an investigation."
In July, McClelland relieved Horton of duty only a few days after learning she had punched the handcuffed robbery suspect. The incident occurred July 13 when a news camera crew captured Horton slugging the suspect. She was sworn in as an HPD officer in January 2007.
Chronicle reporter Jim Pinkerton contributed to this report.
[email protected]
[email protected] — The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), has set up customs posts in Kurdistan Region areas near the Iranian borders to collect taxes from people trading goods between Iran and Kurdistan Region, and according to local sources, the PKK guerrillas have lately doubled the taxes.
A local resident revealed to BasNews that the PKK guerrillas have drastically increased the amount of taxes they collect from people who transport goods between Iran and Kurdistan Region, particularly in Penjwen district in north west of Sulaymaniyah province near the Iranian border. The source said that some local workers have left their jobs due to the huge amount of taxes taken from them by PKK at the customs posts.
Regarding this issue, Mamosta Khalil, an official from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in Penjwen told BasNews that this act of PKK has vastly disturbed the residents of this area, blaming the government for not taking actions to stop such violations against the people.
Khalil said that they have repeatedly demanded PKK to put an end to this illegal taxation, but they responded that this is their only funding source which they are relying on.
The amount of money which PKK collects from a worker equals the amount of profit he gains, said a local source.
Speaking to BasNews, an official from Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in the area, said that PKK randomly collects taxes from the residents, noting that the area is under the influence of the Change Movement (Gorran). According to him, Gorran is facilitating this activity of PKK members instead of preventing them from collecting this sizable amount of tax from the residents.
He also noted that PKK has set customs posts in all border areas under its control, exasperating the residents of 58 villages.
Another KDP official in Halabja province told BasNews that the PKK members impose taxes on both exports and imports at their customs posts in the surrounding areas of Suren mountain near Said Sadiq district in the west of Sulaymaniyah province.
However, the mayor of Penjwen, Zana Osman, told BasNews that they have not yet received complaints from the local residents regarding PKK's customs and the taxation, explaining that they have no knowledge of such customs and no one can tax people except the official customs posts which are staffed by the government.Champion’s Week will return to Las Vegas for a ninth consecutive year, NASCAR announced on Monday, but this time with a significant twist: The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Awards celebration will take place on a Thursday night, not the traditional Friday.
This year’s awards banquet will take place at the Wynn Las Vegas on Thursday, Nov. 30. A full schedule for Champion’s Week will be released later.
Historically, the banquet usually took place on the first Friday night in December, but the schedule is changed for this year.
Article continues below...
“Las Vegas is especially excited to welcome the NASCAR world back for this year’s Champion’s Week,” said Rossi Ralenkotter, president/CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. “It’s been a tremendous year for NASCAR in Las Vegas. … We’ve had a long and successful partnership with NASCAR and look forward to having fans join us for the events of Champion’s Week this year.”
“Awards season is a time when our entire industry, along with our passionate fan base, come together to formally crown a champion and celebrate a memorable season,” said Steve Phelps, NASCAR Executive Vice President, and chief global sales and marketing officer. “The prestige of our Awards grows each year, and with the return to Las Vegas for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Awards that trend promises to continue.”Even if you're careful about your alcohol consumption, all drinks are not created equal on the dieting scale and some choices are better than others. Here's a short guide to the calorie contents of different types of alcohol. Use it as a quick resource to find low-calorie alcohol choices while sticking to your dietary goals.
A key to any successful lifestyle change is moderation. While you may be sticking to a healthier eating plan on most days, certain occasions call for a bit of relaxation, sometimes in the form of an alcoholic drink. While alcohol is fat-free and low in carbs, it's the calories that count when it comes to weight management. In general, alcohol and dieting don’t mix well —your body processes alcohol first, leaving carbohydrates and fats to get stored as fat instead of getting used as fuel.Even if you're careful about your alcohol consumption, all drinks are not created equal on the dieting scale and some choices are better than others. Here's a short guide to the calorie contents of different types of alcohol. Use it as a quick resource to find low-calorie alcohol choices while sticking to your dietary goals. Wine: The Most Diet-Friendly Choice
If you’re going to drink, wine is the most calorie-friendly selection with a typical 20 calories per ounce. Each five-ounce glass would then be 100 calories with no cholesterol, sodium or fat. This is true for both red and white wine, from merlot to chardonnay. Sherry, a sweet, fortified wine, runs a bit higher with 32 calories per ounce, but is usually served in smaller portions as an after-dinner drink.
Here is the nutritional information for some popular wines:
|
, either by the series’ own conservative-leaning worldview or by star Tim Allen’s own politics?
Despite getting this exact question on the conference call, Dungey avoided answering it directly.
“I cancelled Last Man Standing for the same business and scheduling reasons I cancelled The Real O’Neals, Dr. Ken, The Catch, American Crime,” Dungey said. “It was challenging because it was a steady performer but when we made the decision not to continue with comedies on Friday, that’s where it landed.”
The Real O’Neals, Dr. Ken and American Crime were ratings disasters (and none of them moved the cultural conversation much, with the exception of O’Neals, which appeared to exist solely to piss off Christians), so there’s no surprise in those cancellations.
But Last Man Standing was a ratings highlight in its sixth season, which brings up the next puzzling question…
2. If comedy “remains a priority” for the network, as it said on Tuesday’s call, why would it cancel its second-highest-rated comedy series?
Last Man Standing was ABC’s second-highest-rated comedy only behind the critically adored (and decidedly progressive) Modern Family.
The sixth season finale of LMS drew 6.06 million viewers and a respectable 1.1 rating in its March 31 broadcast, good enough to make it the most-watched primetime program that night in a tie with CBS’ Blue Bloods.
In fact, the entire sixth season averaged 6.41 million viewers, down just five percent from its previous season, a rare feat for a show at this point in its run. When considering Last Man‘s Friday night time slot, that’s a downright miracle, considering Friday night is where broadcast network shows typically go to die a more prolonged death.
For comparison, in its second season, Dr. Ken drew an average 4.41 million viewers, down a steep 16.3 percent from its first season. The Real O’Neals fared even worse in its sophomore season, drawing an average of 3.07 million viewers, a drop of 22 percent. Those cancellations were obviously no-brainers.
Which then begs the question….
3. Why did ABC bring back the perpetually low-rated Quantico when it draws one-third of Last Man Standing‘s viewership?
If you haven’t seen the network’s government spy thriller Quantico, you’re hardly alone. The show’s second season averaged just 2.8 million viewers per episode, down a whopping 35.7 percent in viewership from its first season and an absolutely astonishing 45 percent in the key demo.
So what to do when faced with these embarrassingly awful figures?
Dungey confirmed Tuesday that ABC was bringing back Quantico for a third season, albeit with a smaller initial order of episodes.
We’re “optimistic and excited about it,” Dungey said. She said the smaller episode order would allow the network to “see how it performs for us.”
Of course, there’s no way the renewal has anything to do with the show’s open hostility toward President Donald Trump and his supporters, right? Right?
4. Why would ABC move one of its highly-anticipated flagship series, Marvel’s Inhumans, to Friday night, traditionally a wasteland for unwanted shows?
Dungey said on the call that the network wants to make Friday night a “destination” for sci-fi and fantasy fans.
To achieve that, ABC set its long-running fairy-tale series Once Upon a Time at 8 p.m. Friday, followed by Marvel’s Inhumans, a superhero spin-off, and then once Inhumans finishes its run, the network will run Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. in its place.
Here’s the question: Inhumans is set to air its first two episodes in IMAX theaters for two weeks ahead of the show’s launch on TV. It’s ostensibly a high-profile show for the network, and undoubtedly costs a ton of money to produce. Why would the network move this show to the 9 p.m. hour on Friday when it is traditionally the least-watched time on television? And it isn’t just me who has asked this question: “Did ABC Already Doom Marvel’s Inhumans With Its Timeslot?” wondered CinemaBlend’s Mick Joest on Tuesday. Maybe the network just doesn’t believe it’s going to be very good.
The move to Friday does make at least a little bit of sense for Once Upon a Time; after a stellar first four seasons and a modest drop in Season 5 (and after the departure of most of its core cast members), the sixth season of the fantasy drama averaged just 3.2 million viewers and a 0.94 in the key demo, down 28.3 percent and 31.6 percent, respectively.
Then again, the network just renewed Once for a total reboot in its seventh season. Why would ABC move its premiere family show from its comfortable Sunday night family slot to be a lead-in for Inhumans? Instead, Sunday nights will begin with America’s Funniest Home Videos, then move to To Tell the Truth, then reality show Shark Tank, and then new Kyra Sedgwick drama Ten Days in the Valley. Which seems an odd sort of lineup for a traditional family TV night.
5. Is there any other show in history that has not only retained its audience but has beaten most other comedies of its type that has been cancelled as abruptly? Ever?
Tim Allen broke his silence Tuesday to say he was “stunned and blindsided” by ABC’s decision. He likely joins many of the fans of his show (at least 138,000), who now feel as if the only family entertainment they could enjoy has been taken off the air, for reasons that can’t possibly boil down to ratings and scheduling.
A representative for ABC did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the article will be updated if we hear from them.
Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaumTORONTO — A year after Ottawa expelled the consul-general of Eritrea to put a stop to a money-making scheme his regime had set up in Canada, the dubious “diaspora tax” program appears to be continuing undeterred.
Under the system, the Eritrean consulate in Toronto tells expatriates they must hand 2% of their wages to the repressive African regime. The setup is part of a strategy that “routinely involves threats, harassment and intimidation,” according to a United Nations report.
Foreign Affairs officials have repeatedly warned Eritrea to end the practice. Last month, as a condition for maintaining a diplomatic post in Toronto, Eritrea agreed the consulate would not have any role in the solicitation and collection of taxes.
But several Eritreans who recently phoned the Toronto consulate said they were told they would have to pay the tax. They tape-recorded the conversations as evidence the consulate was still an active player in the taxation scheme.
“They told me that you have to pay 2%,” said Michael Teckle, 34, a Canadian citizen who fled Eritrea in 2002. He said consulate officials had solicited the tax from him on June 10, 11 and 16 — well after Eritrea told Ottawa it would not longer do so.
“They’re still doing it,” said another man who recorded his conversations with several consulate staff. Just days ago, he was told his family would be denied papers to leave Eritrea unless he paid the tax. He did not want his name used because he feared for his family.
The accounts suggest that despite Ottawa’s demands, consulate staff are still working closely with the regime and a network of agents to solicit the tax, calculate the sums and ensure the money is collected. Contacted for comment, the consulate employee who appears to be in charge of the tax program said she would call later but never did.
The scheme is the latest incarnation of the cash-strapped regime’s attempts to tap the roughly one million Eritrean expatriates — many of them refugees who fled abuses, only to find themselves pressured into paying off the regime responsible.
The United Nations has asked member nations to crack down on the tax system. While governments are allowed to tax their citizens living abroad, Canada argues that using a consulate for such a purpose is inconsistent with the Vienna Convention on consular relations. Further, extortion and collecting money for the Eritrean military are both illegal.
“We have made our position on this matter very clear to the Eritreans, and we expect them to abide by it,” said Adam Hodge, spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird. “If the Eritrean consulate is indeed continuing to flout these obligations, there will be repercussions.”
‘Isn’t it an irony? … They want me to confess and say I’m sorry I left the post I was given by the Eritrean government’
About the size of Cuba, Eritrea gained independence in 1993 following a conflict with Ethiopia. President Isaias Afewerki has ruled ever since. Opposition parties are banned. The country consistently ranks among the world’s worst in terms of development, human rights and press freedoms.
A year after independence, the state enacted what it called a 2% development and rehabilitation tax, partly to support the families of “martyrs.” Outside Eritrea, embassies, consulates and agents of the president’s party enforce the tax system.
In Canada, Revenue Canada returns are used to calculate the amounts owing. According to an RCMP report cited by the UN, those who refuse to pay are denied services and face possible arrest when they return to Eritrea, while their friends and families still in Eritrea are threatened and harassed.
One of the men who recorded his calls with the Toronto consulate was told his wife would not get the papers she needed to leave the country until he had paid the tax. “If you don’t pay 2%, you can’t do anything. She can’t come,” the consulate employee said, according to a transcript of the phone call, which took place in April, although he has recorded similar calls in June.
The staff member told the man to visit the consulate and explained how it worked. “They will calculate it for you, how much you should pay,” the official told him. “Then somebody, either you or your wife in the country [Eritrea], will pay in Canadian cash the 2% amount. You send the money from here to her. After we calculate it here, we notify them the amount to be paid.”
A woman who phoned the consulate was told the tax was as an obligation like Canadian income taxes, and that even bank loans were taxable, according to a transcript of the call, which took place in April.
She was told to have someone carry Canadian cash to the Eritrean capital, Asmara. “Everybody is doing what I am telling you to do,” the employee said. “We are here to solicit and calculate the 2% tax. And inform accordingly.”
Following complaints about the system, Canada expelled the Eritrean consul-general last May. But Foreign Affairs continued to receive reports about the taxes, and late last month, Eritrea agreed to abide by three conditions stipulated by Ottawa.
The undertaking signed by Eritrea pledged that: the consulate would not be involved in any way in soliciting or collecting taxes; any taxation would be done directly by the Eritrean government without the use of agents in Canada; tax forms used in Canada would not contain any reference to financing the Eritrean military.
But a spokesman for the Eritrean-Canadian Human Rights Group of Manitoba said the recorded conversations, which it has compiled and translated, showed that since agreeing to the terms the consulate has continued as before.
“So far, there are other recordings done from Winnipeg, Fort McMurray and other cities. Expatriates have called and talked to different consulate employees and as far as the consulate office is concerned, it is just business as usual,” Berket Yohannes said.
Among those who taped their calls was Mr. Teckle, who left Eritrea after he was imprisoned for two months during a crackdown on students. He said consulate staff told him as recently as Monday he had to pay $6,000 in back taxes, otherwise they would not allow him to have his university transcript.
“Isn’t it an irony?” the Vancouver resident said in an interview Wednesday. The regime he escaped after it jailed him in 45C heat with little food now wanted money from him. He said the consulate eventually referred him to an agent in Vancouver to complete the required paperwork.
He said he was also told he would have to sign a statement admitting he had abandoned Eritrea without completing his compulsory national service. “They want me to confess and say I’m sorry I left the post I was given by the Eritrean government.”
National Post
• Email: [email protected] | Twitter: StewartBellNPsteveklabnik: steveklabnik: “a joke” is a bit much.
I was bored one day, so I wrote something very much akin to Rust’s println! in D. It was just some regular code that got executed at compile time. Completely stable, never broke, should have worked across all D compilers.
By contrast, you can’t even write the formatting part of println! in macro_rules! ; it has to be integrated into the compiler itself because no one sane wants to ship a compiler compiler to the package ecosystem that will break against random compiler versions.
Rust macros are great; they’re not a joke in absolute terms. D is just so much better than Rust at this that comparing them is, frankly, silly. It’s only a joke by comparison.
steveklabnik: steveklabnik: but our stuff can’t generate invalid code, which D’s can if mis-used.
No, that’s not true, either. String mixins are only allowed in specific places in the language grammar, just like macro invocations in Rust. Yes, you can have temporarily invalid constructs in existence during construction of the CTFE result, but the same is true of Rust using push-down macros.
Also, given that the vast majority of complex macros in my experience have to abuse the heck out of tt because Rust doesn’t allow for deconstruction of substituted AST nodes (let alone parsing the language’s grammar), I don’t think the “strongly/weakly typed” metaphor is fair. The moment you go beyond basic matching and substitution, Rust macros turn into “untyped” token munchers.
Ygg01: Ygg01: Wasn’t there a difference, where D templates/macros expand into arbitrary code, like C++ templates do?
I’m talking about CTFE and mixins, not templates. D templates have to be syntactically valid prior to expansion, and semantically valid after. You can’t expand a D template to random gibberish. This is really no different to Rust macros, which behave in more or less the same fashion except that the macro’s body doesn’t have to be syntactically valid in the first place (beyond being a TT).
Ygg01: Ygg01: Why? Aren’t macros just a type of compiler plugins?
Technically yes, but it’s not a useful distinction in this context.
Like I said, CTFE and string mixins are an actual part of D-the-language. Compiler plugins are rustc -specific. They’re extra code that gets linked into the compiler. The only kind of macro that’s stable and part of the language is macro_rules! which isn’t even capable of anything described above.
In general, I never count unstable or implementation-specific features in these comparisons because it’s wildly unfair and borderline deceptive, but I’ve had this flaming row before, and I’m not having it again. I haven’t had nearly enough coffee, and it’d be getting off topic.
Look, I spent years abusing the hell out of D’s metaprogramming abilities. I’ve also spent a lot of my time with Rust doing the same to macros. Rust macros have exactly one advantage over D CTFE+mixins that I can think of: they can leverage the Rust parser. I don’t count being able to execute compiler plugins as a real advantage because those aren’t stable and, as I said, could be done in the D compiler of your choice by modifying the compiler’s source (which would also probably break about as frequently).
Playing up Rust’s macros relative to D is both misleading (at best), and bad for Rust: it gives people who know Rust but not D the impression that they’re not missing anything, that there’s nothing D does better that Rust might learn and improve from.NEW YORK ( TheStreet ) -- NBC Universal will unveil a redesigned corporate logo as CMCSA ) officially gains control over the media group from GE ).
NBC Universal unveils its new logo.
NBC Universal CEO Steve Burke told employees on Thursday at a town hall gathering that the old logo, which featured the iconic peacock symbol, "seemed kind of busy." The company is now opting for a new minimalistic corporate design.
The redesigned logo uses purple as the primary color, and does not put a space between 'NBC' and 'Universal,' to represent the unity of the two divisions.
"We aren't a family of two favorite sons, rather one filled with talented people and companies all tied for first," management said in a presentation on Thursday when it revealed the logo to company employees.
NBC will continue to use the original peacock image for its broadcast network and its cable news outlets, while the spinning globe will still be a part of Universal's consumer graphic. The peacock has been part of NBC's branding since 1956.
After a year-long regulatory review, Comcast is set to acquire a 51% stake in NBC Universal on Friday, while General Electric's stake will drop to 49% from 80%.
-- Written by Theresa McCabe in Boston.
>To contact the writer of this article, click here: Theresa McCabe
>To follow the writer on Twitter, go to @TheresaMcCabe
>To submit a news tip, send an email to: [email protected] Suicide Prevention, It's Method, Not Madness
toggle caption Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
The rate of suicide in America is 11 victims per 100,000 people.
That's almost exactly the same as it was in 1965. In spite of the rise of anti-depressant drugs, crisis hotline centers, and better treatment of mental illness, we still haven't gotten much closer to understanding or preventing suicide.
The reason for that might be that prevention focuses more on the study of illness than it does on the actual ways people attempt to kill themselves, says Scott Anderson, the author of a New York Times Magazine article, "The Urge to End It All."
In effect, it's the method, not the madness.
Anderson says that suicide is an overwhelmingly impulsive act. He cites a study of survivors that said only 13 percent reported thinking about committing suicide for eight hours or longer; 70 percent said they thought about it for less than an hour; and a whopping 24 percent said the idea had occurred to them less than five minutes before their attempt.
If that's true, then suicide is highly opportunistic, and Anderson suggests that reducing the opportunities would reduce the incidence. He says that research and anecdotal evidence appear to bear this out. For example, he notes in his magazine piece that states in which gun ownership are highest have the highest rates of suicide by gun; in fact, the higher rates of gun ownership closely track the higher rates of gun suicides by state. Yet suicide rates by other means remain roughly similar.
Anderson points to another example where simply making a change in people's access to instruments of suicide dramatically lowered the suicide rate. In England, death by asphyxiation from breathing oven fumes had accounted for roughly half of all suicides up until the 1970s, when Britain began converting ovens from coal gas, which contains lots of carbon monoxide, to natural gas, which has almost none. During that time, suicides plummeted roughly 30 percent — and the numbers haven't changed since.
Anderson discovered that the personal stories of people who had attempted suicide appeared to support the statistical data, in sometimes very surprising ways. He cited one person who had picked out a place to jump off San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, but he never made it. His location meant that he would have had to cross six lanes of traffic, and he was afraid of getting hit by a car.Photo by Raf Troncho
Chests puffed, faces crimson, two roosters glared at each other from glass pens. The arena was packed with men in pressed shirts, gobbling fried chicken and throwing their hands overhead. "Four hundred! Five hundred!" they yelled in Spanish, placing bets on the roosters. Outside, shops were empty and business was slow, but here in San Juan's cockfighting club, workers were in high demand.
Puerto Rico's economy has tanked. The territory is $72 billion in debt, unemployment has reached 12.2 percent, and the poverty rate is 45 percent—triple the poverty rate in the United States. But as businesses shutter, the cockfighting industry stays strong, employing countless workers around the island.
Cockfighting, which is legal in Puerto Rico and considered the island's "national sport," generates about $100 million annually on the island from bets, entrance tickets, food, and other expenses, according to a National Parks Service report. There are about 200,000 fighting birds each year, and each requires breeding, feeding, medical care, and training. More than 1.2 million people worked in the industry in 2003, the latest year for which numbers are available. Industry insiders I spoke with estimated that the number of workers had remained consistent, but they noted that many cockfighting businesses had gone underground, avoiding government regulations and taxes.
Photo by Raf Troncho
In San Juan, at the Cockfighting Club of Puerto Rico, members assured me the sport was hotter than ever. One recent Saturday afternoon, the club held 40 back-to-back matches, filing the stadium.
"This is our culture—people won't give it up," Efrain Rodriguez, president of the Cockfighting Club of Puerto Rico, told me in Spanish in the club's downstairs bar one recent Saturday afternoon. "When I was born, my parents put a rooster in my hands."
Rodriguez, who owns "700 or 800 roosters," explained that the industry continues thriving, despite the poor economy, because wealthy men pay for membership to the cockfighting clubs and for the roosters to be raised and trained. The San Juan club has 46 members—mostly lawyers, doctors, and businessmen—who get front-row seats to the fights three times a week, entrance into a special VIP room, and other perks. Each member has hundreds of roosters.
Photo by Meredith Hoffman
The cockfighting workers I spoke to agreed they've lucked out by entering the field, since each one has a special role.
Caring for the roosters, both before and after the fight, is the most involved task. An entire room in the Cockfighting Club of Puerto Rico is dedicated to nursing the victors after battle.
On Vice Sports: Cockfighting in America
"I've worked some other jobs, but this is more stable," said Carlos Perez, who has worked on and off at the club for decades. As we spoke, he held a rooster beneath a faucet and sprayed it with hydrogen peroxide. "My friends are getting kicked out of work, but here there's always something to do—you can train the fighters, you can care for them."
Beside Perez, a new employee gave a battered bird the full treatment—peeling open its bloodshot eyes to squirt them with antibiotic drops, then petting its belly and prying open its beak to push in banana mush.
"I used to be a house painter, but I love these birds," the employee, Edwin Ramos, told me. He said this work also paid about 20 percent more than his previous job.
Even the waitresses told me they'd remained loyal to the club, since the customers—"men with money and tourists"—pay bigger tips here than at typical bars or restaurants.
"We always earn more here, and only have to work three days a week," Yesenia Hill, a 41-year-old waitress with dark bangs and tight jeans, told me. "I've been here since I was 18."
Rodriguez and other members of the San Juan club say their attendance has not faltered despite the island's economic crisis. But Puerto Rico's official Cockfighting Commission has voiced concerns that government-regulated clubs are actually seeing a downturn in business. The commission receives taxes and fees from 87 government-regulated clubs, but the president told the Associated Press in 2012 that more fights were going underground to evade extra costs. The commission did not return multiple calls requesting comment on the current situation.
Photo by Meredith Hoffman
Underground fights may concern the government, but for folks in the industry, all that matters is that the cockfights continue. Some residents grew worried after Congress passed a farm bill in 2014 that made cockfight attendance punishable with a $10,000 fine, but Puerto Rico has not enforced the legislation as the sport is legal on the island.
In the rural village Nagaubo, lined with vacant homes and abandoned farms, one plot of land bustles with 300 cocks and their steadfast caretakers.
Photo by Meredith Hoffman
"You have to train them like boxers," Wito Velazquez, the farm owner, told me while cutting a rooster's feathers in his lap. Velazquez, who started training roosters at age 13, said he was already teaching his six-year-old daughter the practice.
"People always have money for fights—it's a culture," he said.
Beside him, Wilfredo Burgo, a middle-aged man in an oversized black T-shirt, also snipped feathers. "It's like taking care of a baby," he told me, glancing up. "You take care of it from the egg. But you get used to it when they die."
Follow Meredith Hoffman on Twitter.Skye will be available in autumn for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One: check out the first gameplay trailer and new screenshots
Puny Astronaut released a new selection of screenshots for Skye, which presents us environments, levels and the mysterious “heroes” of this adventure similar to LittleBigPlanet (or Dreams).
This intriguing and “gentle” exploring game is set for release on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in Autumn 2017.
Puny Astronaut is currently developing Skye, a gentle exploration game set in a world that couldn’t be happier to see you. Wander around as the friendly flying dragon, Skye, dashing through dandelions, strumming crystal chimes, and diving for pearls in a sprawling coral reef. There’s no wrong way to play; help the ship captain find his golden treasure, or take your time flying around the countryside, the world is there for you to enjoy at your leisure. Puny Astronaut is based in Dundee, Scotland. We are an ambitious team of skilled developers, who strive to produce engaging and innovative content. We are committed to consistently achieving our high standard of quality across all our projects.
via | Puny Astronaut, official siteLow water allocation angers California farmers
Emilio Alcantar uses suction to pull water into a tube as part an irrigation process for tomatoes on a Los Banos farm in 2014. Emilio Alcantar uses suction to pull water into a tube as part an irrigation process for tomatoes on a Los Banos farm in 2014. Photo: Leah Millis, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Leah Millis, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 7 Caption Close Low water allocation angers California farmers 1 / 7 Back to Gallery
WASHINGTON — Farmers on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley holding junior water rights erupted in outrage Friday after learning they would get a bare 5 percent allocation of their contracted water this year, despite the return of rains to California and the overflow of some reservoirs.
“At some point, elected officials are going to have to make a decision about whether this region of the country, the Central Valley, and what we do here and what we grow here, is worth preserving and protecting,” said Johnny Amaral, spokesman for Westlands Water District, the nation’s largest.
The district sprawls across 1,000 square miles, and its farmers, who grow $1 billion worth of crops a year — mainly almonds, pistachios, melons, onions, garlic and processing tomatoes — have received no water at all for the past two years.
“I happen to think this area is worth fighting for,” Amaral said. “What’s happening is wrong, and we will keep fighting to change this.”
Western Growers, a farm group that represents many California produce growers, said the federal allocation was so low that it “provides dark confirmation that a policy of destruction of farmland is in place.”
Action in Congress
The rock-bottom allocation intensified calls in Congress by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and House Republicans from the San Joaquin Valley to push legislation that would steer more water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to the west side. Just last week, Feinstein and the Republicans sent simultaneous letters to President Obama demanding that more water be pumped to farmers, a position opposed by environmentalists and others who want to reduce pumping to help preserve what’s left of the delta smelt.
Feinstein called the allocations “further proof of the need for short- and long-term solutions to get through this drought,” and urged Senate action on her legislation, which among other things, would ease rules on pumping. The growers agree, arguing that endangered-species protections should be loosened because the west side of the San Joaquin Valley is critical to food production.
At the same time Friday that west-side farmers learned they would get less water than they’d hoped for, senior water rights holders, such as farmers whose land lies near rivers or whose water rights go back a century or more, were told they would get their full 100 percent allocations. Farmers on the arid west side of the valley who began receiving water after the federal Central Valley Project was built in the middle of the last century stand at the end of the line for water deliveries.
The Central Valley Project moves water from the wetter northern part of the state through the delta to users in the drier south. Many species of fish that rely on the delta, including salmon and smelt, are nearing extinction as a result of both the four-year drought and decades of damming and drying rivers for human use.
“The fact is (federal water authorities) are delivering too much water, operating at the very maximum limits set by the Fish and Wildlife Service to protect species about to go extinct,” said Jon Rosenfield, a fish biologist at the Bay Institute, an environmental group.
Concern about delta
He said this year’s rains have helped the fish, but that nearly 60 percent of all the runoff in the Central Valley is being captured or diverted for human use, or for cities and farms, before it reaches the estuary. He said only 12 percent of the flow of the San Joaquin River reaches the delta.
The federal Bureau of Reclamation, which operates the project, said the water allocations are “based on a cautious estimate” that “reflects current reservoir storages, precipitation and snowpack in the Central Valley and Sierra Nevada.”
Several other water users around the state also received less than their full allocations. Municipal and industrial users south of the delta received 55 percent of their historic use. Users relying on Friant Dam east of Fresno on the San Joaquin River will get 30 percent, and those relying on the New Melones Reservoir on the Stanislaus River will receive a zero allocation.
The so-called “Godzilla El Niño” that was predicted last fall never materialized with the force many scientists expected, but the rains and snowfall did bring the state close to its long-term average. After four years of record drought, the state’s reservoirs were at dire levels, and much of the water has gone to refill them.
Unequal distribution
The water did not arrive evenly around the state. Some reservoirs, such as Shasta and Folsom reached their capacity and spilled water, in part because archaic rules require reservoirs to drain water to maintain a buffer against potential floods from further rain, regardless of modern weather forecasts.
Others such as San Luis Reservoir, which Westlands uses, began last fall at just 27 percent of its average capacity and remains at just 53 percent, the bureau said.
The bureau said the Central Valley Project began last fall at a storage capacity of just 47 percent of its average. Officials said they kept releases to a minimum over the rainy season to allow reservoirs to fill.
“The combined effect of four years of drought, lack of available water at the beginning of the 2016 water year, and restrictions to protect listed species are impacting the amount of water that can be allocated to South-of-Delta agricultural water service contractors,” the bureau said in its announcement Friday.
Amaral said Westlands farmers “will do what we have done the last few years, which is pump groundwater, which is not sustainable,” and to buy water from those who got full allocations.
Carolyn Lochhead is The San Francisco Chronicle’s Washington correspondent. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @carolynlochheadYad L'Achim says Messianic Jews have arrived in Israel to distribute missionary material in the guise of campaign brochures.
Anti-assimilation NPO Yad L'Achim says it has received hundreds of complaints regarding missionaries taking advantage of the election campaign in Israel to try and convert Jews out of their religion.
Cult members from abroad – including those belonging to J's Witnesses and Messianic Jews – have arrived in Israel to distribute missionary material in the guise of campaign brochures, the group said.
Yad L'Achim says the foreigners have bolstered the already sizeable contingent of local missionaries canvassing in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Lod, Petach Tikvah, Haifa, Ramle, Yavneh, Be'er Sheva, Rishon Letzion and many other cities.
The "election" brochures they hand out appeal to confused voters, desperate for strong leadership for the country, to connect to "that man" (as devout Christians often refer to Jesus), whose name appears on a voting ballot.
One alert citizen who called Yad L'Achim over the phenomenon was none other than the deputy mayor of Haifa, Rabbi Aryeh Blitental, who was shocked by the brazen behavior of missionaries circulating in his city.
"Missionaries in Haifa are acting in a very conniving way," Rabbi Blitental wrote. "Their dubious activities include placing Hebrew flyers in residents' mail boxes. They take advantage of innocent Jews, who are not knowledgeable about Jewish practices, to preach to them about abandoning their religion. They act with cunning and deceit, and, to our great sorrow, have seen no little success.
"I would be very grateful if you could help us, may Hashem reward you for your deeds that are known in our city and across the country in putting the brakes on these ploys which badly offend the sensibilities of a city that is known for its tolerance."
In response to Rabbi Blitental's appeal, Yad L'Achim launched a PR counteroffensive. Teams of activists spread out in areas teeming with locals and distributed material that exposed the lies of the missionaries. They also handed out clippings taken from Searching, a new journal put out by Yad L'Achim, that provides convincing arguments to counter missionaries' false claims.
At the same time, Yad L'Achim this week announced plans to expand the activities of its Haifa branch in order to serve as a counterbalance to the mounting missionary presence in the city.BENGALURU: The Indian Air Force will launch the first squadron of Made-in-India Tejas fighter jets, christened "Flying Daggers", here on Friday. Two fighter jets and one trainer variant of 'Tejas' will be commissioned by deputy chief of air staff, Air Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria, almost a month-and-a-half after Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, flew the combat aircraft and remarked that it was a "good aircraft for induction into the IAF."
Group Captain Madhav Rangachari, who flew the fighter along with the IAF chief, will be the first Commanding Officer (CO) of the squadron which would be positioned in Bengaluru initially and moved to Sulur in Tamil Nadu after a couple of years, sources in the ministry of defence told Deccan Chronicle.
Sources said every squadron of 'Tejas' would consist of 20 jets, including four in reserve. While the first 20 aircraft would be inducted with requirements which match ones set for "Initial Operational Clearance" or IOC, another 20 would join the IAF fleet with advanced systems and Beyond Visual Range (BVR) missile.
The IAF plans to induct over 80 aircraft with enhanced specifications known as Tejas 1A. These aircraft would replace the fleet of ageing MiG 21 and would be deployed for air-to-air combat and ground attack and could also act as a complement to other fighter jets such as the Su 30 MKI.
The upgraded version of 'Tejas,' with Active Electrically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, unified electronic warfare suite, mid-air refuelling capacity and BVR missiles, would cost between Rs 275 crore and Rs 300 crore.
Meanwhile, sources in Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) said as per the production plan, six fighter aircraft would roll out this year, eight next year, and 16 aircraft after a couple of years. Sri Lanka and Egypt have evinced interest in importing 'Tejas' after the jet's debut at the international air show in Bahrain in January 2016.CLOSE Detroit Tigers manager Brad Ausmus talks about optioning Bryan Holaday, among other cuts, on Monday, March 30, 2015. Video by George Sipple / DFP
Detroit Tigers catcher Bryan Holaday does a drill March 3, 2015, in Lakeland, Fla. (Photo: Julian H. Gonzalez DFP)
LAKELAND, Fla. -- The Detroit Tigers made some tough cuts today, finalizing their position players a week before Opening Day.
Catcher Bryan Holaday and outfielder Tyler Collins were the most notable of the eight cuts. Both were optioned to Triple-A Toledo.
The Tigers also sent catcher Manny Pina, infielders Aaron Westlake, Jordan Lennerton and Jefry Marte and outfielders Jason Krizan and Xavier Avery to minor league camp.
The Tigers now have 29 players in major league camp. Infielder Josh Wilson is the only non-roster invitee left and isn't expected to make the 25-man team.
With Holaday optioned, James McCann will make the Opening Day roster as the No. 2 catcher. With Collins optioned, the Tigers will keep both Andrew Romine and Hernan Perez as utility men. Perez, though, isn't celebrating. He said he's not taking anything for granted until |
The exact nature of this fluid emission has been controversial for decades 5. Indeed, whereas this fluid represents, for some authors, a mere vaginal hyper‐lubrification 6 ; for others, it is produced by the Bartholin's glands 7 or by the Skene's glands 8, 9, also referred to as female prostate 10, 11. For some other authors, this fluid is rather a urinary emission 12, 13. More recently, insights were obtained into this issue, in particular, with the demonstration that the fluid is actually emitted through the urethra instead of the vagina or the Bartholin's glands 14. One plausible reason for this debate is the discrepant characterization, among authors, of the amount of fluid emitted by these women, which is, for some, limited to few milliliters, also referred to as the expulsion of scanty fluid like “watered‐down” or “fat‐free milk,” whereas for others, the amount of liquid is much larger, often exceeding 150 mL 15. Both these phenomena result from different physiological mechanisms. Therefore, we elected, in the present study, to not consider individuals reporting slight fluid emission but to focus only on those that related a regular and massive liquid discharge during arousal or orgasm, also known as “squirting.”
During sexual arousal or orgasm, some women report the involuntary emission of variable amounts of fluid 1 varying from 0.3 mL to more than 150 mL 2. Although the prevalence of this phenomenon is difficult to evaluate, authors estimate that 10–40% of women may experience regularly or sporadically an emission of fluid during orgasm 2 - 4.
Because normality of data distribution could not be ascertained, we preferred to use the median as the measure of central tendency and minimum–maximum values as the measure of variability. Possible differences among groups BSU, S, and ASU with regard to biochemical data were assessed using the Kruskall–Wallis test. A P value < 0.05 indicated a statistically significant difference.
In all samples (BSU, S, and ASU), concentrations of urea, creatinine, and uric acid were determined using a Cobas 6000 system (Roche Diagnostics, Meylan, France) to explore the potential renal origin of S. In addition, concentrations of the prostatic‐specific antigen (PSA) were also measured using a Immunoanalysor‐Kryptor system (B.R.A.H.M.S, Asnières sur Seine, France) to explore the potential prostatic origin of S.
All participants were first invited to fill out a questionnaire detailing their medical history and sexuality, in particular, focusing on their experience of regular fluid emission during arousal or orgasm. Then, they were asked to urinate to empty completely their bladder, and a sample of urine was collected for further analysis (urinary sample before sexual stimulation [BSU]). Immediately after, each participant underwent a baseline ultrasonographic examination (US1) using a Voluson I equipped with a vaginal probe 3.7–9.3 MHz (RIC 5–9 H, General Electric Medical System, General Electric Healthcare, Vélizy, France) to confirm normal pelvis morphology and complete bladder emptiness. Each participant was then left alone in the same examination room and started sexual stimulation by herself (with or without a sex toy) or with the help of her partner. In case of sexual intercourse, a condom was systematically used to prevent all genital contamination with ejaculate. As soon as the participant felt sufficiently aroused, a second ultrasonographic examination (US2) was performed to identify any noticeable modification in the pelvic anatomy and to assess the size of the bladder (measurement of the three orthogonal diameters). Left by herself again, each individual continued sexual stimulation until squirting occurred. The expelled fluid was collected into proper plastic bags. A sample of it was then aspirated for further analysis (squirting sample [S]). Immediately after this, a third ultrasonographic examination (US3) was performed as at US2. Finally, they were asked to urinate again, and another sample of urine was collected for further analysis (urinary sample after squirting [ASU]). All liquid samples (BSU, S, and ASU) were immediately frozen and stored at −20°C for centralized analysis. All ultasonographic examinations were performed by the same operator (SS).
Seven female volunteers were included in this prospective study. All of them were referred by other physicians who were aware of the purpose of our investigation. Inclusion criteria were: (i) report of regular liquid expulsion during arousal or orgasm that was comparable with, at least, that of a glass of water, which abundantly wetted bed sheets; (ii) age >18 years; and (iii) body mass index (BMI) ranging from 18 and 25 kg/m 2. Exclusion criteria were: (i) chronic systemic or neurological disease; (ii) history of stress urinary incontinence (urine leakage during physical effort) or urinary incontinence during vaginal penetration; (iii) uterine or adnexal pathologies, in particular, ovarian cysts or hydrosalpinx; (iv) urinary or vaginal infections; and (v) pregnancy. All participants signed an informed consent, and this investigation received the approval of our Institutional Review Board.
Detailed data of urea, creatinine, uric acid, and PSA concentrations in BSU, S, and ASU are plotted in Figure 2. Median urea concentrations were 137 (37–407), 307 (62–376), and 225 (111–427) mmol/L, median creatinine concentrations were 10 (0.9–16.6), 9.3 (1.9–17.9), and 6.5 (3.0–14.6) mmol/L, median uric acid concentrations were 2.1 (0.6–5.1), 2.6 (0.1–3.5), and 2.2 (0.1–2.9) mmol/L, and median PSA concentrations were 0 (0–0.33), 0.72 (0–3.74), and 0.26 (0–0.69) ng/mL, for the samples BSU, S and ASU, respectively. In BSU, PSA was undetectable for all participants except one. For most of women (n = 5), PSA became detectable in S and remained detectable in ASU. For two women, PSA was undetectable in all samples (participants P2 and P7). Differences of urea, creatinine, and uric acid concentrations among BSU, S, and ASU did not reach statistical signification. However, PSA concentrations at S were significantly higher than at BSU ( P < 0.05) but not at ASU ( P < 0.07).
After the first urination, as expected, US1 showed complete emptiness of bladder in all of the seven women, with no residual volume. No pelvic abnormality could be detected except for a characteristic aspect of polycystic ovaries in one patient during this examination. After sexual stimulation, US2 results remained comparable with US1 except that it evidenced a significant bladder filling. Bladder volume was then assessed by measuring the three inner orthogonal diameters, which are reported in Table 2. Finally, after squirting, US3 showed that bladder had been totally emptied, as it is illustrated in Figure 1.
Sexual stimulation by self digital masturbation (n = 2) or with her partner (n = 5) lasted from 25 to 60 minutes. The volume of squirting that could be recovered ranged from 15 to 110 mL (median: 60 mL). It is noteworthy to mention that participants confessed that they all have an orgasm that occurred just before or during fluid emission. They also reported that the squirting volume tended to be smaller at the experimental conditions than in private sexual practices.
Population characteristics are detailed in Table 1. Median age and BMI values of participants were 28 (19–52) years and 20.9 (18.4–24.4) kg/m 2. Four of them were nulliparous, and three of them had children. They began their sexual activity at the age of 15 (14–18) years and had since then a median of 20 (4–200) sexual partners. Within the past 6 months, all of them were sexually active and had a median of eight (4–20) sexual intercourses per month. They had their first experience of squirting during sexual stimulation within the past 5 years. They reported that this event was partner dependent, and in six of seven women, this fluid emission was only possible during or after digital stimulation of the anterior vaginal wall.
Discussion
The present investigation aimed at assessing the origin and the nature of the massive fluid emission that some women experience during sexual arousal or orgasm and that are also called squirting. This event has been hitherto confounded with other fluid emissions by paraurethral glands during sexual activity under the term of “female ejaculation” 4, 7. Indeed, paraurethral glands cannot account themselves for the whole massive fluid emission. In support of this, the study by Wimpissinger et al. on the cartography of paraurethral glands by magnetic resonance imaging showed that their volume is limited to 2–4 mL 16, and Zaviacic et al. estimated the average weight 2.6–5.2 g 17, whereas squirting volume often exceeds 150 mL. The purpose of our study was to associate biochemical analyses of the emitted fluid with careful research, using pelvic ultrasound scans, of any liquid collection that could be formed and released during sexual stimulation or orgasm. Our results lead us to conclude that squirting essentially is an involuntary emission of urine with a relative and unnecessary contribution of female prostatic secretions and support the hypothesis that squirting and the so‐called “female ejaculation” essentially are two distinct events 15, 18.
Indeed, the ultrasonographic observation of a remarkable bladder filling during sexual arousal followed by the complete bladder emptiness after squirting in all participants strongly supports the hypothesis that squirting is an involuntary urine emission. In addition, the present data evidenced that the origin of the expulsed fluid is renal because urea, creatinine, and uric acid were detected at concentrations that were very close to that observed in urine (BSU and ASU). Incidentally, in contrast to previous publications 13, 15, our data showed no urinary dilution in squirting.
The observation that most of the participants had detectable PSA concentrations in the squirting fluid (S) may be explained by the fact that their prostate had been mechanically stimulated during sexual activity. This suggests a marginal contribution of the female prostate secretions to the nature of the abundant fluid expulsion. Whether the type or intensity of local stimulation is related or not to PSA levels deserves to be clarified in additional studies. Moreover, the observation that one of the participants showed sizable PSA concentrations in BSU remains unclear. The present study is not contributive to elucidate whether it was the result of a spontaneous prostatic contamination of the urine by an unexplained PSA hypersecretion or any mechanical prostatic stimulation occurred before the experiment.
Coital urinary incontinence has been described under two distinct forms: first, the incontinence occurring during penetration and, second, the incontinence that occurs during orgasm 19, 20. Given that the participants in our study did not report fluid emission during penetration, the cases of squirting observed may be assimilated to a form of orgasmic urinary incontinence. Indeed, Khan et al. have shown that, in women suffering from detrusor overactivity, orgasm triggers bladder contractions and sometimes sphincter relaxation 21. Incidentally, detrusor overactivity has been observed in up to 69% of women reporting orgasmic urinary incontinence 20 Moreover, other investigators failed to demonstrate that women reporting female ejaculation/squirting had functional bladder abnormalities such as detrusor overactivity 22. Yet, cases of urinary emission during orgasm in women suffering from stress urinary incontinence have been also reported, but they probably implicate a different mechanism 18. Unfortunately, in the present study, participants did not undergo prior urodynamics examination. Yet, to compensate for this limitation, during the questionnaire detailing their medical history, they were asked for urinary abnormalities (either stress or coital incontinency) to confirm the absence of this exclusion criterion.
It is also noteworthy that squirting often results from the combination of direct mechanical stimulation of the anterior vaginal wall (around the so‐called G‐spot) and a facilitating emotional status, with extreme confidence and relaxation. This indicates that some sexual practices may foster the occurrence of massive urinary emission in absence of any pathological condition.
Finally, the impact of squirting on female sexual life could not be carefully evaluated in the present experiment. In a recent study, Wimpissinger et al. 2 reported that around four of five women with female ejaculation (or squirting) considered that this event represented an “enrichment” of their sexual life. Unfortunately, these authors have included all cases of very limited fluid expulsion (0.3 mL) and those of abundant liquid emission (15 to over 150 mL). As the volume of the emitted fluid presumably exerts an influence on the women's perception of this event, we cannot rule out the hypothesis that abundant squirting during sexual activity may represent a real problem to some of them. Therefore, based on our present results, the effectiveness of frequent urinations during sexual activity as a preventive measure in women to whom the occurrence of squirting alters the quality of their sexual life deserves to be demonstrated in further investigations.A MUM of seven who abandoned all her children before falling pregnant with an eighth is extremely irresponsible, a federal magistrate says.
The court heard the mother had set a trend of ending relationships and leaving children behind, the Herald Sun reported.
This included four children the woman ditched with their dad before taking up with another man.
The children were told their mother was going on a holiday - that was more than two years ago.
At the time of the court hearing, she had not seen them for seven months and, amazingly, one of her relatives claimed she was "a good mother".
"Nothing could have been further from the truth," the federal magistrate said.
The woman went to the Federal Magistrates' Court to support an application by relatives to spend time with two of her other children, who are both living with their father.
The federal magistrate said a month before the end of the case that none of the woman's seven children were in her care. By the end of the case, one child had moved in with her. Six of the kids remained in the care of their fathers when the federal magistrate handed down his judgment in the case in August.
The judgment was published this month.
The federal magistrate described the mum as "irresponsible in the extreme".
Asked what her four youngest children thought about not having seen her for seven months, the mother replied she did not know and that the lawyer representing the father of two of her other children could ask them.
"It was an incredible answer, indicative of any lack of appreciation whatsoever of the hurt that she had occasioned upon these four young children and, of course, in other ways upon the two children the subject of these proceedings," the federal magistrate said.
"The mother's behaviours in relation to this matter have been nothing short of appalling and while they may... be able to be explained as a result of issues with her mental health and drug use, it is the mother and no one else who can remedy that."
He said the relatives who made the court application "set out, determinedly, to disparage and ridicule the father and his partner" and lacked appreciation for what he had done for the children because the mother was unwilling or unable to do so. He ordered that the relatives see the children only with the prior agreement of the father.Last week, I got very angry at the nearly-universally-panned Tarsem Singh film Self/less for squandering a good science fiction premise in a morass of bland fight scenes. It’s a premise that should have raised countless, thought-provoking questions about relationships, aging, income inequality, and what makes a life worth living. As it is, the most fun I had with Self/less was using it as an excuse to watch two far better identity-swapping movies, 1966 thriller Seconds and 2015 indie film Advantageous — and a chance to map out what the perennial sci-fi trope actually means.
Stories about putting our own minds in another body tend to split into two distinct and nearly opposing themes. As soon as the first trailer for Self/less dropped, it immediately called to mind the 2011 comedy The Change-Up, which is also about Ryan Reynolds switching bodies with an older man. But The Change-Up is part of a very specific subset of comedy — call it the Freaky Friday genre (as, naturally, TV Tropes does). Whether they’re crass or poignant, these are ultimately stories about empathy, supernatural successors to Mark Twain’s The Prince and the Pauper. The actual phenomenon of the switch is explained with some variation of "a wizard did it," and the central hook is watching characters alternately learn about and screw up each others’ lives.
People in Self/less don’t swap minds so much as destroy them. Ben Kingsley’s character isn’t giving anything back, he’s just moving from a dying husk to a fresh one. It’s an ultimately boring version of a nearly infinite number of far weirder and more effective science fiction and horror stories. There are echoes of it in Richard K. Morgan’s Altered Carbon, in which minds can be downloaded to different bodies or backed up on servers — under certain circumstances, you can lose your own body to a rich buyer, who can effectively live forever by swapping "sleeves." Or in Harlan Ellison’s Mefisto in Onyx, a piece of hardboiled horror about a man who can "shrike" from body to body. Even H.P. Lovecraft toys with it, taking the idea of the old possessing the young to its logical and incredibly creepy conclusion in "The Thing on the Doorstep." Moving from a dying husk to a fresh one You could say there’s something Lovecraftian about the whole idea of the old coming back again and again to colonize the young, but the trope as a whole is a lot bigger than that. It’s also not, ultimately, what Self/less wants to be about. Self/less is a mid-life (or, technically, end-of-life) crisis film, about a man who’s found traditional success but wishes he could go back to the simple physical pleasures of youth. It's much more directly comparable to Seconds, which actually isn’t about swapping bodies at all — just changing them.
Aside from an extended nude grape-stomping scene – which is exactly as weird as it sounds — Seconds could easily pass as a film-length episode of The Twilight Zone. For the most part, it has the same tense, methodical pacing, and it covers a familiar Twilight Zone theme: the aging, misunderstood white-collar man who gets a second chance at life and should be very careful what he wishes for. In this case, he’s a man named Arthur Hamilton (played by then-blacklisted actor John Randolph) with a loveless marriage and a distant daughter. He’s invited to a mysterious agency known only as The Company, where he reluctantly agrees to extreme plastic surgery and a new, glamorous life as a painter with the face and physique of Rock Hudson. The aging, misunderstood white-collar man who gets a second chance at life The Company turns out to have even darker secrets than the body-snatching startup of Self/less, but it’s notable how passive and predictable both protagonists end up seeming in their second lives. In Self/less, it seems unintentional, but it’s the whole point of Seconds — when Hamilton has a chance to make his dreams come true, the main problem he encounters is that he doesn’t have any dreams at all. It’s like the surrealist nightmare version of Babbitt. Self/less and Seconds both play on a specifically and stereotypically male vision of recapturing youth, complete with wild parties and beautiful young women. That’s what makes Advantageous, which premiered on Netflix last month, so interesting. Despite being more explicitly sci-fi — and much more concerned with futuristic technology and world-building — than either of those films, it’s in some senses the most realistic take on a world where you can trade in your body for a newer model. And it’s written with the understanding that where men might enjoy being young again, women aren’t allowed to get old in the first place.
We're just one stumble or imperfection away from being left behind Gwen, the protagonist of Advantageous (played fantastically by the film's co-writer Jacqueline Kim) is a middle-aged biotech firm spokeswoman and a single mother. When the firm starts testing ways to transfer consciousness, Gwen becomes their first subject — not because she’s unhappy with herself, but because she can only keep her job by being younger and more generically beautiful. There’s nothing overtly sinister going on, but the whole thing is tinged with shades of The Stepford Wives and The Handmaid’s Tale. Unlike those stories, though, the pressure to stay young and beautiful isn't a product of retrograde male oppression — there are few men in the movie at all — but instead stems from the price of living in the upper-middle-class ecosystem, just one stumble or imperfection away from being left behind. Body-swapping stories aren't so much about living forever as they are about what we’d give up to become something better — and who gets to decide what "better" really means. In the end, it's just an incredibly literal metaphor for drastic change or dispossession, and that’s what makes it so flexible, even when it’s applied to less-than-perfect narratives. Writers and filmmakers will likely continue exploring it in the abstract until the metaphor becomes real technology — hopefully in its least obviously evil form.This is a personal story not related to jPOS, but it’s somewhat related to payment networks and security, so I hope you enjoy it.
Back in the 80s here in Uruguay, when I was in my early 20s, credit cards started to become popular and merchants started to use CATs (credit authorization terminals) that used some mysterious protocol to talk to some servers in order to get authorizations.
I didn’t have a card, but my partner in crime since age 7 — my friend @dflc — got one, I think it was a VISA.
We analyzed the card and of course, we were very interested to figure out what was written in that magnetic stripe, but we didn’t have a reader. We probably tried with some tape recorder heads in order to get some audio, I don’t remember, but I’m sure we had to try that.
One day, we called a store in the new mall in the city, Montevideo Shopping Center, for personal reasons (probably wanted to buy a present or something like that). Not 100% sure I was the one that placed the call, but I think I was. I’m very anxious, so I never asked our secretary to place the calls for me, if a number was busy I would dial 100 times in a minute until the call completes (and this was rotary dialing). If I recall correctly, the store was Pascualini, still popular these days. After busy, busy, busy, I got to hear some ‘click click click click’, followed by silence…
When you are into modems, and BBSs, there’s not doubt what you do in a situation like that, you whistle! A simple short whistle starting at around 900Hz and going up to 1200~1300Hz is easy to whistle and you get V.21 and Bell 103 modems to start their connection establishing dance.
So I whistled (or my friend), and heard the modem, we knew it wasn’t a FAX (no birps), we knew exactly what was that, that new tiny CAT thing, an Omron CAT 90 that we’ve started to see at some stores.
We knew exactly what was happening, that thing wasn’t detecting that the line was free before blindly start dialing. Our eyes opened, we simultaneously smiled, it took us probably a few milliseconds to know what was next: Man in the middle!
We also saw a business opportunity (we were hungry): we knew we could build a little hardware to sense the DC voltage of a free versus busy line and sell it to the local acquirers (free line tone were not standard those rotary-dialing days).
As a first step, we planned for a proof of concept. We wanted to monitor a transaction, record it on tape, and let the real acquirer process the transaction. We were into BBSs and ran our own BBS those days. My friend had his home land line, plus 8 BBS lines in his bedroom (along side with a MicroVAX with two SCSI 500MB mirrored noisy disks spinning day and night), so we could use one line to dial the merchant, and another one to dial the acquirer. We had to do some war dialing and small social engineering to get the acquirer’s listed phone numbers, lucky for us, numbers were in the phone book.
We played with phones since we were 8 or 10 years old, I remember I used to short-circuit the phone to break my mother’s long calls when I needed it. We did phone patches for the ham radio stations, my friend @dflc used to develop his own telephone answering machine using discrete IC components (4011s and 4001s here and there) and a pair of cassette recorders, so the required hardware was ready in a couple days.
We needed a way to know when to initiate a call to the store exactly when the transaction was going to be initiated. There were no cell phones those days, but of course, we had VHF handhelds, actually a pair of Icom IC-02ATs. I used handhelds since high school, I thought they were the coolest thing to have and I still don’t understand why ladies were not impressed by a guy with that kind of technology hanging in his belt, unbelievable…
The distance between my friends’ and the mall was small, just 600 meters
The plan was easy: My friend (who owned the card) would go to the mall, buy something, send some signals (without talking, just a few push to talk pushes – for those in the know, that would be an A1 encoding) at the right time when the lady at the store was about to process the transaction. I’d be in our NOC (his bedroom) calling the merchant, the acquirer, hitting ‘REC’ on the recorder, and patching both lines with our little hardware (also monitoring with headphones).
We did a test VHF connection and although those handheld transceivers could be used to cover 80+ kilometers with good conditions, the mall was a Faraday cage, I didn’t hear him. So we needed a plan B. My friend’s brother got a mobile VHF in his car, plenty of power (50W). So we called him (via radio) and luckily he was close to the area. We explained the mission, although no questions were asked, he would take us seriously. He parked the car close to the mall (so he could listen the short transmission from inside the mall) and QSP to me. (QSP, Q2 aka QSP version 2, rings a bell?). FTW, QSP is the Q-signal code for “relay message”.
So we did the transaction, everything worked on the first try, @dflc bought himself a leather wallet or a belt, can’t remember, knowing him, I’m sure he still have it as a trophy and a way to remember that fun hacking day. The transaction was properly approved by the Visa acquirer (who BTW, now runs jPOS), we were just men in the middle.
We’ve got the transaction and I remember we analyzed it in several ways, replayed it against different modems, etc.
On the business side, we had meetings with the local card acquirers where we explained their vulnerability and offered a solution. Of course, they didn’t like the fact that we, young suspicious “hackers/crackers” were telling them what to do so they did nothing.
We kept our grin for a good while, it was a nice, albeit pretty simple, hack.Indian tigers may have bounced back from the brink of extinction with a healthy rise in population, but they are certainly not out of the woods as international poaching syndicates have moblilised their networks in the country to hunt the endangered animal.
Reports in April indicated that the big cat headcount had gone up to nearly 2,500, sparking celebrations.
However, another set of data shows that poachers are responsible for about 37 per cent of tiger deaths in the country this year, with the number of killings revealing an upswing.
Tiger skins seized by the forest officials from Haridwar and Valmiki
Poaching fueled by a thriving trade of the animal body parts as well as loss of natural habitat and traditional prey had triggered a troubling slump in the tiger population from an estimated 40,000 at the turn of the last century.
India was able to pull back the numbers with the success of a government-run conservation plan.
As per statistics provided by the Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI), estimated tiger deaths from “poaching and seizure of body parts”, recorded from January 1 to August 3, 2016, stood at 31.
The figure for the entire year of 2015 was 26, and for 2014, it was 23.
“This is purely economics of the tiger trade,” a senior official of a wildlife law enforcement agency, who did not wish to be named, told Mail Today.
“India is merely a source country where a large number of poor, illiterate and nomadic tribes – such as Bawaria, Behlia and Pardhi – engage in the hunting of tigers. They are exploited by educated and highly tech-savvy gangs, sitting in destination countries in South-east Asia. They minutely follow all the news here. Obviously, new orders are being placed somewhere else.”
Madhya Pradesh leads the way with 20 “tiger mortalities” this year, of which six were poached, five were “found dead” and nine died of “infighting”.
Next comes Uttarakhand, where six tiger skins and 150 kg tiger bones were seized this year.
The third spot belongs to Karnataka where one tiger skull and bones and two claws were seized in 2016.
As per a 2014 census, India is home to 2,226 tigers, nearly 70 per cent of the global population.
Syndicates operating from China, Nepal & Myanmar are responsible for 31 big cat death in the country
They roam the country’s 48 tiger reserves, which include Ranthambore (Rajasthan), Sundarbans (West Bengal), Dudhwa (Uttar Pradesh), Kanha (MP), Tadoba Andhari (Maharashtra) and Bandipur (Karnataka).
The then Minister for Environment and Forests (MoEF), Prakash Javadekar, had announced the rise in numbers at the 3rd Asia ministerial conference on tiger conservation in April.
“That is good news for India… (a result) of what we are doing for the last 12 years,” Javadekar had said.
“We have zero tolerance towards poaching.” A dead tiger is worth a fortune in countries like China, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea.
Each body part – from eyes, whiskers, canines, claws, skin, bones and even penis – is used.
Their traditional use is in Chinese medicine, which claims to cure a range of diseases, from arthritis to impotency.
They are also served as a delicacy is restaurants and used for gifting and in various crafts.
“Some shocking incidents have come to the fore in the recent past,” said Tito Joseph, programme manager, WPSI.
“In March-April this year, five tiger skins and 125 kg of bones were recovered from near Jim Corbett National Park.
Two people were arrested. When the skins were sent to Wildlife Institute of India (WII), they analysed the patterns in their database and found them to match that of at least four missing tigers in the Corbett Park.
”Joseph also pointed out that two tiger skins and 35 kg of bones were seized in January from the Valmiki Tiger Reserve near the Bihar- Nepal border. Subsequent investigations brought to fore three incidents of tiger poaching,” he said.
“On further interrogation of the poachers, sizeable tiger meat was found buried in a pit nearby. The skin was traced to Kathmandu later.”
A side effect of growing tiger numbers is the fact that they are increasingly venturing out of protected sanctuaries, said Jose Louies of the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI).
“They roam around the park fringes. They go to villages, forests and corridors. They look for new habitats, mates etc. That makes it very easy for poachers to catch them unguarded,” he said.
“Technically, these hunters don’t need news reports to tell them that numbers have gone up. They know the jungles and the animal much better than us. They get to know about changes in their density and location much before us.” The outlaws are fast catching up with law enforcement.
BS Bonal, member-secretary, National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), told Mail Today: “We are aware of the issues. NTCA is already coordinating with Nepal, Bangladesh and other SAARC countries (as part of the South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network or SAWEN) to protect tigers. Our state forest departments are also working round the clock on the mission.”
‘Stop big cat breeding for commercial purposes’
By Mail Today Bureau
Following the seizure of cubs and tiger skins from a Tiger Temple in Thailand, more than 40 NGOs including those from India have asked the countries to end breeding of the big cats for commercial purposes and phase out tiger farms.
The organisations noted that wild tiger population has declined by over 95 per cent in the last 100 years while this year alone, there has been an upsurge in tiger poaching in India with more tigers killed in the first five months of 2016 than that in the whole of 2015.
“If wild tiger populations are to be recovered and secured, the international community must provide support to end tiger farming and other trades involving products acquired from wild and captive tigers,” a WWF India statement quoting the 45 organisations said.
The main market for tiger products are consumers in China and Vietnam, followed by smaller consumer markets in Myanmar and Laos
The organisations also extended their assistance to achieve the goals of zero demand for tiger parts and products and zero poaching of tigers.
They said that the global wild tiger population is estimated to be less than 4,000 and these last remaining wild tigers are each threatened by trade for nearly all of their body parts from skins and bones to teeth and claws traded by criminals for huge profit.
The main market for tiger products are consumers in China and Vietnam, followed by smaller consumer markets in Myanmar and Laos, they said.
The organisations commended the recent bold enforcement efforts of Thailand government which in June, this year seized 137 live tigers, thousands of tiger skin amulets, 70 preserved cubs and other tiger parts from the Tiger Temple.
“This represents a significant opportunity for Thailand to end all tiger farming within its borders and to play a leadership role in the phase-out of tiger farms in the region,” the statement said.Written with Ralph Blumenthal
Is this the case UFO skeptics have been dreading?
Sightings of mysterious flying craft with capabilities unknown on Earth have confounded mankind throughout recorded history. Most have been convincingly explained away as unfamiliar aircraft, natural phenomena or illusions. But then there are the others, witnessed in our time by pilots and air traffic controllers, military leaders, scientists, law enforcement officers and other trained observers, sometimes with physical evidence, including corroboration on film and video.
"We don't know what they are," says Nick Pope, a former head of the official UFO office in Britain's Ministry of Defense. "But they do exist."
As agreed by authorities around the world, these truly unexplainable unidentified flying objects appear solid, metallic and luminous, able to operate with speeds and maneuvers that defy the laws of physics. And, most chilling of all, they often behave as if under intelligent control.
One such case has just come to light in Chile, and was presented by government officials for the first time at a press conference on March 13.
It was a glorious, sunny morning on Nov. 5, 2010, when crowds gathered to celebrate the changing of the Air Force Command at El Bosque Air Base in Santiago. From different locations, spectators aimed video cameras and cell phones at groups of acrobatic and fighter jets performing an air show overhead. Nobody saw anything amiss.
But afterward, an engineer from the adjacent Pillán aircraft factory noticed something bizarre while viewing his footage in slow motion. He turned it over to the government's well known Committee for the Study of Anomalous Aerial Phenomena, or CEFAA, for analysis.
The stunning conclusion: The Chilean jets were being stalked by a UFO.
In the clips below, the UFO is difficult to see because it's moving so fast. The clip is repeated with the UFO highlighted as it makes passes around three separate groups of airplanes:
CEFAA was established in 1997, within the Department of Civil Aeronautics, the equivalent of our FAA. Its creation was sparked when aeronautic specialists and others reported multiple sightings of anomalous lights near Aeropuerto Chacalluta -- an airport in Northern Chile -- which were then reported in the press.
Gen. Ricardo Bermúdez, formerly chief commander of the air force's 3rd Air Brigade (southern area) and an air attaché in London, was one of CEFAA's founders, and he currently directs the agency with a full-time staff of three.
"Our mission is to study cases of unidentified aerial phenomena for which there is adequate data, to determine any possible risk to air operations," says Bermúdez. "Since this is a worldwide phenomenon, it should be subjected to rigorous scientific analysis so we can come to viable conclusions."
CEFAA officials collected seven videos of the El Bosque UFO taken from different vantage points. Bermúdez commissioned scientists from many disciplines, aeronautical experts, and air force and army photogrametric technicians to subject the videos to intense scrutiny. They all came to the same conclusions.
Each video included three different, mainly horizontal loops flown by the UFO within seconds of each other. The object made elliptical passes either near or around each of three sets of performing jets. It flew past the Halcones, F5s and F16s at speeds so fast it was not noticed by the pilots or anyone on the ground below.
The UFO passes |
allow the system to achieve cost-recovery. The strategy for this sector has been periodically reviewed, with the most recent revision happening last year. There are many crosscutting issues, not just administration. The tariff policy is impacted by the quality of administration in the sector, financial discipline, accountability and supervisory mechanisms. Tariff policy in Armenia, not only in irrigation but also for other public services, is highly sensitive to political developments.
Undoubtedly, it is not desirable and sustainable to achieve cost recovery by only relying on the tariff policy if there are structural issues in the sector, such as in the energy sector. Key reforms took place between 1998 and 2005, resulting in a situation where the sector was self-reproduced without creating any major tariff policy or governance issues. However, since 2010, due to certain changes in the governance area of the sector, the financial performance of the system deteriorated and resulted in major problems. Just by increasing the tariff and including all types of expenses in the tariff and forcing the consumer to solve all those problems is not the right approach. It should be examined how such financial flows have been generated, ultimately leading to accumulation of arrears in the sector and later assess how justified is their incorporation into the tariff calculations.
If a specific sector still requires time to achieve self-cost recovery, even in such case, only specific expenses can be targeted - for instance, only subsidizing capital spending for the sector from the budget. Poor administration is part of the problem, but it is not less important today. There are sectors, for instance, the water users’ associations in irrigation, the financial statements of which are not audited,raisingquestions as to their trustworthiness. As a result, despite 5-6 billion drams in annual budget subsidies provided, 5-6 billion drams of arrears have been accumulated in the sector, only a part of which could be explained by increased energy tariffs from previous years. Here also an approach must be taken to prevent further accumulation of arrears and clean the stock of inherited arrears within a specific timeframe.
It has been always emphasized that agriculture is even subsidized in developing countries. The government of Armenia provides several types of subsidies to the agricultural sector, such as irrigation, diesel fuel, seeds, participates in providing concessional loans to farmers, etc. Farmers’ losses from disasters or unfavorable weather conditions are also covered. Do you think it would be possible to stop subsidizing any of the sectors listed above, and in which case?
It is true that agriculture is subsidized even in developed countries. The question is what programs are subsidized by the government, how, what are the objectives set, and how does the subsidy contribute to improving the target indicators. We have discussed the report with the Ministry of Agriculture and we already see their first policy change responses. A decision was made on replacing the diesel fuel and seed subsidy with the leasing scheme for agricultural equipment, to purchase tractors and other machinery and grant to farmers for use.
There are a few issues associated with the subsidy. In the study we tried to examine whether they are pro-poor or targeted, and how appropriate was the chosen mechanism of providing the subsidy. It turned out that the fertilizer market is non-competitive, and the prices are high because of one or two importers. Therefore, a fertilizer produced in Georgia was imported into France at a lower price than it reached Armenia from Georgia. What issue is addressed by subsidizing fertilizers from the state budget? If this program is replaced with farm machinery leasing,criteria stillmust be introduced, includingwho the subsidy should be provided to and against what results. The issue is not just replacing one inefficient program with another. There should be assurancesthat state resources are spent efficiently.
Armenia’s external debt is growing steadily, and recently there are more warnings that it has hit the ceiling. However, a few days ago,the Minister of Finance announced taking new loans given the budget deficit. Definitely, in some sectors, the state will have to take additional loans, such as for maintaining the water and power sector infrastructure, asphalt pavement, etc. What is this driven by and what awaits Armeniaif the debt burden continues to increase?
Public debt is a concept thatis not judged by being above or below the line, but rather by the country’s capacity to service it. In any case, Armenia’s legislation introduced an adjusting rule - when the public debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio exceeds 50 percent, the government must not exceed 3 % of the average GDP for the last 3 years when planning the state budget deficit for the coming year. The 2017 budget was submitted to the parliament and approved in line with this rule.
According to the government’s projection, the public debt at the end of 2016 would have been higher than 50% of the GDP. Thus, the government has already planned a contractionary fiscal policy to more sustainably manage the fiscal deficit. With deficit at 4.6 % in 2015, it was planned to start fiscal consolidation in 2016 which would narrow the deficit to 3.5 % of GDP. However, due to the overall macroeconomic situation in 2016, this was not possible, due to low growth, deflation, reduced prices and volume of imports, the expansionary fiscal policy eventually continued to stimulate domestic demand resulting in a higher-than-anticipated deficit, and thus, more debt was taken.
I think this is not a matter of interpretation. The line established by Armenian legislation has been hit and exceeded, and the government has taken adjusting actions to be able to manage the budget deficit at a more sustainable level. A deficit of 2.7% of GDP planned for 2017 also requires financing, and would thus lead to a further increase in the debt burden. At the end of 2017, the debt-to-GDP ratio is expected to grow from 55 % to 57%. However, the number per se does not mean anything. The debt burden, in fact, depends on what is the country’s capacity to service the debt. For instance, Japan’s debt is 200 % of GDP, but it has not occurred to anyone that Japan is facing a potential default or debt problem. Japan has a big economy and large exports, andtherefore debt service is not a problem for it.Armenia’s case is different.
Between 2014 and 2016, external debt service which includes interest payments and amortization (loan principal repayment) together, grew cumulatively by 3.7 times, while the country’s exports grew only by 2.3 times. Exports are the country’s ability to earn foreign exchange. If sufficient foreign currency is not generated relative to the increase in external debt,the latteris then serviced at the expense of accumulated reserves, which leads to depreciation in the country’s currency. Between 2014 and 2016, Armenia’s economy expanded only by 7.3%, while public debt increased by 30 % over the same period. If the country’s public debt grows at a higher pace compared to its economic growth, it is a warning of anunsustainable debt taking policy.
Armenia’s legislation establishes two thresholdsfor public debt, after 50 % of GDP, the norm which I mentioned, is triggered, while after 60 % of GDP it is prohibited to incur new debt. Under current circumstances the 60 percent of GDP threshold has not been exceeded, however, it would be preferable to plan the fiscal policy in such a manner as to not only the ceiling would not be exceeded but also reserves could be generated for a “rainy day”.
Sectoral assessments suggest that all sectors in Armenia are underfunded from the budget. The road network, despite current funding amounts, receives significantly less resources compared to its funding demand. The same is true of the social sectors: education, health, social protection, etc. Public finance is at critical level, and they cannot be further decreased without deteriorating the infrastructure of those systems. In Europe and Central Asia, Armenia is only ahead of Tajikistan in terms of the level of sectoral allocations made from the budget.
As mentioned in the report, private spending in Armenia has a very important role for the education and health sectors. Although fiscal space in the state budget is limited from macro perspective, reduced public spending could be fraught with undesirable consequences; in such a situation, innovative, non-public debt creating funding arrangements should be introduced. One of the possible options is the private-public partnership by clarifying the scope of roles and responsibilities of both private investors and respective government agencies. However, partnership does not occur by merely announcing about it. It works when the country creates an adequate legislative framework and develops professional regulatory institutions to build trust among investors.Posted 24 February 2014 - 09:20 PM
Yellow Jacket, on 24 February 2014 - 07:53 PM, said:
Pingman95, on 24 February 2014 - 07:35 PM, said: How long till he's back to the trusty 680's? Love the whole bag.
If Webb Simpson is any indication, 1 season.
I don't think Webb made it one season. I think he made it one photo shoot from Greg.Those irons sure look shiny. Almost too shiny. I think they are planted for his US events. Over in europe, no bag shoots prior to the first day so he can put anything he wants in it. In the US of A, he needs to market to the masses and the masses may want 680's, but cant get or play them.The real story will be what he steps to the first tee with on Thursday.Members of Elphinstone Logging Focus (ELF) have formed a blockade to stop road building on Mount Elphinstone that would allow for harvesting of what the group calls a black bear sanctuary in timber sale area A87126.
ELF founding member Ross Muirhead said he was alerted to the road building on Aug. 9 while he was taking part in a forest walk with members of the public.
article continues below
“We knew they were going to go in sometime this month, but we didn’t know when,” Muirhead said, adding the group “stumbled across” a contractor working to reactivate the Dakota Creek forest service road that Sunday.
A blockade was set up immediately and the contractor left for the day, Muirhead said.
ELF now has a rotation of protesters taking turns blocking the roadway and there is a small contingent of protesters camped out at the site.
“We have a committed crew that’s dedicated to being there 24-7,” Muirhead said.
ELF hired two professionals to check the area for bear dens and culturally modified trees, and Muirhead said both have been found in abundance in the cutblock.
McCrory Wildlife Services was hired to do a black bear den study in the area and Muirhead said the study found several black bear den sites.
“At the end of the day he turned to me and said, ‘Ross, where you’ve taken me I’ve seen more black bear den sites in one day than in my whole 40-year career,’” Muirhead said.
Another expert who studied the presence of culturally modified trees in the area also confirmed the existence of at least six trees that had been bark-stripped in the past, which Muirhead said made the area more valuable for protection by the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations.
But the ministry’s experts disagree with ELF’s findings, saying the block doesn’t contain bear den habitat and that there was a “low potential for culturally modified trees and other archaeological sites” in the area.
“The ministry’s large carnivore specialist visited the area [at the request of BC Timber Sales] and did not find any special habitat for bears, and noted that there is abundant and better habitat for bears and bear dens elsewhere in the watershed,” said Greig Bethel, media relations person with the ministry.
ELF is challenging the ministry’s findings and has secured a lawyer to press for additional studies of the area before any more road building or logging takes place.
The lawyer will also defend members of ELF in the event that BC Timber Sales seeks an injunction to remove protesters from the mountain, Muirhead said.
Bethel noted that BC Timber Sales is currently “considering its options” to seek an injunction to stop the blockade by ELF, but that nothing has been decided yet.
Once road construction is complete, BC Timber Sales plans to put the timber sale licence for A87126 up for bid.About, a week back at the Google I/O we saw an amazing prototype which was running on Android OS and was powered by a NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 processor. Now, Compal has introduced one of the very first tablets which would be powered by the Tegra 2 chips.
This tablet features a 7-inch touchscreen, HDMI slot, SD card slot and will be running on Android OS 2.1. The tablet also has capacitive touch buttons on the side. Rumors suggest that the tablet will be powered by an ARM Cortex-A9 and will also have OpenGL 2.0 with complete Flash integration.
It also has a 12-megapixel camera and the HDMI will be able to handle an output of 1080p video. Currently, there is not a lot of information available, also we are not sure about the release date. As usual we will keep you updated if something new is out on the web.
Source: AndroidSPINLoan sharks circle home buyers
Relevant offers
Controversial plans to put the brakes on mortgage lending threaten to push home buyers into the arms of loan sharks to top up deposits.
Experts say it could open up a market for cut-throat finance companies making a killing off desperate home buyers.
The Reserve Bank is planning to limit the amount of loans that banks can give to borrowers with deposits of less than 20 per cent, in an attempt to take some steam out of the overheating property market.
Banks have been told to prepare for the restrictions in loan-to-value (LVR) lending, and Beehive sources indicated an announcement was likely next month.
The Reserve Bank is yet to do its final round of consultation with ministers on the move, and has said it will give two weeks' notice of the new regime starting.
It is understood government attempts to protect first-time buyers from the changes have been unsuccessful, and it is likely they will be most affected, raising fears they will turn to second-tier lenders to make up the difference.
The change means that should someone be looking to buy a house for $500,000, a 20 per cent deposit would be $100,000 - a huge jump from a 5 per cent deposit of $25,000.
Financial Services Federation (FSF) executive director Lyn McMorran warned of a return to the days when cowboy finance companies and solicitor's loans were commonplace.
"In the bad old days, you'd pay horrendous interest rates on second mortgages," she said. "That'll happen again."
While at least one of the FSF's members offers mortgage top-ups, McMorran said few had made it through the collapse of the finance company industry.
"What's likely to happen if people start sniffing that there's a market for it, is that the dodgy players will come back into the market again," she said.
McMorran said the few remaining operators and banks were experienced and reputable, and the Reserve Bank's "fiddling" could prove counterproductive.
"Just leave it alone - it's not broken, so don't fix it," she said.
Non-bank lending specialist Kim Lyons, owner of NonBK Limited, expected a flood of new business if the rules were introduced as expected.
"We might get a first mortgage through a mainstream lender such as a bank, but we'll be using other means to get the additional funds," he said.
Lyons deals with several small finance companies as well as private lenders - whom he would not name - with a couple of million dollars on their loan books.
He had given home loan top-ups ranging from $5000 through to $350,000, with interest rates typically running around the 14-16 per cent mark.
That's roughly two to three times more expensive than typical bank mortgage rates, which are still at or below 5 per cent for some fixed terms and around 5.75 per cent on floating rates.
Lyons, a registered financial adviser, said he encouraged first-home buyers to repay high-interest debt first, with the primary mortgage usually set up as interest-only.
He also said he was always upfront about the higher costs of non-bank finance.
"There's a lot of people who don't tell it all - we're definitely not in that space."
The Reserve Bank is all too aware that people will find creative ways to get enough equity to avoid its strictures.
Publicly released discussion documents reveal that it is hoping the higher cost of non-bank loans will turn people away from "opportunistic lending".
In any case, the bank said, borrowing from unofficial sources "would present less risk to the resilience of the financial system, given that these lenders sit outside the ‘core' system".
In a recent speech, Reserve Bank deputy governor Grant Spencer said the most obvious alternative was for people to hit up mum and dad or other relatives to top up the deposit.
"That is a family's prerogative, and there is nothing the Reserve Bank could or should do about it," he said.
Bankers' Association chief executive Kirk Hope said it was likely that people would turn to other sources, based on other countries' experiences.
"In Canada and Sweden that's exactly what happened," he said.
Loan-to-value restrictions applied in Sweden in 2010 have made it commonplace for Swedes to borrow a portion of house purchase costs through an unsecured top-up.
In South Korea, the practice became so prevalent that authorities had to extend the regulation to cover non-bank lenders as well.
That is something our central bank has said it would consider in "due course" if avoidance became a big enough problem.
PURCHASERS IN DICE WITH PERCENTAGE CLOCK
The new 20 per cent rule has created a race against the clock for Alastair Aitchison and partner Nicole Bladen.
The couple, both in their early 20s, have saved $20,000 - 5 per cent of the $400,000 they have been pre-approved by the bank to borrow.
The problem is finding a house in Auckland for $400,000.
Aitchison said he had been to over 20 open homes in three months.
The only houses in the late $380,000 range they had found had "issues" such as water-tightness or unconsented alterations that made the bank unwilling to lend them money on.
If they could not find a house before the limit went up, their $20,000 deposit would have to become $80,000.
Aitchison said this meant saving for about eight years.
He rejected the idea of borrowing from a finance company for the increased deposit as it did not make economic sense.
Renee and Matt Wilkinson, both 22, bought their first house - a 1920s bungalow in Otahuhu - in February for $338,000 with an 8 per cent deposit.
Renee said under the 20 per cent rule they would have had to borrow money from their parents and would have probably bought their first house in their 30s rather than their 20s.
She said she would not borrow from a finance company for a deposit but the thought had crossed her mind when they were looking.
She could imagine her peers might do so.
- Sunday Star TimesA common theme of the alt-sphere since I first encountered it has been the idea of “r vs. K” survival strategies. This means that some people and peoples are born to pursue low vs. high investment reproductive strategies. Rabbits(r) have low parental investment and low/no mate-bonding, no ability for delayed gratification but have lots of offspring to overcome high attrition rates. Wolves(K) are pretty much the opposite and represent everything good and positive.
It’s a pretty transparent metaphor used to compare conservative whites vs. liberals/minorities. There’s some truth to these observations, but in practice it’s mostly about allowing the beautiful losers feel good about themselves.
Proponents often try to back this concept with science when in reality they’re trying to construct a cosmology. The K are the elect who work hard on earth to be pure and virtuous while the hordes of r selected are the slothful and sinful destined for eternal damnation. It’s pretty much a rehash of Calvinism. r/K theology is the core doctrine of Darwinian Calvinism.
Nature, however, only cares what works. It makes no moral judgments. Every successful living thing practices a strategy appropriate to its niche. That’s all there is. When someone laments that their faction is dwindling because of those nasty r selected people or rationalizes how everything would be great “if not for those meddling kids” like some Scooby Doo villain of the week, they’re just making excuses. There’s only one fact that matters: They’re losing. They can soothe their bruised feelings by saying they are superior K selected elect all they like but they’ll keep losing until they change what they’re doing.
The world changes and the species that stay in business are those that change their strategies. Humans, rats, and cockroaches are examples of species well adapted to thrive in changing conditions. To adopt the idea of being a lone noble virtuous creature in the snow and the mists holding out against the passage of the age until the inevitable end is just resigning oneself to extinction.
How the “K selected” see themselves:
How they are:
The movie, The Last Samurai is the perfect example of this kind of beautiful loser cuck porn. We know the stubbornly medieval samurai are going to lose but they’re noble losers, dammit. I know it was supposed to be sad in the end when they ride straight into gatling guns and get mowed down but I was chuckling at the bathos of seeing the “dance” they do in slow motion to sad epic orchestral music as they get riddled with bullets. I thought maybe they should’ve made the soundtrack that “Do the dance, make a little love, get down tonight” disco song instead. Also: “Gomen nasai (beat) for your husband.” is one of the most cringeworthy lines in movie history.
Anyway, the main idea is if you’re more focused on defeat instead of trying to figure out how to win, you’re doing it wrong.
See Also: Civilization Is Natural
Related Video:I think that Adm. Mike Mullen’s powerful statement today on ending discrimination in the armed services is driving the fundies a bit crazy. Chris Matthews hosted a debate between Aubrey Sarvis of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network and Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council about the military’s don’t ask don’t tell policy, and eventually we got around to Sprigg’s real agenda. Do watch the whole thing to see Sprigg’s bankrupt arguments and Aubrey Sarvis’ rebuttals (“No one should have to lie to fight and die for their country”), but skip to around 4:49 for the punch line:
MATTHEWS: What should a young woman or man, 22 years old, out of college, officer material, they want to serve their country. But they’re gay. What should they do? They want to serve their country?
SPRIGG: Well, they should serve it in some civilian capacity, and not join the military.
MATTHEWS: Why not?
SPRIGG: Because the presence of homosexuals in the military is incompatible with good order, morale, discipline and unit cohesion. That’s exactly what Congress found in 1993 and that’s what the law states!
[snip]
SPRIGG: Don’t ask don’t tell is the Clinton compromise policy which is actually incompatible with the law that was passed by Congress. There’s almost universal misunderstanding about that. I’d like to see us do away with this don’t ask don’t tell, and simply enforce the law that was passed by Congress.
[snip]
MATTHEWS: Let me ask you Peter, do you think people choose to be gay?
SPRIGG: Uh, people do not choose to have same-sex attractions, but they do choose to have homosexual conduct […]
MATTHEWS: Do you think we should outlaw gay behavior?
SPRIGG: Well, I think certainly-
MATTHEWS: I’m just asking you, should we outlaw gay behavior?
SPRIGG: I think that the Supreme Court decision in Lawrence v. Texas, which overturned the sodomy laws in this country, was wrongly decided. I think there would be a place for criminal sanctions against homosexual behavior.
MATTHEWS: So we should outlaw gay behavior.
SPRIGG: Yes.The US Senate passed a controversial “fast-track” trade bill in a 62-37 vote on Friday. It is a key part of President Barack Obama's pivot to Asia, which aims to counter China's rising economic and diplomatic power via the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
The bill will now head to the House of Representatives for a vote early next month, where it is expected to face a tougher showdown.
If passed by the House, the fast-track bill will give Obama the power to negotiate trade pacts with other countries and submit them to Congress without lawmakers being able to introduce amendments to them.
But some House Democrats have expressed worry about the bill's impact on jobs and the environment, while some conservatives oppose giving the White House more power.
Senate votes 62-37 to pass trade fast track bill. A hard-fought win for Pres Obama. But prospects in the House even more difficult. — Mark Knoller (@markknoller) May 23, 2015
The Senate ended debate on the bill on Thursday in a 62-38 vote, pushing it to the forefront of Friday's agenda. Obama called that vote "a big step forward.”
In a close 51-48 vote Friday, senators rejected an amendment that would’ve mandated any future trade bills to feature penalties against countries that manipulate the value of their currency in order to sell products overseas at lower prices.
The chamber also rejected an amendment by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) that would have prevented approval of the TPP if it included an Investor-State Dispute Settlement system, which gives multinational corporations the ability to fight regulations in other countries. Liberals have railed against the ISDS, arguing that it would allow companies to undermine US laws.
Meanwhile, another amendment that would’ve required Congress to approve of any additional country that wants to join the TPP in the future.
READ MORE: Show us the deal: Senators Warren, Manchin demand Obama disclose TPP
The main aim of fast-track, which would initially have a three-year term, is to implement the Trans-Pacific Partnership – a trade deal that would link 40 percent of the world's economy.
Along with the United States, 11 other countries have taken part in TPP negotiations: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam. The deal would exclude China and serve to counter its growing economic and diplomatic influence in the Asia-Pacific region.
The proposed partnership has been a source of intense debate in Washington and throughout the United States – and Obama's Democrats are divided on the matter.
Those in favor of the partnership include big businesses, Congressional Republicans, and President Obama himself.
“TPP is good for American businesses and American workers...we will make the case on the merits as to why it will open up markets for American goods, American exports, and create American jobs,” Obama said in a statement on April 28.
But those against TPP – including labor unions and the Tea Party – say the deal would put American manufacturing jobs at risk.Mercedes Motorsport boss Toto Wolff says that there are currently no guarantees that the German manufacturer will remain in Grand Prix racing beyond the 2020 season.
Mercedes returned as a full works outfit in 2010 following its takeover of Brawn GP. Since its return to the pinnacle of motorsport, Mercedes has collected 53 wins and three constructor championships, all won under the 1.6 litre V6 hybrid formula which was introduced in 2014.
"Mercedes decided in 2009 to compete not only as an engine supplier but also with its own team in Formula 1," Wolff told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
"We have committed ourselves until 2020, but what happens then is unclear. In my opinion, we will stay in Formula 1 if the sport develops in a positive way."
Mercedes, and all F1 teams, will indeed reassess how the sport evolves, both techically and commercially, under the management and guidance of Liberty Media, F1's new owner.
As for Toto Wolff personally, the 44-year-old says that he won't remain in the very demanding world of Formula 1 forever, insisting that he'll leave the day his job no longer provides the satisfaction he seeks.
"I came to Formula 1 as an investor with Williams. In 2012 I got this role at Mercedes. It's now 2016. I will not stay in F1 forever, let's say a few more years. As long as I am having fun at work.
"The situation is that I love what I do and I want to work with the same people with whom we have achieved such fabulous results. At the moment, I am negotiating for another two years.
"My work today is extremely intense and involves a great emotional commitment. When I'm no longer enjoying it, it'll be time to do something else."
Chris Medland's 2016 Brazilian Grand Prix
FEATURE: What Rosberg need to do to win the title in Brazil
INTERVIEW: Fernando Alonso: Why F1 is no longer just for heroes
TECHNICAL: Under the skin of the Ferrari SF16-H
F1i Classic: Brazil 1991 - Senna's pain and glory
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and TwitterSHANGHAI (Reuters) - Senior Chinese and Vietnamese officials have agreed to settle their maritime disputes without resorting to “megaphone diplomacy”, the official Xinhua news service said on Saturday.
Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung speaks during the opening ceremony of the 5th Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Summit at a hotel in Bangkok December 20, 2014. REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom
The agency’s report follows a meeting in Hanoi on Friday between Chinese political advisor Yu Zhengsheng and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, and it comes as Beijing backs off from aggressive attempts to press its territorial claims in the South China Sea.
“Megaphone diplomacy can only trigger volatility in public opinion, which should be avoided by both sides,” the report quoted Yu as saying.
“The maritime issue is highly complicated and sensitive, which requires negotiations to manage and control differences,” he said.
Although major trading partners and sharing the same nominal commitment to communism, China and Vietnam have a long history of distrust and conflict, including a short war in 1978 when Chinese troops invaded Vietnam in response to Hanoi’s invasion of Cambodia, run at the time by the China-backed genocidal Khmer Rouge regime.
Both governments, which lay claim to revolutionary credentials of resistance to foreign invaders, must also placate their respective nationalists demanding more aggressive defense of territory.
The conflict has been aggravated in recent years as China has grown more assertive about its claims in South China Sea, which set China’s sea border hundreds of kilometers south of its land mass to hug most Vietnam’s coast.
China pressed those claims dramatically early in 2014 by placing an oil drilling rig in waters claimed by Vietnam, then confronted Vietnamese vessels attempting to approach the platform with water cannon and ramming tactics.
Vietnamese citizens reacted by trashing Chinese factories (and factories they mistook for Chinese) inside Vietnam, and the government moved to warm military ties with the U.S. and also bought two Kilo-class attack submarines from Russia as a deterrent.
Beijing has since removed the oil rig and has signaled it wants better relations with Vietnam. China has recently launched initiatives for a regional investment bank and an infrastructure fund that would position it as a benevolent driver of regional economic development.Monday marked the 10th anniversary of Cold War Kids’ debut album Robbers & Cowards. To celebrate, the Long Beach indie rock veterans are sharing a previously unreleased version of album highlight “Saint John” featuring Yasiin Bey, the rapper then known as Mos Def. Frontman Nathan Willett offers some background on the collaboration:
I haven’t really stopped to think about what “Saint John” is about in 10 years, even though we play it every night. Here’s the gist of it – a bunch of wasted frat guys assault a woman and the brother of the woman throws a brick at one frat guy and maybe kills him.
So, our hero, Saint John is on death row waiting for a pardon. Not the most uplifting story and yet over the years this song has become the inevitable show closer – an ever evolving bottled aggression loose spastic minimal blues jam that could just keep going forever. You can’t try to set out and write a song like this, it just happens.
I was thrilled, 10 years ago, when I heard MOS DEF’s version but it never came out. Excited to finally have it be heard! Can we get Yasiin to come out of retirement and perform it with us? Hopefully won’t take another 10 years.So you wish to become more powerful! You just landed on the perfect place my friend. There is no straighter way than what I’m going to outline here right now to increase your power. But first, a little bit about what power is: power is not a physical thing; it’s a feeling, an attitude, a way of doing things!
You don’t need money or powerful friends. What you need is already there!
Yeah, that’s right! In fact, you already have power inside you. You just need to learn how to use it, and especially how to stop giving it away.
The already powerful people on this world want you to believe that you need a lot of money and connections in order to have power, but it’s nothing more than another con to keep you in the rat race and exploit your power to reach their own objectives.
But … but I read in a magazine that I needed a MBA and … – Forget what they said in the freaking magazine.
You don’t need money to get power; you need power to get money.
You don’t need connections to get power; you need power to get connections.
Crafty as usual, they just reversed the formula so that it may look legit, yet you’re running around trying to bite your own tail without any success.
The most important component of power is this feeling, this drive inside you that makes you take what you want! When you deal with someone else, you always have the choice to either take the power or give the power.
Your power on others is relative to your social value.
When two people or more interact with one another, automatically a social hierarchy is established. Based on body language and many other subtle social clues your mind will establish some sort of social rank for each and every individual in the group. Once each of these persons have determined his/her own rank and position in the hierarchy, he/she would start to communicate it and act in congruence with it, which would then allow others to “synchronize.” After a minute the hierarchy is pretty much established.
I bring that concept because you are most likely to automatically surrender your power to people with a higher rank, and they are most likely to take the power from you as a result. When the social hierarchy has been established, the power will start “flowing” automatically from bottom to top. AUTOMATICALLY, without having anything to do!
Well, you can do something …
You can use the social value hierarchy at your advantage
This social value mechanism is very conceptual! What I mean is that it cannot be touched; it’s only in your head. What would happen if you could enforce yourself the belief that your own social value is 10 out of 10?
Well you are going to sub-communicate it to the group, and they will rank you higher as a result! This, in turn, is going to make them more prone to surrender their power to you.
The only problem with this is that you need to be congruent. If you’re faking it without believing it yourself, it won’t work! Because you always sub-communicate your true beliefs, no matter what.
But with practice and new experience, you can change those beliefs.
You will start to take it for what it really is …just a simple mind game!
Only 3 Step to increase your inner power:
Steps 1 – Stop giving your power away.
You don’t have to surrender to others; there are alternative solutions. Don’t let social rules block you. Stop being a fucking pussy and realize that most of the things you dream about are just simply at your arm’s reach! You just need to do what is required to get them, and if you don’t know how, then learn it. Stop being impressed by the appearance of others, it’s just a mind game! They just try to establish higher value, but you don’t need to acknowledge it.
Step 2 – Use fully your power and grow it stronger.
Just like in case of any new habit, you need to enforce it and focus on developing your skills. It is not complicated; you just need to focus on doing it! Go get what you want in life. Put more pressure to get shit done and keep the attitude, be more aggressive in life! Do everything you can to increase your social value. Dress clean and nice, just a little better than the others in your social environment. Get in shape, put some muscles on. Have good posture, stand tall and proud. Be proud of who you are, and have a powerful opinion of yourself. Play the game! Practice it on a daily basis!
Step 3- Take other people’s power.
Be more selfish, when others are surrendering you their own power, just take it and use it! Moreover, start convincing others to give you their power. Convince them to “help” you! To increase your power exponentially, you need to leverage others’ power. It’s a skill like any other, just practice it!
You can start doing all that right now! Power is a skill, an attitude that you can develop! Anyone who really wants may become powerful. Money is part of the results of having power, but it is absolutely not a prerequisite.
Again, it’s up to you!
It’s up to you to kick your own ass, to stop procrastinate, to stand up and take what you want in life!
Chuck
Get FREE stuff from Amazon!
Recommended Strength Training Program“I want everyone to know that we are fighting for the same reason. That’s what he believed in,” Giustina added.
“We are very proud of our son and feel honoured,” his mother, Tina Martino, told the crowd that swelled to about 100 people through tears. She was joined at the ceremony by her younger daughter Giustina.
He is the second Canadian volunteer to die overseas, and part of a stream of young men and women who have been drawn to the fight against the Islamic State, sometimes without any military experience to lean on. His death only came to light last week in a press release from the YPG hailing |
s on the stock exchanges.
Now the administrative department concerned and DIPAM will draw up a list of eligible PSEs for listing within a month from the finalization of audited accounts of the last financial year.
In cases of listing through a sale of government of India’s stake, CCEA approval for listing of identified PSEs will be obtained by DIPAM.
An inter-ministerial group will be constituted for the appointment of advisers to guide the process of disinvestment.
The process for the appointment of advisers for the transaction, including merchant bankers and legal advisers, will be completed within a period of eight weeks from the date of the constitution of the inter-ministerial group.
The total process—till the stock is listed on the stock market—will be completed within 165 days of the administrative department agreeing to an initial public offering, or IPO.Michael Phelps added to the record books with Olympic gold medal No. 22.
Simone Manuel made history with her very first one.
Shortly after Phelps pulled away from Ryan Lochte in the 200-meter individual medley, Manuel won the 100 meter freestyle race, becoming the first African-American woman to win an Olympic swimming gold.
"This medal is not just for me, it’s for a whole bunch of people who came before me and have been an inspiration for me," Manuel said through joyful tears. "It’s for all the people after me who believe they can’t do it and I just want to be the inspiriation. … You can do it."
She tied with Canadian teenager Penny Oleksiak in an Olympic record of 52.70 seconds. That was the first American gold in the women's 100 free since 1984, when teammates Nancy Hogshead and Carrie Steinseifer also tied for it.
Manuel's moment came shortly after Phelps won the 200 IM for the fourth Olympics in a row.
Phelps and Lochte have dominated the 200 IM race internationally since they both swam it in 2004 at the Athens Olympics. But Lochte, who led at the halfway point, missed a medal entirely, finishing off the board in fifth.
Phelps surged to the lead with an aggressive breaststroke leg, then turned for home with a comfortable lead.
Kosuke Hagino of Japan was second, almost 2 seconds behind Phelps. Wang Shun of China was third.
Lochte last beat Phelps in this at the 2011 world championships, the second of three world titles in a row for him.
Your browser does not support iframes.
"It's been a long jouney," Lochte said. "I felt great before the race.... I need some time off."
Earlier, Ryan Murphy won his second gold medal of the Rio Olympics with a victory in the 200 backstroke.
Missy Franklin, who won five medals four years ago in London, finished a disappointing games for her, failing to advance to the final in the 200 backstroke.
Video Ryan Murphy Sweeps Backstrokes With Gold in 200m Backstroke
Copyright Associated Press / NECNProduction debugging is hard, and it’s getting harder. With architectures becoming more distributed and code more asynchronous, pinpointing and resolving errors that happen in production is no child’s game. In this article we’ll talk about some advanced techniques that can help you get to the root cause of painful bugs in production more quickly, without adding material overhead to your already busy production environment.
Better jstacks. jstack has been around for a long time (about as long as the JVM’s been around) and even to this day remains a crucial tool in every developer’s arsenal. Whenever you’re staring at a Java process that’s hung or not responding, it’s your go-to tool to see the stack trace of each thread. Even so, jstack has a couple of disadvantages that detract from its ability to help you debug complex issues in production. The first is that while it tells you what each thread is doing through its stack trace, it doesn't tell what you why it’s doing it (the kind of information usually only available through a debugger); and it doesn’t tell you when it started doing it.
Fortunately enough, there’s a great way you can fix that, and make a good tool even better, by injecting dynamic variable state into each thread’s data. The key to this problem lies in one of the most unexpected places. You see, at no point in it’s execution does jstack query the JVM or the application code for variable state to present. However there is one important exception, which we can leverage to turn lemons into lemonade, and that is - the Thread.Name() property, whose value is injected into the stack dump. By setting it correctly you can move away from uninformative jstack thread printouts that looks like this
“pool-1-thread-1″ #17 prio=5 os_prio=31 tid=0x00007f9d620c9800 nid=0x6d03 in Object.wait() [0x000000013ebcc000]
Compare that with the following thread printout that contains a description of the actual work being done by the thread, the input parameters passed to it, and the time in which it started processing the request:
”pool-1-thread- #17: Queue: ACTIVE_PROD, MessageID: AB5CAD, type: Analyze, TransactionID: 56578956, Start Time: 10/8/2014 18:34″
Here’s an example for how we set a stateful thread name:
private void processMessage(Message message) { //an entry point into your code String name = Thread.currentThread().getName(); try { Thread.currentThread().setName(prettyFormat(name, getCurrTranscationID(), message.getMsgType(), message.getMsgID(), getCurrentTime())); doProcessMessage(message); } finally { Thread.currentThread().setName(name); // return to original name } }
In this example, where the thread is processing messages out of a queue, we see the target queue from which the thread is dequeuing messages, as well as the ID of the message being processed, and the transaction to which it is related (which is critical for reproducing locally), and last, but far from least - the time in which the processing of this message began. This last bit of information enables you to look at a server jstack with upwards of a hundred worker threads, and see which ones started first and are most likely causing an application server to hang.
(Click on the image to enlarge it)
An example of how an enhanced jstack shows dynamic variable state for each thread in the dump. Thread start time is marked as TS.
The capability works just as well when you’re using a profiler, a commercial monitoring tool, a JMX console, or even Java 8’s new Mission Control. In all of these cases, your ability to look at the live thread state, or a historic thread dump, and see exactly what each thread is doing and when it started is materially enhanced by having stateful thread contexts.
This thread variable state will also be shown by any JDK or commercial debugger or profiler.
But the value of Thread names doesn’t stop there. They play an even bigger role in production debugging - even if you don’t use jstack at all. One instance is the global Thread.uncaughtExceptionHandler callback which serves as a last line of defense before an uncaught exception terminates a thread (or is sent back to the thread-pool).
By the point an uncaught exception handler is reached, code execution has stopped and both frames and variable state have already been rolled back. The only state that remains for you to log the task that thread was processing, it’s parameters and starting time is captured by you guessed it - a stateful Thread name (and any additional TLS variables loaded onto it).
Its important to keep in mind that a threading framework might implicitly catch exceptions without you knowing it. A good example is ThreadPoolExecutorService, which catches all exceptions in your Runnable and delegates them to its afterExecute method, which you can override to display something meaningful. So whatever framework you use, be mindful that if a thread fails you still have a chance to log the exception and thread state to avoid tasks disappearing into the ether.
Throughput and deadlock jstacks. Another disadvantage of tools like jstack or Mission Control is that they need to be activated manually on a target JVM which is experiencing issues. This reduces their effectiveness in production where 99% of the time when issues occur you’re not there to debug.
Happily enough there’s a way by which you can activate jstack programmatically when your application’s throughput falls under a specific threshold or meets a specific set of conditions. You can even automatically activate jstack when your JVM deadlocks to see exactly which threads are deadlocking and what all the other threads are doing (coupled of course with dynamic variable state for each one, courtesy of stateful thread names). This can be invaluable as deadlocking and concurrency issue are sporadic for the most part and notoriously hard to reproduce. In this case by activating jstack automatically at the moment of deadlock, one which also contains the stateful information for each thread can be a huge catalyst in your ability to reproduce and solve these kinds of bugs.
Click here to learn more about how to automatically detect deadlocks from within your application.
Capturing live variables. We’ve talked about ways of capturing state from the JVM through thread contexts. This approach, however effective, is restricted to variables that you had to format into the thread name in advance. Ideally, we want to be able to go in and get the value of any variable from any point in the code from a live JVM, without attaching a debugger or redeploying code. A great tool that’s been around for a while, but hasn’t got the recognition it deserves, lets you do just that; and that tool is BTrace.
BTrace is a helpful tool that lets you run Java-like scripts on top of a live JVM to capture or aggregate any form of variable state without restarting the JVM or deploying new code. This enables you to do pretty powerful things like printing the stack traces of threads, writing to a specific file, or printing the number of items of any queue or connection pool and many more.
This is done using BTrace scripting, a Java-like syntax in which you write functions that are injected into the code in locations of your choice through bytecode transformation (a process we’ll touch on below). The best way to try out the tool is to attach its sample scripts into a live application. Usage is very straightforward, from your command line simply enter - btrace <JVM pid> <script name>.There’s no need to restart your JVM.
BTrace is very well documented and comes with many sample scripts (see below) to cover various common debugging scenarios around IO, memory allocation and class loading. Here are a couple of powerful examples of things you can do very easily with BTrace -
NewArray.java: Print whenever a new char[] is allocated, and also add your own conditions based on its value. Pretty handy for selective memory profiling.
FileTracker.java: Print whenever the application writes to a specific file location. Great for pinpointing the cause of excessive IO operations.
Classload.java: React whenever a target class is loaded into the JVM. Very useful for debugging “jar-hell” situations.
BTrace was designed as a non-intrusive tool, which means it cannot alter application state or flow control. That’s a good thing, as it reduces the chances of us negatively interfering with the execution of live code and makes its use in production much more acceptable. But this capability comes with some heavy restrictions - you can’t create objects (not even Strings!), call into your or 3rd party code (to perform actions such as logging), or even do simple things such as looping for fear of creating an infinite loop. To be able to do those you’ll have to use the next set of techniques - writing your own Java agent.
A Java agent is a jar file that provides access by the JVM to an Instrumentation object to enables you to modify bytecode that has already been loaded into the JVM to alter its behaviour. This essentially lets you “rewrite” code that is already loaded and compiled by the JVM, without restarting the application or changing the.class file on disk. Think about it like BTrace on steroids - you can essentially inject new code anywhere in your app into both your code and 3rd party code to capture any piece of information you want.
The biggest downside to writing your own agent is that unlike BTrace, which lets you write Java-like scripts to capture state, Java agents operate at the bytecode level. This means that if you want to inject code into an application you’ll have to create the right bytecode. This can be tricky because bytecode can be hard to produce and read, following an operator stack-like syntax which is similar in many ways to Assembly language. And to make things harder, since bytecode is already compiled, any miscorrelation to the location in which it is injected will be rejected without much fanfare by the JVM’s verifier.
To assist with this, many bytecode generation libraries have been written over the years such as JavaAssist and ASM (which is my personal favorite). A great hack which I find myself using quite a lot uses the ASM byteview IDE plugin, which lets you type any Java code in your editor and automatically generate the right ASM code to then generate it’s equivalent bytecode, which you can copy and paste into your agent.
Click here for a real-world example of a sample agent we used to detect and sporadic memory leaks coming from 3rd party code on our server - correlating it to application state.
Dynamically generating bytecode generation scripts from your IDE using the ASM bytecode plugin.
The last technique I’d like to touch on briefly is building Native JVM agents. This approach uses the JVM TI C++ API layer, which gives you unprecedented control and access into the internals of the JVM. This includes things like getting callbacks whenever GC starts and stops, whenever new threads are spawn, monitors are acquired, and many more low-level capabilities. This is by far the most powerful approach to acquire state from running code, as you are essentially running at the JVM level.
But with great power comes great responsibility, and some pretty complex challenges make this approach relatively harder to implement. The first is that since you’re running at the JVM level you're no longer writing in cross platform Java, but in low-level platform dependant C++. The second disadvantage is that the APIs themselves, while extremely powerful, are hard to use and can impact performance significantly, depending on the specific set of capabilities you’re consuming.
On the plus side, if used correctly, this layer provides terrific access to parts of the JVM which would otherwise be closed to us in our search of the root cause of production bugs. When we began writing Takipi for production debugging, I’m not sure we knew the extent to which TI would play a crucial role in our ability to build the tool. The reason for that is that through the use of this layer you’re able to detect exceptions, calls into the OS or map application code without manual user instrumentation. If you have the time to take a look at this API layer - I highly recommend it, as it opens a unique window into the JVM not many of us know.
About the Author
Tal Weiss is the CEO of Takipi. Tal has been designing scalable, real-time Java and C++ applications for the past 15 years. He still enjoys analyzing a good bug though, and instrumenting Java code. In his free time Tal plays Jazz drums.Dylan Byers and Maggie Haberman of Politico reported Chelsea Clinton earned an annual salary of $600,000 at NBC News before switching to a month-to-month contract earlier this year.
This might not be a shocking number if the former president’s daughter was an experienced journalist with tons of charisma...and if she was churning out a pile of stories. So how many stories do you think Chelsea filed since joining NBC in November 2011?
The Business Insider website guessed 14, so they missed about half.
Our count using the Nexis news-data retrieval system is 28. That’s 14 stories in her first 12 months, 13 in her second 12 months, and only one since last November. Four of those ran more than once, so that’s 24 original stories. Most of her stories were fluffy stories about baby elephants or street musicians.
In other words, she was producing less than one story a month for about $50,000. How this doesn’t look like a Comcast/NBC favor to the Clintons is anyone’s guess. Remember that she was only the "talent" in these segments, the face and voice. The people writing and editing these segments were surely much poorer than Chelsea.
The whole enterprise has seemed over since last June, when NBC’s primetime magazine show Rock Center was cancelled. She did one Nightly News story on September 20, 2013, and then one this year on January 13. So for the last five months, it’s money for nothing.
Politico was right to add The New York Post take on this: in the end it looks like “just another spoiled, aimless child of rich, successful parents chauffeured through adulthood by Mommy and Daddy’s connections.”Clarke L.
Carbon J. Isolation of a yeast centromere and construction of functional small circular chromosomes. Nature. 287 : 504-509 View in Article PubMed
Crossref
Google Scholar
Cottarel G.
et al. A 125-base-pair CEN6 DNA fragment is sufficient for complete meiotic and mitotic centromere functions in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Mol. Cell. Biol. 9 : 3342-3349 View in Article PubMed
Crossref
Google Scholar
Stoler S.
et al. A mutation in CSE4, an essential gene encoding a novel chromatin-associated protein in yeast, causes chromosome nondisjunction and cell cycle arrest at mitosis. Genes Dev. 9 : 573-586 View in Article PubMed
Crossref
Google Scholar
Melters D.P.
et al. Comparative analysis of tandem repeats from hundreds of species reveals unique insights into centromere evolution. Genome Biol. 14 : R10 View in Article Scopus (0)
PubMed
Crossref
Google Scholar
Voullaire L.E.
et al. A functional marker centromere with no detectable alpha-satellite, satellite III, or CENP-B protein: activation of a latent centromere?. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 52 : 1153-1163 View in Article PubMed
Google Scholar
Bassett E.A.
et al. Epigenetic centromere specification directs aurora B accumulation but is insufficient to efficiently correct mitotic errors. J. Cell Biol. 190 : 177-185 View in Article Scopus (0)
PubMed
Crossref
Google Scholar
Earnshaw W.C.
Rothfield N. Identification of a family of human centromere proteins using autoimmune sera from patients with scleroderma. Chromosoma. 91 : 313-321 View in Article PubMed
Crossref
Google Scholar
Drinnenberg I.A.
et al. Recurrent loss of CenH3 is associated with independent transitions to holocentricity in insects. Elife. 3 : 03676 View in Article Crossref
Google Scholar
Merry D.E.
et al. Anti-kinetochore antibodies: use as probes for inactive centromeres. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 37 : 425-430 View in Article PubMed
Google Scholar
Sullivan B.A.
Schwartz S. Identification of centromeric antigens in dicentric robertsonian translocations: CENP-C and CENP-E are necessary components of functional centromeres. Hum. Mol. Genet. 4 : 2189-2197 View in Article PubMed
Crossref
Google Scholar
Chen C.-C.
Mellone B.G. Chromatin assembly: journey to the CENter of the chromosome. J. Cell Biol. 214 : 13-24 View in Article PubMed
Crossref
Google Scholar
Dunleavy E.M.
et al. H3.3 is deposited at centromeres in S phase as a placeholder for newly assembled CENP-A in G 1 phase. Nucleus. 2 : 146-157 View in Article PubMed
Crossref
Google Scholar
Takahashi K.
et al. Two distinct pathways responsible for the loading of CENP-A to centromeres in the fission yeast cell cycle. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B. Biol. Sci. 360 ( ) : 595-606 View in Article Scopus (0)
PubMed
Crossref
Google Scholar
Dunleavy E.M.
et al. The cell cycle timing of centromeric chromatin assembly in Drosophila meiosis is distinct from mitosis yet requires CAL1 and CENP-C. PLoS Biol. 10 : e1001460 View in Article Scopus (20)
PubMed
Crossref
Google Scholar
Lermontova I.
et al. Loading of Arabidopsis centromeric histone CENH3 occurs mainly during G 2 and requires the presence of the histone fold domain. Plant Cell. 18 : 2443-2451 View in Article Scopus (104)
PubMed
Crossref
Google Scholar
Sullivan K.F.
et al. Human CENP-A contains a histone H3 related histone fold domain that is required for targeting to the centromere. J. Cell Biol. 127 : 581-592 View in Article Scopus (298)
PubMed
Crossref
Google Scholar
Chen Y.
et al. The N terminus of the centromere H3-like protein Cse4p performs an essential function distinct from that of the histone fold domain. Mol. Cell. Biol. 20 : 7037-7048 View in Article Scopus (0)
PubMed
Crossref
Google Scholar
Ferree P.M.
Prasad S. How can satellite DNA divergence cause reproductive isolation? Let us count the chromosomal ways. Genet. Res. Int. 2012 : 430136 View in Article PubMed
Google Scholar
Malik H.S.
Henikoff S. Adaptive evolution of Cid, a centromere-specific histone in Drosophila. Genetics. 157 : 1293-1298 View in Article PubMed
Google Scholar
Schittenhelm R.B.
et al. Detrimental incorporation of excess Cenp-A/Cid and Cenp-C into Drosophila centromeres is prevented by limiting amounts of the bridging factor Cal1. J. Cell Sci. 123 : 3768-3779 View in Article Scopus (32)
PubMed
Crossref
Google Scholar
Finseth F.R.
et al. Duplication and adaptive evolution of a key centromeric protein in Mimulus, a genus with female meiotic drive. Mol. Biol. Evol. 32 : 2694-2706 View in Article PubMed
Crossref
Google Scholar
Talbert P.B.
et al. Adaptive evolution of centromere proteins in plants and animals. J. Biol. 3 : 18 View in Article PubMed
Crossref
Google Scholar
Zwick M.E.
et al. Genetic variation in rates of nondisjunction: association of two naturally occurring polymorphisms in the chromokinesin nod with increased rates of nondisjunction in Drosophila melanogaster. Genetics. 152 : 1605-1614 View in Article PubMed
Google Scholar
Sandler L.
Novitski E. Meiotic drive as an evolutionary force. Am. Nat. 91 : 105-110 View in Article Crossref
Google Scholar
Zedek F.
Bureš P. CenH3 evolution reflects meiotic symmetry as predicted by the centromere drive model. Sci. Rep. 6 : 33308 View in Article PubMed
Crossref
Google Scholar
Zedek F.
Bureš P. Absence of positive selection on CenH3 in Luzula suggests that holokinetic chromosomes may suppress centromere drive. Ann. Bot. ( ) 10.1093/aob/mcw186 View in Article Scopus (1)
Crossref
Google Scholar
Daniel A. Distortion of female meiotic segregation and reduced male fertility in human Robertsonian translocations: consistent with the centromere model of co-evolving centromere DNA/centromeric histone (CENP-A). Am. J. Med. Genet. 111 : 450-452 View in Article Scopus (0)
PubMed
Crossref
Google Scholar
Dinkel B.
et al. Gametic products transmitted by chickens heterozygous for chromosomal rearrangements. Cytogenet. Cell Genet. 23 : 124-136 View in Article PubMed
Crossref
Google Scholar
Wallace B.M.N.
et al. The effect of multiple simple Robertsonian heterozygosity on chromosome pairing and fertility of wild-stock house mice (Mus musculus domesticus). Cytogenet. Genome Res. 96 : 276-286 View in Article Scopus (35)
PubMed
Crossref
Google Scholar
Eaker S.
et al. Evidence for meiotic spindle checkpoint from analysis of spermatocytes from Robertsonian-chromosome heterozygous mice. J. Cell Sci. 114 : 2953-2965 View in Article PubMed
Google Scholar
Aldrup-MacDonald M.E.
et al. Genomic variation within alpha satellite DNA influences centromere location on human chromosomes with metastable epialleles. Genome Res. 26 : 1301-1311 View in Article PubMed
Crossref
Google Scholar
Buscaino A.
et al. Building centromeres: home sweet home or a nomadic existence?. Curr. Opin. Genet. Dev. 20 : 118-126 View in Article PubMed
Crossref
Google Scholar
Hohmann N.
et al. A time-calibrated road map of Brassicaceae species radiation and evolutionary history. Plant Cell. 27 : 2770-2784 View in Article PubMed
Google Scholar
Zeng L.
et al. Resolution of deep angiosperm phylogeny using conserved nuclear genes and estimates of early divergence times. Nat. Commun. 5 : 4956 View in Article Scopus (54)
PubMed
Crossref
Google Scholar
Tachiwana H.
et al. Comparison between the CENP-A and histone H3 structures in nucleosomes. Nucleus. 3 : 6-11 View in Article PubMed
Crossref
Google Scholar
Chen C.-C.
et al. A role for the CAL1-partner Modulo in centromere integrity and accurate chromosome segregation in Drosophila. PLoS One. 7 : e45094 View in Article Scopus (0)
PubMed
Crossref
Google Scholar
Pardo-Manuel de Villena F.
Sapienza C. Female meiosis drives karyotypic evolution in mammals. Genetics. 159 : 1179-1189 View in Article PubMed
Google Scholar
Wyttenbach A.
et al. Meiotic drive favors Robertsonian metacentric chromosomes in the common shrew (Sorex araneus, Insectivora, mammalia). Cytogenet. Cell Genet. 83 : 199-206 View in Article PubMed
Crossref
Google Scholar
Hauffe H.C.
Searle J.B. Chromosomal heterozygosity and fertility in house mice (Mus musculus domesticus) from Northern Italy. Genetics. 150 : 1143-1154 View in Article PubMed
Google Scholar
Fishman L.
et al. A genetic map in the Mimulus guttatus species complex reveals transmission ratio distortion due to heterospecific interactions. Genetics. 159 : 1701-1716 View in Article PubMed
Google ScholarHi all,
It's been quite a while since I wrote my last article here on flipcode. It almost looks like everything has been documented or something; I rarely see anything new these days. Maybe that's because of the rather fast development of hardware 3D accelerators and CPU speeds: I think this caused a rather important switch from 'technical knowledge' to more 'theoretical knowledge', a switch that many coders find hard to make. A decade ago, you were the king if you knew how to do a specific effect with a VGA card. Five years ago, you where da man if you understood BSP trees. Nowadays, it's hard to be above average. A game is good if its art looks (and sounds) good; the code behind it is important, but expected to be OK.
Expectations are the key problem here. If someone posts an IOTD with some nice graphics, no-one is going to encourage the poor guy to actually write a game with it. The reason is simple; encouraging someone to design a space game based on a space 3D engine is the same as saying 'hey, get a large team, write a product design, lead the team and then you'll have a game that kicks ass'. You're not going to get away with a simple game anymore. People expect more. Too much, actually.
Even the breeding grounds of the game industry, the demo scene, suffers from this. No longer do technological masterpieces automatically win contests, like they used to. I know,'spot' is a technological masterpiece, and I've seen more, especially 64Kb intros. Nevertheless, demos, just like games, require relatively little technical knowledge, and lots of good art. The hard part of winning a demo compo is no longer writing this amazing optimized inner loop; instead it has become a management and networking contest.
The true hardcore coder is introverted, weird, primarily technologically interested and thus has major problems keeping up with the pace of nowadays game and demo coding. He thus tries to find interesting areas that still require his skills, and his skills alone, and he finds his destiny in obscure challenges like emulators, 64Kb (or even 4Kb) intros and other platforms like the GameBoy or the Playstation. Coding like that is still rewarding, but there's a problem: The latest consoles are as powerful as yesterday's PC's, and the latest handheld consoles are as powerful as yesterdays consoles. That means that tomorrow, a calculator or a watch will be the only area that's still worth some good old hand optimized assembler. Poor coder. After the watch and the calculator, he will be finally extinct.
So what do we do?
There are two solutions: One, we adapt and start writing code that works on everything, focused on features rather than speed of one specific core feature. Or two, we slowly adapt because we have to earn a living, and we identify interesting territory so we can have some fun in our spare time.
I go for the second option.
Here are some areas that are still interesting, and require extreme coding and optimization skills. They also require no artistic skills, so that you can do it all by yourself, locked away in your computer room with some pizza and coke.
1. 64Kb intros. They can be fun, but for this to work, we need to make some agreements. First: Software rendering is cool. Hardware rendering too, but only if it's more than just polygon stacking. Second: Using public domain textures is OK. Third: Generated textures are the best. Just like generated meshes. Third: Lowres is cool.
2. Emulation. Can be very easy, but only when the emulated device is at least 8 times slower than the 'host device'. Try to emulate an SNES, and you start to have problems. No artistic talents are required, and you get to play lots of games for 'testing purposes'.
3. 'Lower devices'. PDA's are cool. So are some programmable calculators and the GameBoy. Especially if you use them to emulate even older devices, or if you write 4Kb intros for them.
4. AI. Did you know that AI is really in it's infancy? And I don't mean that deterministic kind of AI that is used in games; I'm talking about natural behavior, natural language, real logic, that sort of stuff.
5. Puzzles. There are some challenges out there that could use some brain and cpu power. A good example was the recently solved 'Eternity' puzzle; the man who solved it won 1 million pounds...
There must be more. Let me know if you have good ideas. In the meantime, I'll elaborate on the above fields in more detail in a series of articles that I intend to write in the next couple of months. I hope that you will find something that is interesting enough for you to spend some quality time on. The emphasis will be on low-level technological knowledge (not neccessarily provided in the documents) and optimization; the goal is to find good reasons for writing good code.
By the way, if you know anything about the following subjects, I would like to invite you to write a doc about it. I know nothing about these subjects, but I would really like to read a decent doc about them:
1. GameBoy programming
2. Real-time raytracing
Let's have some fun. :)
- Phantom.Feminist News
All | National News | Global News
May-30-11
Bill Allowing Military to Cover Abortions for Rape Victims Introduced
Last week, Representative Susan Davis introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would have allowed military health care plans to cover abortion services for service women who had been raped. Currently, Department of Defense policy does not permit military health insurance to cover abortions, even in cases of rape. The House Rules Committee, however, did not permit the amendment to be brought to the House floor for debate.
Representative Davis clarified, "While the military has made strides to address sexual assault in the ranks, victims still report a lack of confidentiality, protection, support, and access to legal counsel once an incident is reported. My amendments address many of these shortcomings with current DOD policy and I look forward to the day that they become law."
According to a 2003 study by the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, at least one-third of all women veterans have experienced rape or sexual assault during their service primarily from US service personnel, and thirty percent of military women experience domestic violence. Moreover, rape occurs in the military nearly twice as often as in the civilian world. Members of the US House of Representatives, including Susan Davis (D-CA), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Louise Slaughter (D-NY), and former Congresswoman Jane Harman (D-CA) have pressed the military to address sexualized violence.
Media Resources: National Partnership for Women and Families 5/27/11; Associated Press 5/27/11; Feminist Daily Newswire 5/16/11; Statement of Representative Susan Davis 5/12/11The long-pursued vision of Washington and its sprawling suburbs tied together by Metrorail took a leap forward Tuesday as Loudoun County committed to support Metro’s Silver Line extension to Dulles International Airport and into eastern Loudoun.
After months of heated debate and tense negotiations, the 5 to 4 vote by the Board of Supervisors appeared to end the latest, and perhaps the last, round of uncertainty over the fate of the Silver Line.
Estimated to cost $6 billion, the project has survived not only the recession but also a succession of political battles over its price tag— from the debate over putting the extension above or below ground to the recent fight over a labor-friendly contracting practice.
After the labor issue was resolved last month, Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) withdrew his threat to withhold $150 million earmarked for the rail extension. That left the board as the last remaining hurdle, and in recent days, McDonnell had urged the board not to stand in the way.
With his decision to support the Silver Line after strongly opposing it, Supervisor Kenneth D. Reid (R-Leesburg) delivered the fifth and deciding vote for a project that supporters predict will have a lasting impact.
“This is a huge investment in Loudoun’s future,” said Tony Howard, president of the Loudoun Chamber of Commerce, which represents 1,200 businesses. “It’s important not just for our economy in the next quarter or the next year, but for a payoff that will be generational.... The chamber is absolutely elated.”
The Silver Line’s first leg, expected to be running by August 2013, will pass through Tysons Corner to Wiehle Avenue in Reston. When the entire line — which is being built by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority — is completed, it will span 23 miles of rail between East Falls Church and Ashburn.
For the first time, some of the region’s more distant Northern Virginia suburbs will be linked by rail to the rest of the metropolitan area. A traveler who would rather not pay upward of $60 to take a taxi from Dulles to the District will have a new option. So will someone who is able to land a job at the airport but won’t have a car to get there every day.
If Loudoun had backed out of its commitment to contribute to construction of the second phase of the Silver Line — a share now estimated at $270 million — the extension to Dulles and into Loudoun would have been in jeopardy, and with it a major rationale for the Silver Line.
For a once-rural community that has become one of the fastest-growing counties in the nation, the addition of rail marks a significant step for Loudoun — one that has been championed by many county residents and business leaders and especially by young adults, who have said that access to the District is a key factor for 20- and 30-something professionals looking to settle in the suburbs.
But the debate and the narrow margin of Tuesday’s vote revealed a lack of unity among the all-Republican board as the supervisors and other leaders wrestle with Loudoun’s evolving identity. The supervisors were swept into office in November on platforms emphasizing fiscal responsibility and economic development — two ideals that proved challenging to balance when it came to Silver Line.
The Loudoun board’s recent discussions focused on establishing a financing plan for the county’s share of the construction costs, and the board voted Tuesday to pursue a proposal that would fund the project through the establishment of a special tax district. The district encompasses commercial property and undeveloped land immediately surrounding the Metro station locations and excludes nearly all existing residential property.
In addition to the construction costs, Loudoun will contribute to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s annual operating costs beginning in 2019, with an initial payment of $17 million, according to county staff.
The funding plan proved pivotal for Reid, who joined four board members who had consistently advocated in favor of the rail project. The proposed tax district met Reid’s goals to pay for Silver Line costs without relying on the county’s general fund or a countywide tax, he said.
“This essentially is something that has allowed me to lean to the direction of supporting the project,” Reid said.
Tuesday’s vote was applauded by elected officials and project partners, including McDonnell.
“The governor is pleased by today’s vote to extend Metrorail |
” of the ancient peoples, and America’s modern role as a distinct civilization represents none other than the awakening of dormant archetypes.
Why not “Columbia?”
Many explain the modern naming of the continent after Amerigo Vespucci and not after Christopher Columbus as an historical misunderstanding and accidental injustice. In no way can we agree with this, as it is not difficult to note that even on the most local scale among purely “rational” name christenings, only those names survive which accord with the semi-conscious archetypes manifested in the well-known phenomenon of so-called “folk etymology.” At times, the similarity of words’ soundings plays an important role, but the identification of concepts on the basis of similarities in sound does not so much demonstrate their “erroneousness” (as the purely “positivist” and “anti-psychological” science of the 19th – 20th centuries presumed) as it does the stability of semantic structures on the level of entire words as well as on the level of the autonomous meaning of letters and letter-combinations. On a basic level, elements referring to “folk etymology” are based on such metaphysical, complete, and far from “folk” sacred methods such as Hindu Nirukta or Jewish Kabbalah. Be that as it may, we presume that the word “America”, in order to match the giant continent’s importance by virtue of its geopolitical mission, should consist of sound concepts associated with the archaic models of the proto-language rudimentarily preserved by the sub-consciousness of the nations of Eurasia.
First and foremost in the sacred form (and, accordingly, the name) of America, the idea of its “extreme Western” origin should be reflected. According to the works of Professor Wirth [35], the ancient Western sacred center was the land of Mo-Uru, or the islands of Mo-Uru located in the Northwestern Atlantic. This name is mentioned in the Bundahishn, a Zoroastrian scripture, in which it is named third after the Ariana-Vedja, the land of the great Aryan ancestors. (Ariana-vedja itself lay directly at the north pole, the Arctic continent “Arktogeya” which disappeared many thousands of years ago). It is precisely with the aid of this key word “Mo-Uru”, and based on the decoding of the oldest runic and proto-runic symbols (and in particular, the decoding of the liner pre-dynastic writing of Egypt and the Minoan inscriptions, and even ancient rock tracings), that Professor Wirth was able to penetrate the secrets of many of pre-history’s ethnic and racial cataclysms. In its phonetic variations, Mo-Uru is mentioned in the Bible (Moria is the name of the country where Moses was supposed to offer Isaac as a sacrifice to God) and in the Celtic sagas, where the country of “Morias” or “Murias” is referred to as the homeland of the divine northern tribes of Tuatha Dé Danann, as well as in the Scandinavian cults in which the famous stone circle of the cultic pagan center in Uppsala was called “Mora-walls” or “Stone of Mora,” etc. Wirth proposes (and convincingly proves in his detailed and throughly-reasoned works The Origin of Mankind and The Sacred Proto-Writing of Mankind) that the “Amorites,” “Moors,” and even the oceanic “Maori” were the descendants of the ancient natives of this sacred center in the Northern Atlantic, and that the geography of this land was later transferred into the historical toponyms of the “peoples of Mo-Uru’s” new settlements. Curiously enough, “Amorites” means “People of the West” (am uru) in ancient Hebrew. There also exists the sacred doctrine mentioned by Guenon which claims that the Jewish tradition itself is “Western” in its symbolic and pre-historical origins as evidenced by, in particular, the Jewish custom of celebrating the New Year in the fall and the change of day in the evening, stressing the importance of the “Western” orientation corresponding to the universal historical correlations between evening and autumn, the “sunset” period of the day or year. In this perspective, Chaldean Ur, which Abraham left for the promised land is perhaps a substitute of Mo-Uru, the “North-Atlantic Ur”, just as the Zohar asserts that “Ur”, where Abraham originally resided, symbolizes “the highest spiritual state” from which Abraham “descended” downwards by virtue of providential necessity. (It is curious to note that Jews themselves often share this point of view stressing this Western origin of their tradition, as can be seen among the early Zionist projects of the “Jewish state” organization in America, in Simon Wiesenthal’s books on the Jewish pre-history of America, and in Edmund Wiseman’s America: The New Jerusalem).
So, the mysterious Mo-Uru denotes a sacred continent beyond Europe which lies to the West in the Atlantic. Moreover, “mouru”, “amuru,” or “amoru” (such forms are encountered in historically different traditions) are phonetically similar to the word “America.” It can thus not be excluded (and it is indeed quite likely) that precisely such a “coincidence,” or, more precisely, a providential correspondence, served the unconscious or half-conscious basis for consolidating such an externally profane yet internally sacred name for the New World.
Atlantis and Beyond Atlantis: the mystery of the dollar
It is only natural that “America” and “Mo-Uru” have a direct relationship to the myth of Atlantis, the paleo-continent about which Solon, Plato, and many before and after them spoke. Atlantis was the Western, sacred continent upon which a spiritual civilization flourished only to be destroyed as a result of a great cataclysm and flood. The death of the continent is most often described as comprising several stages. After the sinking of the mainland located to the West of Eurasia and Africa, for some time after separate islands in the North Atlantic were preserved on which the last tribes of the Atlantians were concentrated, the carriers of the ancient tradition. In Wirth’s opinion, Mo-Uru was such a remnant of Atlantis which in turn came to be flooded only much later, perhaps a few millennia following the main cataclysm.
Judging by everything, the American continent was not the westernmost continent in sacred geography as Atlantis was, but rather its further-Western “continuation.” In other words, America was “beyond Atlantis”, the lands located “on the other side of the West.” It is possible that the sacred, symbolic location of America explains the disturbing secrets associated with it in the sacred geography of Eurasia’s traditional civilizations.
According to this sacred geography, located in the West is a “Green Country,” the “Land of the Dead,” or some kind of quasi-material world resembling Hades or Sheol. This is the country of dusk and dawn in which there is no escape for mortals and whom only the initiated can reach. It is believed that the name Greenland (literally “Green Land”) refers to this same symbolic complex. But this “Green Country” is not Atlantis (and not even Mo-Uru!). This has to be one laying even further West as the “world of death,” the “kingdom of shadows.” And it is thus the supernatural dimension of the American continent which is quite miraculously revealed in such a, at first glance, banal thing as the dollar sign. Rene Guenon once noted that this symbol on American money is the graphic simplification of the sacred seal found on ancient coins of the Mediterranean zone. Originally, the two vertical bars were depictions of the two “pillars of Hercules” which, according to legend, stand in the far West beyond the Gibraltar Strait. The loop on this mark was once a slogan with the symbolic inscription “nec plus ultra”, which literally means “onward to nowhere.” Both of these symbols were meant to mark the border, or the Western limit of human sacred geography beyond which were found “inhuman worlds.” This “border” symbol, which indicates that it is impossible to go beyond the Gibraltar, paradoxically became the financial emblem of America, the country lying “beyond the borders” precisely “where it is impossible to go,” where the inscription on the original dollar sign categorically prohibited travel. It is here that the “otherworldly” symbolism of America appears, revealing the shady, forbidden sacred-geographical aspects of human civilization.[36]
In this view, Columbus’ newfound discovery of the American continent bears a rather sinister meaning, as it signifies the emergence of “sunken Atlantis” on the horizon of history. But not even Atlantis itself, but its “shadow,” its negative continuation of the symbolic West to the point of the “world of the dead.” It is quite characteristic in this regard that this “new discovery” temporally coincided with the beginning of the severe decline of European (and pan-Eurasian) civilization, which rapidly began to lose its spiritual, religious, qualitative, and sacred principles from this time on.
On a cultural, philosophical level, it is America that went on to become the perfect projection of purely profane, atheistic, and poly-atheistic utopias. Social models based on purely human rationality, beginning with Thomas Moore, increasingly settled on this continent.
Here once again, we see how it is not only the “unexplored” quality of these lands rendering it favorable for the realization of utopia, but also the archetypes of the “land of the dead where eternal peace and order reigns” and the image of the “green country” of the West that influenced the choice of this geographical space.
The historical cycle of America, its rise from the watery depths as the “New Atlantis,” can be likened not to the true and risen[37] return of the “golden age”, but to the chimerical, fake, and illusory bearing the noxious smell of a continental grave.
Sunrise in the West, Sunset in the East
The well known metaphysician and Traditionalist Geydar Dzhemal once pointed to an interesting peculiarity stemming from the geographical location of the American continent: for Americans, every morning the sun rises from the direction of Europe (that is, from the side which sacred geography constantly associates with the West) and sets on the side of Asia (the symbolic East). In a strange way, such a shift in the symbolism of orientations in the natural “worldview” of this continent’s residents resonates with the famous eschatological prophecy foreseeing that “in the last days” the sun will rise in the West and set in the East. Such an exception necessarily influences the archaic dimension of the continental American psyche, complementing the already entirely specific role of America as the re-emerging Beyond Atlantis, the “green country of the dead.” If we add to this the “rationalist utopianism” characteristic not only of the theorists of the Old World but also the founding fathers of the North American states, then, indeed, we derive a variant of an eschatological, messianic complex forming the paradigm and structure of American continental consciousness as a whole, and particularly those aspects which are most deeply connected with geopolitics, universalism, and self-identity. This eschatological scenario, in its most general features, is the same in the most remotely distant religions. In Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and in the majority of the Aryan pagan traditions, and even in the Melanesian cargo-cults, the “messianic era” is characterized by “the resurrection (or return) of the dead,” “the restoration of heavenly prosperity”, the “revealing of everything lost over the course of history,” the “appearance of new lands and new heavens,” the “presence of everlasting grace,” etc. If one more attentively looks at the American mentality in its North American variation, we see nearly all aspects of this eschatological plan. The “resurrection of the dead” is reflected in the practice of freezing the corpses of wealthy Americans searching for resurrection with the aid of scientific techniques in the coming century, as well as in a number of American neo-spiritualist sects who preach thanatophilia and scientifically (using quack devices) prove the “immortality of the soul.” Such “heavenly prosperity” is translated into the concept of “material prosperity”; the “new land” is the American continent itself, the base of the new “golden age” termed in some occult and astrological milieus as the “Age of Aquarius” or “New Age” (the widespread pseudo-religious movement highly developed in the US).
This eschatology permeates the very concept of “new world order” producing the current slogan of a “global community” (repeating and developing American ideological projects), and these notions presume the expansion of the American model to every last bit of territory on the planet. Thus, the “New World” or “new land” emerging from the depths of disturbing mystery and esoteric secrets pretends to be the new, spiritual land foretold of the Apocalypse which is to appear after the End Times. For continental America, the post-apocalyptic epoch has already arrived. The Allies’ victory in the Second World War led the US to world domination, the persecution of Jews in Germany (provably explaining the accomplishment of the apocalyptic “Holocaust”), the symbolism of the state of Israel’s re-establishment, and the recent collapse of the USSR, the last planetary opponent of the West, are interpreted by the leaders of America as the undoubtable signs of global victory and the arrival of the “new eon”, the epoch of sole world domination, the “end of history,” and the triumph of the world market.
In the USA, the countdown to messianic times has already begun.
Holy America
The archaic, unconscious complex of the “American ideal” is an entirely clear, straightforward expression manifested in the the “political theology of Americanism.” We have in mind the neo-Protestant concept of “America the promised land.” In this notion, the energy of the continent yields a particular theological construction, and if certain terms of this mystical “Protestant Americanism” are perceived not as rhetorical metaphors, but as a precise formation of eschatological constructions, then a rather unexpected and disturbing picture emerges. For example, George Washington himself stated that the “United States is the New Jerusalem determined by Providence as the territory on which man should attain his full development, where science, freedom, happiness, and fame shall spread with peace.” Here it is important to note the concept of the “New Jerusalem” which, in the language of a Christian (even a Protestant) necessarily points to the Apocalypse and refers to the last stage of the eschatological scenario, the descent of the spiritual “Hail of the Lord,” the “New Jerusalem” from heaven. [38]
For his part, John Adams clearly defined globalism as an American mission, calling the USA “a pure and virtuous republic whose task is to rule the world and establishes the oneness of people.”
In recent times, this special “patriotism” has gained new energy thanks to the development of television, which has led to the formation of the “televangelism” phenomenon which Isidro Palacios called “e-Christianity.” For example, the famous televangelist Jerry Howell now formulates the “American ideal” in the following way: “The USA is a country blessed by Almighty God which like no other country on earth is now exposed inside and out to the attacks of devilish machinations which could end in the destruction of the American nation. The devil is battling with the will of God, which put the US above all other nations, like ancient Israel…” These theological motives of Protestant eschatology are typical of modern American presidents. In 1984, Reagan stated: “I don’t think that the Lord, who blessed this country like no other, would ever want want us to trade it away because of its weakness.”
Without taking into account the symbolic role of Beyond Atlantis in its supra-temporal, supra-historical complex, this messianic pathos remains unclear, and the mass-scale spiritual fraud behind it cannot be completely assessed and understood. In the most general sense, as in all parodical eschatologies, we are dealing with the displacement of the spiritual golden age which is supposed to arrive immediately after the End of History, its shift to the period preceding the End.
Apollo, Diana, and the Truncated Pyramid
This same parodical logic, when applied to the material level of spiritual reality, distorts sacred meaning and stands behind the technological progress of “America the continent” especially in such illustrative spheres as space research. It is quite revealing that the Americans were the first to land on the moon where, according to various archaic traditions, the “souls of our ancestors” reside. (It is especially important that Soviet cosmonauts belonging to a similarly significantly eschatological political formation did not manage to achieve this). In esoteric tradition, there exists a direct link between the “green land of the dead” and the Moon, and this very link can be traced to the objective, material, and spiritually profane history of modernity.
American cosmonauts’ space flights consciously bore a “ritualistic meaning”, as is evident even in the name of the “Apollo” spacecraft, Apollo being the traditional mythological companion of Diana, the moon. Moreover, as was reported even in the secular press, the American astronauts brought Masonic rings with them to the moon. This in fact means that the “ritualistic” character of the events could not have but been obvious to them, given that “entering the sphere of the moon” means passing through the lesser mysteries in Masonic ritual. Here once again there is a symbolic parallel: the initiation into the lesser mysteries brings a Mason into the so-called “Edenic (heavenly) state” returning him to the spiritual completeness which characterized the people of the Golden Age. In the case of the individual, all of this is realized on an internal, “microcosmic” level. The flight to the moon ritual took on an external, material, “macrocosmic” character, then “sacralized” not only by the individual, but also the entire “continent”, the messenger of which is the individual. On a symbolic level, the interplanetary journey from America to the moon was equivalent to the journey from “America” to “America,” and this paradoxical ritual strengthened and intensified the messianic pride of America as a whole, the American subconscious. It should also be noted that the Masonic tradition is extremely developed in America, and in this regard there exist certain theories that insist on the originality, uniqueness, and “chosenness” of American Masonry in comparison to other branches. In American Masonic lodges, the legend is widespread that the last Knights Templar, having been in hiding for some time since their persecution by French monarchs and Catholic authorities in Europe, later fled to America and brought their treasures and relics with them. Some have even claimed that the Holy Grail itself was brought to America. Be that as it may, American Masons are convinced that the true “sacred” center of Masonry is to be found in the USA, while European Masonry is “too archaic and helpless” and is nothing other than a “relic of the past.” It is undeniable, moreover, that Masonic signs make up many of the US’ state symbols, such as the white five-pointed star (the symbols of “Adam of Paradise” – again the “heavenly” theme) and the truncated pyramid whose peak is separated from the base by a ring of 13 stars symbolizing the 13 tribes of Israel. (Joseph’s tribe is often symbolically represented as the double tribe of Ephraim and Manasseh, which yields 13 instead of 12 and such a doctrine is peculiar to Masonic arithmetic). The truncated pyramid bears a disturbing symbolic meaning, as it refers to hierarchy devoid of its sacred peaks and its sacred center. It is possible that this emblem was originally designed to express the anti-authoritarian and anti-monarchical orientation of the US political system and the absence of a single ruler, but the symbol itself has never been limited to a purely emblematic function. The truncated pyramid necessarily implies the idea of “interrupted consecration,” and precisely this incompleteness in the initiative cycle is completely characteristic of “black magicians” as understood by Tradition.
Gifs from the “Ancestors’ World”
Mircea Eliade and other scholars dealing with the structure of archaic beliefs have dwelled in similar terms on the logic of the so-called “cargo-cults” [39] and the Melanesian, eschatological “local religions” associated with the abolition of all religious rules and the onset of a special “Messianic” age in which promiscuity, unlimited alcoholic ecstasy, and idleness are permitted and which is characterized by “the return of the dead” bearing gifts on huge ships from “America.” In addition to the symbolic underpinnings of these cults, it is impossible to rule out the rudimentary subconscious archetypes in them forgotten by sacred geography. On this note it is important that the relationship between cargo-cultists and white “Americans” is ambiguous. One the one hand, “Americans” are considered to be usurpers of the goods “produced” by the natives’ ancestors and their “gods,” while on the other hand, in certain aspects, cargo-cultists themselves begin to imitate the whites, imitate some of their mannerisms, behaviors, habits, and postures. No matter if “Americans” are the usurpers and no matter if they do or do not look like the “real” inhabitants of the land of the dead, they have nonetheless had direct contact with them. And this alone renders them distinguished, special. Over all, the cargo-cult complex predicts the nearing beginning of a “golden age” and absolute abundance beyond all conceivable limits.
In analyzing cargo-cults, Eliade showed just how much in common they have, with only minor variations, with those found in Africa and among the Hindus, the peoples of Oceania, and elsewhere. Thus, eschatological cargo-cultism represents a fairly universal complex characterized by rooted structures of the unconscious to which is attached a primordial sacred meaning submerged over the course of thousands of years in the the psychic and rudimentary spheres. The cargo-cultist complex is something in the likes of an perfecting component of the “land of the dead” – “mystical America,” “Beyond Atlantis.” The indigenous consciousness of non-American territories being pulled away from the vertical and genuine eschatological perspective at the expense of metaphysical value commit a shift similar to the one which occurs in the American conscience itself. The spiritual is translated into the material and the other-worldly is translated into that which is of this world. It is this and nothing else which explains the complex relationship of many archaic peoples to Americanism and its representatives. On the one hand, Americans attract rejection, repulsion, and the desire to shut off their influence (and sometimes even “expose” or “expropriate” them), but on the other hand, the “magical presence of the dead ancestors” behind “Americans”, as a guarantor of their material success, evokes an irresistible desire to imitate them.
Bury America
That disturbing and sinister country on the other side of the ocean. Without history, without tradition, without roots. Artificial, aggressive, an intrusive reality completely devoid of spirit, focused only on the material world and technical efficiency; cold, indifferent, glowing with neon advertisements and senseless luxury, shrouded in pathological poverty, genetic degeneration, and the rupture of any and all connections between people, things, nature, and culture – the result of a pure experiment by the European utopian rationalists.
Today, America is asserting its planetary domination, the triumph of its lifestyle, and the need for all peoples of the earth to adopt its civilizational model, imposing it upon us. America sees in herself and only in herself “progress” and the “norms of civilization,” thus denying everyone else the right to their own path, their own culture, and their own system of values. How accurately does this all precisely recall the prophecy of the coming of the Antichrist…the King of the “green country” of the dead rising from the abyss of ancient crime…
Burying America is our religious duty.
Footnotes:
[35] H.Wirth “Heilige Urshrift der Menshheit”
[36] On the symbolism of the “green country” and the West, see Gustav Meyrink’s The Angel of the West Window, St. Petersburg, 1991
[37] The English visionary, poet, and artist William Blake established a mythological image of America as a “positive Atlantis” designed for the purpose of putting an end to the alienation and degradation of contemporary Europe. But this proved to be an incorrect mythologem.
[38] The Revelation of St. John the Evangelist 21:10-27.
[39] See M. Eliade’s “The Cosmic Renovation” in The End of the World
Translator: Jafe Arnold
Chapter 6 of Mysteries of Eurasia (1996 edition) from the collection Absolute Homeland (Moscow, Arktogeya: 1999) / Chapter 6 of Conspirology (2005)Soni Mustivar was signing autographs for a handful of Sporting Kansas City fans last month, exchanging pleasantries along the way, when he fell victim to a case of mistaken identity. Twice.
As the first-year MLS player penned his name to a Sporting KC jersey, a fan referred to him as his teammate, Jalil Anibaba. Another called him C.J. Sapong, who was traded to Philadelphia last offseason.
None, he says, recognized him as Soni Mustivar.
“I had to tell them, ‘No, I’m Soni,’” he says. “And they were like, ‘Who?’”
Sign Up and Save Get six months of free digital access to The Kansas City Star
Mustivar says he hasn’t played in enough games to earn recognition.
Not yet. But he’s getting there.
Mustivar, 25, has started eight straight matches at defensive midfielder, offering stability to a position that was defined by its fluctuation over the past 13 months. The club has lost only one of the eight (5-1-2).
Might Mustivar be Sporting KC’s most reliable defensive midfield option since Uri Rosell? He could make that case.
After the team agreed to transfer Rosell overseas in June 2014, Lawrence Olum overtook the starting job through the stretch run of last season, though he struggled to match Rosell’s production, and he subsequently departed the team over the offseason. In 2015, Sporting KC coach Peter Vermes opted to shift his attacking midfielder, Benny Feilhaber, to the defensive half of the midfield in an effort to shore up the position.
Finally, Mustivar received his first MLS start on May 3.
The turnstile has settled on its resting place. Mustivar has played the full 90 minutes in every game since.
“Soni’s been, I think, one of our most important players this year,” Feilhaber said. “Maybe I feel it more than anybody else, because he’s a guy that’s doing so much dirty work behind me.
“... I know a lot of the good things I’ve been able to do this year (are because) of the things he’s been able to do.”
Namely, he’s fit. Exceptionally so.
After every match, the team’s training staff presents Vermes with data showing the amount of ground each player covered over the course of the game. One name keeps popping up either atop the list — or darn close to it:
Mustivar.
“He’s a monster,” Vermes said. “He’s killing it.”
Mustivar, who holds dual citizenship in France and Haiti, says he played a similar role during his time in Romania’s Liga I from 2011-2014, his previous stop before Kansas City.
In other words, the smooth transition hasn’t served as a surprise.
“My agent told me this league was perfect for me, and now I understand why,” Mustivar said. “I love the way the team plays. It’s high intensity. Every game is a battle. It’s tough to win, but I like that.”
The physical demands, of course, are only a portion of the positional responsibilities. As a defensive midfielder, Mustivar is in charge of finding the exposed portions of his team’s defense and filling in the gaps.
His ability to do so can allow the outside backs to charge up the field into the attack, yet maintain confidence their vacated spot will be covered.
“It’s amazing all the ground he covers every game, and it’s not because he’s running (around) like a chicken without a head on. He’s just covering what you have to do in that position,” Vermes said. “It’s a position you have to be conscientious of everyone else. You’re like a parent overseeing the schoolyard.
“It’s an important position in the way we play. I think Soni has been fantastic.”Gaither is a veteran of six NFL seasons, most with the Philadelphia Eagles and ten games last season with the Carolina Panthers. He has played in 77 games with 40 starts over those six seasons.
Gaither is brought in to replace Travis Goethel who was lost for the season with an ACL injury against the Ravens last week.
The 6-foot-1, 235-pound Gaither came into the league as the Eagle's fifth round pick out of Tennessee. He became the fulltime starter at middle linebacker in his second season and amassed 103 combined tackles (69 solo) during that season.
That was his only full season as a starter but he would play in 74 of 96 games the past six seasons. Gaither's career totals include 393 tackles (254 solo), 51 special-teams stops, six sacks, 25 passes defensed, two interceptions, one forced fumble and two fumble recoveries.
He was in training camp with Houston Texans this season but didn't make the final roster and his name has been floated about as a possible signee by the Raiders who have been thin at the linebacker position all season.
Gaither will wear No. 53 for the Raiders.
To make room on the team's active roster, the Raiders Wednesday officially placed LB Travis Goethel on injured reserve (knee).U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman says Congress has the votes to pass the Trans Pacific Partnership agreement if it is brought up for a vote.
“If they [House and Senate leaders] bring it forward, I think we can get the votes there,” Froman told NBC on Tuesday.
Hillary Clinton was a vocal proponent of the TPP–having reportedly praised the deal at least 45 times–and played a “leading part in drafting” the deal before she was eventually forced to distance herself from her prior support for political reasons.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has previously argued that Clinton only says she’s against the TPP because she was “shamed” into doing so, and has warned that, if she is elected President, Clinton “will immediately approve it [TPP] if it is put before her.”
“Here’s how it would go,” Trump has explained, “She would make a small token change, declare the pact fixed, and ram it through. That’s why Hillary is now only saying she has problems with the TPP ‘in its current form,’ – ensuring that she can rush to embrace it again at her earliest opportunity.”
Indeed, during a recent CNBC interview, Bill Clinton said that the case for approving the TPP is “clear.” Similarly, just last week, Clinton’s running mate, Sen. Tim Kaine, seemed to leave the door open to the possibility that a Hillary Clinton administration would pass an Asian trade deal similar to the TPP, declaring “you never close the door” on passing this type of multi-national trade deal.
The Washington Post has reported that Clinton’s agenda on foreign trade would likely be advanced by Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan. Like Clinton, Ryan has been an enthusiastic advocate for globalist trade policies. In 2015, Ryan was President Obama’s “partner” in their effort to fast-track the Trans-Pacific Partnership. In a 2015 Wall Street Journal op-ed, Ryan described the TPP as an “historic” agreement which “would mean greater access to a billion customers for American manufacturers, farmers and ranchers.”
However, like Clinton, Ryan was forced to rhetorically distance himself from his prior support for TPP when faced with a primary challenge this past summer.
“After spending more than a year praising the TPP, and pushing through the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) package needed to grease the skids for it last year, Ryan” backed away slightly from his former position as a result of his contentious primary battle in Wisconsin’s first Congressional district, Breitbart reported earlier this year. “I have my own problems with TPP. It is not ready,” Ryan said of the 12-nation trade pact in August– indicating that he’d be open to enacting a tweaked version of the agreement at a later date. While campaigning, Ryan told his Wisconsin constituents that he wouldn’t bring the deal up for a vote during the lame-duck session of Congress “as long as we don’t have the votes.”
A recent blockbuster POLITICO pro-Harvard poll found that among those who have heard of the TPP, 63% oppose it and 68% think it “should not be voted on until the new Congress comes into office after the lame-duck session.”
The polling data also revealed that a majority of Americans reject the globalist trade agenda of Washington leaders like Clinton and Ryan. By a five-to-one margin, Americans believe that trade policies with other countries have lost American jobs. By a nearly four-to-one margin, Americans believe our trade policies have lowered rather than raised wages. Only 14% of Americans believe our trade policies have raised U.S. wages.
Yet if Forman’s predictions are correct, the public’s opposition to such deals will not stop elected representatives in Congress from voting to enact one of the largest multinational trade agreements in history.
Trump has previously made the case that a Trump presidency is the only way to stop the passage of TPP.
“Our leaders have negotiated terrible deals that are bleeding this country dry,” Trump told Breitbart News earlier this year. “The TPP is another terrible one-sided deal that rewards offshoring and enriches other countries at our expense. I will stop Hillary’s Obamatrade in its tracks…”
Indeed, while Clinton now publicly claims to oppose the deal, in a private speech made public by WikiLeaks, Clinton made clear that she believes politicians need to have “both a public and a private position” on every issue.
During a closed-door speech delivered to Goldman Sachs executives, Clinton declared that her “dream” is for a “hemispheric common market with open trade.”
Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein has explained how both Republican and Democrat establishment politicians are united in their efforts to push the globalist trade deal that will “give corporations more power than nations.”
Both Democrats & Republicans are pushing the TPP, a secret trade deal that would give corporations more power than nations. #NoTPP — Dr. Jill Stein🌻 (@DrJillStein) October 28, 2016
Stein and her party have explained how the TPP will be “NAFTA on steroids” and will “enrich wealthy corporations by exporting jobs and pushing down wages.” They have argued that the deal essentially amounts to a “global corporate coup” that “would give corporations more power than nations” by letting them “challenge our laws.”
Stein and her progressive supporters have excoriated Clinton for her longstanding support of trade policies that cede national sovereignty to transnational corporations, depress wages, and ship jobs overseas.
Are you still against the TPP, @HillaryClinton? Seems your own campaign manager can't recall your #PublicPosition on trade. #NoTPP pic.twitter.com/NslJ57bUrq — Dr. Jill Stein🌻 (@DrJillStein) October 27, 2016
Let's replace rigged trade deals that have offshored jobs, depressed wages, & undermined our sovereignty over our own economy & laws. #NoTPP — Dr. Jill Stein🌻 (@DrJillStein) October 27, 2016
The TPP has been called "NAFTA on steroids" because it will enrich wealthy corporations by exporting jobs and pushing down wages. #NoTPP — Dr. Jill Stein🌻 (@DrJillStein) October 28, 2016
The TPP will create global tribunals where corporations can challenge our laws before a panel of 3 corporate lawyers. #NoTPP — Dr. Jill Stein🌻 (@DrJillStein) October 28, 2016
A report from the Economic Policy Institute has documented the impact the U.S. trade deficit with TPP nations has had on American jobs throughout the nation.
In 2015 alone, Michigan suffered a net loss of nearly 214,600 jobs due to the U.S. trade deficit with TPP countries, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Ohio suffered a net loss of 112,500 jobs in 2015 due to the trade deficit with TPP nations, according to the report.
Pennsylvania lost nearly 70,000 jobs in 2015, according to the report..
North Carolina lost 60,700 jobs in 2015, according to the report.
Wisconsin lost nearly 40,000 jobs in 2015, according to the report.
Arizona lost 21,000 jobs in 2015, according to the report.
New Mexico lost 11,600 jobs in 2015, according to the report.If you are searching for any design related resources then you are right place indeed, today, we are featuring 20 useful Photoshop files which are the great design resources and you can download these absolutely free. Photoshop is a crucial tool for designers which help them out very much at the time of creating beautiful and creative stuff which we admire a lot and would have dreamed to create somehow like that.
Photoshop file not only a resource but opens up the door of creativity as well, it simplifies the effort and saves a lot of time of designers. It is the best friend of those moments when you feel low in terms of creativity, after getting a handy and useful PSD file you find yourself with new creativity and full of concept, you can try this while using the following PSD files.
These free PSD files will present you high creative designing stuffs plus great inspiration for you upcoming design projects as well. Surly with these Photoshop resources you will rock your project and will produce the creative design stuffs quite inspirable for others. Leave your thoughts about the article and these resources in the comment form below. We appreciate your efforts in your suggestions.The Johnny Hockey story begins in Carneys Point, New Jersey, and goes through Dubuque of the United States Hockey League to the campus of Boston College, where he won the Hobey Baker Award in 2014 as the NCAA's best player, to the international stage, where he won a gold medal with the United States at the 2013 IIHF World Junior Tournament, and on to the NHL.
It's almost the stuff of legend now; Gaudreau growing up learning to skate by |
loving wife or husband to create a new family. The steps you take along the way toward acquiring that new life can be boiled down to these salient points: Discard your old life.
Limit the resolve and resources of your opposition.
Run from your opposition (and your old life.)
Hide from your opposition.
Make new friends.
Acquire a new identity. (Legal papers: Birth record, Social Security #)
Find gainful employment.
Pay your taxes.
Get medical, life, and automotive insurance.
Get a credit card -- and keep it paid up.
Perhaps take college courses to learn a new marketable skill.
Acquire and maintain respectability in your community.
Find a wife or husband: Make a new family.
Don't drink heavily, don't use any illegal drugs, don't do any crimes.
illegal drugs, don't do any crimes. Die with dignity. What you want to do is make your new life to the point where if you're ever caught, your employer, friends, and neighbors will express disbelief when the cops haul you away. While getting caught shouldn't be part of your goals, you should consider the possibility and plan accordingly. This is very important if you build a new family: Your wife or husband should be told who you really are before you get married. Since you're working to become a respectable, productive member of society, your prospective spouse should know your past before you get married! Finding out your real name isn't Michael Johnson after five years of marriage won't help your wife maintain support for you when the cops come to haul you away. Letting her know you're on the run and for why you're on the run before hand means that you'll have support if they ever do find you. Section 10: Special note to Earth Liberation and Animal Liberation groups You people are faced with extraordinary problems when trying to disappear in America that aren't experienced by the traditional citizen attempting to disappear for more traditional reasons. Much has been written already about your problems and how to deal with them so this essay doesn't attempt to address them. Additionally I don't presume to claim to know what's best for you and your loose-nit organizations since your efforts are totally outside of my experience even as I share some of your goals. I'm (Fredric Rice speaking here, by the way) a vegetarian and I find the vivisectionists trade and the animal fur trade to be worth destroying totally -- however my venue is to employ completely legal avenues of recource. Still, if I may offer what I feel to be a salient point about the plight of direct-action liberationists: Your mind set. You're considered to be domestic terrorists with international ties given the advent of the Internet which allows you to communicate locally and internationally. You doubtlessly don't consider yourself to be terrorists -- domestic or foreign -- however the fact is that law enforcement does consider you as such. This is an important thing to keep in mind when on the run from the law and working to build for yourself a new identity. You may feel that burning down some barns after liberating a couple of thousand mink prisoners should not be a crime since you're correcting a massive wrong, but your opposition consider you to be economic terrorists predicated upon ideological attributes which place you firmly into a set of profiles law enforcement use as baseline into the psychology of what drives you. As such, your opposition is motivated to find you. Given the fact that the vivisectionist industry and the animal fur industry financially support political venues, and you're left needing to discard any mindset you may have that your crimes are minimal. You must adopt the mindset of your opposition which considers you -- rightly or wrongly -- to be a considerable threat to people's security.
consider you as such. Don't claim that what the law enforcement agencies do to you is some how "harassment" or otherwise totally unwarranted. While police brutality against direct-actionists is very real, and while innocent people are questioned or interrogated by the authorities for no apparent reason other than to intimidate you, you need to face some facts of life simply so that if you ever do find yourself on the lam from the law, you'll have internalized where you fit into the "food chain" so-to-speak. Namely: By associating with animal rights and Earth rights activists, you are aligning yourself to a criminal element and you do know what you're in for when you join protests against the bad guys. That's the way the system works, you accepted that when you joined the resistance, so get comfortable with the consequences. If you don't -- if you persist in lamenting the woes about how unfair it all is that the cops are picking on you -- you're in a mindset that doesn't assist the positive mental state you'll need if you find yourself needing to hide from the law. My advice is that you get pragmatic and admit to yourself that you're really a criminal if you engage in direct action. Accept the fact that you're committing a wrong even as you're correcting a wrong. Since the law is on the side of the planet killers, vivisectionists, and the animal fur trade, the law doesn't recognize the wrong of these industries so you may feel that you've done nothing wrong. In the eyes of the law, you're in the wrong so be pragmatic about it and believe that you did wrong so that if you have to run, your mind is where it needs to be to survive.
Acquire the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of lawyers which work with direct-actionists and have that information with you when you go on the lam from the law. Keep it with you while you try to rebuild your new life so that in the event there's a knock on your door (or the fascist pigs kick it in like how it's done in Moscow) <end rant> ) you'll be ready to acquire defense.
Don't run to fellow activists to seek shelter from the law. While the above-ground activists are routinely monitored by the FBI -- spot checks, usually, irregularly or regularly scheduled depending upon a number of factors -- don't forget that even under-ground activists have probably already been compromised. Assume the worst and stop associating with fellow activists. Never contact a fellow activist unless it's from a pay telephone that you can vacate outside a ten mile radius within a ten minute time frame. That means that if you must contact people for support, it should be from a pay telephone along a freeway or other high-speed avenue.
That means that if you must contact people for support, it should be from a pay telephone along a freeway or other high-speed avenue. Arsonists are not "political prisoners!" I have read in so many web pages for decades that animal rights or Earth rights activists like to point at their fellow activists who have been indicted and jailed and claim they're "political prisoners." No. They are not. This point is important. Pretending that arsonists and vandals who smash fur farms and such -- while undeniably deserving to be smashed -- are some how "political prisoners" is equal to the fascists in the goverment claiming such actvists are some how "terrorists." Neither is true and all sides who engage in such outrageously false and delusional rhetoric suffer from playing such idiot games. If you're trying to run and hide and rebuild your life, it's important to get your head together, divest yourself of your comfortable delusions, and admit to yourself exactly who and what you are. Pretend you're on the run to avoid being a "political prisoner" ingrains within you a fictitious and false view of your real situation -- something that only helps your opposition. In summation, I feel that there is a need within the direct-actionist community to get more realistic about who they are and what they're doing; that arson is a crime, that liberating animals is against the law. Not accepting the facts pragmatically, I feel, adversely impacts an activist's chances of avoiding capture. Section 11: South Western Deserts as a Place to Hide / Squatting Where there's water, life is possible. True, it may be very difficult and very hard to live, depending, but anyone who's driven, hiked, or camped in the American South West will have noticed that cities and ranches crop up where there's surface water or where there's been a well dug. Within the state of California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, and Colorado, there are deserts, mesas, mountains, and forests where normally people never or rarely visit; not-so-secret places where there's water, access to a road within a day's hike, and where a fairly rugged individual may hide while remaining basically healthy, marginally well fed, and reasonably sane. In this section I'll look at two such environments, neither of which I would recommend, but one of which I'd suggest is a reasonable way to live in basic health while either on the run, hiding out from the law, old girl friends, the draft for an illegal war, putative wives and such. The first South Western environment (the one I wouldn't recommend except for the most hearty individual) is the Mojave Desert among the volcanic rocks where there's water if you know where to find it, and where shade from the relentless Sun can be built, if you know how to build it. South Western Mojave Desert Some years ago my brother Desertphile was tracking across the Mojave Desert in the dead of night, hiking a long distance from one water hole to another, using a hand-held Global Positioning System device, topo maps, and a backpack containing mostly water and tarp equipment for emergency shade. While crossing the mouth of a small side canyon out in the middle of absolutely nowhere, he stumbled across squatters -- or more accurately their dogs -- living in a number of small trailors covered with camouflage netting over paint-splotched shade tarps. With no roads of any kind, the people living there had managed to some how drag small mobile trailors into the high desert and had been living there hidden from the outside world. Thinking about this and the people squatting there, there were some very basic things they had done: Shade from the sun -- A long-term squat like this took time, some money, and effort and among the first priorities would have been shade from the Sun. I would hazard a guess that the camp started with a single trailor, dropped off in a Winter month, possible during the rainy season where the area might get as much as five inches of rain for the year. As time and circumstances permitted, I'd guess that the squatters camp was built up over the years piece by piece. With desert-colored splotches of paint on tarps spread not only on the trailors but in the spaces between, a reasonable amount of shade was possible.
Disguise from overhead -- Aircraft from area Air Force Bases all other Southern California and Western Nevada would fly over the general area, not to mention the occasional commercial aircraft, power line or natural gas company. Visibly breaking up the shade tarps would help keep aircraft from spotting the squatter's camp. Heat sources within the camp, of course, at night and possibly during the day depending on the ambient temp wouldn't be blocked from military equipment on board military aircraft.
Reasonable access to water -- This squatters camp was about a third to a half a day's hike to the nearest water hole, and perhaps a half of a day's hike to a mud hole from which muddy water could be acquired. A wheeled travois, motorized two or three wheeled vehicle, or backpack was probably used to fetch water once a month or so, probably setting out after sunset and getting back to camp before sunrise.
Emergency transportation -- One of the things noticed at this squatters camp was a number of beat-up four-wheeled buggies, the small kind used by kids. There was no way to know whether they were used to haul water, make trips into Las Vegas for supplies, or what not, however I'd expect that any reasonably safe effort to hide out and live in such an area would include a motorized vehicle that could be driven to a hospital in the event of a broken leg, poison, snake bite, and other emergencies.
Minimal agriculture -- There looked to be a minimal amount of food being grown. Perhaps a wise squatter will do some basic research and see what eatable plants would survive in the area if given shade. Anyone contemplating setting up a camp in the Mojave Desert -- or in any of the surrounding deserts -- would obtain a topographical map, note where the indicated springs, stock ponds, and other water sources are, and then would evaluate where to locate shade for such a camp. Then the individual would investigate the water sources to verify that they're wet and drinkable all year around -- or at least during the months the individual will be surviving in the area for. Where exactly? One possible wide spread area of interest would be the area between Las Vegas, Nevada, and some 30 miles West of Baker, California, North of the 15 highway -- perhaps within the hills along North Cima Road. Much of the lands located there are owned by the Federal government however ranchers subsidized by tax money run cattle which can be poached, and there's water which can be found. South of the 15 highway is more volcanic and has less water unless you go to Soda Springs off of Zyzzyx Road where there's a ranger station and the Desert Studies center (filling up canteens there from the spring could be done without suspicions but filling up drums of water might cause people at Soda Springs to suspect you're living out in the desert.) North of the 15 highway your topo map will show numerous springs, tanks, and stock ponds, many of which will contain water, and many of which will be dry -- but will not be listed as dry on the map so you need to investigate, take notes, take GPS coordinates, and plan thoughtfully. Also North of highway 15 is cattle subsidized by U. S. Forest Service; cattle that has overgrazed and destroyed much of the plants and displaced much of the animals that used to eck out a meger existance in these lands. Poaching is illegal, of course, and could get you strung up, drained, and jerked like deer meat if you're caught, so perhaps you could look at cows -- what Edward Abbey called "slow elk" -- as an emergency food source. If you plan on poaching, you should do your homework and learn how to butcher a cow and transport batches of the animal from the place where you butchered it back to your camp, figuring out how to wrap what you can't carry to keep flies, vultures, and other animals out of your meat until you can return for the rest of it. Still, I'd recommend not poaching in the high desert out there not only because it's illegal, not only because if you're caught by a rancher he may decide to dump your carcass into a volcanic rock crack, but most importantly because you don't want to draw attention to the fact that you're living in the general area. A rancher coming up short on his count might very well put down the shortage to "natural causes" but if you leave remains to be found and the remains show that the missing cattle was butchered and carted off, the Feds like nothing better than to mount up a nice desert posse to come look for you. How I Would Do It For setting up a squatters camp in the deserts North of Highway 15 and West of Baker, I might choose somewhere in the Iron Mountain range, North of the military base, and South West of the bombing range. Here's what I would do: Acquire topo maps of the area, and acquire an aircraft sectional map of the area.
Contrive a suitable explanation on why I'm treking all over the desert where humans rarely visit. With a digital camera, claiming that I'm creating an Internet web site to record some of the natural rock formations of the area would be a suitable explanation. The notes I take would be vague to others who might read it yet meaningful to me when I lay it all out for evaluation.
Note the dirt roads in the area, use a ruler to note as accurately as possible the indicated springs, stock ponds, water tanks, buildings, and towers in the area, writing down their logitude and latitude in a book of note paper. Figure out the worst-case distance between the water source and narby dirt roads.
Get on the Internet and do research on the names of the springs listed in the notebook to get an idea on what might be in the area and how often humans visit it. Also to get information on the types of plants and animals that live in the area, including nearby ranches and cattle.
Visit as many water sources as possible, hiking to them with a GPS hand-held device, topo maps, notebook, digital camera, a writing pen, matches, water (don't forget the hat!) I'd do as much of my hiking at night, stopping when the GPS indicates I'm in the general arWASHINGTON (JTA) – When it comes to Israel, Democrats and Republicans simply do not see eye to eye, and for all their love of Zion, evangelicals will turn out for a candidate who is less than 100 percent on the issue.
Welcome to the 2016 presidential election, when the conventional pro-Israel wisdom has been turned upside down.
For years it was sacrosanct that whatever else divides the parties, backing the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s line on Israel unites them. And Republicans who want to be elected better count on evangelicals and their rock-solid support for Israel.
This year, the presumptive Republican nominee is an unknowable provocateur who has said he couldn’t care less about pandering to pro-Israel donors. Democrats who bucked pro-Israel orthodoxies over the last year are confident they can reclaim the Senate and are setting their sights on the once-unthinkable — regaining control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Donald Trump has said repeatedly that he would approach Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking with neutrality and for weeks would not commit to recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. He also told a roomful of Jewish Republicans that he did not want their money.
Trump seems unwilling to consistently pander — on Israel or anything else — to a constituency whose turnout many deem essential to a Republican victory in presidential elections.
READ: Fearing Trump, Republican Jews give Cruz another look
Yet while much of the evangelical establishment loathes Trump, the real estate magnate’s support among evangelicals, at 36 percent, was commensurate with his support among Republicans overall, the Washington Post reported in March. And some leaders in the movement back him, most prominently Jerry Falwell Jr., who heads Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia.
Pro-Israel insiders, attempting to explain evangelical support for Trump, point to disquisitions like one in the Washington Post by Jennifer Rubin and Peter Wehner, neoconservative commentators who distinguish between evangelicals who self-identify because of “broad cultural identification” (and are likelier to vote Trump) and those who do because of a “creedal faith” (less likely to vote Trump.)
It’s an old argument, but it explodes the conventional wisdom. David Brog, the one-time director of Christians United for Israel, would tell reporters year in and year out at CUFI’s conferences that the group had as one of its missions reminding Republicans that to win they needed evangelicals, and to win evangelicals they needed to be pro-Israel.
CUFI declined to comment, as did Brog, who now heads a Sheldon Adelson-funded initiative to advance pro-Israel activism on campus.
The end of the third rail
Rabbi Steve Gutow also embodies the new normal: He helped set up AIPAC’s Southwest operation in the 1980s, helped found the National Jewish Democratic Council – for years the pro-Israel voice in the party — in the 1990s and for 10 years starting in 2005 directed the consensus-driven Jewish Council for Public Affairs.
Last week, Gutow began working for J Street helping candidates who once may have been isolated for their criticism of Israel tap into what J Street calls “pro-Israel, pro-peace” American Jewish voters. Its affiliated JStreetPAC is raising money to support candidates who backed the Iran deal over AIPAC’s objections.
“Most of the folks who led for the Iran deal will have won reelection and those who opposed will have lost” come November, predicted Ben Shnider, J Street’s political director. “It’s not the single factor, but if you look at the calculus, supporting diplomacy was added value, and that will go even further in changing the dynamics.”
READ: ANALYSIS: AIPAC and the perils of bipartisanship
In an interview, Gutow said the willingness of incumbents to openly challenge pro-Israel orthodoxies came not just because of differences over the Iran deal, but had evolved as Democrats sought to salvage the two-state solution. He said the collapse of the U.S.-driven Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in 2014 meant that sentiments once uttered privately were coming out into the open.
“Why are people feeling more free to speak out?” Gutow asked. “It’s the length of the problem and the seeming insolubleness of the problem.”
AIPAC recognizes the challenges and this month named Jonathan Kessler, who set up the Israel lobby’s campus operation — one of its signal successes in recent decades — as a “director of strategic initiatives.” Kessler will identify new “outside the box” approaches, according to a release that cited “upheaval in the Middle East and real changes in Washington, D.C.” as reasons for the new position.
AIPAC remains steadfastly nonpartisan. A hallway at its annual conference in March was lined with posters profiling a diverse array of activists — black, white, Latino, Christian, Jewish, liberal, conservative.
“AIPAC is strongly committed to further strengthening the bipartisan pro-Israel movement in America both in its size and diversity,” Marshall Wittmann, its spokesman, said in an email.
But bipartisanship has its limits. For eight years, from 2007 to 2014, AIPAC hosted the Steny and Eric show. The titles varied – some years one was the majority leader, the other the minority whip and vice versa — but the script for Reps. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and Eric Cantor, R-Va., didn’t vary by much: It was a demonstration of bipartisan solidarity on Israel despite political differences.
“Although we’re on opposite sides of the political aisle, we are absolutely united when it comes to the U.S.-Israel relationship,” Cantor said in 2008.
This year’s installment was very different. Cantor, booted from Congress in 2014 by a Tea Party challenger in the Republican primaries, was replaced by Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. All seemed good when he and Hoyer paired up in March at the AIPAC conference.
But McCarthy said the Obama administration sowed “doubt” about Israel, and Hoyer, his voice tense, interrupted the moderator to say the U.S. and Israeli security establishments “are cooperating as closely today as they have in the past.”
If the seams began to show, it was because it had been a rough year or so for unanimity. A year earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed Congress, blasting President Barack Obama’s talks with Iran to achieve a nuclear deal. The speech and its fallout rallied the Democratic Party’s leadership to keep the deal alive, even as AIPAC led the charge against it.
The deal went through. AIPAC has profited from the perception, however mythical, that it can kill political careers. But with a new perception looming — of a lobby that no longer gets its way — the folks who would supplant AIPAC and its allies are ready to seize the day.
READ: How Bernie Sanders just became the rabbi of the Jewish left
By April, when Hillary Clinton faced off against Bernie Sanders ahead of the New York Democratic presidential primary, the Vermont senator chided Clinton in the debate for her well-received speech to AIPAC.
“You barely mentioned the Palestinians,” he said, and the Brooklyn audience cheered.
Sanders did not win the primary, but his willingness to take on Clinton over an issue once seen as the third rail was the sign that the new normal had arrived.
Within days of the debate, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry — representing twice the administration firepower AIPAC had drawn just weeks earlier — were preaching tough love at J Street’s annual gala. Biden made headlines at the event, saying Netanyahu was taking Israel in the “wrong direction.”Vaccinating only Syrian refugees against polio may not be enough to prevent the crippling viral disease from re-infecting Europe where it has not been seen for decades, German scientists warned on Friday.
Writing in The Lancet medical journal, they said the risk to Europe from a re-emergence of polio in Syria was partly due to the type of vaccine generally used in regions that have not had the disease for many years.
Polio, caused by a virus transmitted via contaminated food or water, was confirmed among young children in northeast Syria last month — its first appearance there in 14 years.
A health worker administers polio vaccine to a child as part of a UNICEF-supported vaccination campaign in Damascus, Syria last month. The oral form of polio vaccination is considered more reliable when the virus is actively circulating. (Omar Sanadiki/UNICEF/Associated Press)
The World Health Organization (WHO) said the virus probably spread from Pakistan — one of three countries where polio is still endemic — and warned that Syria's outbreak posed a threat to millions of children across the Middle East.
Polio passes easily from person to person and can spread rapidly among children, especially in the kind of unsanitary conditions endured by displaced people in Syria or in crowded refugee camps in neighbouring countries.
The disease invades the nervous system and can cause irreversible paralysis within hours — and the WHO's repeated warning is that as long as any single child remains infected with polio, children everywhere are at risk.
Vaccinating only Syrian refugees — as has been recommended by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control — must be judged as insufficient. - Martin Eichner and Stefan Brockmann
In their Lancet paper, Martin Eichner of the University of Tübingen and Stefan Brockmann of Germany's Reutlingen Regional Public Health Office noted that most European countries currently use inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) rather than oral polio vaccination (OPV) — a live form of immunization.
And while IPV is highly effective in preventing polio disease, it gives only partial protection from infection and is therefore less reliable if the virus is actively circulating.
Since large numbers of refugees are fleeing Syria and seeking refuge in neighbouring countries and Europe, there is now a chance the virus could be reintroduced into areas which have been polio-free for decades, they said.
"Vaccinating only Syrian refugees — as has been recommended by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control — must be judged as insufficient," they wrote. "More comprehensive measures should be taken into consideration."
Among extra measures, they suggested routine screening of sewage in areas where large numbers of Syrian refugees are settling, to check for the possible presence of polio virus.
Benjamin Neuman, a virologist at Britain's University of Reading, agreed that the fresh outbreak in Syria posed a wide risk both to neighbouring countries and beyond.
"Each new baby who is born is at risk of polio until vaccinated," he said. "Until the virus is completely extinct, it is essential that we continue to vaccinate our children."* Says usage-based pricing would increase efficiency
* Welcomes cable industry initiative on Wi-Fi hotspots
By Yinka Adegoke
BOSTON, May 22 (Reuters) - The head of the Federal Communications Commission said he supports cable companies’ charging for Internet based on how much a subscriber uses the service, and also welcomed a cable industry initiative to share Wi-Fi hotspots around the country.
Most Internet service providers charge a flat fee and price their packages based on the speed of the service. Cable providers have been considering charging based on usage, similar to the way utilities charge for electricity.
“Usage-based pricing would help drive efficiency in the networks,” FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said on Tuesday, speaking at the cable industry’s annual NCTA Show.
Genachowski said usage-based pricing would also be fairer to users and would encourage competition.
Cable providers have explored usage-priced pricing, but the idea has not been well received. There have been concerns that the companies were trying to raise their fees.
Comcast Corp, the No. 1 U.S. cable operator, said last week that it would conduct a trial of usage-based pricing in two markets.
Time Warner Cable, the No. 2 U.S. cable company, launched a trial of usage-based pricing in 2009 but was forced to end it after negative feedback from consumer groups. It launched a new trial in February.
Genachowski praised the cable industry for its leadership in the development of Wi-Fi services and welcomed an initiative by several cable companies to allow their customers to access each other’s free Wi-Fi hotspots.
Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cablevision Systems Corp, Cox Communications and Bright House Networks said this week that they would share access to more than 50,000 hot spots.
For example, Comcast customers visiting New York would be able to access Time Warner Cable or Cablevision Wi-Fi hotspots by logging into the generic CableWiFi hotspot with their Comcast details.
The initiative could put extra pressure on telecoms companies such as Verizon Wireless and AT&T Inc, which would prefer that customers pay for 3G or 4G wireless packages for iPad tablets, laptops and other devices.
The cable companies are determined to keep pace with consumers’ demands by adding more flexible and mobile features to their service plans.“I was not only surprised, I was shocked — to me it showed how Washington was detached from reality of Afghanistan, the reality of the U.S. military,” Amrullah Saleh, a former Afghan intelligence chief, said of Mr. Trump’s talk of firing General Nicholson. He called the general “a rare and exceptional personality — he stands out.”
General Nicholson is now not only the American face of the war, but also the face of American continuity for an Afghan government dealing with a new administration in Washington. A new ambassador to Kabul has yet to be confirmed.
He has described himself as the product of the United States’ post-Sept. 11 campaign in Afghanistan. In this country, more than anywhere else, personal relationships are crucial. Battles often turn as much on winning the trust and faith of local leaders as on driving out the Taliban.
“I have seen many American commanders here, but the combination of qualities that Nicholson brings — as a professional general, as a leader who understands and is comfortable with the culture here — is very rare,” said retired Gen. Sher Mohammad Karimi, the former chief of the Afghan Army, who has known General Nicholson for a decade.
“I have watched him from when he was a colonel, to now that he is a general,” General Karimi said. “Even then, like he does now, he would meet elders in Khost and in Nangarhar, for lunch, for tea, for discussions.”
Even before 9/11, General Nicholson was part of a breed of Army officers trying to bring about a sweeping transformation, shaping the force for more agile fighting.
His three tours in Afghanistan before he arrived as commander gave him extraordinary knowledge of the country. It took him from the east along the Pakistani borderlands to the Taliban hotbed in the south. At the peak of the American military surge, when President Barack Obama sharply escalated the number of troops, he served in Kabul as the deputy commanding general for operations.Italy's former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (C) leaves after a meeting with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano at Quirinale palace in Rome March 29, 2013. REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini
ROME (Reuters) - Silvio Berlusconi said on Saturday his center-right party would soon present eight bills to parliament, including a proposal to abolish a hated housing tax, in an attempt to seize the initiative despite Italy’s political deadlock.
Since elections in February, Italy has been in limbo with a huge protest vote for the populist 5-Star Movement splitting parliament three ways and leaving no group with enough support to rule alone.
Center-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani has rebuffed overtures from Berlusconi’s People of Freedom (PDL) party to form a grand coalition with him. In turn, 5-Star leader Beppe Grillo has rejected Bersani’s attempt to form an alliance.
“While the other parties are committed to wasting time, we in the People of Freedom party always keep the interests of the country in mind,” Berlusconi said on his Facebook page.
He said the eight bills, to be presented in the week starting April 15, would reflect his party’s campaign program during the election. They would be “concrete proposals that will have an immediate positive impact on the real economy and on society, above all in terms of creating new jobs”.
The proposals include his promise to abolish and refund the unpopular IMU tax on primary residences, a review of the powers of tax collection agency Equitalia, tax incentives for firms hiring young people, and the scrapping of public funding of political parties.
Some of the bills could receive support from other parties. Grillo’s 5-Star has also called for the end of the IMU tax on primary homes and of public funding for parties.
Berlusconi said the PDL would outline the proposals in more detail on April 13, and that they were ready to be presented to the Senate, Italy’s upper house of parliament.
His list of bills also includes reform of the justice and fiscal system and a proposal to revise Italy’s constitution to strengthen the powers of the prime minister.Magpie geese have become a major problem for farmers in the Northern Territory.
A major research project is underway to find a long-term solution to a growing issue in Australia's north - stopping magpie geese from eating mangoes.
Farmers met in Darwin's rural area last week to talk about possible solutions and provide input to a research initiative backed by Horticulture Innovation Australia (HIA), the Northern Territory Government, NT Farmers Association and Charles Darwin University.
Farmers say the problem is getting worse, with some reporting more than 50 per cent of their mango crop was destroyed last season by magpie geese.
Dr Warren Hunt from the NT Department of Primary Industry said working out why the geese's appetite for mangoes was increasing would be the first step of the research project.
"There's always been a background presence of magpie geese in and around orchards, but things seemed to have escalated and it's been suggested that 2012 might have been a turning point," he said.
"So we need to understand what's happening with the birds, but the other side of this project is to look at some novel damage mitigation techniques."
Dr Hamish Campbell from Charles Darwin University said a combination of scare-techniques would be tested in the next mango season, but a long-term solution was the overall aim.
"Magpie geese really are a herbivorous bird, they feed on wild rice and such, so to see this switch in the population to become really a frugivore is unusual from a biological perspective, but obviously a real pain in the neck for the farmers," he said.
"We have to look at a regional scale solution, whilst at the same time looking at on-farm short term solutions, to get a relief for farmers while we get to the crux of the problem, because I don't think we'll solve it within one season."
Mango grower Martina Matzner said her orchard had around 15,000 geese on it during periods of last year's mango season.
Share Farmers meet in Darwin's rural area to work out ways of keeping magpie geese off crops.
Although many growers are asking for more geese to be shot, Ms Matzner was confident other solutions can be found.
"No one wants to shoot the birds, I certainly don't, they're an icon to the Northern Territory, the idea is to develop something that's sustainable," she said.
"If horticulture is going to increase up here significantly in the future, we really have to work together on these problems that are popping up.
"It's magpie geese today, but might be corellas tomorrow, we have to work together to find a solution that's sustainable.
"We might have to accept a certain amount of damage, but we certainly have to ensure we minimise it to an extent to remain sustainable, we won't exist much longer if we're losing 50 per cent of the crop for example."
The Country Hour broadcast from the workshop last week and hosted a panel discussion that included:
- Martina Matzner (Mango farmer and NT RIRDC Rural Women's Award winner)
- Han Shiong Siah (Mango farmer and Nuffield Scholar)
- Dr Warren Hunt (NT Department of Primary Industry); and
- Dr Hamish Campbell (Charles Darwin University)
Audio Player failed to load. Try to Download directly (9.48 MB) Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Download (9.48 MB)
Load more chevron rightProfessional social network Linkedin surpassed Myspace in terms of traffic to become the No. 2 most visited social networking site in the U.S. in June. LinkedIn, which has seen a resurgence of traffic after its IPO in May, reached an all-time high of 33.9 million unique visitors in June compared to Myspace, which saw 33.5 million unique visitors (that’s down from 34.9 million in May). Hopefully Myspace’s new owners can recharge the troubled social network.
Twitter posted record U.S. traffic, with June as the first month the site saw over 30 million unique visitors. Twitter.com had 30.6 million unique visitors in June, compared to 27 million unique vistors in May. The increase in traffic is actually a big win for Twitter, which splits traffic between its own mobile clients and the many third-party clients that are used to access the network.
Facebook also reached an all-time high in terms of U.S. traffic in June, according to newly released comScore data. In June, Facebook saw 160.8 million unique vistors in the U.S., which is up from 157.2 million uniques in May. The company also announced that it crossed the 750 million active users mark worldwide in June as well.
Tumblr saw 11.8 million unique visitors in June, up from 10.7 million unique visitors in May. In June, we reported that Tumblr was seeing around 400 million pageviews per day, thanks in part to international growth and faster response times.LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO (Reuters) - McDonald’s Corp’s U.S. restaurants will gradually stop buying chicken raised with antibiotics vital to fighting human infections, the most aggressive step by a major food company to change chicken producers’ practices in the fight against dangerous ‘superbugs.’
The world’s biggest restaurant chain announced on Wednesday that within two years, McDonald’s USA will only buy chickens raised without antibiotics that are important to human medicine. The concern is that the overuse of antibiotics for poultry may diminish their effectiveness in |
National Committee and worked for former House Speaker John Boehner but had no recruiting experience.
DeStefano, in turn, stacked the office with campaign veterans who demonstrated loyalty to the president but had little government experience.
While several administration officials praised DeStefano’s work ethic and willingness to take on what many view as a thankless job, two administration officials privately acknowledge his office is overwhelmed and understaffed.
“Johnny is caught in the middle of competing polices in the Republican Party,” said Mike Sommers, Boehner’s former chief of staff, who has worked closely with DeStefano.
“In many ways, he is the focal point of a civil war that is going on in the party right now,” Sommers added, referring to the White House divisions among economic nationalists like Bannon, New York banker types, and conservatives in the mold of The Heritage Foundation and Pence — all with competing priorities for the administration’s make-up.
In recent weeks, McGahn has also expanded his grip on the hiring process. He sometimes attends the hourlong weekly meetings when Trump reviews nominees. He also has final sign-off on every hire at each agency’s general counsel office, down to the most junior lawyer.
As a result, DeStefano is not really empowered to make decisions, said one former transition official. “All decisions in this White House are made by the same group of people who made these decisions during the campaign, and this extends to personnel,” the official said.
Meanwhile, Cabinet secretaries struggling with skeletal staffs have started to chafe at the slow hiring and at what some regard as micromanagement.
The personnel office has given some secretaries a set number of hires they can make — with the majority chosen by the White House. In at least two cases, the personnel office sent secretaries a pre-approved list of three or four candidates for top spots at their agencies — moves that have frustrated secretaries wanting to handpick their own deputies.
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke called out the Office of Presidential Personnel last week as he vented his frustration about filling vacancies. "The executive branch is no different than any other branch. It’s a frustration of bureaucracy," said Zinke, who was sworn in in early March.
People close to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt said he’s also fuming about the hiring pace, worried he doesn’t have enough White House-approved personnel to quickly carry out the president’s agenda, which includes rewriting Obama’s climate change regulations.
“He’s trying to build a team, but it’s been very difficult,” said one person close to Pruitt.
Some Cabinet secretaries, including Defense Secretary James Mattis and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, have tried to go around the office to hire their own staff, while Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly have all clashed with the White House over hiring.
Aides to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have fought to bring on hires regarded as potentially disloyal by the White House, such as senior aide Craig Phillips, a past donor to Hillary Clinton and Democratic causes.
A Treasury spokesman defended the personnel office, saying it had "made great progress in getting our department the critical personnel resources needed."
Filling national security jobs has been particularly difficult, since so many experts in that field openly criticized the president during the election.
One former personnel staffer from the Obama administration said he “could not imagine a process” where lower-level political appointees required anything more than the approval of the head of the personnel office.
Breaking News Alerts Get breaking news when it happens — in your inbox. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time.
The personnel office was a hastily assembled team that came together in just five days following the inauguration. (Both Obama and Bush entered the White House with a personnel team already in place.)
Thirty-eight people currently staff the personnel office, with a designee assigned to staff each agency. They, in turn, report to seven high-level appointees overseen by DeStefano and his deputy.
The transition team made some early missteps, like naming people before vetting them fully. That has led to bottlenecks that still plague the process. Just clearing a political appointee through the Office of Government Ethics and FBI background check can take from 40 to 60 days, and 170 potential hires are now in that pipeline, said one official.
Officials have changed the process and are doing the checks before naming hires, two administration officials said.
People tracking the sluggish pace of hiring also get the sense that top White House officials, grappling with the day-to-day management of the West Wing and combating a steady stream of negative news stories, aren't focused on hiring at agencies.
Bannon’s call for a destruction of the so-called administrative state and Trump’s budget proposal making deep cuts to the federal workforce have reinforced that view.
"Honestly, I don't think it's a huge priority for the White House," said a lobbyist who has talked to administration officials about hiring.Passwords, banking records, social media accounts
—day by day our lives create more and more data. But what becomes of all that data when we pass away is a looming problem with no clear answer.
Marc Davis, a partner architect at Microsoft responsible for online services such as Bing, MSN, and advertising, raised this and other troubling issues about citizens' rights to their own information at a panel at this weekend's SXSW conference, called "Demystifying Online Privacy and Empowering the Digital Self." Despite our increasingly data-intensive lives, Davis explains, the legal framework around our personal data just isn't there yet. "Usually, where commerce and society meet legally is the concept of property," Davis said. "What's missing is a concept of contract law and property rights for digital information."
Consider the concept of a digital will: A legally binding statement to the world declaring who should have access to your information after you die. It's a question that is bound to get only more complicated as our digitally engaged population grows older and expires. Think about how many passwords and online accounts you have. Who else has access to that information now? Whom would you like to get access after you die? How would the providers that host that data in the cloud even know you died, and what standards could they use to verify that fact? As the information we store in the cloud becomes more voluminous and valuable, these questions become more than simply academic.
Davis tells PM that professionals in the legal, funeral, and estate planning professions are just starting to come to grips with the problem of what to do with information after death. He's been part of several panels on the subject in the past two years, and recently there have been a series of Digital Death Days intended to educate the industry about the problem (the next one in the United States is May 6th, in San Francisco). A few startup companies such as Legacy Locker and Entrustet have also sprung up to handle the legal and financial issues of data after death.
Yet most people don't know how much data they have in the cloud in the first place, and have made no preparations for what happens to that information after death. "More and more people are living their lives online, but also their lives in the physical world are connecting to the Internet," Davis says. That produces information with obvious financial value, such as banking and tax records, but also plenty of information with personal value: photos, music, communications, and social networking accounts. Then add in all of the data we automatically generate relating to our location, buying habits, Internet surfing histories, and more. "There's a whole swath of data that we create that increasingly gets bound to our identity so that we leave a digital legacy," Davis says.
The subject is deeply intertwined with the larger issue of digital identity. As Davis points out, that it's not just after death that digital property issues come into play. "Every life phase we go through where we've established structures, documents and contracts to handle property and identity—birth, marriage, divorce, retirement—we've created as a civilization ways to handle the movements of rights and assets. So we're at that time in history now where we're applying these metaphors and frameworks onto the digital realm."
The courts probably won't figure out this complicated conundrum anytime soon. But for individuals the solution is simple, Davis says—include a digital will along with your regular will. Leave instructions for how to get to your digital assets and what to do with them. Then your online identity won't end up in digital limbo.First off, let me say that there is no bigger fan of Home Alone than myself. I’ve seen it more times than you’ve probably seen your mother’s face so trust me when I say that I’m not slamming the movie in any way. After a while, you start to notice things that don’t really make sense or that have gone somewhat unnoticed. I know you’re all about to say that you have too much time on your hands and my answer to that is I could not agree with you more. Here’s a look at 8 things that always bothered me in Home Alone.
1. Kevin’s Mom Did All of Her Traveling For Nothing.
You know at the very end of the movie when Kevin has those sweet moments with his mom that’s quickly interrupted by the arrival of the rest of the gang? It seems nice, but do you realize that means she did all of that nightmare travel for nothing? She asks how they got back so soon and Peter tells her that they simply waited for the next flight. She laughs and they all hug, but I would have lost my mind. While they all sat in a nice hotel being fed shrimp by Uncle Frank, she spent thousands of dollars and gave away her dangly earrings just to arrive 30 seconds early. I seriously would have thrown a shoe through a window.
2. Old Man Marley Brought It On Himself.
We find out halfway through the movie that Old Man Marley isn’t a shovel carrying murder that turns his victims into mummies, but rather a misunderstood old guy who just misses his family. Here’s the thing; he brings most of that judgment upon himself. When he runs into Kevin at the store, instead of just speaking to him like a normal, function member of society, he slams his hand down on the counter. Oh did I forget to mention that his hand is covered in bloody bandage? What were you doing, Marley? Maybe you should get that looked at by a doctor instead of visiting your corner drug store for a beard comb or whatever you were buying. Anyone in their right mind would be horrified of you, pal.
3. This Was NEVER Mentioned Again?
I know that Kevin thought he made his parents disappear, but the fact that he battled a duo of criminals and defended their home against hardened criminals it never came up in conversation? I would have bragged about this for the rest of my life and used it as a warning to Buzz so he knows never to mess with me again. Oh you’re going to feed me to your tarantula? I smashed a pair of criminals in the face with paint cans. You probably shouldn’t mess with me.
4. What Kind of Store Sells a Toothbrush Not Approved by the ADA?
Sure Kevin panicked and ran out of the store with a toothbrush, but I think the storeowners are overreacting just a bit. There’s no way that thing cost more than $1 and that’s in ‘90s money. Why don’t you save your attack dog, Jimmie, for an actual criminal, like the home invaders lurking in your neighborhood. By the way, I spelled his name with an “ie” instead of a “y” as a sign of disrespect. You heard me, Jimmie. The real question is what kind of third world flea market are these jokers running that sells a toothbrush not approved by the American Dental Association? You probably sell fake Gucci purses and illegal, exotic pets in the back of that crime hole, don’t you?
5. Kevin Has One Big Flaw.
So I’m to believe that Kevin, a child, can, not only build a Saw-like series of traps and snares to stop some grown men from robbing him, but he can also simulate an entire house party using only toy trains and Michael Jordan cardboard cutouts? I can accept this, but you mean to say that with all of this knowledge he doesn’t know how to pack his own suitcase? This kid cooked a macaroni dinner, which, we all know, requires boiling water and measuring ingredients. How can he do this but can’t figure out how many pairs of jeans he would wear in a week? I believe in you, Kevin. You should believe in yourself.
6. Those Police Officers Should Be Fired.
The McCallisters arrive in France after realizing they had forgotten Kevin. They immediately call the police, of course. After explaining that a child has been left unattended and could be in need of medical assistance, the police begin to jerk her around like she’s being ridiculous. Oh I’m sorry that I’m a little upset that my child is alone on the other side of the country from his family. Once they convince these terrible officers to investigate the home, this fella goes to the door, knocks a few times, and then tells her to count her kids again! What!? I would sue everyone involved with that branch and press charges for criminal neglect. What if he’s choking or seriously injured? You have permission from the homeowners to enter the house, but you don’t do it? Unbelievable.
7. The Wet Bandits Crime Level Quickly Escalates.
After Kevin unleashed his arsenal upon Marv and Harry, they eventually catch him. Now remember these guys are petty thieves. Not only do they start talking about murdering Kevin, but they start talking about how they are going to bite off his fingers. We’ve gone from stealing home goods to cannibalism? Luckily Old Man Marley arrives just in time to hit them with a shovel and save Kevin. God knows what would have happened if he got there 2 minutes later.
8. Don’t Accept Rides From Strangers in the Back of a Moving Truck.
I know it’s John Candy and we all love him, but seriously kids, don’t accept rides from a strange group of men offering to drive you cross country in the back of a moving truck. What part of this sounded like a good idea? This is worse than getting in the car with those fake cab drivers at the airport in New York who offer you a ride but make you feel like you’re entering the movie Taken. Thanks goodness for Uber cabs so we don’t have to worry about this ever again.Shameless liars. Committed globalists. Inveterate womanizers. Unrepentant drug runners. Unconvicted money launderers. Fake humanitarians. And two of the most popular politicians in America. Meet the Clintons.
For those with limited bandwidth, CLICK HERE to download a smaller, lower file size version of this episode.
For those interested in audio quality, CLICK HERE for the highest-quality version of this episode (WARNING: very large download).
Documentation
Bill Clinton on GPS Time Reference: 01:29
Clinton lies about Lewinsky Time Reference: 04:35
Hillary Clinton Iraq War Vote Speech Time Reference: 05:26
Hillary lies about Iraq war position Time Reference: 05:44
Bill Clinton agrees with Bush about New World Order Time Reference: 08:32
Hillary Clinton admits that the CFR runs the Government Time Reference: 08:47
Bill Clinton admits to attending 1991 Bilderberg Meeting Time Reference: 10:53
Hillary Clinton questioned about Bilderberg Time Reference: 11:27
The Clinton Chronicles Time Reference: 12:11
The Mena Connection Time Reference: 18:42
The Clinton Chronicles Time Reference: 28:40
Clinton Namechecks Quigley at 1992 DNC Time Reference: 32:53
Clinton pimping drones in the name of Kony boogeyman Time Reference: 53:19
Filed in: Episodes • PodcastsWhich process has a more detrimental effect on the environment– the manufacture of apparel made from cotton or the manufacture of apparel made from recycled polyester? The difference is dramatic from an environmental and ecological impact perspective.
From seed to harvest, cotton requires massive amounts of water and pesticides. Even “organic” cotton is exceedingly water intensive. According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), cotton takes up 2.4% of arable land worldwide while requiring 24% of all pesticides and 11% of all agricultural water usage.
Freshwater Usage
Freshwater usage for the two materials differs dramatically. According to a study by Rob de Nooy for WWF, cotton is the second highest water consumer of any crop in the industrialized world. It takes over 700 gallons of freshwater to produce a single cotton t-shirt.
Last Bottle Clothing’s process of using recycled polyester in our shirts requires using less than one gallon of water per shirt! Our shirts use 0.6 gallons each, to be exact.
Recycling Plastic Bottles
Turning used plastic bottles into recycled polyester creates a demand for them, diverting them from landfills, the waste stream, the ground, and from our oceans. Eco Watch® suggests, every second in the United States, 72,000 plastic bottles end up in landfills. That’s over 4 million every hour of every day!
Our Goal:
Last Bottle Clothing is doing something about this environmental disaster. We’re manufacturing clothing using recycled polyester derived from recycled plastic bottles. By using recycled polyester in the manufacture of our shirts, Last Bottle Clothing is creating a restorative effect on the environment while reinventing the apparel industry.
Last Bottle Clothing is proud to be a leader in the new world of manufactured apparel using recycled polyester. Our mission is to produce a product consumers will want and use while at the same time doing our part to save the planet, one shirt at a time.
For questions about our products, please contact us!Another 'Nobody Knows I'm a Lesbian' Shirt Incident Leads to Litigation Against School
A second high school student got in trouble for wearing a pro-LGBT shirt — but this teen is fighting back.
A high school student in Northern California is filing a lawsuit against two of her school’s administrators after she was told that her “Nobody Knows I’m a Lesbian” shirt was being disruptive.
The teen, identified by the initials “T.V.,” and her mother filed the suit in federal court charging that assistant principal Dan Beukelman and vice principal Greg Leland of Sierra High School in Manteca, Calif., violated both her state and federal constitutional rights by not letting her wear the shirt during school hours and subsequently sending her home for it, reports Courthouse News Service. The administrators claimed the shirt was “promoting sex” and “an open invitation to sex,” according to the suit.
“Public schools can't censor the political beliefs of students, and free speech is not subject to the whims and biases of school administrators,” American Civil Liberties Union attorney Christine Sun, the teen’s legal counsel, told Courthouse News. “This student's school should be teaching her to think for herself, not punishing her for being herself.”
A similar incident happened earlier this year in South Carolina when Chesnee High School senior Briana Popour was asked to change her T-shirt (one that bore the same “Nobody Knows I’m a Lesbian” message) by a school administrator and was suspended after refusing to do so.
“Isn’t that what school is supposed to teach you? To be happy with who you are?” Popour told local TV station WSPA at the time of her incident. “Maybe people will be more comfortable showing who they are because you should be able to wear what you want to wear.”AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
As we approach default, it seems like every hour brings a new development in our crisis, and you'll be forgiven if you aren't able (or can't bear) to follow every new proposal, abortive vote, and angry denunciation. So it's a good time to remind ourselves of some things that were true yesterday and last week, and are still true today. These are the things we need to keep in mind as this horrid affair tumbles forward.
1. We all know how this ends.
We've almost forgotten this, but if John Boehner brought a bill to the House floor today funding the government and raising the debt ceiling without any idiotic anti-Obamacare provisions, it would pass, and the crisis would be over. I repeat: it would pass, and the crisis would be over. And yes, Tea Partiers would be mad at him. They might even try to stage a coup and install one of their own as Speaker. But they'd probably fail. And Boehner would not only be saving the country any more misery, he'd be saving his party from further self-destruction as well. But he won't do it. Why? I think Neil Irwin is probably right that the answer is sunk costs, the thing that keeps people throwing good money after bad: Boehner has come this far, and surrendering now would make all the desperate maneuvering of the last few weeks seem in vain. But sometimes, surrender is the smart move, or even the only move. What he doesn't yet seem to grasp is...
2. Nothing—repeat, nothing—that Tea Partiers in the House support will ever be acceptable to the Senate and the President.
Trying to come up with a plan the Tea Partiers can live with and the Democrats can also live with is fruitless. It will never, ever, ever happen. (I should note that this is a point Greg Sargent has made a number of times.) These people still think they can destroy Obamacare if they just hold on a while longer. Seriously. Therefore, the crisis only ends with a bill Tea Partiers don't support. The House can vote on that sooner, or later. It's up to Boehner.
3. John Boehner is terrible at his job.
Yes, he's in a very difficult situation, caught between what's good for his country and his party on one hand, and the insane demands of extremists on the other. But a more competent leader would have figured out a way to tame this caucus, through whatever combination of carrots, sticks, and gentle persuasion would do to the trick. Or he would have determined how to minimize the damage from their recklessness, even if it meant incurring some of their rage. He wouldn't be constantly bringing up proposals, then pulling them back after realizing he can't get the votes. You might say that no one could manage this particular Republican caucus. But here's a question: could any other Speaker have possibly handled this situation worse? For that matter, is there a single thing Boehner can point from his speakership so far and say, "I hit it out of the park on that one"? It's been nothing but a string of failures and bumbles.
4. The party that lost is still the one making all the demands.
When a party wins a presidential election, it will attempt to implement its agenda, and the opposition will do what it can to stop them. In this case, we have the remarkable spectacle of the party that lost believing it has a mandate to get the policy changes it wants. Democrats, on the other hand, are making no demands. They're only asking that the government reopen and the country not go into default, two things the Republicans claim they also want.
5. Both sides are not equally to blame.
No matter how many times TV reporters stand on streetcorners and get passersby to say, "They're all acting like children!" and "Both sides just need to compromise!" into the microphones, the fact remains that this crisis was caused by one party, is being sustained by one party, and will only end when that party wants it to.
6. The most conservative Republicans are not getting any more realistic.
They still believe they can use this crisis to destroy Obamacare. If the agreement that emerges only extends the debt limit for a few months, as it looks like it's going to, they're going to once again advocate using the threat of default to strike a blow at the socialist in the White House. Their latest request, the "Vitter Amendment," would have taken away the employer contribution to health insurance for congressional staffers. Why? Because screw you Obama, that's why, and I'm going to stick it to you by making the lives of my own employees more difficult. These people are not rational human beings.
7. Senate Republican "moderates" are not particularly moderate.
Now matter how many glowing profiles of Senator Susan Collins of Maine get written (see here or here), the "moderates" have spent much of this crisis saying reasonable-sounding things in public, then taking actual positions that are only a step or two away from what the conservatives advocate, not to mention voting against or even filibustering the clean solutions that could have ended the crisis long ago.
8. This crisis is the natural conclusion of everything Republicans have been doing for the last five years.
When Barack Obama got elected and had the gall to follow through on the things he campaigned on, a change came over the GOP. It wasn't just the wave of Tea Partiers who got elected in 2010, although that certainly accelerated the process. Eight months before that election, I wrote a column about how the party had realized that all the norms governing behavior in Washington, like the one saying you shouldn't filibuster literally everything, were just that, norms. And norms can be violated. (Actually, the roots of this change go back to the 2000 election, but that's a longer story.). One of those key norms was that when the debt ceiling comes up, the opposition party makes some speeches about the ruling party's profligate spending and some of them vote against raising it (as Barack Obama did in 2006), but everyone knows the bill raising it will pass, because not raising it would be insane.
But these days, when Republicans ask themselves "Why don't we do this?" the answer, "Because that would be insane" isn't good enough. And guess what: Even after they lose this battle, as they inevitably will, they won't change. This isn't the last time we'll have to go through this, or something like it.When an at-bat ended with a pitch of 99 mph or harder this season, batters hit.205 with a.285 slugging percentage, according to Statcast™. By comparison, they hit.301 and slugged.514 on fastballs between 88 and 90 mph.
There's a reason high velocity is prized in pitchers. It's not easy to square up heat that approaches or reaches triple digits.
There's a reason high velocity is prized in pitchers. It's not easy to square up heat that approaches or reaches triple digits.
When an at-bat ended with a pitch of 99 mph or harder this season, batters hit.205 with a.285 slugging percentage, according to Statcast™. By comparison, they hit.301 and slugged.514 on fastballs between 88 and 90 mph.
Yet velocity isn't everything. Location and movement also matter, and Major League batters are talented enough to drive almost anything if they are prepared for it. That doesn't only apply to star players, either.
This was a lesson that played out on a national stage, late in Game 7 of the World Series. With the Cubs leading the Indians, 6-4, in the bottom of the eighth inning, flamethrowing closer Aroldis Chapman pumped in a 98.2-mph fastball to Cleveland's Rajai Davis. Statcast™ measured the pitch's perceived velocity at 100.1 mph, taking into account Chapman's release point. Davis is known much more for speed than power but still pulled the ball over the left-field wall for a game-tying homer.
• Davis ties Game 7 with 2-run blast
Davis wasn't the only player to overcome such sizzling velocity in 2016. Here is a look at the 10 home runs Statcast™ tracked this season that came on pitches of 99 mph or harder.
1. June 18: Kurt Suzuki vs. Chapman (102.4 mph)
Chapman allowed three homers in 2016. One was Davis', and the others were hit back to back by Eduardo Escobar and Suzuki, two players who combined to go deep only 12 other times all season for the Twins.
In this specific advanced-metric era, which goes back to 2008, Suzuki is the only player to homer on a pitch of 101 mph or harder. A current free agent, the veteran catcher might not be the hitter one would expect for such a distinction. Yet Suzuki also was the only big leaguer to collect three hits on pitches of 100-plus mph, adding a pair of doubles.
2. July 27: Coco Crisp vs. Matt Bush (100.4 mph)
Of the 15 homers Crisp hit this year, including the postseason, 11 were on pitches of less than 92 mph. Since at least 2008, he hadn't gone deep on a pitch of 97 mph or harder. But Crisp turned on this high-octane gas from Bush, accounting for only the second long ball against the Rangers rookie in 32 career appearances.
Video: OAK@TEX: Crisp gives A's late lead with two-run homer
3. Oct. 1: Jedd Gyorko vs. Felipe Rivero (100.2 mph)
Statcast™ tracked three left-handers who reached 100 mph this year. Chapman did it more than 500 times. The other two pitchers were James Paxton and Rivero, whose totals were both in the single digits. Rivero, whom the Pirates acquired in the Mark Melancon deal, painted the outside corner with this heater. But Gyorko went with the pitch and drove it over the right-field wall to give St. Louis the lead in the eighth inning, setting up a win that kept the team's postseason hopes alive for another day.
Video: PIT@STL: Gyorko battles high heat, hits go-ahead jack
4. June 3: Marcell Ozuna vs. Noah Syndergaard (99.9 mph)
Only Chapman reached 99 mph more than Syndergaard, who hit that mark upwards of 400 times. Thor didn't actually dominate when he did so, however, allowing a.371 slugging percentage. Still, Ozuna accounted for the only homer on such a pitch. The Marlins outfielder certainly can handle velocity, ranking 10th in the Majors (min. 50 at-bats) by slugging.611 on pitches 95-plus mph.
Video: MYM@MIA: Ozuna homers to open the scoring
5. Sept. 10: Joc Pederson vs. Brian Ellington (99.7 mph)
One of the nine hitters above Ozuna on that list was Pederson, who slugged.677 on pitches 95 mph or harder for the Dodgers. That includes six homers, five of which came on pitches within the strike zone. But on this one in Miami, Pederson showed off his bat speed by turning on a pitch off the inside corner and roping it down the right-field line.
Video: LAD@MIA: Pederson belts his second homer of the game
6. June 27: Jake Arrieta vs. Michael Lorenzen (99.5 mph)
Yes, the sixth spot on this list really belongs to a pitcher, albeit one who also launched a 440-foot blast in April that is the longest by a hurler in the Statcast™ era (since 2015). Meanwhile, no pitcher since at least '08 has homered on a harder pitcher than Arrieta, who somehow inside-outed a down-and-in offering over the right-field wall in Cincinnati. The victim was Lorenzen, who coincidentally homered to almost exactly the same spot two months later, on a 97.5-mph pitch from the Dodgers' Pedro Baez. That velocity ranks second for pitcher home runs in the Statcast™ era, behind Arrieta.
Video: CHC@CIN: Arrieta blasts his second career homer
7. Sept. 15: Hanley Ramirez vs. Dellin Betances (99.3 mph)
Only two pitchers in the Statcast™ era have allowed three or more homers on pitches 99 mph or harder, and both were Yankees. One was Nathan Eovaldi (see below), and the other was Betances, whose first two came in 2015. This one from 2016 was a three-run, walk-off blast that Ramirez crushed over Fenway Park's center-field wall with two outs in the ninth inning. That gave it the second-highest leverage index of any regular-season homer this year.
Video: NYY@BOS: Hanley hammers walk-off homer 426 feet
8. Sept. 7: Jung Ho Kang vs. Alex Reyes (99.3 mph)
This was the only homer Reyes allowed over 46 innings in his first year with the Cardinals, and it broke an eighth-inning tie at PNC Park. It's no surprise Kang was the one to do it, as he slugged 1.034 in 29 at-bats ending on pitches 96-plus mph and tied Freddie Freeman for the MLB lead with six homers in those situations.
Video: STL@PIT: Kang crushes a solo home run to center
9. July 30: Brad Miller vs. Eovaldi (99.2 mph)
Unfortunately for Eovaldi, this was his third-to-last appearance before undergoing Tommy John surgery and getting released by the Yankees. The 26-year-old threw his four-seam fastball harder than any starting pitcher other than Syndergaard, but opponents slugged a healthy.444 against it. In this instance, Miller whacked Eovaldi's offering a projected 435 feet out to dead center at Tropicana Field.
Video: NYY@TB: Miller gives Rays early lead with solo homer
10. July 15: Michael Taylor vs. Neftali Feliz (99.0 mph)
Feliz has thrown 176 pitches at 99 mph or harder in his career, most of them in his first few seasons. Only 28 have been put in play, and just six of those have gone for hits. Taylor provided the only homer, a two-run shot to the opposite field at Nationals Park. Out of his seven homers this season, this was the only one that came on a pitch faster than 91 mph.
Video: PIT@WSH: Taylor belts a two-run homer to right-centerSign My Name. Since 2001, I've been requesting—in person (at concerts, readings, film festivals, and art openings), through the mail, and through friends and intermediaries—signatures from public figures of all stripes. Hundreds of requests, hundreds of return-to-sender notices, a few annoyed celebrities, some warm notes in reply, and dozens of signatures. Here I'll compile the full list of all those who agreed to participate. Isabel Allende
Novelist (The House of the Spirits, Eva Luna, others)
Laurie Anderson
Artist, musician
Michele Bachmann
Former US representative
Craig Baldwin
Filmmaker (Sonic Outlaws, Spectres of the Spectrum); founder, Other Cinema
Matthew Barney
Artist, filmmaker (the Cremaster series)
Alan Berliner
Documentarian (The Sweetest Sound, an exploration of his own name)
Bonnie Blair
Five-time gold-medal-winning Olympic speedskater
Peter Bogdanovich
Director (The Last Picture Show, Paper Moon, others)
Julian Bond
Civil rights leader, politician, former head of the NAACP
Billy Bragg
Musician, activist
Dave Brubeck
Jazz pianist, composer
Pat Buchanan
Conservative commentator
Dan Castellaneta
Comedian, voice actor (Homer Simpson)
Noam Chomsky
Linguist, activist
Merce Cunningham
Dancer, choreographer
Charlie Daniels
Musician, conservative commentator
Fats Domino
Pianist, singer, songwriter, recording artist
Tanya Donnelly
Guitarist, singer, songwriter (Throwing Muses, Belly, The Breeders)
Matthew Fox
Theologian, author (Original Blessing, The Reinvention of Work, others)
Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Historian, critic, filmmaker, author (The Signifying Monkey)
Frank Gehry
Architect
Kim Gordon
Musician (Sonic Youth)
Spalding Gray
Actor, writer, monologuist
Doris "Granny D" Haddock
Political activist
Julia Butterfly Hill
Environmental activist
Jenny Holzer
Conceptual artist
Mark Hosler
Musician, sound artist (Negativland)
Wing Young Huie
Artist
Daniel Johnston
Singer, songwriter, musician, artist
Naomi Klein
Author (No Logo, The Shock Doctrine, This Changes Everything, others)
Winona La Duke
Activist (Honor the Earth, White Earth Land Recovery Project, #NoDAPL)
Kalle Lasn
Publisher (Adbusters magazine)
Jonathan Lethem
Author (Amnesia Moon, Fortress of Solitude, Motherless Brooklyn, others)
John Lewis
US representative, Freedom Rider, SNCC chair (1963–1966)
Maya Lin
Architect, artist (Vietnam Veterans Memorial)
Ian MacKaye
Musician (Minor Threat, Fugazi), record label co-founder (Dischord)
Julie Mehretu
Artist
Kweisi Mfume
Former US representative, former president of the NAACP
Meredith Monk
Composer, performer, vocalist
Alec Soth
Photographer
Thurston Moore
Musician (Sonic Youth)
Errol Morris
Filmmaker (Gates of Heaven, The Thin Blue Line, Fog of War, others)
Gaylord Nelson
Former US senator, founder of Earth Day
Edward James Olmos
Actor
Yoko Ono
Conceptual artist
Wolfgang Puck
Chef, restauranteur
Ed Ruscha
Artist
Henry Rollins
Writer, comedian, activist, and singer (Black Flag)
Dan Savage
Sex advice columnist ("Savage Love")
David Sedaris
Author, humorist
J.Otto Seibold
Illustrator, children's book creator (Olive the Other Reindeer, Mr. Lunch, others)
Ben Sidran
Jazz and rock keyboardist
Cameron Sinclair
Architect, founder of Architecture for Humanity
Annie Sprinkle
Former porn star, contemporary artist
Bruce Sterling
Futurist, blogger (Wired), author (Distraction, others)
Brian Swimme
Evolutionary cosmologist, author (The Universe is a Green Dragon, others)
Rirkrit Tiravanija
Artist
Jeff Tweedy
Singer, songwriter (Wilco, Uncle Tupelo, Tweedy), producer
Studs Terkel
Oral historian, radio broadcaster, author (Working, The Great Divide, Race, others)
Eric Utne
Founder, Utne Reader magazine
Abigail Van Buren (Pauline Phillips)
Advice columnist ("Dear Abby")
Jesse Ventura
Former governor, former all-star wrestler
Paul Wellstone
US senator, author (The Conscience of a Liberal)
Wim Wenders
Filmmaker (Paris Texas, Wings of Desire |
south by way of Beigang Tourist Bridge 北港觀光大橋.
Běigǎng 北港 is a historic town on the riverside border between Yúnlín 雲林 and Chiayi 嘉義 in southern Taiwan 台灣. I made a brief, unplanned stopover in Beigang while riding north to Changhua 彰化 in the summer of 2014. I was only vaguely aware of Beigang’s existence, having at some point read something about Cháotiān Temple 朝天宫, one of Taiwan’s most famous Mazu 媽祖 temples, but I had a hunch that there might be more to see—and I was right! If you enjoy visiting traditional towns with a lot of history then Beigang should definitely be on your list.
View image metadata With-The-Wind Ear 順風耳. View image metadata Thousand Mile Eye 千里眼.
The first thing you will see when approaching from the south is a rather striking pedestrian and cyclist-only bridge formally known as Beigang Tourist Bridge 雲林縣觀光導覽. The two guardians standing watch are Thousand Mile Eye 千里眼 and With-The-Wind Ear 順風耳, two demons commonly associated with Mazu. The story, according to Wikipedia, is that both demons were in love with Mazu who offered herself to whomever could defeat her in battle. Mazu won both bouts and they became good friends. Since then both demons offered their services to help Mazu find seafarers in distress.
View image metadata Outside the famous Chaotian Temple 朝天宮.
View image metadata Beautiful and historic Chaotian Temple in Beigang.
View image metadata A truck in front of Chaotian Temple.
View image metadata Incense smoke fills the air inside Chaotian Temple.
View image metadata Deeper inside Chaotian Temple.
View image metadata More incense smoke fills the air here. You can also see the traditional style of the big building beyond. I believe this is either a hotel or quarters for the many monks that visit here.
View image metadata Students come from all over Taiwan to pray for good scores on tests. These are apparently copies of their student ID so the gods know who to lend some assistance to.
View image metadata A close look at a wall inside Chaotian Temple. You can really feel the age of this place whenever you see the stuff that hasn’t obviously been renovated.
View image metadata One of many figures inside Chaotian Temple.
Cháotiān Temple 朝天宫 was originally built in 1694, making it Taiwan’s oldest temple dedicated to the goddess Mazu, the most widely revered deity in Taiwan. Mazu, also known as Tiānhòu 天后 (“Empress of Heaven”), was originally the patron goddess of seafarers and fishermen—which should explain her popularity in coastal areas places like Fujian, the origin of many of the early Han Chinese immigrants to Taiwan 台灣. Nowadays people seem to worship her for all kinds of reasons. I’ll stop here as I’m about to get way outside of my areas of expertise—but if you’d like to read more about Chaotian Temple check out this article by Rachel Chang.
View image metadata Back on the main tourist beat at sunset.
View image metadata Wandering through some of the old streets of Beigang. There are many sights that I did not manage to see on this short walk.
View image metadata Fu’an Duck Rice Restaurant in Beigang.
I hadn’t done my homework prior to visiting Beigang so I seem to have lucked out by stopping for a tasty snack at Fú’ān Duck Rice 福安鴨肉飯. While nibbling away at the tender duck meat I pulled up the only English language blog entry about Beigang that I could find at the time—which recommended that very same restaurant that I was dining at. Not bad!
View image metadata One of the famous wedding cake shops in Beigang.
I also read that Beigang is famous for wedding cakes, formally known as xǐbǐng 喜餅. Apparently a place by the name of Rìxìngtáng 日興堂喜餅 is the place to go—but I can’t say I’m all that into dense Chinese-style cakes of any kind. I snapped a photo (pictured above) and moved on. In hindsight I should have stopped to take a look—apparently the building was once a movie theater!
View image metadata Making fresh jelly in Beigang.
View image metadata The old candy shop opens right onto a small street.
More to my taste is Rìfāzhìyídiàn 日發製飴店 (written as Rifazhaung on the blog I linked above), a traditional candy shop just west of the main drag founded in 1958 (unless I have translated something wrong). I was not really into the old school jelly candies (what is that taste, licorice?) but the peanut candies were awesome. I also appreciated that the people working there were very friendly and approachable. I wonder how many foreigners stop by? Anyway, you can see more photos from this shop on Chinese language blogs here and here. For even more about Beigang’s famous foodstuffs check out this article by David Hsu.
View image metadata One last look at Beigang’s old town charm.
I’m glad I stopped in Běigǎng 北港 to take a closer look—the people were exceedingly pleasant and welcoming and there was a lot of interesting stuff to see and experience. I also had some fun indulging in my Wes Andersonesque obsession with symmetry in some of the photos above.For the refugees camped out on the Greek-Macedonian border, the day begins with hope – as it has every day for weeks. Maybe today the Macedonians will open the border. Maybe today it won’t rain and clothes and tents can be dried out. Maybe today there will be more food. Maybe.
Hope is all they have to drag them through days that swing between monotonous boredom hunched in their tents when it pours and a frantic scramble to get food and to repair tents when the sun shines.
Hope is what draws the newcomers, 500 to 1,000 a day.
Hope was high on Monday. The refugees believed the summit between European Union and Turkish leaders would produce some good news for the estimated 16,000 refugees, mostly Syrians and Iraqis, camped in the muddy fields outside this small village. And they still think some deal has been made that will allow their immediate passage north to the countries they most want to settle in: Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden.
Few understand that the EU and Turkey have provisionally agreed to a deal calling for the EU to resettle one Syrian refugee from Turkey in return for every Syrian refugee Turkey takes back from Greece. Nor have they understood the implications of a Turkish proposal to accept the return of all war refugees and economic migrants who cross the Aegean to reach Greece in order for EU countries to resettle asylum-seekers they will take directly from Turkey.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has said he finds the proposal "interesting." EU leaders are due to meet next week to finalize a plan that has provoked the anger of UN refugee chiefs and rights groups. The UN’s refugee agency has warned any blanket return may violate international law.
Prospect of resistance
If enacted, the plan is likely to provoke not just anger among those here. The few refugees who do understand some of the plans under review say they will resist.
"There’s war in Syria; there will be war here," said Abdul, a 32-year-old father of two toddlers from Idlib. "I didn’t risk the journey here – a sea crossing with my wife and kids – to be taken back."
A blanket return of refugees would prompt uncomfortable historical echoes of the forcible population swaps of Christians and Muslims between Greece and Turkey following the Greco-Turkish War of 1919-22.
Reporters are questioned frequently about what they have heard.
"Will the border open today?" refugees ask with words or gestures, bringing their hands together or separating them. "No" prompts a sad, reciprocal shake of the head and sometimes some muttering.
Rumor spreads like wildfire here. It took less than an hour for this one to circulate: An Egyptian journalist told some refugees that they'd soon be moved to other Greek camps, from which the European countries that wanted them would conduct airlifts.
Police presence grows
The number of police at the squalid, makeshift camp has increased noticeably this week. One policeman confided to VOA of growing anxiety about a reaction – possibly a violent one – when refugees, with hopes buoyed by the summit, learn they are not going to be airlifted out and deposited in their country of choice.
"We don’t want a repeat of what happened the other day," he said, referring to the February 29 clash between some refugees and Macedonian border guards. Asylum-seekers had shaken the razor-wire fence blocking their way, prompting the guards to fire rubber bullets and tear gas.
High tension
Tension remains high in the under-resourced camp. Tempers and anger can flare rapidly. With a respiratory infection raging through the camp, sickening kids, parents’ anger is rising, as is their anxiety for their children’s well-being and their dismay at the insufficient numbers of doctors available.
"We queue for hours to see anyone," said Hanan from Palmyra. She has three young children, all ill. The youngest, age 2, is feverish and has been coughing and wheezing for days.
In the last few days, several fistfights have broken out in the long, meandering and time-consuming queues for free food being handed out by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) or Doctors Without Borders. The French medical charity has found itself substituting for the absent Greek authorities and, while doing the best it can, has become overwhelmed.
The charity has appealed publicly for other Western NGOs to step forward and help. A local Greek charity called Praxis is on the ground but lacks sufficient experienced staff. The International Rescue Committee at midweek sent an exploratory team to see what they could contribute. In the meantime, there’s a small presence by the U.S.-based Save the Children, which this week released an undercover report estimating that more than 250,000 youngsters live in fear in besieged areas of Syria. UNHCR, the United Nations’ refugee agency, has an even smaller presence, and at least one MSF worker alleged its representatives spent most of their time briefing the press.
"They aren’t actually doing very much," the MSF worker told VOA.
A Praxis worker said: "What is happening here is disgracing Europe – it is shaming Europe."
Media as a safety valve
One portly, middle-aged woman from the Syrian city of Aleppo charged up to a group of reporters Wednesday in tears, waving a cardboard box. She angrily explained that's all she got after asking for something to waterproof her tent and waiting in line for an hour and a half.
"See how we are treated," she screamed, demanding that reporters do something about it. Her rage mounted when the sheepish journalists explained there really wasn’t anything they could do.
But refugees generally remain friendly to reporters and news photographers. The kids follow the media around, demanding to have their pictures taken. But some adults show unease with cameras shoved in their faces; many photographers who lack Mideast experience seem oblivious to the highly reserved, private nature of more traditional women from the region.
Most reporters are bracing for the likelihood that refugees will tire of the media attention, feeling that they are being treated as circus acts. For now, though, the media offer a safety valve through which the refugees vent their lamentations and complaints.
Camp entrepreneurs
Among those complaining Wednesday were some enterprising refugees and locals who have been selling basic foodstuffs – from bread and fruit to soft drinks and processed cheese – from stalls set up on crates or from the back of cars.
They said police have hassled them, telling them they must stop trading.
Says Semaan, a Syrian from Aleppo who has been selling soft drinks: "I think they want to make refugees even more uncomfortable, to pressure them so when the time comes to move them away, they might not resist."Servite cardinal and preacher. Born in Florence, Italy, to a noble family, he was educated in Paris and Padua where he earned a doctorate in medicine and philosophy. He practiced medicine for some time, but in 1253 he joined the Servite Order in Florence. He served as a lay brother until 1259, when his superiors directed him to be ordained. Philip soon became known as one of the foremost preachers of his era, becoming master of novices at Siena in 1262 and then superior of several friaries and prior general of the Servites against his own wishes. in 1267. Reforming the order with zeal and patience, he was named as a possible candidate to become pope by the influential Cardinal Ottobuoni just before the election to choose a successor to Pope Clement IV. This possibility was so distressing to Philip that he fled and hid in a cave until the election was finally over. He attended the Council of Lyons which brought about a brief reunion with the Orthodox, worked to bring peace between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines in 1279, assisted St. Juliana in founding the third order of the Servites, and in 1284, dispatched the first Servite missionaries to the Far East. He retired to a small Servite house in Todi, where he died on August 22. He was canonized in 1671.Not long ago, a single friend of mine observed something about the photos that men post of themselves on Match.com and other sites. Many—too many for her taste—also include women. Ex-girlfriends, presumably, with their slender arms thrown around the men in question. Or possibly, but always attractive ones. Even when the woman in the photo had been cropped out, whatever body part remained in the frame was comely. Long blond hair. Manicured nails.
Why do so many singles post pictures of themselves with exes? Do they know, at least on a level, that having a gorgeous ex makes them look hotter?
It actually does, according to a matchmaking strategy called mate- copying. Birds do it, and so do many other animals. There's mounting evidence that humans are no exception. If a person has an attractive partner, then there must be something worthwhile about him or her that may not meet the eye. It’s a -of-crowds approach.
In a recent mate-copying study, researchers at Duke University and the University of California at Davis asked a group of straight volunteers to rate the of men and women who were photographed solo. A second group of volunteers was asked to rate the attractiveness of the same men and women when paired with a person of the opposite. They were told that each couple had once been romantically involved but had broken up. How hot was the individual of the opposite sex? How much would they like to date that person?
Turns out, it depends on the ex.
Both male and female volunteers rated faces as more attractive, desirable, and dateable when paired with hot exes than when featured solo.
While having a hot ex is a boost to your attractivess, having a homely one can hurt you. When volunteers spent more time looking at a potential mate’s unattractive partner, they were less interested in that person.Take note: volunteers were only asked to rate people of the opposite sex, but they all spent significant time looking at each person’s partner.
There's an exception to this rule, and (as usual) it's hot women. While female volunteers downgraded otherwise hot men if they were paired with a dumpy partner, men gave high ratings to an attractive woman regardless of her partner's appearance. Women, generally the choosier and more cautious sex, are more likely than men to rely on social cues such as whether other women find the target guy attractive.
Is it really a good strategy to include a picture of yourself with an attractive ex-girlfriend or boyfriend (or a hot friend) in your dating profile? My exasperated friend would say no, yet all too often the guys that she finds exceptional are the ones who have hot exes.
*If you like this blog, click here for previous posts or follow me on Twitter. If you wish, check out my new book on what we don't expect when we're expecting: Do Chocolate Lovers Have Sweeter Babies?: The Surprising Science of Pregnancy.The riff illustrates the balance between publishing secrets and protecting security. | AP Photo/Screengrab Gellman, Greenwald feud over NSA
The Guardian’s Glenn Greenwald on Monday blasted investigative reporter Barton Gellman for making “false” claims about the man they shared as a source: Edward Snowden.
The public tiff between two journalists who have led the way on disclosing National Security Agency surveillance offers a rare window into high-stakes negotiations between reporters and their sources. It illustrates the balance between publishing secrets and protecting the nation’s security — and shows the risks that a source thought to be exclusive to one outlet might peddle his news scoop elsewhere.
Story Continued Below
Snowden came forward on Sunday afternoon in both The Guardian and the Post, where Gellman wrote his piece, to say he was the source of the revelations about National Security Agency surveillance.
( Also on POLITICO: 10 things to know about Edward Snowden)
On Sunday evening, the Post published a story by Gellman detailing his interactions with Snowden. Gellman wrote that Snowden asked for a guarantee that the Post would publish, within 72 hours, all the PowerPoint slides he provided on PRISM. When Gellman said he couldn’t promise that, Snowden went to Greenwald, according to Gellman’s account.
Greenwald fired back via Twitter on Monday morning.
“Bart Gellman’s claims about Snowden’s interactions with me - when, how and why - are all false,” Greenwald wrote on Twitter.
( Also on POLITICO: Glenn Greenwald says U.S. wants to destroy privacy worldwide)
On the issue of conditions for publishing the information from Snowden, Greenwald tweeted, “I have no idea whether he had any conditions for WP, but he had none for us: we didn’t post all the slides.” He also wrote he had been “working with” Snowden since February, “long before anyone spoke to Bart Gellman.”
In the back-to-back scoop, Greenwald struck first in The Guardian with his bombshell about sweeping NSA surveillance of phone calls, while Gellman followed up quickly in the Post with the revelation about PRISM.
The spat continued during the day on Monday, with Gellman writing on Twitter: “Snowden didn’t bolt when I refused guarantees, just quit going steady.”
( PHOTOS: Pols, pundits weigh in on NSA report)
In his Post piece, Gellman described a series of “indirect contacts” he had with Snowden before their first “direct exchange” on May 16, Gellman wrote in an account for The Washington Post about his exchanges with his source. Snowden — who chose the name Verax, or “truth teller” in Latin for his code name, and called Gellman “Brassbanner” — “dropped a bombshell” on May 24 and asked Gellman for a guarantee that The Washington Post would publish, within 72 hours, all the PowerPoint slides he provided on PRISM.
Snowden told Gellman he wanted “to embolden others to step forward.”
( WATCH: NSA reactions in under 60 seconds)
Additionally, according to Gellman, Snowden requested that the Post publish online a “cryptographic key” so he could prove to a foreign embassy he was the source of the document leak.
Follow @politicoOur latest teardown focuses on the popular action camera GoPro. This teardown is actually not a singular adventure, but an odyssey of epic proportions, split into 2 parts. We’ll look at the product’s evolution across three generations and see how the engineering and manufacturing techniques have changed in the last half decade.
The three members of the GoPro family under examination are the HD HERO, the HERO3, and the HERO4 Session. A brief overview of each is provided below:
To begin this ancestral analysis, we’ll journey back in time to 2010, to the release of the first HD Hero camera.
HD Hero
Removing the back cover of the HD Hero is straightforward and reveals the removable battery, which is clearly labeled as 3.7V 1100mAh Li-ion.
Once the rear half of the housing is open, the first board is visible, as is the device’s microphone and buzzer speaker.
We can also see “ABS” embossed on the injection molded case half—a clue to the plastic used to manufacture this enclosure. This is odd, however, considering the back cover of the device was embossed with “PC-ABS” (a blend), and online resources tell us the body is made of polycarbonate (PC). Since PC is more expensive than ABS, it was probably avoided on certain pieces to cut costs.
This side of the rear board isn’t the most exciting thing. It has a bunch of resistors in the center for the processor and a large chip that is likely for the SD card and USB port.
Upon closer inspection, we see there’s a bit more happening on the back side of the first board. In the center lies the brains of the GoPro—an Ambarella processor. It’s covered in thermal paste.
To its right is the CMOS image sensor, responsible for converting your hardcore (ahem: embarrassing) sports activities into digital signals for storage on the SD card. Hanging off the left of the board is a buzzer—a cheap alternative to using a speaker when quality is not a concern and only basic tones will be output.
Taking a closer look at the housing, we can tell it’s been painted because of the color difference in the two sides. Though this adds an extra manufacturing step and is not cheaper than in-mold coloring, it will help ensure color consistency if the materials are different. It’s also how you get soft touch plastics.
From the inside (right picture), we can see a few more notable DFA features: The LED cover has been heat staked in place, and so has the power button. There are also ribs around the LCD window to help position the screen component during assembly.
With the housing completely removed, we can see the front board easily.
The device’s LCD screen is held on by a folded ribbon cable, and the f/2.8 glass lens sits to its right. Below the LCD, there’s a bulky tactile switch—the camera’s front “mode” button. Screws above and below the lens, as well as one near the LCD, hold the front and middle boards together.
One last look at the flipside of this subassembly before we separate it. Try looking at tiny objects through the lens! Try NOT to touch the paste on the metal heat spreader—the stuff gets everywhere.
On the back of this newly freed board, we finally gain access to the SD card slot, as well as the USB and audio ports.
Here’s one more look at the front board with the lens removed. The LCD has also been pulled aside, so the ribbon cable design is visible. The extra length of this cable could mean that the LCD is an off-the-shelf component and not optimized for the GoPro.
The HD Hero also has a waterproof case available as an accessory. The two buttons on it used to actuate the shutter and mode buttons on the GoPro itself are an interesting little subassembly, so I tore them apart, as well, to see how they keep water out.
Removing the retaining ring from the groove at the bottom of the button allows it to be quickly removed from the case, and from there, the assembly comes apart pretty easily. Not bad that two O-rings and a plastic gasket can provide a dynamic, yet functional seal! However, if you read Fictiv’s Apple Watch teardown, you probably remember how much less bulky that waterproof button design was.
And with that, the first of our GoPros is kaput. On to the next!
Hero3
I thought I’d start this second autopsy the same way I started the first—by removing the back cover (black molded plastic this time—no longer painted) and the battery, but the folks at GoPro had me fooled, and there were no screws back here.
It did reveal that the battery is 3.7V and 1050mAh, however.
This is a 4.5% decrease from the HD Hero, probably because this newer version is quite a bit smaller. Using default recording settings, the HD Hero gets about 2.5 hours of recording time on a single charge, while the Hero3 only lasts 1.5 hours—a 40% decrease! Of course, the Hero3 records at a much higher resolution by default, so this shows us battery life is dependent on more than just the battery capacity.
Moving back to the front of the device, there is a thin plastic cover that can be pried off with a flat screwdriver or something similar; it is aligned with a few tabs and secured with snap-fits.
The inside of this injection molded cover looks fairly similar to the first GoPro, still using heat stakes for assembly in places, albeit with slightly improved design to the LED cover and button integration. This assembly is much lower profile than in the HD Hero.
Underneath the cover is a low-profile dome switch—gone is the boxy tactile switch of the HD Hero. There are also the exposed LCD and lens, and our key to going deeper into the device—four T4 Torx screws.
After removing the four screws, the device opens up pretty easily. Only a ribbon cable holds the electronics subassembly to the rear portion of the device and case, so that can be separated for easier viewing.
On the back of the electronics package several things are viewable: an expansion port, a heat spreader, smaller ICs+Bluetooth, and a QR code, used for tracking and tracing of inventory.
At this point, the LCD screen on the front has almost fallen off the package. It’s attached to the flex circuit (FPC) with the dome switch, which peels off the rigid board behind it with ease. Use of these FPCs with their miniaturized electronics saves a ton of space over having a rigid PCBA and considerably simplifies assembly.
Well, what do you know? On the underside of the heat spreader actually lies the CMOS image sensor. The one on the Hero3 looks essentially the same as the one on the HD Hero, but we know that in this case, it has over double the megapixel capabilities and supports 4K video!
The sensor and its heat spreader are easy to remove, too. This kind of modular design lends itself well to easy repair and replacement, as well as rework in the factory, should a component be faulty.
The next board to remove contains the expansion port and the device’s microSD slot. The cable connecting it to the motherboard also pops off with ease.
A few more Phillips screws, and the motherboard separates from the rest of this subassembly. We’ve already seen this view, so let’s flip everything over.
Finally, the main chips can be seen. Like its predecessor, the Hero3 is run by an Ambarella processor. Next to that are a flash/SDRAM chip, a power management unit (PMU), and the USB controller. Unlike the first teardown, where chips spanned multiple boards, here, everything is densely packed—another example of continued electronics miniaturization. Thermal management is crucial in arrangements like this.
Three more screws and the lens comes free. Glass, f/2.8, and aspherical, just like before.
On the back half of the housing, most components are gone now, but a metal panel remains, as does the slide mechanism that opened the battery cover.
It operates using two screws in slots and a torsional spring—simple to the point of being pretty clever!
Three little molded light pipes are in the housing back as well—pretty cool geometries. The old GoPros never used to have indicator lights on the back, making it difficult to see whether the camera was recording or not.
The metal panel that shields the camera’s guts from the battery is held in with snaps and pops out with a little effort...the final piece of this puzzle, besides a few lingering light pipes!
Overall, the Hero3 was much easier to disassemble than its predecessor. Everything was done with Torx and Phillips screwdrivers, plus a little prying. The modular assembly is a big step up in terms of repairability, and in general just feels and looks sleeker and more “designed”.
Two down, one to go! Subscribe here to get part 2 of this series in your inbox, where we'll teardown the latest GoPro Session and see how it stacks up against these first two generations.tl;dr - letsencrypt is awesome, ployst/docker-letsencrypt makes it easy to use with Kubernetes (feel free to check out the blog post that describes it). There are even easier ways to do it these days that I haven’t tried: kube-lego which looks pretty amazing.
After going through figuring out how to run HTTP applications on Kubernetes, as well as how to run databases on Kubernetes, the next natural step is to figure out how to gear up to running HTTPS applications on Kubernetes. The first step in that, of course, is getting letsencrypt working.
Normally the non-kubernetes process of using letsencrypt to enable HTTPS apps looks like this for me:
Ensure that all domain names I need are pointing to the server I’m on Stop NGINX (if it’s running) Run certbot standalone with the appropriate options to obtain a cert for all domain names I need Update NGINX server configuration(s) to point to appropriate certs in /etc/letsencrypt/live Restart NGINX
Kuberentes obviously changes this flow a little bit, but it’s not too bad with the help of ployst/docker-letsencrypt. After reading the documentation in the README, along with a very helpful blog post by the author, the steps look to be:
Set up Kubernetes kubectl apply / kubectl create the given resource configuration Use either kubectl run or kubectl exec to run the commands noted in the ployst/docker-letsencrypt README ( save_certs.sh, fetch_certs.sh, etc)
One thing that will be a little different from what I can see on the README is that I have Kubernetes ingress set up and working, I think I’ll also have to create an ingress resource to help out with the ACME DNS challenge for letsencrypt’s validations step.
Welp, with this general idea of what I need to do, let’s jump into my notes on what actually happened.
Creating the right resource configuration
After a bit of experimenting with the example from the blog post, I figured out what the appropriate resource configuration should look like, with lots of help from the README (I had to remove the role annotations, they’re not a thing anymore evidently):
--- apiVersion: extensions/v1beta1 kind: Ingress metadata: name: letsencrypt-helper-ing annotationsn: ingress.kubernetes.io/class: "nginx" ingress.kubernetes.io/ssl-redirect: "false" ingress.kubernetes.io/limit-rps: "20" spec: rules: - http: paths: - path: /.well-known/acme-challenge backend: serviceName: letsencrypt-helper-svc servicePort: 80 --- kind: Service apiVersion: v1 metadata: name: letsencrypt-helper-svc spec: type: LoadBalancer selector: app: letsencrypt-helper ports: - name: http protocol: TCP port: 80 --- apiVersion: extensions/v1beta1 kind: Deployment metadata: name: letsencrypt-helper-deployment labels: name: letsencrypt-helper spec: replicas: 1 selector: matchLabels: app: letsencrypt-helper template: metadata: name: letsencrypt labels: name: letsencrypt app: letsencrypt-helper spec: containers: - name: letsencrypt image: ployst/letsencrypt:0.3.0 env: - name: EMAIL value: <your email> - name: DOMAINS value: <adddress 1> <address 2> <...> - name: SECRET_NAME value: letsencrypt-certs-all - name: DEPLOYMENTS value: <deployment 1> <deployment 2> <...> ports: - name: ssl-proxy-http containerPort: 80
So there’s a bit to unpack there, let’s go top to bottom – I’ll try and explain what exactly is happening so it doesn’t seem so big and scary.
First we have the letsencrypt-helper Ingress Resource – it’s job is to make the letsencrypt helper available to the outside world, in particular exposing the /.well-known/acme-challenge path that letsencrypt will be using to do domain validation.
Next, is the letsencrypt-helper Service and the letsencrypt-helper Deployment for – they’re your normal garden variety Service and Deployment, ensuring that the helper is available and accessible.
You can use the usual commands to ensure that everything is working – kubectl get ing (list the ingresses), kubectl get deployments (list the deployments), etc. Checking the logs with a command like kubectl logs letsencrypt-helper-deployment-<random string> also was very helpful, it will show requests hitting NGINX if you happen to visit the page in your browser (@ http://<your ip>/.well-known/acme-challenge ).
I was able to successfully kubectl apply / kubectl create this resource configuration so the next step was to run the commands from the README and obtain the certificates.
Getting the certifcates
Just as the docs suggest, the first command I run is kubectl exec -it letsencrypt-helper-deployment-<random string> -- bash -c './fetch_certs.sh'. Since I’ve already specified the domains through the ENV, the command is nice and simple. After running this command you can go through and run the save_certs.sh command as well to save them to the secret.
And just like that, the certificates are fetched and available! You can check out the Kubernetes Dashboard if you have it installed or do a kubectl get secrets to confirm that a secret with the name SECRET_NAME that you specified earlier was made.
Using the certificates
If you run multiple apps with different domains through your ingress, you need to direct the ACME DNS challenge URL to letsencrypt-helper as well. Here’s an example (sneak peak of the next post on running HTTPS applications):
apiVersion: extensions/v1beta1 kind: Ingress metadata: name: example-ing annotations: ingress.kubernetes.io/class: "nginx" ingress.kubernetes.io/ssl-redirect: "true" ingress.kubernetes.io/limit-rps: "20" spec: tls: - hosts: - "example.com" secretName: letsencrypt-certs-all rules: - host: "example.com" http: paths: - path: "/.well-known/acme-challenge" backend: serviceName: letsencrypt-helper-svc servicePort: 80 - path: "/" backend: serviceName: example-svc servicePort: 80 - path: "/api" backend: serviceName: example-svc servicePort: 4000 - host: "getexample.com" http: paths: - path: "/.well-known/acme-challenge" backend: serviceName: letsencrypt-helper-svc servicePort: 80 - path: "/" backend: serviceName: example-svc servicePort: 80 - path: "/api" backend: serviceName: example-svc servicePort: 4000
This is what the configuration looks like for an Ingress with HTTPS enabled. Note the tls group of options – the Ingress documentation is pretty straigh forward so it was easy to write this.
Here’s what the secret looks like in Kubernetes Dashboard once everythings set up and done:
Better ways to do this
So this is a fairly manual way to retrieve the certificates – note that I’m actually running exec comamnds here.
After getting it set up this way, I came across this fully automated way of obtaining the certificates, called kube-lego. I haven’t tried it yet, but it might absolutely be worth looking to if you’re approaching this for the first time and want a less manual way of getting all this done.
Wrapping up
After going through this, I was pretty happy to have a pretty simple process for getting the certs though it’s a bit manual for my liking. Now it’s time to port some of my applications to that require HTTPS (basically all of them) – stay tuned for the next post, in which I’ll go through what it took to set up a HTTPS-enabled app (we’re already 80% there, being that regular HTTP apps were covered, and I just showed you what the ingress resource looks like).( – promoted by navajo)
More than a thousand years before the first Europeans arrived in North America, American Indians had developed complex civilizations which were characterized by the large earthen pyramids (usually called mounds) which were constructed throughout the southeast. Many of these mound complexes are found in the present-day state of Georgia. Among them is Kolomoki (also called Mercier mounds).
The village of Kolomoki was founded about 350 CE. From its humble beginnings, the village eventually contained nine mounds, the largest of which (designated as Mound A) rose some 17 meters (56 feet) in height. Unlike other large mound sites in the eastern United States, Kolomoki is not located near a major stream.
Kolomoki was a ceremonial center with burial mounds and a central plaza which was the center of population for numerous surrounding villages The site was laid out on a central east-west axis, with mounds at either end and a central plaza and adjoining ritual area at the center. This axis was bisected by a large, ring-shaped discontinuous earthen enclosure. The orientation of the mounds is such that they marked celestial events, including the spring equinox and the summer solstice.
Houses were built along the edges of the enclosure. The typical household consisted of a pair of winter and summer structures. These structures were quite small (100 square meters). The permanent population was about 225 which increased to 525 at certain times of the year.
Mound A (also called the Temple Mound) would have required more than 2 million basket loads of earth.
Two small dome-shaped burial mounds (designated as E and K) were constructed at opposite ends of the site marking the east-west axis. They were more than a kilometer apart and were linked by a large oval enclosure. Ritual activities were conducted at a point midway between these two mounds.
Mound E was about 80 feet in diameter and 11 feet high. The construction of this mound began with a rectangular pit (6 feet by 9 feet) which contained cremated human remains of a single individual. Other burials were later added and Mound E became a corporate burial facility. It probably served to reinforce group membership.
Mound K was originally 55 feet in diameter and about 5 feet high.
A century after the founding of Kolomoki, there were seven other major mound sites in Georgia:
Marksville: eight mounds with an enclosure
Troyville: 13 mounds
Greenhouse: seven mounds with a large plaza and a |
comes a little easier than the rhymes do. But normally all it takes for me as a writer or as an artist is to come up with a concept. And then when I get in front of the keyboard it’s just a whole ’nother world that opens up. Where musically I understand “Well, this would sound better with a piano or this would sound better with a heavy synth or maybe I should start with the baseline first.” And you just build from there and then I add the words later, normally. So it’s all more cohesive. And the hook is normally the very first piece that I come up with and then I write from that point on.
Do you prefer producing yourself to getting a beat from somebody else?
Definitely. It’s a different kind of challenge, ’cause not only do you wanna write something jammin’ when you get a beat from someone else, but you also wanna make sure that they actually think it’s jammin’ too. And that’s the difference. You could totally feel like you spot-on with the content, but if somebody else produce it, they might have a totally different idea for it. And they be like, “Yeah but you shoulda went this way.” When I produce it, I know off the bat what I want it to sound like, how I want the feel, the aggression. And normally it’s spot on from that point. So yeah, I’d rather rap on my own beats sometime, yo.
When you were just getting started, who were some of the other cats that you think are really good at both?
Man, David Banner. David Banner was one of the first people that I could point at—obviously being from Mississippi as well—that produced and rapped. And all of his beats—you know, it wasn’t like they all sounded the same. They had different vibes and different feels. And it looked like gave his the opportunity to sound different on records. “Like A Pimp” sounds nothing like “Cadillac on 22s.” Right?
And it was working, cause either he would be rhyming on a record or he just produced it.
Pimp C was another person that produced and people didn’t know and was also rhyming and singing on these records, that I could relate to as well. And so I think, yeah these were the first two people I was like, “Aw yeah. I wanna do that. I wanna be like that.”
It’s interesting that you mention Pimp…
Yeeeah man. [Laughs] Definitely.
Cause a lot of people don’t think about him….
In that space. But he was definitely behind the boards with that organ and just some of the concepts behind those beats.
Are there any tracks that you’re especially proud of the way thereat and the rhymes meshed together?
Aw—“Mount Olympus” would be one of those tracks where I’m definitely proud of that. And I think I set out not only as a rapper to prove a point, but as a producer as well—to be able to make something that is also extremely melodic in its own way, but very aggressive.
“Country Shit” is one I’m really proud of because of just the warmth and its feel and trying to really capture what I think the South is and how it feels, and bounce and then have a soul sample at the same time.
“The Vent” is one cause it sounds totally different than the last two I just called, but it just moves and it has its amount of soul and emotion to it.
So I’m definitely proud of those. I can keep going. [Laughs]
What is it about those songs? Just the way the rhymes fit?
Yeah, the way the rhymes… It made so much sense, and it fit. Sometimes you can do a song and either people really like the beat or they really like the lyrics. Sometimes it meshes well, sometimes it doesn’t. But in this particular case, these records actually form fit, and they did exactly what they did and they sounded exactly how they needed to sound.
4EVA is a Mighty Long Time is due out on October 27Gallaudet University
February 28, 2014
8:25 AM - 4:30 PM
Sorry, the video is not yet available.
Gallaudet University is proud to host TEDxGallaudet* on Friday, February 28, 2014, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. TEDxGallaudet will feature four sessions, with five 15-minute presentations in each session, totaling 20 presentations.
TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading©. In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED- like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x=independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.
Captioning provided by Alternative Communication Services www.ACSCaptions.comHulton Archive/Getty Images
The ending of the 1939 film Gone with the Wind is one of the most iconic in movie history. Just read the words, "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn," and you can't help but picture Clark Gable's character Rhett Butler uttering them. And you can probably also picture what comes next: the final scene of the film, with Vivien Leigh's character Scarlett O'Hara saying, "After all, tomorrow is another day!"
But it almost didn't play out that way. A recently found script reveals an alternate ending for the film, with Scarlett's last line axed and replaced with: "Rhett!... Rhett!... You'll come back. You'll come back... I know you will!" It's a small change, but one that could have drastically changed how viewers perceived the strong-willed Scarlett.
Hulton Archive/Getty Images
The script is expected to fetch up to $5,000 at auction. See more pages from the script, plus place a bid, at Heritage Auctions.
TELL US: What's your favorite line from Gone With the Wind?
Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images
NEXT: 10 Movies We Can Watch Again and Again »Having had their brains battered into jelly by months of media hate-mongering and propaganda, the left is entering a stage of rapid deterioration.
As was displayed by the Kathy Griffin incident where images of the celebrity CNN holiday hostess holding a replica of President Trump’s severed head, these are sick people.
Now another hero of the left has gone off the chain to reveal his true colors.
Smarmy liberal prick Bill Maher is catching hell today over his casual use of the racially inflammatory word “nigger” on Friday’s episode of HBO’s Real Time With Bill Maher.
The godless, dope smoking Maher’s slip of the tongue came during an interview with Never Trumper Ben Sasse who is a test tube baby of a politician straight out of central casting who is being groomed as a future presidential candidate.
When the Nebraska senator suggested that Maher could visit the Cornhusker State to work the fields, it was then that Maher casually replied that he is a “house nigger” while the audience of brainless, liberal clapping seals showed their approval.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Xdx5XQkA2g?ecver=1]
Not only that, but Senator Sasse – the great white hope of anti-Trump Republicans – not only failed to admonish Maher but also laughed.
Bill Maher: HBO host slammed for using racial slur during interview with senator by @EDeMarche https://t.co/ip6VPpoe0m — Fox News (@FoxNews) June 3, 2017
According to Fox News Entertainment “Bill Maher: HBO host slammed for use of the N-word”:
Bill Maher, the HBO late-night host of “Real Time,” was criticized widely on social media after an interview with a Nebraska senator that aired Friday night where the host joked that he is a “house [expletive].” Maher was having a back-and-forth with Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., and the senator invited the liberal talk-show host to visit his state. “We’d love to have you work in the fields with us,” Sasse joked. Maher responded, “Work in the fields? Senator, I’m a house [expletive].” Some in the audience groaned and a few clapped. Maher appeared to quickly reassure the audience and said, “No, it’s a joke.” Sasse did not address the comment and the two moved on to another subject. Sasse faced some criticism on social media for not quickly condemning the host’s comments.
We will be waiting with bated breath for the NAACP, Al Sharpton and the Congressional Black Caucus to weigh in on Mr. Maher’s casual racism.The actor model (Wikipedia)
An actor is an entity that you can send messages to. In response to a message an actor can do any of the following:
* Send messages to other actors
* Create new actors
* Set behaviour for the next message it receives, (that is, change its internal state)
Lets say you have a concurrent system where many threads want to access the same resource. Instead of protecting the resource with a lock, mutex or semaphore, you create an actor that handles the resource. Then you send messages to the actor and the actor accesses the resource as it processes the messages one by one.
TPL DataFlow
TPL DataFlow (MSDN) is a library for building asynchronous data processing application. It is well suited for actors because it implements, among other things, message passing.
The sample domain
We are a bank and we have accounts. Each account has a balance. We want to be able to deposit money and check the balance.
C# implementation
We want to implement the system using actors. Let’s start with the messages we are going to send to the actors.
Messages
The basic form of a message is ‘something’ sent to an actor. So lets declare it like this:
public abstract class Message {} 1 public abstract class Message { }
To deposit money we send a deposit message with an amount.
public class Deposit : Message { public decimal Amount { get; set; } } 1 2 3 4 public class Deposit : Message { public decimal Amount { get ; set ; } }
To check the balance we send a QueryBalance message. The result of the query should be sent as a message to another actor, so we include the receiver in the query message.
public class QueryBalance : Message { public Actor Receiver { get; set; } } 1 2 3 4 public class QueryBalance : Message { public Actor Receiver { get ; set ; } }
The final message is the result of the balance check.
public class Balance : Message { public decimal Amount { get; set; } } 1 2 3 4 public class Balance : Message { public decimal Amount { get ; set ; } }
Actors
We implement an actor using an ActionBlock from the DataFlow library. An ActionBlock has an input queue you can post messages to and an action that will be invoked for each received message.
public abstract class Actor { private readonly ActionBlock<Message> _action; public Actor() { _action = new ActionBlock<Message>(message => { dynamic self = this; dynamic mess = message; self.Handle(mess); }); } public void Send(Message message) { _action.Post(message); } } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 public abstract class Actor { private readonly ActionBlock < Message > _action ; public Actor ( ) { _action = new ActionBlock < Message > ( message = > { dynamic self = this ; dynamic mess = message ; self. Handle ( mess ) ; } ) ; } public void Send ( Message message ) { _action. Post ( message ) ; } }
In the constructor of the Actor we create an action that will convert the actor and the message to dynamic objects and then call the Handle method. This means that the runtime will look up a method called ‘Handle’ with a parameter of the message type and call it.
An account actor should have a balance and handle the Deposit and the QueryBalance messages.
public class AccountActor : Actor { private decimal _balance; public void Handle(Deposit message) { _balance += message.Amount; } public void Handle(QueryBalance message) { message.Receiver.Send(new Balance {Amount = _balance}); } } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 public class AccountActor : Actor { private decimal _balance ; public void Handle ( Deposit message ) { _balance += message. Amount ; } public void Handle ( QueryBalance message ) { message. Receiver. Send ( new Balance { Amount = _balance } ) ; } }
We also need an actor that outputs the result of the balance query
public class OutputActor : Actor { public void Handle(Balance message) { Console.WriteLine("Balance is {0}", message.Amount); } } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 public class OutputActor : Actor { public void Handle ( Balance message ) { Console. WriteLine ( "Balance is {0}", message. Amount ) ; } }
The program
Now we can create the actors and send messages to them.
public class Program { public static void Main(string[] args) { var account = new AccountActor(); var output = new OutputActor(); account.Send(new Deposit {Amount = 50}); account.Send(new QueryBalance {Receiver = output}); Console.WriteLine("Done!"); Console.ReadLine(); } } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 public class Program { public static void Main ( string [ ] args ) { var account = new AccountActor ( ) ; var output = new OutputActor ( ) ; account. Send ( new Deposit { Amount = 50 } ) ; account. Send ( new QueryBalance { Receiver = output } ) ; Console. WriteLine ( "Done!" ) ; Console. ReadLine ( ) ; } }
This program first sends a Deposit message to the account actor. The account actor receives it and increased the balance.
The program then sends a QueryBalance message to the account actor. The account actor receives it and sends a Balance message to the output actor who writes the balance to the console.
If you run this program the output is:
Done!
Balance is 50
Notice that “Done!” is before the balance statement! The program sent the messages and finished before the actors were done processing the messages. How do we know when the actors are done processing all messages?
To solve this we use the completion feature of DataFlow and add a Completion property to the Actor class
public Task Completion { get { _action.Complete(); return action.Completion; } } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 public Task Completion { get { _action. Complete ( ) ; return action. Completion ; } }
This tells the ActionBlock to stop receiving messages and return a Task that will complete when all messages currently in the queue have been processed.
We can now modify the program to wait for the actors to finish.
public class Program { public static void Main(string[] args) { var account = new AccountActor(); var output = new OutputActor(); account.Send(new Deposit {Amount = 50}); account.Send(new QueryBalance {Receiver = output}); account.Completion.Wait(); output.Completion.Wait(); Console.WriteLine("Done!"); Console.ReadLine(); } } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 public class Program { public static void Main ( string [ ] args ) { var account = new AccountActor ( ) ; var output = new OutputActor ( ) ; account. Send ( new Deposit { Amount = 50 } ) ; account. Send ( new QueryBalance { Receiver = output } ) ; account. Completion. Wait ( ) ; output. Completion. Wait ( ) ; Console. WriteLine ( "Done!" ) ; Console. ReadLine ( ) ; } }
The program now produces this output:
Balance is 50
Done!
Conclusion
TPL DataFlow makes it easy to use actor based programming. This is a very simplistic implementation. It does not handle any errors, like what happens if you pass a message type the actor has no Handle method for, or what happens if an exception is throw during processing of the message. TPL DataFlow has good features to handle exceptions, see http://blogs.msdn.com/b/pfxteam/archive/2011/11/10/10235570.aspx, so you could add error handling rather easy.Greetings citizens! The big update today is that we’re revamping the FAQ… and we want your help! As you can see below, we have a new, more organized edition that addresses many of the subjects that have come up in the past few weeks. Now, before we put it on permanent display, we’d like your help: what other questions do you think the community needs answered about Star Citizen right now?
Forum Moderation
Signatures
Updated FAQ
GAMEPLAY
Is Star Citizen an MMO?
MMO
Is Star Citizen “free to play”? A subscription game?
NEVER
What platforms will Star Citizen be available on?
What will the gameplay be like?
NOT
MMO
Can you estimate the system requirements for Star Citizen?
GTX
GTX
Will Star Citizen only be in English?
How does Citizenship factor into the game?
We’ve had several questions about forum moderation the past few days. We will be establishing more robust moderation along with the new forums when they launch in the next week. There will be a set of more detailed rules for behavior, but until then we ask that you please just use common sense: everyone is excited about the game and we should all respect each others opinions. Users who cause trouble will receive a 24 hour ban for the first offense, 48 hours for the second and a permanent ban for the third. This isn’t something we want to need to ever do!One clarification: the Chris Roberts signatures for the $250-edition were for the end of the pledge campaign only. Since we didn’t make this clear at the time, anyone who has purchased that tier through today will also receive a signature… but as of tomorrow, new buyers will need to purchase the $500 version to get Chris’ autograph.No! Star Citizen will take the best of all possible worlds, ranging from a permanent, persistent world similar to those found ins to an offline, single player campaign like those found in the Wing Commander series. The game will include the option for private servers, like Freelancer, and will offer plenty of opportunities for players who are interested in modding the content. Unlike many games, none of these aspects is an afterthought: they all combine to form the core of the Star Citizen experience.To play Star Citizen you need only to buy the initial game. There will never be a monthly charge for usage. Some in-game items may be available as microtransactions, but we willsell anything that can’t be acquired through honest (and fun!) gameplay.Star Citizen is a PC game through and through and could never be played on the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 or WiiU. We currently plan to support Windows and are examining our options regarding possible Linux and Macintosh releases. The Cloud Imperium team includes many Linux and Macintosh fans!Star Citizen will feature gameplay similar to the original Wing Commander and Privateer, with a more realistic physics system. This means that it isa ‘click to kill’ interface like most moderns; your success in combat is going to depend as much on your skill with a space fighter as it will with your ship upgrades and your pocket book.There will be a lot of optimization in the next 24-months, plus the usual fast pace of technology, so it is hard to say absolutely. At the moment you will be able to play it on a dual core PC with a460 or greater and 4GB of system memory. If you’re running an i7 2500, 2600, 2700 or better with a670 or greater then the stars are the limit! Since the game is built on CryEngine, their system requirements will stay roughly the same as ours.No, we plan to support many languages. A huge percentage of space sim and PC gaming fans come from Europe especially Germany, and we want to make sure Star Citizen is accessible to everyone. The game will initially be localized into French, German and Spanish with plans to handle other languages afterwards.Wven though there are other alien races, we’re beginning with the human side of it. This future has evolved into a futuristic version of the Roman Empire. We thought it would be very interesting to have Citizenship be something that you don’t automatically receive. It’s something you have to earn through civic duty or military service. It’s a way to create a class system, which creates the potential for conflict among the various groups and players.
We wanted to put a lot of social ideas in the universe. Since the universe is dynamic, it will create some divisions and factions. For example, there’s a perfectly valid choice not to be a Citizen but we wanted to include all these social divisions so players will gravitate to one or the other and operate like the real world operates.
Will there be story updates or expansions?
We’re going to be constantly updating the universe from our end. We’re not interested in having yearly updates. We will have a team of people adding content on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. So we’ll be always adding data, stories, and campaigns as well as reacting to what the players are doing. Because of this the universe will be affected by the actions of the players.
Players can also become a part of the history of the universe. For instance if a player finds a space anomaly and successfully navigates it, which is not easy to do, they’ll be able to sell the Nav-Data of their jump for a great profit to a space company and they’ll have the system and jump-point named after them.
The goal of Star Citizen is to build a living, breathing universe that is its own entity. It will be a constantly shifting and evolving place for people to go and escape to.
Can you tell me more about the instancing system?
Chris Roberts has posted an in-depth explanation of instancing here.
Can you tell me more about the game’s physics?
An introduction to Star Citizen’s physics is available here.
I have a great idea for the game, where can I submit it?
SHIPS
Can you tell me about the different ships?
We’d like to hear it! Please post your ideas, suggestions and comments on the Roberts Space Industries forums, do not send emails to admin or info as they could too easily be lost in account issues
We’re working on concept art right now that will show you the different levels of ships! For now, imagine the sort of ship advancement you encountered in Privateer or Freelancer, with the Aurora being the basic ship and others being improved or more specialized craft. The top-of-the-line ship in our pledge campaign is the RSI Constellation, which is a multi-person craft that includes a turret and a smaller fighter that can be manned by your friends! To add further details, we’ve published a development document which includes concepts and specifications for the announced ships. You can find it here.
When can I see the ships I’m pledging for?
Star Citizen is utilizing top Hollywood talent like Ryan Church in the hopes of creating a set of truly iconic ships that genuinely “belong” to the players and are also fully functional in the game rather than simply looking good. Unfortunately, bringing a ship from concept to finished 3D artwork is a lengthy process and we’re not willing to spoil it by releasing early concept work which may have nothing to do with the finished product. We’re working on building all the ships now and will release comprehensive advertising brochures showing them off when we feel they’re close to their finished form. You can find the first brochure, on the RSI Constellation, here.
How will modding work?
Can I upgrade to a bigger ship?
ACCOUNTS
My community account is not showing my pledge!
Players will be given full control of their game! When operating private servers, players will be able and encouraged to mod the game. It doesn’t stop there, though: we hope to institute a ‘mod approval’ process that will allow the best of the best player created ships and other additions to be integrated into the central persistent world as well.Yes! You will always have your ‘pledge’ ship which you can upgrade by pledging additional money through launch, and you can purchase and fly others to your heart’s content in the finished game. Star Citizen will feature plenty of other ships and we expect players will want to earn credits and figure out which suits their particular style of play best.
Some early pledges were made on an unconnected backup system. If you pledged in the first days of the campaign and your pledge is not showing on your account, please contact us and we will take care of linking it manually. When you do so please make sure to include your RSI email, User Name and payment method. We’ll ensure everyone is connected.
I was charged an incorrect amount
Please send an email describing the issue to [email protected], include RSI email, User Name, Payment method and payment email address.
Can you link my Kickstarter pledge?
RSI
RSI
If you already have asite account your Kickstarter pledge will be linked shortly after you fill out the forthcoming Kickstarter end-of-campaign survey and we integrate the Kickstarter user data with thesite user data.
This will happen roughly four weeks after the end of the Kickstarter campaign. Kickstarter backers will enjoy all the same rewards (lower cost tiers and add-ons, unlimited insurance) as those who pledged through the RSI site.
If you haven’t created a RSI member account yet, it would be a good idea to do that now. If not we will create a RSI account for you using your Kickstarter info but the username will be auto-created and the login info will be emailed to you.
Can I change my shipping address?
Yes you will be able to change your shipping address. We will send out a reminder for you to enter your preferred address before it is time to ship your Citizen’s cards.
Atthe same time we will also ask you to confirm your name on your Citizen’s card.
How do I pay for shipping my physical goods?
How do I specify the size for my T-Shirt?
I’d like to change my tier or add-ons.
We are building the functionality to bill your for your shipping. When it is time to ship your extras, we will ask you to pay for the shipping which will be handled similar to how we handle paying for add-ons.We will provide the ability to select what size you need in the near future, probably when the shipping option is functional.You can currently upgrade some of the tiers and add-ons to more expensive options. Some of the newer add-ons and tiers cannot be upgraded to presently.
We are in the process of adding a “credit” system to your account, to allow you cancel any pledge or add-on in your account for an account credit. You will then be able to use this credit to purchase any tier or add-on. This will allow you to make any adjustment you want to your account in terms of what pledges and add-ons you have.
The prices and availability for the pledges and add-ons will be the same as when you had originally made your pledge. Please note that if you cancel a limited number item like the Vanduul fighter or the Idris Corvette it will go back into the pool and may not be available in the future if someone else takes it.
Can I gift a game to another player?
What is a Golden Ticket?
REWARDS
What are the “Citizen Cards”?
Yes! We’re currently adding a gifting system which will be available in time for Christmas. It will allow you to assign a pledge tier to someone via their email address. In the case of the multi packs (“I’ve Got Two” or “Quad Damage”) these will be converted into multiple Mercenary packages that you can individually gift. If you would like to go ahead and purchase additional tiers or add-ons you will be able to gift them to players at your leisure once the system goes online.Users who registered for the site before the game was announced on October 10, 2012 have a Golden Ticket on their account which indicates they were the very earliest members of the community. The Golden Ticket was an invite to the launch event on October 10th. It also entitles the holder to a special decal on their ship if they subsequently backed Star Citizen by pledging for one of the spaceship tiers as well an un-announced small in-game item. A Golden Ticket holder has no additional privileges or game status outside of being able to say there were some of the earliest members of the community.Citizen Cards are physical props to prove that you have supported Star Citizen and will be one of the first pilots in space when the testing process starts. They will be wallet sized cards that you can carry with you anywhere you go. Citizen cards will also appear in the game itself, showing your character’s social standing, credit account and the like.
The level of your Citizen card will depend on the aggregate of all your contributions. Thus someone that has backed Star Citizen for a total of between $500 and $1000 would be entitles to a Gold Citizen Card, even if their base pledge was under $500.
Physical Citizen Cards are a one-time gift tied to the initial campaign and will only be manufactured once, making them a collector’s item.
Our cut-off date for manufacturing the cards will when the Kickstarter users are integrated. We will announce the cut-off date to the community ahead of time to allow everyone a chance to get a physical Citizen Card if they so desire by pledging for a tier that includes one as part of the package.
What is the difference between the manuals?
What is included on the USB stick?
USB
USB
USB
Can I switch to a digital-only tier?
What is the plan for import taxes on the finished game and physical goods?
VAT
VAT
VAT
Every copy of Star Citizen comes with a standard Star Citizen manual, either digitally or physically depending on the tier. Higher tiers include a “Making of” book which will tell the story of the game’s development. The Wingnut and Freelancer tiers each include an additional special manual: either a “Squadron 42 manual” or an “Engineering manual for modders.” The Squadron 42 manual is in-universe fiction similar to the original Claw Marks, while the Engineering manual will help prospective modders add their own content to the game.In addition to your copy of the game, thestick contains digital copies of everything at your particular tier: the manuals, the ship model, the blueprints, etc. Any physical reward you have is included digitally on thestick. Users worried about import taxes will have the option to ship thestick empty and download their content separately.Yes, select the ‘go digital’ option on your My Account page. If you’d like to switch back, select ‘revert.’ Once the credit system is in place you will be able to cancel a physical tier pledge and re-pledge for a digital only tier.Since this is a fundraising campaign only a portion of your pledge will be allocable to the value of the physical goods shipped to you. We will determine this value on the basis of the prices we would charge for those physical items outside of a fundraising campaign and comparable to similar transactions in the marketplace. This reduced value will be stated on a pro-forma invoice accompanying the shipment, and this is usually the value on which any import duties and importwill be computed by the authorities upon actual shipment. There are exempted amounts depending on the import country. For example, in the EU shipments under €150 will not be subject to import duties, and shipments under €22.50 will not incur any import. In addition, onlyamounts over €10 are collected, so that effectively all shipments under a value of €50 will be free.
A particular situation exists with respect to the USB stick. If the stick will be loaded with your digital game and other items then the value of those digital items will be considered when determining the value of the stick for importation purposes. Again, this value would not be your pledge amount but the price that we would charge outside the fundraising campaign for those digital items.
In order to avoid taxation on those digital game items we will offer a convenient download button directly on your “Your Account” page, together with the option to receive the USB stick empty. Alternatively, if you wish to receive the USB stick fully loaded with the items then the value of those digital items will be included in the pro-forma invoice.
COMPANY
How can I work for Cloud Imperium Games?
Please e-mail [email protected] with your information. In the subject header please indicate what type of position you are interested in applying for.
Why Direct And No Publisher?
INSURANCE
What is insurance?
Will this Insurance cost a lot?
Publishers are useful in the old physical distribution world, but the Internet is the great equalizer. Marcus “Notch” Pearson didn’t need a publisher to sell over 8 million copies of Minecraft on the PC. Riot games didn’t need a publisher to reach 30-million League of Legends players, and Wargaming.net didn’t need a publisher to reach 40-million World of Tanks gamers. If we were building a big “AAA” console game it would be crazy to try without a publisher. But we want to build a PC game and publishers increase costs because of their need to recoup their sizable overhead cost. We want to make sure all the money raised goes directly to the development of the game. So we’re throwing ourselves on the mercy of the PC gamers out there that share our vision and passion for the platform and the space combat genre to raise money outside of the “cartel” of traditional publishers. The game will cost less, be more creatively pure, and, most importantly, be built for the real “core” audience – not some corporate suit worried about including all the casual gamers.Pilots in Star Citizen can purchase insurance policies for their ships, modifications and cargo. This ensures that your ship will be replaced and/or its modifications and cargo will be subsidized should you be destroyed in a fight or accident. As in real life, insurance policies must be maintained: you must pay a regular fee in galactic credits (the in-game currency) or your policy will lapse and you will not receive a payout or a ship replacement when your ship is destroyed.Like in real-life insurance should be a relatively small part of your regular in game expenses which will also include paying landing fees, trade tariffs (if in a system with lots of infrastructure and law and order), fuel (if you don’t collect it yourself from a gas giant), buying cargo to trade, hiring help, making upgrades to your ship or even buying a whole new ship.
Some of the additional policies like upgrade or cargo insurance will be rated based on risk levels. Risk level 1 being the safest systems and risk level 5 being the most dangerous system that is insurable for cargo or upgrades. Any risk level over 5 is un-insurable. A risk 3 policy for cargo will cover you for all cargo losses in a risk 3 system or below. The higher the risk level of the policy the more it will cost. As with the base insurance this will not be crippling financially but instead be a reasonable running cost that relates to the risk / reward profile of the systems flown.
How do I get lifetime insurance?
What happens if I don’t have insurance?
NPC
Will ships I add to my account have lifetime insurance?
Can I trade my lifetime insurance ship?
Will my insurance carry over to ships I earn in the finished game?
Can I use my insurance as an excuse to simply ram other ships to death knowing I will get my ship back?
Can I insure alien or one-off ships?
RSI
What will you do to combat insurance fraud?
Anyone who pledged for a copy of Star Citizen before November 26, 2012 automatically has lifetime insurance on their pledge ships; this protects the investment you made in the game in perpetuity. Anyone who made their first pledge for a copy on or after November 26th starts with a finite insurance package for their ship. This can be anywhere from 2 months to 12 months depending on the ship and policy type. Lifetime insurance does not exist for modifications or cargo.Your character will have to buy a new ship with any credits he has, or if he doesn’t have enough credits fly missions for a third party (bothand player) until he’s earned enough to buy his own ship again.Users who registered and bought at least one ship before November 26, 2012 can purchase additional ships with lifetime insurance for the next twelve months of development. Users who registered on or after November 26, 2012 can purchase additional ships with variable length starter insurance policies ranging from two months to twelve months.Yes. The lifetime insurance will follow the ship hull when it is legally sold or gifted. If the ship is stolen or otherwise captured, the policy will not transfer.No, and you cannot transfer insurance policies from one ship to another.You can, but this will be a very bad idea as it is inconvenient and time consuming in getting your replacement ship ready to go again. Additionally there will be an increasing delay in replacing your ship every time you make a claim within a certain period of time.No. The only exception is the limited number of Vanduul fighters sold through thesite during the pledge campaign; these ships do have lifetime insurance included.A ship cannot be sold without a legitimate hull id code. Claiming on the insurance policy invalidates the hull code on your previous ship, so if it was captured or stolen the new owner will be unable to sell the ship at a regular ship dealer. Additionally if you have claimed on a policy and someone is flying the stolen ship in a well policed system, the hull id will mark it as a stolen ship, the law will be after you and landing privileges will be denied on any lawful planet. You will be able to fly a “hot” ship to the less savory parts of the Star Citizen universe, where you will probably be able to land and may be able to purchase a fake hull id code, but it will take effort and not necessarily be cheap.
Finally the Advocacy takes insurance fraud very seriously. If it can be proven that a player has colluded with another player to defraud the insurance company, that hull’s lifetime insurance will be invalidated and the player may have to pay a large amount of credits to keep their record clean and not be marked as a wanted criminal.
That’s the new FAQ! Now, what else do you think is needed? We’ll revise this with your questions and post it at the top of the site later in the week!Sitting in the sales office of his latest big project, Michael Broccolini just can’t stop smiling. And with good reason; he is describing how buyers responded to his new 35-storey condo development, “We opened it to |
who are accused of killing two fishermen off the coast of Kerala in 2012, his younger brother Jai Pal, who is settled in Italy, says: "Wrongdoers are wrongdoers, no matter where they come from."Jai Pal says he lives in Latina, a neighbouring city of Rome. "Like Karnal is the neighbouring city of Kaithal," he says.Village sarpanch Raghbir Singh says the Italian connection happened because two brothers, Jai Singh and Randhir Singh, instead of chasing dollar and pound dreams, decided to try out their fate in a new place — Italy. This was almost 40 years ago. "They would return for short vacations and tell us about the employment opportunities there," he says. "Today, almost all youngsters from the village prefer to try their luck in Italy." Raghbir's two younger brothers and two nephews run small businesses in Venice, Verona and Florence.The older women in the village know little about Italy. "I've no idea what my son does in Italy. All I know is Italy is the country Sonia Gandhi belongs to," says Manohari. Her husband Jogi Ram too works in Italy. "Our son first repaid our debts and then he made this house," she says, pointing to the aircraft-shaped overhead tank. Most newly renovated houses in the village have similar tanks.Villager Mewa Singh's two sons are settled in Taranto Brescia. "My sons made this house but I prefer living in the old house," he says.Those who return for vacations bring back pizza mixes and mocktail mixtures, but prefer desi food themselves. "Everything our NRIs need is now available in the stores of Pehowa, Karnal and Kaithal," said Raghbir.The battle to finish in the top four has been hotly contested all season
Chelsea strengthened their position in the Premier League title race with victory at Hull City on Sunday to stay six points clear of Manchester City with a game in hand - but the pursuit of the other places in the top four remains red hot.
Manchester United struck a telling blow with victory at Liverpool but Brendan Rodgers' side were the only ones in the top seven not to win as Arsenal, Southampton and Tottenham all picked up maximum points.
So what better time to indulge in an act of complete madness: trying to predict all the results for the top seven teams between now and the end of the season to see how it will shape up after the final day on 24 May?
My original pre-season prediction was for a Chelsea title win with Manchester City second, United third, Liverpool in fourth and Arsenal just missing out in fifth.
So what, if anything has changed?
Bear in mind at all times this is just a light-hearted stab at sooth-saying from someone whose crystal ball invariably ends up covered in dust. So keep that blood pressure at normal levels.
Give it a go - let us know how you get on and then join the debate below.
According to Phil's predictions Chelsea will win the league with three weeks to spare
A fatal week for Liverpool?
Predictions: Saturday, 4 April: Arsenal 2-1 Liverpool, Everton 1-1 Southampton, Manchester United 3-0 Aston Villa, Chelsea 2-1 Stoke City. Sunday, 5 April: Burnley 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur. Monday, 6 April: Crystal Palace 1-2 Manchester City
Verdict: Arsenal's meeting with Liverpool is the big one here and so tough to call. I expect Arsenal to score against Liverpool and then it is a question of the Gunners being able to keep out Liverpool's flowing attacking football.
I do not foresee too many problems for Manchester United or leaders Chelsea, at home to Aston Villa and Stoke City respectively - but Spurs will be tested at Burnley and Manchester City will have to show rather more steel than they exhibited away at Anfield and Turf Moor recently to justify the faith I've put in them.
How the table will look:
Derby win takes Man Utd above Man City
Predictions: Saturday, 11 April: Southampton 2-1 Hull City, Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 Aston Villa, Burnley 0-2 Arsenal. Sunday, 12 April: QPR 1-3 Chelsea, Manchester United 2-1 Manchester City. Monday, 13 April: Liverpool 3-0 Newcastle United.
Verdict: The stand-out fixture here is the Manchester derby at Old Trafford and with Manchester United showing signs of developing under Louis van Gaal and Manchester City struggling for consistency, I will go for the home side to edge out the reigning champions - although who could predict that result with any real confidence?
A United win will see them leapfrog their city rivals - who would have predicted that might happen a few weeks ago?
Hull City could pose problems to Southampton while the Tim Sherwood factor will be at work when he goes back to Spurs with Aston Villa - but I fully expect Liverpool to get back to winning ways with a comfortable win against Newcastle.
How the table will look:
Man Utd miss opportunity to overtake Arsenal
Predictions: Saturday, 18 April: Hull City 2-2 Liverpool, Stoke City 2-1 Southampton, Chelsea 1-0 Manchester United. Sunday, 19 April: Manchester City 3-1 West Ham, Newcastle United 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur.
Verdict: Plenty of tough calls here and I can see things going either way for Liverpool and Spurs in particular. Steve Bruce has a decent record against Liverpool as a manager while Spurs will be tested on Tyneside. A tricky trip to Stoke will see Southampton drop out of the top six.
Once more, however, one fixture stands head and shoulders above all on a weekend when Arsenal will be in FA Cup semi-final action against Reading at Wembley and Liverpool could join them a day later to face Aston Villa if they overcome Blackburn Rovers, and that is leaders Chelsea v Manchester United.
I expect Chelsea to be closing in on the title by then and they will inch closer with a narrow win over United to maintain that formidable record at Stamford Bridge. That defeat will see Manchester City back into second once more.
How the table will look:
Chelsea move to within one win of title
Predictions: Saturday, 25 April: Southampton 2-2 Tottenham Hotspur, West Brom 0-2 Liverpool, Manchester City 4-1 Aston Villa. Sunday, 26 April: Everton 1-2 Manchester United, Arsenal 1-1 Chelsea. Wednesday, 29 April: Leicester City 0-3 Chelsea.
Verdict: Arsenal and Chelsea meet at Emirates Stadium so I can see a draw there - and while Manchester United's meeting with Everton signalled the end for David Moyes last season, I expect them to snatch a win that will push his successor Louis van Gaal closer to that top-four place.
Mauricio Pochettino returns to Southampton with Spurs and I think it will be a struggle for his side to get three points at St. Mary's, but would not be surprised by a draw. I fancy Liverpool to win at West Bromwich Albion, although they will not have it easy.
I fully expect Chelsea to take yet another stride to the title with a win at Leicester City the following Wednesday, taking Jose Mourinho to the brink of a third title at Stamford Bridge.
How the table will look:
Chelsea champions with three games to spare
Predictions: Saturday, 2 May: Chelsea 3-1 Crystal Palace, Hull City 1-3 Arsenal, Liverpool 4-1 QPR, Manchester United 3-0 West Brom, Sunderland 0-0 Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Manchester City.
Verdict: Going by these calculations, this is the day Chelsea clinch the title with three games to spare as they ease past Crystal Palace.
Arsenal normally find what they need at this time of the season so I'm backing them for three points at Hull City. Manchester United will expect a victory at home to West Brom.
I also expect Liverpool to maintain pressure right until the end and they have a comfortable-looking home game with QPR. Draws for Southampton at Sunderland and between Spurs and Manchester City will have ramifications for the top four and the title.
How the table will look:
The race for the top four ends
Predictions: Saturday, 9 May: Arsenal 3-1 Swansea City, Chelsea 2-0 Liverpool, Crystal Palace 1-2 Manchester United, Leicester City 0-1 Southampton, Manchester City 5-1 QPR, Stoke City 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur.
Verdict: The title race is likely to be all over by now but Chelsea can see off Liverpool's Champions League hopes and do Manchester United and Arsenal a huge favour by beating them at Stamford Bridge, which I think they will.
That result will mean Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal join Chelsea in qualifying for Europe's premier club competition next season.
Southampton should keep up their pursuit of a top-six place by beating Leicester but not sure Spurs will get a win at Stoke, where Mark Hughes has made the Potters so tough to beat.
How the table will look:
Man City slip to fourth
Predictions: Saturday, 16 May: Liverpool 2-0 Crystal Palace, Manchester United 1-1 Arsenal, Southampton 2-1 Aston Villa, Swansea City 1-0 Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 Hull City, West Brom 1-2 Chelsea. Wednesday, 20 May: Arsenal 2-0 Sunderland.
Verdict: I just have an odd feeling Swansea might nick it against Manchester City on £25m striker Wilfried Bony's return to the Liberty Stadium with what I fully expect to be the deposed Premier League champions.
Defeat in Wales could prove costly as Arsenal move up to second with a point at Old Trafford then a midweek win against struggling Sunderland. Don't forget, the top three qualify automatically for the Champions League, with the fourth-placed team requiring a play-off.
Liverpool's home match against Crystal Palace should be routine simply because they will be swept along on a tide of emotion for Steven Gerrard's final game at Anfield.
Chelsea may be easing back by then but if they need something at West Brom (and I'm fully expecting they won't) then I back Jose Mourinho's side to win.
How the table will look:
Final-day battle for third
Predictions: Sunday, 24 May: Arsenal 2-0 West Brom, Chelsea 3-1 Sunderland, Everton 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur, Hull City 0-1 Manchester United, Manchester City 3-2 Southampton, Stoke City 1-1 Liverpool.
Verdict: It might not be quite the final day of drama we expect, with the battle for third and a guaranteed spot in the Champions League the main issue needing to be resolved.
I anticipate all of the top four winning on the last day, meaning Manchester United just edge out Manchester City for third. That will leave Manuel Pellegrini's men having to report back early from their holidays for that Champions League play-off tie.
If it comes to pass, Liverpool would be disappointed to finish fifth and it would be the price to pay for making a slow start as they adjusted to so much integrating of new personnel after Luis Suarez's departure.
A place in the top seven would mark a superb first season for Southampton manager Ronald Koeman after so many departures last summer.
And if this conclusion proves deadly accurate it would be a case of eating a pair of socks as well as your hat.
How the table will look:
What do you think of Phil's predictions? Is he way off the mark or has he got most things right? Let us know via the comments section.For most of us, confidentiality and security of biometric data that we have shared to sign up for an Aadhaar card over the past four-five years has been a big concern. Many among us did not sign up for Aadhaar for this reason despite the aggressive push by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) through camps organised across work places and residential areas. Some of us reasoned that we have no need for yet another piece of document to prove our identity.
The Union government, however, had other plans. The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government wanted every citizen of the country to have one. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government that came to power in May 2014, after being dismissive of Aadhaar in its initial days has wholeheartedly embraced it and wants to ensure the mission to allot this unique ID to all resident citizens is completed soon.
Over the last one year, it has relied on Aadhaar numbers for better targeting of subsidies and benefits. It may also use the same Aadhaar numbers to exclude the richer classes from availing benefits such as subsidised LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) cylinders in future. Currently, the government is relying on people to voluntarily give up subsidised LPG cylinders.
Having found Aadhaar useful, the NDA government is now hoping to address privacy and security of data concerns with a legislation. The Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill, 2016 was tabled in Lok Sabha on Thursday March 3 by finance minister Arun Jaitley.
Significantly, this bill is similar to the National Identification Authority of India Bill, 2010 that was introduced by the UPA government in Rajya Sabha but could not become a law due to opposition. The UPA’s bill has now been withdrawn from the upper house.
Addressing data security concerns
The Bill is important as it proposes punitive measures for impersonation, playing mischief with another individual’s demographic or biometric data, unauthorised collection of data for Aadhaar and leaking of data. The bill has proposed a jail term which may extend to three years and a fine of Rs 10,000 for each offence.
If the offender is a company, the fine can go up to Rs 1 lakh. The Bill also provides how the demographic and biometric data collected may be used by UIDAI and the safeguards that need to be put in place to ensure complete confidentiality of information.
Unauthorised accessing of information stored in the central identification data repository is also liable for punishment – a jail term that may extend to three years and fine that may not be less than Rs 10 lakh. Introducing virus, tampering with data, disrupting and denying access to the repository, stealing data from repository and destruction of data have all been identified as offences that will be punishable with jail terms and stiff fine.
Everyone entitled to an Aadhaar number
The Bill does not make it mandatory for every resident Indian to enrol, but it says every resident is entitled to enrol for the Aadhaar number by providing his or her demographic and biometric data. Even so, it says the UIDAI shall make special effort to issue Aadhaar number to women, children, senior citizens, persons with disability, unskilled and unorganised workers, nomadic tribes or to such other persons who do not have any permanent dwelling house and such other categories of individuals as may be specified by regulations.
So far, the UIDAI has issued 975 million Aadhaar numbers, and if no one been allotted more than one number, over 75 per cent of the population have been covered. However, UIDAI data suggests that there are many people holding two or more Aadhaar numbers.
Consider enrolment in Delhi, for instance. Against the population of 17.7 million of Delhi, 19.2 million Aadhaar numbers had been issued. So the depository has a get down to the task of weeding out duplicates to minimise leakages of benefits, since the primary objective of issuing Aadhaar is to ensure better targeting of government schemes.
Improve efficiency of government’s social spending
Every year, the Union and the state governments spend lakhs of crores of rupees on schemes to help the poor get access to food, fuel, healthcare, employment, fertilisers and so on. Unfortunately, a large portion of the money meant for the poor do not reach them. As a result, government schemes are found to be failing to achieve their objective.
With Aadhaar, the intended beneficiaries are easier to identify. Further when Aadhar is used together with Jan Dhan scheme (under which banks accounts were opened for millions of people), the government can ensure that cash transfers to the intended beneficiaries are not siphoned away.
So far, people have been using BPL cards and voters ID card to prove their identity and claim benefit. This led to a situation where benefits were going to fictitious persons. Aadhaar, as the Economic Survey for 2015-16, points out uses technology to replace human discretion to identify the beneficiaries.
Better targeting of benefits has dual benefit. First, it ensures those who really need government aid actually get it and that will help reduce incidence of extreme poverty.
Second, efficient spending through government schemes will mean lower leakages and that will also bring down the total amount spent. That will prove to be beneficial for India’s economy.Sen. Joe Donnelly has announced he supports President Barack Obama's proposed Iran nuclear deal.
The Indiana Democrat announced his support Wednesday despite having questions about Iran's intentions. He says that with or without the deal, the U.S. might need to take military action to prevent Iran from becoming nuclear-armed. He says he owes it to the men and women of the armed forces to give the agreement a chance.
Republican Sen. Dan Coats has said the U.S. should reject the international accord. He said it is a bad deal because it is too short, the inspections would be insufficient and there is inadequate punishment for violations.
The deal would curb Iran's nuclear program in exchange for billions of dollars in relief from crippling sanctions.
(Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)A brand new Pixel Launcher UI has been spotted at Google I/O during a sandbox session on Instant Apps. We've not seen anything official about it yet, so it's either going to be debuted soon, or somebody messed up and it's not even a fully tested product. It seems the unreleased launcher was being used to demo new functionality relating to the now more widely available Instant Apps, which it can show in search results alongside those on the Play Store. Previously, the launcher could only display apps already installed on your device.
Thanks to 9to5Google, we have two videos showcasing the new Pixel Launcher that you can view below. As you can see, perhaps the biggest change is that the 'G' search pill is no longer present. Search has been moved entirely and now appears as a translucent gray search box situated at the bottom of the screen, below the row of icons in the dock. It has also returned to its former, full-width glory, but maintains the rounded edges introduced with the pill.
This makes absolute sense to me. Search is such an oft-used feature on any launcher, and with phones getting ever taller it's logical to have it as easily accessible as possible. The pill's location in the top left hand corner of the screen was literally the worst place it could be for a right-handed user, and that decision seemed to be based purely on signifying Google Now was still present one screen to the left.
The very top row of the launcher is now reserved just for the date, although I would hope that weather will also be incorporated into this space at some point. The current version of the Pixel Launcher started to also display the weather in the top right corner after a short period only showing the date. It would even make sense to present other contextual information in that top row, like upcoming events or reservations - basically anything useful from Google Now. If that's not already in the pipeline, let's hope someone at Mountain View reads this.From February 1, people who consume beyond 20,000 litres of water every month will have to pay 20 per cent more. (Photo: PTI)
On Tuesday, Delhi Jal Board announced that it will hike water charges for people consuming more than 20,000 litres of water every month. From February 1, people who consume beyond 20,000 litres of water every month will have to pay 20 per cent more. The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who holds the water portfolio. The DJB will not charge extra from households consuming up to 20,000 litres a month, in line with the subsidy scheme of the Kejriwal government, which was a key poll promise of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), an official said. However, the reason for Delhi Jal Board to hike the charges is that the organisation has faced a revenue loss of Rs 516 crore in 2016-2017 and Rs 209 crore in the fiscal year before that. Dinesh Mohaniya, the DJB vice chairman said that the decision was not an easy to take. Dinesh Mohaniya is also the MLA from Sangam Vihar constituency.
Mohaniya also said the agency had to go for the hike due to the imposition of 18 per cent GST on new pipes. “For example, consuming 23,000 of water per month earlier cost Rs 465.55 per month, it will now be Rs. 514.79 per month; an increase of Rs. 49.24 per month. For consumption of 25,000 litres of water per month, the bill now will be Rs. 599.14 which earlier used to be Rs. 535.86; an increase of Rs. 63.28 per month,” the government said in a statement.
While speaking on the hike charges, Mohaniya also said, “DJB has reported revenue loss because of not increasing tariff in past years. Every year DJB members and officials demand an increase of 10% in charges because of different factors, which affect the cost, are continuously increasing… The government has always been of the view that tariff should not be increased but it (the latest increase) has to be done to sustain the DJB,” Mohaniya said.
The decision was, subsequently, criticised by BJP and Congress with its leaders attacking the AAP chief by invoking his vocal opposition to the recent Delhi metro fare hike. “The decision to raise the water and sewer charges by 20 per cent is an irresponsible act of the government,” said Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari. BJP MLA and Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta requested the LG to direct the chief minister to roll back the hike. “The man who is raising a hue and cry over an increase in Delhi Metro fare shows no scruples in hiking tariff by 20 percent,” Gupta said.
Earlier, Delhi Jal Board had planned to issue notices to seven different government departments for non-payment of water bills. The dues of these government departments are amounting to Rs 3,220.12 crore.Apple did things a little differently this year when it comes to early iPhone access. The usual suspects who get to experience and review the latest iPhone before everyone else gets theirs were more or less shunned in favor of YouTube influencers. I say more or less because some of them did get to spend the usual week with the iPhone X before they published their reviews, while others released their “reviews” after only a few hours of testing.
So here’s my review after spending five minutes with the handset.
Well, okay, it was more like a half hour of delightful iPhone X testing. During that time, I came to terms with the fact that I wouldn’t walk out of the store with an iPhone X in my hand because Apple doesn’t sell any to walk-in customers in France. But I also realized this is the only iPhone I want to buy going forward. That’s what I thought after Apple finally unveiled it in September, even if I hated the notch. But the feeling sinks in the minute you touch it and start playing with it.
Image Source: Chris Smith, BGR
The experience
Is it possible to review an iPhone X in a few hours? If you’re an iPhone user, the answer is yes. That’s because the iPhone experience is similar across devices. It’s the same iOS 11 that’s powering every other iPhone out there. The iPhone X is fast and responsive, and everything just works on these demo units that Apple has set up in stores.
But thorough testing is still needed for features that can’t be judged in just a few minutes of use, including Face ID functionality over time, battery consumption, app experience, and so on.
The notch
Let’s get it out of the way. The notch is there, you’ll see it immediately, and you’ll keep noticing it on white backgrounds and in apps. You’ll get used to it, sure, and you’ll ignore it. You’ll understand Apple’s compromise because Face ID is the future. But let’s not pretend for a second the notch isn’t a blemish on an otherwise spectacular design.
The display
This phone is all about that display, and I couldn’t stop looking at it. It’s really amazing. It’s bright, it’s vivid, and it’s enormous. The screen-to-body ratio will undoubtedly come in handy. And I realized this is indeed the smartphone I want. I want a big screen in a compact phone. Because the display is so amazing, you’ll also notice the notch. But yes, I’ll get used to it.
Face ID
I was able to quickly register my face on Apple’s Face ID app that resides on the demo units. It was a speedy process that I repeated a few times. You then can test it inside the app, but the test isn’t really enough. The screen tells you that Face ID works, but you don’t get to actually lock and unlock the handset. Apple doesn’t allow it on the demo units.
I have seen the Animoji which look like a neat trick that I’ll probably seldom use, but haven’t actually tested them.
Image Source: Chris Smith, BGR
The glass
Oh, iPhone 4, how I’ve missed you. I loved the all-glass design of the iPhone 4, and I’m glad to see it return. I am worried that the iPhone X will be more prone to breaking when dropped than the iPhone 4. But the glass and stainless steel mix feel amazing in hand. I almost don’t want to cover any of those with any kind of protection whatsoever. The steel frame feels like a smooth continuation of the glass that covers the front and back of the phone. The notch is hidden beneath it, meaning you’ll never feel its presence with your fingers. I can’t wait for Apple to develop tech that will let it place all these sensors under the screen.
Oh, and white looks so much better than black to me.
The new gestures
I’ve been using the iPhone for years, which means I tend to do things on it without even thinking. But come the iPhone X, I’ll have to relearn how to interact with it. While testing it in the Apple store, I kept stumbling when it came to navigating apps. That’s because there’s no home button, so you have to swipe up to get home or into multitasking. I would catch myself pausing and thinking “okay, how do I get out of here” while hovering over where the home button used to be. And that’s even if I already knew all the new gestures that Apple devised to replace the home button.
Don’t worry though, you’ll get used to the new gestures soon enough, especially if you’ve never used an iPhone.
Bottom line
There are many things I can’t learn from a demo unit. I can’t try the camera properly, the apps I usually have installed on my phone aren’t there to use. But this iPhone user will never buy an iPhone that has a traditional home button. The iPhone X is the future, and I can’t wait to get in on it as soon as possible.Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) held its early weigh ins for the UFC Fight Night 100: “Bader vs. Nogueira 2” mixed martial arts (MMA) event earlier today (Fri., Nov. 18, 2016), for those athletes competing inside Ginásio do Ibirapuera on Saturday in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
All 24 fighters made weight without incident.
The promotion will have the combatants circle back for the ceremonial weigh-in video later today, which includes staredowns, getting started around 4 p.m. ET. Be on the lookout for that video stream right here on MMAmania.com.
Complete UFC Fight Night 100 early weigh-in results below:
FOX Sports 1 Main Event: Ryan Bader (204) vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (206) FOX Sports 1 Main Card: 135 lbs.: Thomas Almeida (135) vs. Albert Morales (134)
115 lbs.: Cortney Casey (116) vs. Claudia Gadelha (116)
185 lbs.: Krzysztof Jotko (185) vs. Thales Leites (186)
170 lbs.: Warlley Alves (171) vs. Kamaru Usman (169)
170 lbs.: Sergio Moraes (171) vs. Zak Ottow (171) FOX Sports 1 Undercard Prelims: 185 lbs.: Cezar Ferreira (185) vs. Jack Hermansson (186)
205 lbs.: Gadzhimurad Antigulov (203) vs. Marcos Rogerio de Lima (206)
135 lbs.: Johnny Eduardo (136) vs. Manny Gamburyan (136)
265 lbs.: Christian Colombo (251) vs. Luis Henrique (256) UFC Fight Pass Undercard Prelims: 135 lbs.: Pedro Munhoz (135) vs. Justin Scoggins (135)
205 lbs.: Francimar Barroso (206) vs. Darren Stuart (205)
For much more on tomorrow’s UFC Fight Night 100 event in Brazil click here.Story highlights Billions of locusts infest half of Madagascar and could cover 2/3 of the island nation
Without action, the flying bugs could plague the country for 10 years, a U.N. official says
"You turn around, there are locusts everywhere," he says, noting swarms stretch for miles
Locusts devour crops and pastureland, which could devastate Madagascar's poor
Billions of locusts -- everywhere the eye can see, eating most everything in sight.
That's the harsh reality affecting roughly half the island nation of Madagascar, infested by swarms of the bugs flying in sometimes mile-long packs. Run for 30 to 45 minutes, and you still might not be able to shake them.
"It's like you are in a movie, it's incredible," said Alexandre Huynh of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, or FAO, from the country's capital of Antananarivo. "You don't see anything except locusts. You turn around, there are locusts everywhere."
Locusts' targets aren't people, but they do ravenously devour what people eat -- directly in the form of crops, and indirectly in the form of pastureland that livestock and other animals graze on.
Without concerted and effective action, experts say the crisis could very easily prove deadly in a nation such as Madagascar, where the U.N. estimates more than two-thirds of residents lived in poverty before this crisis.
JUST WATCHED Last Look: A Biblical Plague Returns Replay More Videos... MUST WATCH Last Look: A Biblical Plague Returns 01:02
Doing nothing would mean the locust plague could spread across two-thirds of the island, which sits in the Indian Ocean off Africa's southeastern coast. Even after a lull in winter, they'd wake up in the spring in greater numbers and, without action, remain a devastating presence for a full decade, Huynh said.
This year's infestation is the worst since the 1950s.
Older farmers who remember that crisis and see the big swarms nowadays "stop farming, because they know that it's useless," said Huynh, the FAO's emergency and rehabilitation coordinator in Madagascar.
"They know there's hunger coming on."
By virtue of its distinct location, Madagascar is one of the world's most ecologically diverse areas. About 90% of its plant species exist nowhere else on the planet, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society, and many of its bird, reptile and animal species -- including all the world's lemurs in the wild -- are endemic.
The quality of life, however, for Madagascar's more than 22 million people is low compared to many other countries. Some 77% of its residents live on less than $1.25 per day, according to UNICEF official Natascha Paddison. It's infant mortality rate of 47.40 deaths per 1,000 live births ranks 47th highest out of 223 ranked by the CIA World Factbook.
The situation has been compounded by natural disasters like Tropical Cyclone Haruna that killed at least 23 people and adversely affected some 22,000 others, as well as a prolonged political crisis after an effective military coup in 2009. That was followed by criticism of Madagascar's new leaders -- such as from U.S. Embassy Charge d'Affaires Eric Wong, who noted reports that press freedoms had been restricted, political enemies were being held for years without trial, and civilians were raped or executed while their villages burned. The criticism contributed to a sharp drop in foreign aid, which accounted for 70% of the government budget.
But the international community remains involved in Madagascar -- including the United States, which donates $70 million annually. Even more help is urgently needed, FAO officials said, in order to prevent an even worse humanitarian crisis tied to the locust plague.
Long-term, the U.N. organization is seeking $19 million for an early warning system -- so the next time locusts appear, authorities can act quickly and decisively to prevent their spread.
But it's too late for that this time, Huynh said. That's why the agency is seeking $22 million through June to carry out a large-scale spraying operation. These figures do not include whatever food and humanitarian assistance Madagascar could need.
"There is no more use in preventing anything," said Huynh, stressing the pressing need to fight the infestation. "It is really an emergency situation."Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly attributed information provided by Evan Goitein, a foreclosure attorney, to Malloy Evans, Fannie Mae's Vice President for default management. Goitein, not Evans, made the point that most deficiency cases he sees involve smaller banks. This version has been corrected.
Jose Santos Benavides, 42, lives with daughter Gloria, 6, and the rest of his family in a Rockville apartment. The family left a four-bedroom house in Rockville in 2008 when Benavides could no longer afford to make mortgage payments. More than three years later, Benavides was told that he still owed $115,000 on the house he no longer owns. (Michel du Cille/The Washington Post)
For Jose Santos Benavides, the ordeal of losing his home was over.
The Salvadoran immigrant had worked for years as a self-employed landscaper to make a $15,000 down payment on a four-bedroom house in Rockville. He had achieved a portion of the American dream, earning nearly six figures.
Then the economy soured, and lean paychecks turned into late mortgage payments. On Aug. 20, 2008, one year after he bought his dream home for $469,000, the bank’s threat to take his house became real via a letter in the mail. Just four days before the bank seized the property, he moved out, along with his wife and their two young children.
That wasn’t the worst of it.
In November, more than three years after the foreclosure, he was stunned to learn he still owed $115,000 — with the interest alone growing at a rate high enough to lease a luxury car.
“I’m scared, you know,” Benavides said. “I can’t pay.”
The 42-year-old is among the many homeowners being taken to court by their lenders long after their houses were taken in foreclosure. Lenders are filing new motions in old foreclosure lawsuits and hiring debt collectors to pursue leftover debt, plus court fees, attorneys’ fees and tens of thousands in interest that had been accruing for years.
It’s an aftershock of the foreclosure crisis, and most homeowners don’t know it’s coming.
“When people take out a loan, they generally think the home is the security for the loan,” said Alys Cohen, an attorney in the Washington office of the National Consumer Law Center. When they no longer have that home, “people don’t expect that debt to follow them,” she said.
It’s all part of a legal process known as a “deficiency judgment,” which is allowed in the District and 40 of 50 states, including Maryland and Virginia. Since the start of the mortgage meltdown of 2008, at least 400 Maryland homeowners have been pursued in court, according to a Washington Post analysis of state court data. In the first four months of this year, 57 new court actions have been filed against homeowners — on pace to exceed last year’s total of 120.
It works like this: A property with a $500,000 mortgage might be worth only $300,000 following the housing crisis. The $200,000 difference, or what’s commonly referred to as the “underwater amount,” is known to lenders as a deficiency balance.
It’s unclear how many people walk away from homes when they can still afford to pay the mortgage. Likewise, there is little publicly available data on how many people pay off their deficiency judgments. A recent government audit found the recovery rate at one-fifth of 1 percent. But for those hit with the judgments, it can seem like double-dipping on their pain.
“Deficiency judgments are absolutely devastating to the foreclosed home buyer both as a matter of immediate financial impact and income tax consequence,” said John Mixon, a recently retired professor at the University of Houston Law Center who has studied deficiency judgments for the past 30 years.
Among the lenders pursuing the judgments are Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two quasi-governmental lending agencies that have long strived to open up home ownership to a wider segment of the population. Officials at those agencies said the judgments are necessary to recoup money lost in the crisis.
“Pursuing deficiency judgments has always been a remedy that we have looked at to mitigate our losses prior to the recent housing crash,” said Freddie Mac spokesman Brad German. “It is not a new thing.”
German said Freddie Mac is targeting “strategic defaulters,” which the agency defines as “someone who had the means but chose to go into default, that there were no extenuating circumstances that affected their ability to pay. If you’re choosing not to pay off your mortgage, but you’re paying other bills, we would consider that strategic default.”
In 2011, Fannie and Freddie flagged 12 percent of 298,327 properties they had foreclosed on — more than 35,000 — for deficiency judgments in an attempt to collect $2.1 billion in unpaid mortgage debt, according to an inspector general’s report released in October from the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
“Pursuing these collections against borrowers we believe have the ability to pay but who have decided not to helps us minimize our losses, which in turn helps minimize taxpayer losses,” |
a right to expect much more from us than that.”
His 177-page, meticulously footnoted report contains dozens of projects he said showed “stupid” judgment on the part of the bureaucrats who authorized them, and the members of Congress who let the spending continue without reining it in.
This year, with both a spending-related government shutdown and a major fight over the automatic budget sequesters, Mr. Coburn said, the wasteful projects should have drawn even more attention from his colleagues.
The waste he identifies ranges from big-ticket items that are perennial problems — such as the $3.5 billion paid to federal employees who have been identified as tax cheats — to the tiny problems, such as the $40,810 the government spent on a Denver museum dedicated to miniature toys and dolls.
In his report, Mr. Coburn points out that Facebook paid no taxes in 2012, despite earning more than $1 billion in pretax profits. Instead, it received a combined $429 million refund from federal and state tax filings from 2010 and 2011.
The report said Facebook provides stock options as a major form of compensation, which allows it to take big tax deductions, which it used to offset its profits. It still has more than $2 billion in stock option tax deductions it can carry forward to offset future tax liabilities.
“This rollover, in addition to currently outstanding employee stock options, may once again make this year’s tax bill disappear,” Mr. Coburn said in his report. “If Facebook has the same U.S. pretax profit in 2013 as last year ($1.1 billion), the company will be able to zero out their tax bill for the next year.”
Facebook didn’t reply to a message seeking comment Tuesday.
The Defense Department, which has been pleading with Congress to boost its funding and which is getting a major increase in the budget deal, comes in for particular criticism from Mr. Coburn.
“DOD grounded the Air Force Thunderbirds and Navy Blue Angels, yet still spent $631.4 million to construct aircraft they never intended to fly,” he said.
The biggest item was $7 billion in equipment in Afghanistan that the Pentagon says it will destroy rather than bring home or give away, feeling it doesn’t have a use for the materials in the U.S. and doesn’t want to turn them over to allies.
Mr. Coburn also found $10 million spent by the Army National Guard on Superman movie tie-ins, even as plans were being made to cut the strength of the Guard by 8,000 soldiers.
Other wasteful projects included:
⦁ $15,000 to collect thousands of gallons of human urine and test it as a hay field fertilizer.
⦁ $5 million for hand-blown crystal stemware, paid by the State Department, just days before the government shutdown.
⦁ $65 million in Superstorm Sandy emergency relief money that New York and New Jersey spent on television ads promoting tourism.
⦁ $566,000 paid by the U.S. Postal Service to “futurist” Faith Popcorn to envision a viable future for the post office.
⦁ $1.5 million spent by the FBI each year to educate Hollywood producers and writers on how to portray the agency in movies.
⦁ $124,955 to build a 3-D printer to make pizzas for NASA.
NASA was criticized for several other projects, including “pillownauts” — 20 people the agency paid $18,000 each to “spend 70 days lying in bed” with their bodies slightly tilted.
The goal is to study how an astronaut’s body would change in long-term weightless spaceflight, but Mr. Coburn said that was a waste of money given that the agency doesn’t even have plans for manned long-term spaceflight for the foreseeable future.
NASA said its spending is an effort to be ready for future space plans.
“We’re focused on implementing the bipartisan space exploration plan agreed to by the president and Congress that will ensure the United States remains the world leader in space exploration,” said spokesman Allard Beutel. “It’s a plan that invests in game-changing technologies, fosters the success of the commercial space industry, advances research into cleaner and quieter airplanes, unlocks the secrets of the universe and sends American astronauts on missions farther into our solar system than ever before.”
The bed study, or Human Research Program, compensates participants $10 an hour, which NASA said is below the rate of other clinical trials, and is a cost-effective way to study the effects of space travel and how it can decondition the human body.
Copyright © 2019 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.California lawmakers already are preparing for a legal brawl with the Donald Trump administration – and they’ve got President Obama’s former top attorney in their corner.
Top state Democratic lawmakers announced Wednesday that former Attorney General Eric Holder has been tapped as outside counsel to advise the Legislature on potential challenges with the Trump government. He will lead a team from the Covington & Burling law firm, where he’s been working since leaving the Obama administration in 2015.
“With the upcoming change in administrations, we expect that there will be extraordinary challenges for California in the uncertain times ahead,” California Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de León and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon said in a statement. “This is a critical moment in the history of our nation. We have an obligation to defend the people who elected us and the policies and diversity that make California an example of what truly makes our nation great.”
They said Holder and his team will advise “in our efforts to resist any attempts to roll back the progress California has made.”
The statement did not specify which policies they anticipate will cause friction, though California’s numerous sanctuary cities are likely to face challenges from an administration that has threatened to pull their federal funding.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, De León suggested Holder’s team will work on issues like immigration, climate change, the environment and voting rights.
The unorthodox arrangement assigns to Holder’s team some duties that normally would be handled by the state’s top law enforcement official, the California attorney general. Gov. Jerry Brown has nominated Democratic Rep. Xavier Becerra for that job.
The Los Angeles Times reported that De León and Rendon have been considering hiring outside counsel ever since Trump’s election, in a preemptive bid to protect state policies that could clash with the new administration’s.
Holder was one of Obama’s longest-serving and most controversial Cabinet members.
He had a contentious relationship with congressional Republicans, who in 2012 voted to hold him in contempt of Congress for not turning over documents on the Fast and Furious “gun-walking” scandal.
He left in 2015 to rejoin Covington & Burling.
Holder said in a statement Wednesday he is “honored” to work with California’s Legislature “as it considers how to respond to potential changes in federal law that could impact California’s residents and policy priorities.”Two-thirds of respondents in a new CNN poll say they think the GOP tax overhaul bill expected to be passed this week by the House and Senate will be more beneficial to the wealthy than to the middle class.
Slightly more than one-quarter — 27 percent — said they think it will benefit the middle class.
Along party lines, an overwhelming majority of Democrats — 95 percent — said they think the bill will favor the wealthy, compared to 27 percent of Republicans who said they think the same.
A majority of respondents — 63 percent — also said they think the tax bill will personally benefit the Trump family. When President Trump Donald John TrumpHouse committee believes it has evidence Trump requested putting ally in charge of Cohen probe: report Vietnamese airline takes steps to open flights to US on sidelines of Trump-Kim summit Manafort's attorneys say he should get less than 10 years in prison MORE first pitched tax reform, he insisted that the bill was “not good” for him, personally.
Pollsters also found that the percentage of Americans who say they oppose the GOP tax plan rose 10 points in the past month, to 55 percent. In November, 45 percent of respondents said they opposed the legislation.
The CNN poll of 1,001 respondents, conducted Dec. 14-17, has a margin of error of 3.8 percent.
The final text of the bill was released last Friday, the second day of the CNN poll.
Congress is expected to pass the bill this week and send a version to Trump to sign by Christmas.
Trump and congressional Republicans have touted the tax plan as a “great Christmas gift” for middle-class families, but critics of the plan have said that it will primarily benefit wealthy people and corporations.Police investigate the scene outside City Hall where a man died after falling off a ledge Wednesday, May 18, 2016, in Houston. Police investigate the scene outside City Hall where a man died after falling off a ledge Wednesday, May 18, 2016, in Houston. Photo: Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle Photo: Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Man found dead outside Houston City Hall 1 / 5 Back to Gallery
The Houston Police Department is investigating the death of a man found Wednesday morning outside Houston City Hall, apparently having fallen 10 to 15 feet into the crevice between the building and its back patio.
It was not immediately clear how long the man had been there before being discovered by contractors, who called HPD around 10:20 a.m., spokesman John Cannon said.
"It's unclear... if he was up on this ledge to begin with in some way shape or form and just fell, either front or backwards," Cannon said.
The man, who was fairly well-dressed, did not appear to be homeless or wearing a City Hall badge, Cannon said.
Cannon said investigators were looking into whether cameras recorded any activity related to the man's death.
"Once we talk to some of the employees and contractors about how often that they go down there, when's the last time that somebody went down there and didn't see anything? All those will be part of the questions," Cannon said.
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner's spokeswoman, Janice Evans, said she was not aware of anyone having previously ended up in the crevice bordering City Hall.
Asked if the city was considering any additional security measures in light of the incident, Evans said, "I don't think we're at that point, again not knowing what the circumstances were."next Image 1 of 2
prev Image 2 of 2
Prattville police say a suspected meth manufacturer has been arrested with help from his pet dog.
Department spokeswoman Paula Barlow says Edwin Henderson ran from police who were serving a drug search warrant on Wednesday. Barlow says Henderson jumped into a ravine behind his house and was followed by his dog, Bo.
Barlow says an investigator pointed at Henderson and told the dog "go get him."
Barlow says the dog chased Henderson and was followed by two Prattville Drug Enforcement Unit investigators.
Barlow says Bo found Henderson lying in tall grass. Henderson was arrested when authorities saw the dog had stopped to wag his tail.
Henderson is charged with failure to obey police, manufacturing a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. It's unclear if he has an attorney.Steve Fossen - Founder and Guitarist
Roger Fisher - Guitar
Don Wilhelm - Lead Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards
Ray Schaefer - Drums
Gary Ziegleman - Lead Vocals
Roger Fisher - Guitar
Steve Fossen - Bass
James Cirrello - Guitar
Ron Rudge - Drums
Ken Hansen - Percussion
Debi Cuidon - Vocals
Steve Fossen - Bass
Roger Fisher - Guitar
David Belzer - Keyboard
Jeff Johnson - Drums
Hey did you know...
You can now submit a request for a specific Artist, Song, or Theme
Check it out up at the top of the page under "Requests"
AND... while I have your attention...
Are you interested in becoming a Guest Blogger?
I am looking for AWESOME bloggers just like you!
There are only two requirements and it is a MUST
The Guest Post MUST be FAMILY FRIENDLY
The Guest Post MUST be MUSIC RELATED
That’s not too much to ask now is it? Be sure to fill out the sign-up form, and I will send you an email with all of the details including your publishing date. Don’t delay as spaces fill-up rather fast.
Guest Blogger Sign Up Here
Today I'm going to tell you a little bit about Ann and Nancy Wilson and a band called Heart. As added bonus, I'll tell you how the song "Barracuda" came about, and just because I like you guys, I'll share with you one of my most favorite Heart songs.Heart was originally named. In 1967 The band members consisted of four men. They were:They played frequently at various venues in the Seattle area. In 1969, the band went through some line up changes, and the band consisted of:At that time, they also changed the band name to. A year later, they shortened the band name toIn 1971 they made more changes to the band line up:In 1972 Ann Wilson joined the band, and the band was renamed once again, this time toRoger Fisher's brother Mike, was set to be drafted. But instead of showing up for duty, he went to Canada. One day, Mike came back across the boarder into the US to visit family, and met Ann Wilson at one of their shows. Ann decided to follow Mike back to Canada.Steve Fossen finished his college degree and moved to Canada in late 1972. Roger soon followed. Along with Mike and Ann, the band Heart was officially formed. Ann's sister Nancy joined in 1974 and became involved with Roger.In 1975, the band recorded a demo tape with producer Mike Flicker, adding in session guitarist and keyboard player, Howard Leese. Leese eventually became a full time member of the band, as did drummer Mike DeRosier.Some of the investors who had backed the studio where the debut album, Dreamboat Annie, was produced, also backed a separate company Mushroom Records, which was managed by Shelly Siegel. Dreamboat Annie was picked up by Siegel and sold 30,000 copies in Canada in its first few months. The album was soon released in the US where it reached number seven in the Billboard 200. It eventually sold over one million copies.In 1977, Mushroom ran a full page advertisement in Rolling Stone magazine showing the bare-shouldered Wilson sisters (as on the Dreamboat Annie album cover) with a suggestive caption. After a live appearance, a reporter backstage suggested that Ann and Nancy were involved in an incestuous relationship. This infuriated Ann. She returned to her hotel room and began writing the lyrics to Barracuda. Heart broke it's contract with Mushroom and signed a contract with another company, resulting in a legal battle with Siegel. Mushroom released a partly completed album "Magazine", and Portrait (the new company) released "Little Queen". Both sides attempted to prevent the other from releasing any Heart music. Eventually, a Seattle court forced Mushroom to recall the album so that Heart could remix tracks and add new vocals. The Magazine album was re-released in 1978.In 1979, the Wilson-Fisher liaisons ended. Roger Fisher was voted out of the band by the other members, and Mike left within a month of that.In 1995, Nancy took a break from the band to raise a family. Ann continued touring with the band. In 2002. Nancy returned to the road with the band.In 2013, Heart was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.And one of my favorite Heart songs:Three neonicotinoids, the world's most widely used insecticides would be forbidden across the continent for two years
Insecticides linked to serious harm in bees could be banned from use on flowering crops in Europe as early as July, under proposals set out by the European commission on Thursday, branded "hugely significant" by environmentalists. The move marks remarkably rapid action after evidence has mounted in recent months that the pesticides are contributing to the decline in insects that pollinate a third of all food.
Three neonicotinoids, the world's most widely used insecticides, which earn billions of pounds a year for their manufacturers, would be forbidden from use on corn, oil seed rape, sunflowers and other crops across the continent for two years.
It was time for "swift and decisive action", said Tonio Borg, commissioner for health and consumer policy, who added that the proposals were "ambitious but proportionate".
The proposals will enter EU law on 25 February if a majority of Europe's member states vote in favour. France and the Netherlands are supportive but the UK and Germany are reported to be reluctant.
"It's important that we take action based upon scientific evidence rather than making knee-jerk decisions that could have significant knock-on impacts," said the environment secretary, Owen Paterson. "That's why we are carrying out our own detailed field research to ensure we can make a decision about neonicotinoids based on the most up-to-date and complete evidence available."
Luis Morago, at campaign group Avaaz which took an anti-neonicotinoid petition of 2.2m signatures to Brussels, said: "This is the first time that the EU has recognised that the demise of bees has a perpetrator: pesticides. The suspension could mark a tipping point in the battle to stop the chemical armageddon for bees, but it does not go far enough. Over 2.2 million people want the European commission to face-down spurious German and British opposition and push for comprehensive ban of neonicotinoid pesticides."
Keith Taylor, Green party MEP for South East England MEP, said: "For too long the threat to bees from neonicotinoids has been dismissed, minimised or ignored. It is, therefore, good to see the European commission finally waking up. Bees have enormous economic value as pollinators and are vital to farmers. Let us hope that we're not too late in halting the dramatic decline in their population."
Scientific evidence has mounted rapidly since March 2012, when two high-profile studies found that bees consuming neonicotinoids suffered an 85% loss in the number of queens their nests produced and showed a doubling in "disappeared" bees who got lost while foraging. Neonicotinoids have been fiercely defended by their manufacturers, who claim there is no proof of harm in field conditions and by farming lobbies who say crop yields could fall without pesticide protection. Some neonicotinoid uses have been banned in the past in France, Italy, Slovenia and Germany, but no action has yet been taken in the UK. A parliamentary committee is currently investigating the impact of neonicotinoids on all pollinators and found evidence raising "serious questions about the integrity, transparency and effectiveness of EU pesticides regulation".
On 16 January, the European Food Safety Authority, official advisers to the EC, labelled the three neonicotinoids an unacceptable danger to bees feeding on flowering crops and this prompted the proposal produced on Thursday. If approved by experts from member states on 25 February, it would suspend the use imidacloprid and clothianidin, made by Bayer, and thiamethoxam, made by Syngenta, on crops that attract bees. Winter cereals would be excluded, because bees are not active at that time, and the suspension would be reviewed after two years. The European commission is also considering banning gardeners from using these neonicotinoids, although B&Q, Homebase and Wickes have already withdrawn such products from their garden centres in the UK.
"This hugely significant proposal promises a first, important step on the road to turning around the decline on our bees," said Friends of the Earth's head of campaigns Andrew Pendleton. "The UK government must throw its weight behind it. The evidence linking neonicotinoid chemicals to declining bee populations is growing. It is time to put farmers and nature before pesticide company profits. Ministers must act quickly to support safe and effective alternatives to chemical insecticides."Striking dock workers from the Greek Federation for Port Employees (ΟΜΥΛΕ). Photos: Will Horner
Two phones sit on Anastasia Frantzeskaki’s desk as well as a mobile phone. Occasional confusion arises as to which is ringing at any one time and she switches quickly between one or the other and even at times holds both to her ears, pinned in place by hunched shoulders, as she types rapidly on the computer keyboard. Ms Frantzeskaki, a member of the Greek Federation for Port Employees and the Syriza government’s representative for maritime affairs, is currently a busy woman.
The workers at Athens’ Piraeus Port terminals 2 and 3, which since 2009 have been run privately by the Chinese state-owned company COSCO, have walked out over workplace safety. According to Frantzeskaki, COSCO is refusing to open the gates of the terminals to let in members of the striking trade union ΕΝΕΔΕΠ, which represents dock workers in the terminals it operates.
Frantzeskaki relates rushed messages between the striking workers and the Greek Ministry of Labour in order to persuade the Labour Minister to call COSCO and inform them that, legally, they are obliged to allow the striking workers access to the port. The messages are passed successfully and the gates to terminals 2 and 3 are opened, reluctantly.
COSCO has yet to recognise ΕΝΕΔΕΠ and Frantzeskaki says that its administration of the terminals has led to an increase in workplace accidents. There have been broken hands, severed fingers, one fatal accident and one near-fatal in which a young worker fell from an overcrowded crane cabin on to a cargo container several levels below.
‘They work 12 hours per day and they do not usually get their breaks,’ she adds. ‘They have to beg for their breaks and most of them avoid this because they will have a bad record later on.’
One year ago Frantzeskaki’s party Syriza won huge support amongst the Piraeus dock workers by pledging to halt the privatisation of the remaining port terminals, but she now has to deal with a new reality.
The Greek government’s decision in July to sign a third memorandum steam-rolled that election pledge. The creditors insisted on the privatisation of Greece’s largest port and last week COSCO was confirmed as the preferred investor to buy the Greek state’s remaining 67% share of the port for €368.5 million.
The dock workers feel betrayed by the government’s decision to renege on their promise and have held three strikes in one month. They fear job losses and poor working conditions if COSCO takes over the administration of the rest of the port.
Outside the Greek Ministry of Finance and above the chants of protesting dock workers, Christos Tzimovasilis, a worker from the port talks of the government’s decision with an anger that makes his voice shake as he speaks.
‘It’s the same things the old governments told us: Lies, lies, lies, lies! They don’t want to see us they don’t want to speak to us,’ he says. ‘Syriza told us that they will not sell the port. We had a lot of meetings with the minister and now after the third memorandum they have told us that “we can’t do anything.”‘
A downward slope
The situation is a far cry from the optimism that shot Syriza to power in January 2015. Then they were promising to end austerity, cancel the debt, and halt the selloff of the Greek state’s assets to foreign investors. But the dramatic clash with European creditors in July 2015 caused Syriza to abandon most of its programme in the face of the threat of expulsion from the Eurozone.
The party which once was the champion of Greece’s plentiful protesters now faces its own wave of strikes and demonstrations. Pensioners, dock workers, accountants, lawyers and notaries have all taken strike action and two general strikes have taken place in four months. After a brief hiatus, clouds of tear gas and smoking petrol bombs have returned to the streets of Athens.
In another on-going dispute, Greece’s farmers—another sector of Greek society which overwhelmingly backed Syriza in the elections—have been blocking motorways and border crossings with their tractors for over a month. Last month they heightened the pressure by arriving on mass in Athens, clashing with police and occupying the central Syntagma Square for the weekend.
Syriza’s inability to deliver on its promises is badly hurting its popularity. According to the latest opinion polls the party has dropped into second place with 23.2% support, three points behind the centre-right opposition.
The prospect of an early election, which would be the fifth general election in less than four years, has been put on the table by one cabinet minister, and the leader of the opposition has suggested that he would favour snap elections over a national unity government with Syriza.
But Prof. Michalis Spourdalakis, Dean of the University of Athens’s School of Economics and Political Science, and an executive of the Syriza affiliated Nicos Poulantzas Institute, dismisses the likelihood of early elections.
‘Syriza will be in a difficult position for the time being,’ he explains. ‘That’s the choice Syriza made and it will be difficult. But I do not predict that we are going to have elections. The government doesn’t want elections, just like the opposition doesn’t want elections.’
Instead Prof. Spourdalakis predicts the government will respond to the current challenges with a cabinet reshuffle: ‘They are going to bring some new people into the government to appease the right wing. There’s going to be a reshuffle as soon as we have the [IMF] evaluation.’Hilde Johannewers had been smoking since she was 16.
Some 60 years later, when the doctors told her that she had to quit, she gave up the habit right away.
Her discipline was more impressive considering her profession — she ran the Hamilton Pipe Shop on James Street North in Hamilton, Ont., for more than half of a century.
She was the most knowledgeable tobacconist in Hamilton. No one would argue with that. -Bob Bratina, former mayor
"When somebody says it's so difficult to stop smoking, she's a prime example," said her daughter Heide Bell. "She ran a tobacco shop and she stopped."
Johannewers, a well-known and well-liked tobacconist, died in hospital on Aug. 7 at the age of 91. But it was not before leaving her mark on the community.
Family, friends and customers described her as disciplined, determined and dedicated. They also said she will be remembered for her strong work ethic and immense knowledge of the trade.
"She loved her store. She knew her product. She really appreciated her customers and she served them well," said Bell. "And she loved the neighbourhood. And everything else fell behind that."
Century-old store
Trained as a tobacconist in Germany, Johannewers immigrated to Canada in 1956. Because of her husband's background as an engineer, the couple was attracted by Hamilton's industrial prowess at the time and settled down in Steeltown.
It didn't take Johannewers very long to pick up her trade again. After a few years of odd jobs, she bought Peace's Cigar Store, a business established in 1877.
'She knew her product so well. It was easy for her to sell,' said Sam Perniac, a longtime friend. (Heide Bell)
A few years later, however, the store burned down. The fire was so massive that her daughter still remembers seeing the flames while driving into downtown after many years have passed.
"Most people would have just given up. Not my mother," Bell said. "She just picked herself up, dusted herself off, started all over again and never looked back."
After moving a few more times, Johannewers eventually found a home for her shop at 140 James St. N. and the store took on a new name — Hamilton Pipe Shop.
Her collections of pipes, cigars and tobacco — including her own blends — drew customers from across Ontario.
"She knew her product so well. It was easy for her to sell," said Sam Perniac, who met Johannewers while working as a tobacco salesman and the two later became friends.
"I learned myself how to sell my product just by watching her," Perniac said. "It's like selling a BMW. You just give it to the guy and say 'Take it for a ride.'"
Notable customers
The movers and shakers of the city also frequented the store: McMaster University professors came for the pipes; businesspeople sought out expensive Cuban cigars; there were also the lawyers and the judges.
Former mayor Bob Bratina was also one of the regulars.
"She was the most knowledgeable tobacconist in Hamilton. No one would argue with that," Bratina said.
The former mayor said he often wondered — but never asked — if she enjoyed a few puffs herself.
"A slender lady that she was, I often wondered what she would be like with a big Churchill," Bratina said.
A longtime neighbourhood fixture, Johannewers bore witness to the boom, the decline and the revitalization of James Street North.
"It's really sad that she left us at the time of change when the street is getting its hustle and bustle back," Bratina said.
After reporting for duty in downtown Hamilton for more than 50 years, her health declined due to heart conditions and she closed her store in 2014. She died in hospital nine days ago.
As she wished, her body was donated to McMaster University's anatomy school for research.Get the latest news and videos for this game daily, no spam, no fuss.
The team of fans behind the canceled Metal Gear Solid HD remake Shadow Moses have announced a new project based on the series--and they've even brought on veteran franchise actor David Hayter.
Called The Fan Legacy: Metal Gear Solid, it's a first-person virtual reality "experience" that will allow players to visit homages to some of the most famous Metal Gear Solid levels in a virtual museum.
"The Fan Legacy: Metal Gear Solid will feature many pieces of amazing fan art from devoted lovers of the series and our collaborators," reads a line from the description.
Importantly, the project is described as an "unofficial, non-profit" production. Because the developers won't charge for it, it's possible Konami will leave it alone, but that's not a sure thing.
"The project is a gift, from the fans, but also addressed to the fans; to share our affection for the seminal franchise," the team said.
Hayter, who voiced Snake in the Metal Gear series until he was replaced by 24 actor Kiefer Sutherland for The Phantom Pain, is working on the production. "Kept you waiting, huh?" he says in the video.
The Fan Legacy, developed using Unreal Engine 4, is expected to be released as a free download in May.
Shadow Moses had been in development for more than five months before it was canceled in March 2016 "for reasons beyond our control," its creator, Airam Hernandez, said at the time.
As for Hayter, he recently talked about being passed over for The Phantom Pain and said it's unlikely that he'll ever work with series creator Hideo Kojima again. "I've got no particular love for Kojima. I don't feel any need to go back and work with him again," he said.
We'll have more details on The Fan Legacy as they become available.Though we wish it could be so, Elizabeth Warren is not running for president. The dominant narrative has already become: Warren’s supporters will now have to settle for trying to exert influence on Hillary Clinton. Not so fast, narrative!
If you are a person who cares about economic inequality, and the inordinate influence of money on our democracy, and Wall Street’s unaccountability and plunder of public resources—a well-informed person, in other words—you were probably disappointed to learn that Elizabeth Warren would not be running for president, because she is the strongest mainstream political voice in America who speaks out intelligently in favor of addressing those very issues. Some would have you believe that Warren’s decision not to enter the race means that those of you who believe in the causes that she champions should not slide over into the camp of The Inevitable Nominee Hillary Clinton, who will reward you with, perhaps, a gentle leftward nod and wink during the course of her staunchly centrist campaign.
“There are frequent references to a Warren wing of the Democratic party and to the need to appeal to it,” Bloomberg writes. “Hillary Clinton, the Democratic front-runner, is openly courting her.” In the New Yorker, Ryan Lizza says that “Clinton has taken notice” of Warren, already making overt efforts to enfold her in the comforting embrace of Planet Hillary.
I say to everyone who supports Elizabeth Warren’s eminently reasonable positions on issues of basic fairness: hope is not lost. You do not have to throw up your hands in despair and slide your support over to Hillary Clinton. The inevitability of Hillary Clinton’s triumph is a facade, manufactured by a team of political consultants for the purpose of making her victory easier by encouraging any and all opponents to give up and fade away. There is absolutely no reason that progressives should lay down and surrender to Hillary Clinton—who is a calculating and talented politician who is better than a Republican, but who cannot be called a progressive if that term is to mean anything. Even as Hillary Clinton mouths platitudes about fighting inequality, her own legion of Wall Street backers does not take any of it seriously. “She’s not saying that a hedge fund manager shouldn’t be making what they’re making,” one financier shrugged to Politico. “Just that someone in another job shouldn’t be making 300 times less.”
In fact, a hedge fund manager shouldn’t be making what they’re making. If you have enough of a sense of justice to understand that, there is no reason for you to feel that your vote is already a foregone conclusion, a year and a half before the actual election. Even without Elizabeth Warren, there is a candidate in the race who represents true progressive ideals. That candidate is Bernie Sanders.
Bernie Sanders favors strong progressive taxation to fight the ongoing trend of massive accumulations of wealth among a tiny elite.
Bernie Sanders favors an expanded social safety net to protect the poor.
Bernie Sanders favors a single-payer public health care system for all.
Bernie Sanders favors breaking up the “Too Big to Fail” Wall Street banks that pulled the world into a global recession in 2008.
Bernie Sanders favors a $15 per hour minimum wage.
Bernie Sanders favors stronger support for organized labor.
Bernie Sanders also favors legalizing marijuana, by the way.
Compare the positions of Bernie Sanders with those of Elizabeth Warren. Anyone who feels strongly about the economic and social causes championed by Warren will have little choice but to recognize that Bernie Sanders fully embraces most of the same causes, and the same policy solutions. There is no need to make some emotional, over-the-top, campaign ad-style plea here. Look at what the candidates believe. Vote for the candidate who represents what you believe.
Three and a half decades of rising inequality must stop, or else. Bernie Sanders should have the support of everyone in this country smart enough to understand that. Everyone including Elizabeth Warren.
[Photo: AP]Mothers and fathers used to bring up children: now they parent. Critics used to review plays: now they critique them. Athletes podium, executives flipchart, and almost everybody Googles. Watch out—you’ve been verbed.
The English language is in a constant state of flux. New words are formed and old ones fall into disuse. But no trend has been more obtrusive in recent years than the changing of nouns into verbs. “Trend” itself (now used as a verb meaning “change or develop in a general direction”, as in “unemployment has been trending upwards”) is further evidence of—sorry, evidences—this phenomenon.
It is found in all areas of life, though some are more productive than others. Financiers are never lacking in ingenuity: Investec recently forecast that “Better-balanced autumn ranges should allow Marks & Spencer to anniversary tougher comparisons”—whatever that may mean. Politics has come up with “to handbag” (a tribute to Lady Thatcher) and “to doughnut”—that is, to sit in a ring around a colleague making a parliamentary announcement, so that it is not clear to television viewers that the chamber is practically deserted.
New technology is fertile ground, partly because it is constantly seeking names for things which did not previously exist: we “text” from our mobiles, “bookmark” websites, “inbox” our e-mail contacts and “friend” our acquaintances on Facebook —only, in some cases, to “defriend” them later. “Blog” had scarcely arrived as a noun before it was adopted as a verb, first intransitive and then transitive (an American friend boasts that he “blogged hand-wringers” about a subject that upset him). Conversely, verbs such as “twitter” and “tweet” have been transformed into nouns—though this process is far less common.
Sport is another ready source. “Rollerblade”, “skateboard”, “snowboard” and “zorb” have all graduated from names of equipment to actual activities. Football referees used to book players, or send them off: now they “card” them. Racing drivers “pit”, golfers “par” and coastal divers “tombstone”.
Verbing—or denominalisation, as it is known to grammarians—is not new. Steven Pinker, in his book “The Language Instinct” (1994), points out that “easy conversion of nouns to verbs has been part of English grammar for centuries; it is one of the processes that make English English.” Elizabethan writers revelled in it: Shakespeare’s Duke of York, in “Richard II” (c1595), says “Grace me no grace, nor uncle me no uncle”, and the 1552 Book of Common Prayer includes a service “commonly called the Churching of Women”.
There is a difference today, says Robert Groves, one of the editors of the new “Collins Dictionary of the English Language”. “Potential changes in our language are picked up and repeated faster than they would have been in the past, when print was the only mass communication medium, and fewer people were literate.” So coinages can be trialled around the world—and greenlighted—as soon as they are visioned.
What makes these leaps so easy is that English, unlike other Indo-European languages, uses few inflections. The infinitive does not take a separate ending, so while in French the noun “action” has to become the verb “actionner”, English can use the same form for both. In German (apart from “essen” meaning “food” or “eat”), such words are virtually unknown; the same is true of Chinese—though the noun meaning “thunder” can be used as the verb “to shock”. In Arabic such formations are not found at all.
What’s the driving force behind it? “Looking for short |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.